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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM041714JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES Thursday, April 17, 2014 Jefferson County Public Health, 615 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend WA 98368 DRAFT Board Members Phil Johnson, County Commissioner District #1 David Sullivan, Chair, County Commissioner, Dhirlct #2 John Austin, County Commissioner, District #3 Roberta Frlssell, ehizen at large (County) Kris Nelson, Port Townsend City Council Shelia Westerman, Vice Chair, Citizen at large (City) Jill Buhler, Hospital Commissioner, District #2 StafiMembers Thomas Locke, MD, MPH Health Officer Jean Baldwin, Public Health Services Dir Julia Danrkin, Nursing Services Dir Jared Keefer, Env Health Services Dir Veronica Shaw, Public Health Deputy Dir Chair Sullivan called the April 17, 2014 meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health to order at 2:34 PM. A quorum was present. Members Present: Jill Buhler, Roberta Frissell, David Sullivan, John Austin, Kris Nelson Staff Present: Philip Morley, Thomas Locke, Jean Baldwin, Julia Danskin Members Absent: SheilaWesterman, Phil Johnson APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Sullivan called for review and approval of agenda for 3/20/2014 meeting. Chair Sullivan suggested adding the following two items: (1) add "Drug Take -back" as a new item 4. Old Business; and (2) add a new item to New Business: 4. Updating the Board of Health Ordinance. Member Austin moved to approve the agenda as amended; the motion was seconded by Member Buhler. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Sullivan called for review and approval of the minutes of the 3/20/2014 meeting of the Board of Health. Member Austin moved to approve the minutes; the motion was seconded by Chair Sullivan. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT Chair Sullivan called for public comment. David Weathy requested a progress report on the landfill permit. Dr. Thomas Locke, Health Officer, Jefferson CountyPublic Health answered saying all mediation, while occurring, is confidential. He noted there will be a public meeting in July where all documents will be made public and people will have an opportunity to ask questions. Peter Lawrenson also requested an update on the landfill permit, and expressed his hope that the negotiations are moving forward without stalling and with integrity. OLD BUSINESS AND INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 1. Washington State Methamphetamine Clandestine Lab Clean-up Standards Dr. Locke followed up on a public comment during last month's meeting where there was an allegation that Jefferson County Public Health was either not correctly interpreting or enforcing the law concerning meth lab remediation. Dr. Locke believes they are correctly interpreting and enforcing the law. He noted it is important for the Board to understand what the law is intended to do, and what some of the unintended consequences of the law are. The law, adopted in 2002, currently triggers a clean-up at 0.l micrograms per 100 square centimeters of methamphetamine residue, the strictest standard in the nation. This level does not based on a documented health risk, and instead was chosen to denote a contamination level that is detectable. The unintended consequence of this application is triggering costly and destructive clean-up efforts for sites thatarenot meth labs but have trace amounts of methamphetamine on environmental surfaces caused by smoking the drug indoors. Current clean-up protocols call for all drywall, carpeting, appliances, and personal possessions to be removed. This is expensive and has limited the availability of public housing because units are closed and/or demolished rather than cleaned. Dr. Locke proposes the state raise its clean-up standards to 1.5 micrograms per 100 square centimeters, which is the level the state of California recommends based on a 2007 scientific study. Member Austin commented that a member of the Peninsula Housing Authority asked if our Board of Health would send a letter, similar to the letter Dr. Locke wrote on behalf of Clallam County, showing support to change this law. This letter will be sent to John Weisman, Secretary of Health, and ce'd to the Peninsula Housing Authority. .lean Baldwin, Director, Jefferson County Public Health, suggested adding a sentence that states we are very aware of the danger and impact of methamphetamine use and manufacture, and are concerned the contamination level approach is missing the point. Member Austin moved to approve the letter; the motion was seconded by Member Buhler: No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. 2. Governor's 2013 Smart Communities Award to Environmental Health and Department of Community Development Jean Baldwin suggested sending a copy of this award to Neil Harrington. Chair Sullivan commented that he is very proud of this award; it is the efforts of multiple state and federal agencies, tribal, local citizens, and businesses working together and coming up with a consensus approach that has allowed for safe shellfish harvesting. 3. Regional Nurse -Family Partnership Follow-up Jean Baldwin announced three representatives to the newly formed advisory board: Dr. Molly Parker, Catherine Robinson, and John Austin. 4. Drug Take -back Event Member Joswick commented that Jefferson County will not be participating in the April 26th event because Chief Daily reports he does not have the personnel to manage the event. She is hopeful that Chief Daily will work with Sheriff Hernandez in order to participate because almost 600ibs of unused drugs were turned in to the county last year, and a third of those came from take -back events. The Substance Abuse Advisory Board will follow up with this issue. NEW BUSINESS 1. 2013 Environmental Health Performance Measures Each department_ submitted a 2013 Year End Report (attached), and commented on the following: a. Solid and Hazardous Waste — Kristy Fielder (for Pinky Feria Mingo): Expansion of the Solid Waste Education Program, including the One -Less -Bag campaign and 30 presentations to schools; utilization of TideMark permitting database, developing several small business technical assistance checklists; completing an environmental clean-up resource list and creating a flyer for the general public. Jean Baldwin pointed out the significant work that went into accomplishing Goal 6: Ensuring compliance with permits. b. Food Safety — Susan Porto (for Mina Kwansa): Educating food workers, specifically reduction of in-house training due to online offering ; animals in food establishments; transferring all data from the KIPHS database to TideMark; inspection of food service establishments and investigation of food borne illness. c. Drinking Water — Susan Porto: Decommissioning of new wells is less frequent because new well starts are down; tracking In -Stream Flow Rule information is ongoing, data entry has been simplified; coordination with DCD for compliance of the Seawater intrusion Ordinance; minimizing the delay of building permits by improving the application review process; coordination with the Department of Ecology for education of water rights. Commented that Group As have testing, but Group Bs do not unless they require a food permit. d. Water Quality — Mike Dawson. More restricted funding and large workload; strategic cutback on monitoring for toxic blue green algae; stream monitoring, including Chimacum basin and Leland creek; water resources ended in 2012 in terms of watershed planting, no longer funded by the state; the state cut back stream gauge network, hoping to replace with modeling that can provide information without gauges; completed surveys for pollution identification and control; applied for phase 2, which would pull standards from the highest of the three counties; Clean waster fees, if adopted, will allow a restoration of services by 2015.. e. On -Site Sewage and Septic — Linda Atkins: Educating homeowners with classes and information on the website; improving on-site sewage system monitoring by following up with a letter and tracking system; documenting how quickly building permits are reviewed, 87% done in less than 14 days; working with IT to get tablets or laptops to use when investigating complaints to help with response rates; monitoring inspections will increase to approximately 200 when active bill reminders are available online; requested and received an extension on the EPA Grant. 2. Measles Outbreak Dr. Locke gave an update on recent Measles outbreak activity in Washington State and British Columbia. A secondary case occurred in Kitsap County, but as of right now there aren't any cases in Clallam or Jefferson Counties. He shared the importance of getting information to the general public in order to persuade people to get the vaccination. Jean Baldwin is currently reviewing the health records of public health employees to make sure all healthcare workers are vaccinated or have documented immunity. Dr. Locke cautioned that when measles starts to spread in the community, it is a public health emergency and has very significant workload and economic consequences. 3. Cascade Pacific Action Alliance Proposal Jean Baldwin and Dr. Locke will attend the meeting on May 21, 2014 and report back to the Board. It is an exploratory meeting to talk about the Washington State Healthcare Plan submitted to CMS last year. Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston Counties will also be in attendance. Member Austin suggested Jean urge her colleagues in the Mason county health department to attend. 4. Jefferson Healthcare -Jefferson County Public Health Community Health Improvement Partnership Update No Discussion. 5. Review of Ordinance Chair Sullivan commented on inconsistencies in BOH Ordinance of 1997, and suggested clarification. Jean Baldwin informed the Board that it has to be changed and adopted at the BOCC. The language needs to indicate that the Substance Abuse Board Members are appointed by this group and that the Clean Water District will eventually report to this group; where you live or don't live as opposed to expertise in public health, how people are appointed. A public hearing on the language is set for May 5, 2014. Jean will report back to the Board at the next meeting. ACTIVITYUPDATE Jean Baldwin will bring the 2009 bylaws to an upcoming meeting for the Board to review. Member Nelson sits on a committee that reviews the Port Townsend Paper Corporation's pond clean up data. The data presented to the committee was inaccurate. PTPC responded by saying they performed a different test after the committee was dismissed. The test showed better results, but the information Member Nelson saw did not point favorably toward the PTPC's pond output. No public comment. No agenda planning.. PUBLIC COMMENT AGENDA PLANNING CALENDAR NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING Next Board of Health meeting will be held on Thursday, May 15, 2014 from 2:30 - 4:30 p.m. at Jefferson County Public Health, 615 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend WA. ADJOURNMENT Chair Sullivan adjourned the April 17, 2014 Jefferson County Board of Health meeting at 4:37 P. JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH 11 Phil Johnson, Member Roberta rrissell, ivivium, ,Kris Neft, Member . Sheila Westerman, Vice Chair 11 Buhler, Member Austin, Member Respectfully Submitted: Natalie Crump