Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutM051613JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES Thursday, May 16 2013 Jefferson County Public Health, 615 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend, WA 98368 Board Members Phil Johnson, County Commissioner District #1 David Sullivan, Vice Chair, County Commissioner, District #2 John Austin, County Commissioner, District #3 Roberta Frissell, Citizen at large (County) Catharine Robinson, Port Townsend City Council Sheila Westerman, Citizen at large (City) Jill Buhler, Chair, Hospital Commissioner, District #2 Staff Members Thomas Locke, MD, MPH Health Officer Jean Baldwin, Public Health Services Dir Julia Danskin, Nursing Services Director Jared Keefer, Env. Health Services Dir Veronica Shaw, Deputy Director Chair Buhler called the meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health to order at 2:30 PM. A quorum was present. Members Present: Jill Buhler, David Sullivan, John Austin, Sheila Westerman, Catharine Robinson, Phil Johnson, Roberta Frissell, Staff Present: Dr. Thomas Locke, Jared Keefer, Veronica Shaw, Julia Danskin APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Buhler called for moving New Business Agenda Item 5 (Reappointment to the Substance Abuse Advisory Board) to number 1 on the agenda. Member Austin moved to approve the agenda as amended; the motion was seconded by Member Sullivan. No discussion. The motion passed unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF APRIL 18, 2013 BOARD OF HEALTH MEETING Chair Buhler called for approval, Member Austin moved to approve the Jefferson County Board of Health Meeting Minutes of April 18, 2013. The motion was seconded by Member Sullivan. No discussion. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT Chair Buhler called for public comment. No public comment. BOH Minutes -May 16, 2013 OLD BUSINESS Irondale Beach Closure Michael Dawson, with Jefferson County Public Health Water Quality, reports there were high bacteria counts in Irondale in a small creek which comes down to Irondale Beach Park. The tributary is not the Chimacum Creek, and is about a 1/4 mile long. Testing indicated very high levels of E. coli bacteria. Average count was over 1500 — higher than any other monitored in recent years. Tests found that the contamination runs from the creek's starting point at a forested ravine. Mr. Dawson reports that it's unusual for contamination to be that high, coming out of the ground. Sanitary surveys have been conducted of the septic systems in the area, with various permitted and grandfathered systems. Dye tests have been administered in septic systems to see if it shows up in the creek. Dye takes time to traverse to the creek, depending on dilution and distance of each system from the creek. So far there's been good homeowner cooperation. Mr. Dawson estimates that it may take several months for all of the results of testing. Warmer temperatures and less flow may affect the time involved in identifying the source of the contamination. Mr. Dawson reports that as soon as the bacteria levels were identified, Jefferson County Public Health issued a press release, and notified Washington State Department of Health, and Washington State Department of Ecology. The Department of Health advised closing the shellfish bed. The shellfish closure area is south of Chimacum Creek to the end of county property at Irondale Beach Park. North of the creek is still open for shellfish harvesting. The stream is popular for kids, and the stream has a posted warning. 2012 Outstanding Achievement Award — Food establishments in Jefferson County Next month awards will be presented to food establishments. The nominated food establishments are listed in this month's Board of Health agenda packet for member review. NEW BUSINESS Reappointment to Substance Abuse Advisory Board Ann, Julia Danskin reports that Aa -r Dean has submitted a request for reappointment to the Jefferson County Substance Abuse Advisory Board. Several members noted Ann's involvement and contributions to the SAAB. Member Austin moved to approve the reappointment and to direct the chair to send a letter of approval. The motion was seconded by Member Robinson. No discussion. The motion passed unanimously. 2 BOH Minutes -May 16, 2013 Environmental Health Policy Updates Jared Keefer presented Board of Health policies that have been identified during a recent periodic review of policies. Mr. Keefer notes that a new Washington State food code came into effect on May 1St. There are two Jefferson County Board of Health policies, which are recommended for revision, and two that are recommended for repeal. Policy "Waiver for a Temporary Establishment Food Permit": Staff recommends repealing this policy. Mr. Keefer notes that the newly revised State code exempts certain foods from regulation. Since these foods are already exempt from a permit requirement, a local waiver policy is no longer necessary. Policy "Mobile Food Service Establishment": Staff recommends repealing this policy. The majority of the content of this policy is contained in the State Code. Mr. Keefer recommends outlining portions of this procedure/policy — keeping "retain wheels" & "be readily movable" — in an administrative policy. Member Austin moved to repeal policies, "Waiver of Temporary Food Permit" and "Mobile Food Service Establishment." Member Johnson seconded. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. Policy "Destruction of Potentially Hazardous Foods": Staff recommends updating this policy to be consistent with new state Food Code. Dr. Locke notes that this policy is important as a BOH policy, as the issue involves destruction of property which may be valuable. Mr. Keefer stated that the update contains some differences from the previous version of policy — due to the food code revisions. The Food Code is unclear about how to handle food that is in violation; this policy offers best practice guidance for the inspector in the field. Policy "Food Establishment Inspection Frequency": Staff recommends updating this policy. The new code contains updates which need to be incorporated into this policy and previous scoring criteria needed to be updated. The ratios of points and percentages which represent violation criteria are maintained with the policy update. Member Frissell moved to adopt new policies: "Destruction of Potentially Hazardous Foods" and "Food Establishment Inspection Frequency" with effective dates to be changed to today's date. Member Robinson seconded the motion. There was no discussion. The motion passed unanimously. Environmental Health Fee Updates Staff recommends changes to the Environmental Health Fee schedule, as outlined on the second page of the Board's agenda materials. Jared Keefer said JCPH is currently required to inspect exempt facilities, and the costs for those inspections aren't recuperated through the fee schedule. An inspection fee for exempt facilities has been added for consideration. JCPH facility re- inspection costs are not currently recuperated through a fee. A re -inspection fee has been added for consideration. Additional changes have been made to clarify language, and to accommodate 3 BOH Minutes -May 16, 2013 time -intensive plan reviews. These changes are consistent with the methodology of other fee groupings. The intent of the fee additions/changes is to recover the costs. The rates aren't being increased, but the current fee schedule is being clarified. September is an anticipated omnibus fee schedule update. Member Westerman suggested that the language "4 hour minimum" is the only one of its type on the fee schedule, which may lead to public confusion. She said that the intent is reasonable, as it would capture the need to recover fees for time involved, however basing the fee schedule on time requirements may open the County up to procedural discrepancy. Mr. Keefer will look at the issue and attempt to re -work the fee/language and decide on the language for public review. "$268 + additional $67 per hour > 4 hrs" is the consensus recommendation. Procedurally, staff recommends that the Board call for a public hearing at their next meeting and make the proposed fee changes available for public review prior to that hearing. Member Austin moved to call a public hearing regarding the proposed Environmental Health fee schedule changes. Member Johnson seconded the motion. No discussion. The motion passed unanimously. County Health Rankings and Roadmap Report 2013 Dr. Locke presented a series of reports compiled by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, included in BOH agenda packet. In these reports, Jefferson County is measured by a number of parameters, and can be compared to any other county in the United States for those same measures. Dr. Locke notes that there may be a risk for over -interpretation of the reports, with many caveats regarding how accurately the available measures reflect the health status of a community. However, he feels that the year-to-year data contains valid information especially with respect to trends in particular measures. Jefferson County has fared very well in these measurements and is in the top I/4 in both of the summary measures. For Jefferson County, looking at the numbers which are statistically significant compared to WA state: (1) Low birth weight number is significantly lower than state and national levels, which is a feather in the cap for those working on those issues in Jeff Co. (2) Motor vehicle death rate is higher than the state average as in the case in many rural counties (3) Our rate for sexually transmitted infections is lower than neighboring counties and Washington State. Jefferson County has very good access to diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, much of it provided by Jefferson County Public Health. (4) Preventable hospital stays is significantly lower than the state rate, which means that hospitalizations that shouldn't have occurred or lasted as long, happened less often than the state average. (5) Daily fine particulate matter is elevated relative to the state and elevated compared to other counties — likely due to wood smoke. Also, significant given health reform expansion of Medicaid, are the numbers regarding primary care providers: the measure is a populate per-pfee-ider in Jefferson County and is 1 per every 1068 residents, better than the state average. 4 BOH Minutes -May 16, 2013 Legislative Update: Special Session Schedule, Budget Negotiations, and Local Health Jurisdiction Flexible Funding Alternatives Letter to Senator Hargrove: "Preserve public health funding including critical DOH activities." This letter supports continuing to preserve foundational local public health funding and restoring critical Department of Health activities that are cut in the Senate budget. Member Johnson moved to approve signing and sending the letter. Member Sullivan seconded the motion. No discussion. The motion passed unanimously. Late breaking issue: Ultra -fine particles and bio -mass. Representatives Tharinger and Van de Wege were able to get a study for Clallam and Jefferson County to measure ultra -fine particles to answer some of the science questions into the budget. This study is in the House budget, but not in the Senate budget. Dr. Locke recommends sending a letter of support for this budget item. Member Johnson moved to send the letter. Member Westerman seconded the motion. Discussion: Member Sullivan notes that this is one priority of many for the budget process and a lot of the questions may be unanswerable. Dr. Locke said that he has looked at the study design, and found that it's basically measuring the baseline for particle emissions. In Port Angeles there will be a before and after study. Dr. Locke also notes that the most relevant study question for Port Townsend is to attempt to determine where the Mill smell is coming from. There are 7 study objectives — in 2nd or 3rd page of the handout. Member Westerman stated that this is one of the most important issues in the community, and she gets many questions from the community. Chair Buhler agrees that this needs to be studied — this isn't taking a stand, but getting the facts. Member Sullivan's concerned that this may not be addressed, given the budget shortfalls. If not all can be funded, can at least the portion regarding smell be addressed? Dr. Locke feels that it's helpful for Boards of Health to issue letters of support. Member Westerman suggests that the letter and abstract be posted on the Jefferson County website. Member Robinson calls the question. The motion passed unanimously. ACTIVITY UPDATE Mr. Keefer announced that Anderson Lake tested with high biotoxin levels yesterday. A possible July visit from John Wiesman, the new Secretary of the Department of Health has been proposed. Dr. Locke feels that it would be desirable for him to come to a BOH meeting. More information at the next Board of Health meeting. AGENDA PLANNING CALENDAR No additions at this time. BOH Minutes -May 16, 2013 NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING Next Jefferson County Board of Health meeting will be held on June 20, 2013 from 2:30 — 4:30 p.m. at Jefferson County Public Health, 615 Sheridan St., Port Townsend, WA 98368 ADJOURNMENT Chair Jill Buhler adjourned the meeting at 4:25 pm JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH 00-1 9illBuhl Chair DaviWu li an, i air Catharine Robinson, Member � La� t06' � et) kew Sheila Westerman, Member Respectfully Submitted: Cara Leckenby Johnstin, Member �� 2��i�.�i •tile Roberta Frissell, Member 6 BOH Minutes -May 16, 2013