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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05 May " :;.." ff. ,';l ~'1 C.r/I'i/!.;''::;' ~/~f.,I/3"1 COMMUNICABLE DISEASE CONTROL PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING VITAL STATISTICS ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH HEALTH EDUCATION ~ -~ .;k- -> . JEFFERSON COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT 802 SHERIDAN PORT TOWNSEND, WASH. 98368 (206) 385'()722 HEALTH BOARD BOARD MEMBERS: STAFF MEMBERS: B. G. Brown, Chairman Larry W. Dennison, Member George C. Brown, Member Cynthia Howarth, Director Environmental Health Irene Senior-Pomeroy, Acting Director of Nursing Kathy Stafford, Administrator J. Peter Geerlofs, M.D. Health Officer City of Port Townsend Representative: Karen Chang MINUTES: MAY 16, 1989 Chairman B.G. Brown opened the meeting at the appointed time. Commissioner Larry W. Dennison and Commissioner George C. Brown were both present as well as Administrator Kathy Stafford. Health Officer Peter Geerlofs and City Representative Karen Chang were not in attendance. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Commissioner Dennison moved the minutes of the April 25, 1989 meeting as read. carried by a unanimous vote. to approve The motion ADMINISTRATORS REPORT: following items: Kathy Stafford reported on the Health Board Meeting Minutes: May 16, 1989 Page: 2 Primary Dental Care Contract: This grant is being administered by Clallam Jefferson Community Action Council, but that administration will be transferred to the Health Department with this grant amendment. Administration costs for the grant will now go to the Health Department not Community Action Council. Mission Statement Adopted at Health Department Retreat: Kathy Stafford asked the Board to review and approve this mission statement. DIRECTOR OP NURSING REPORT, Acting Director of Nursing, Irene Senior Pomeroy reported on the following activities of the Nursing section of the Health Department. Community Health Nursina Advisory Committee: Irene Pomeroy reported that she met wi th the Communi ty Heal th Nursing Advisory Commi ttee last week. The Committee would like to have representation for the environmental health section of the department as well as the nursing section. There are open positions on this Committee which could be filled by persons interested in environmental health. Cynthia Howarth, Director of Environmental Health is in favor of this change in the Commi ttee. The Board concurred that the Communi ty Health Nursing Advisory Committee membership and interests be expanded to include environmental health. WCPCAN Grant: This grant is for $15,000 and will allow the hiring of an additional public health nurse, Irene Pomeroy reported. The grant will not be received until the goals area simplified. This should be done and the grant funding received by July 1. Visit to Queets/Forks: The AIDS Coordinator and Director of Nursing will be visiting in the Queets Forks area in the near future. AIDS: An AIDS advertisement is being planned for the interior of the Transi t buses in the County, to urge young people to contact the Health Department for information. BNVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DIRBCTOR RBPORT, The following items were reported and discussed by Cynthia Howarth, Director of Environmental Health. Status of Cape Georqe ULID, Health Hazard Evaluation: The ULID was defeated last fall, but then formed in April of 1989. The State Department of Ecology had not contacted Cynthia Howarth about the study requested by Myron Offstein, which would look into the County Health Officer's declaration of a health hazard in the Cape George area, but she made contract with Karl Semmes. The State Department Health Board Meeting Minutes: May 16, 1989 Page: 3 of Social and Health Services has been contacted, Cynthia Howarth advised, and they stated that they will review the County's data, but do not have enough staff to visit every site. She reported that DOE will probably review the County's data instead of doing a sanitary survey themselves. Commissioner B. G. Brown noted that the County has always had problems getting responses from DOE. Hopefully DSHS will have better communication with DOE on this issue. Cynthia will check with DSHS at the end of two weeks to see what progress is being made on this issue. Household Hazardous Waste DaY/Small Businesses Generator Waste Day: The Household Hazardous Waste Day is set up for June 10 and the plans are proceeding. Installation of Septic Systems on Lots with No water: Requests have been received, Cynthia Howarth reported, from property owners who want to install a septic system, but do not want to develop a water supply to their property. One man wants to collect rain water and another will bring water in for his own personal use. Cynthia Howarth asked if the County has any policy on this type of request? The Board indicated that there has not been any policy on this in the past, but a number of property owners have chosen not to install a water supply to their property, which is evidenced by the number of people filling water bottles at County parks. The discussion continued about the County's responsibility to property owners and the need for an adequate water supply when a septic system is installed and a bUilding permit is issued. The Health Department is charged wi th the responsibility of seeing that a property owner has an adequate water supply for their own personal use, especially if they are installing a septic system. Cynthia added that she would remind citizens of the need for adequate water to care for children, handle potential fires, and the possible adverse impact on property sale. Commissioner B. G. Brown stated that Marrowstone Island property owners has little chance of finding a potable water supply on the Island if their property doesn't have its own water supply. He added that if people can enjoy the use of their lot and feel that they can find an adequate water supply, then they can apply for a septic system if they choose. The other Board members concurred with this. Faith Farm, Quilcene, Cynthia Howarth reported that raw sewage was found on top of the ground at the Faith Farm in Quilcene. The sewage was diverted to the Creek which is not acceptable. There are some cabins on the property which have septic systems that have not been used recently. The individuals were asked to use these cabins instead of the cabins with the failing systems. Request to Expand Trails End Tavern: The Health Department has inspected the Trails End Tavern in response to a request made by the owner to expand the tavern to include a beer garden. Gwen Howard ~ Health Board Meeting Minutes: May 16, 1989 Page: 4 inspected the tavern and recommends that the expansion not because there is no hot water in the mens restroom. concurred with the recommendation. be approved The Board Environmental Health Personnel: Cynthia Howarth presented a list of program priorities for the environmental health section and asked the Board to review and comment on them. She reported that she has had six months to evaluate the entire environmental health program. The one area that causes anxiety and could be changed to some degree is the two week turn around time for septic system permits. For properties that are being developed immediately the turn around time could stay at two weeks, however for properties that are not being developed immediately that time could be lengthened. The environmental health section is asking for an additional full time person to handle some of the workload. The food program should have a higher priority. Total population at risk is affected to a greater degree by the food program than the septic program. The priorities suggested for the on-site sewage disposal program are as follows: 1. Complaints - health hazard determination. 2. Failing Systems 3. Permit evaluations and subdivision exemptions. a) final inspections (72 hours), usually these are done in 24 hours. 4. Site evaluation. 5. Office work. 6. Plan review. 7. Building Permits. 8. Renewal Permits. 9. Septic Management Plan a) Education of Designers/Installation b) Policy development and implementation c) Professional/Technical Development d) Realtor Education General department priori ties and the time allocation for each priority were then reviewed. The figures presented include one more full time sanitarian. After further discussion of the material presented, Cynthia Howarth asked for $3,600 to hire a full time sanitarian through December 1989. A portion of the expense to hire this position will come from the water quality grant coming from the Planning and Building Department and the Solid Waste grant. Kathy Stafford added that by combining these grants and shifting duties of some of the staff, all areas of the department would benefit. The request is for $3,600 for a full time sanitarian and $6,000 to expand a clerical position from part time to full time for the rest of the year. Next budget year the impact would be $12,000 for the sanitarian (assuming that the solid waste grant ends this year) and $9,600 for the clerical position. Health Board Meeting Minutes: May 16, 1989 Page: 5 Larry stated that this proposal will combine the solid waste grant work with the water quality work, in a full-time sanitarian position and asked how much time that person would be allowed to work on sanitarian duties? The work on the solid waste grant would take 12 hours per week and the water quality grant work would take 20 hours per week, leaving 8 to 9 hours per week for sanitarian duties. Adding this with an expanded clerical position will allow a sanitarian to be in the office full time. Commissioner B. G. Brown stated that the Board would need a benchmark to evaluate the increase in service for the public at the end of the six month trial period. Kathy Stafford stated that the Health Officer could help develop an evaluation tool to monitor the increase in service if these requests are approved. The Board advised that they want to talk about personnel issues with the staff before the next Health Board meeting. OTHER BUSInSS: Myron Offstein and Jean Schmitt, Cape Georqe Area: Mr. Offstein presented a letter, he recently received from the State Department of Ecology regarding the County I s declaration that a heal th hazard exists in the Cape George area. He asked if the Department or the Board had visited the area. Kathy Stafford reported that an inspection of the area was not done at this time because the decision made at the last Health Board meeting was to wait until a survey was requested by the State. The DOE has been contacted by the Health Department regarding this issue. Cynthia Howarth reported that the DOE has said that if they are involved, funding will be necessary to proceed. She then gave Mr. Offstein a copy of the information that has been forwarded to the State. She reported that the Health Department files are open to the State if they request to see them. Mr. Offstein asked that the Health Department send their own package to the State and not include a report submitted by Gray and Osborn, because it is a sham. Mr. Offstein asked that the Health Department staff come and make an inspection of the area. Commissioner B. G. Brown advised that making a site inspection right now, because this has been a dry year, would not show much. The Board reiterated that the request for a review has been made to the State and that is the best that the Health Department can do right now. Commissioner Dennison added that the Health Department is not going to get into the politics of the Cape George area because of this issue. The Board advised Mr. Offstein that he should be dealing with the State on this matter. The issue, Cynthia Howarth reported, is that the DOE will only provide funding to the Cape George Sewer District if there is a "severe" health hazard in the area. The Health Officer did not state that the Health Board Meeting Minutes: May 16, 1989 Page: 6 health hazard was severe. There is a potential health hazard because of raw sewage noted on the ground. Milton Foss stated that he is frightened that the Health Department will say the Cape George area needs a sewer system to get this matter off their back. Janet Welch re, Clarification of Health Department Policies: Janet Welch stated that she is in the septic system design business and asked for clarification of several Health Department policies: Remodel Policy, Kathy Stafford reported that if a residence is remodelled and that increases the number of bedrooms then the septic system would have to be expanded. Janet Welch asked if that means that the system must be brought up to current standards? Kathy Stafford reported that it has been the policy that the expansion of the system would have to be done to current standards. Cynthia Howarth asked that specific questions on specific sites be presented so that information is available regarding the problem in question. Public Water Systems: Janet Welch asked that if there are two users on a water system is ita publ ic water system? Cynthia Howarth responded that two connections to a water system make it a public water system. If the Health Department is made aware that a water system has two or more connections, the owner is asked to apply to the State as a public water system. In rare hardship cases a notice to title is placed on the property until the public water is obtained. The State is responsible to see that the system is approved. Janet then asked if any water systems are grand fathered for this requirement? In the case of a building permit being issued for a remodel or new residence that is connected to a well that serves two or more families, the property owner will be told that the water system must be approved as a community water system through the State, Cynthia Howarth answered. Installation of a Septic System in the Plood Plain: Janet Welch asked what the policy is on a septic system being installed in a flood plain. The Health Department contacts the Shoreline section of the Planning Department whenever a septic system is proposed for a flood plain, Cynthia Howarth answered. There are many factors that have to be considered, if such a request was brought before the Board, even if all of the standards are met. Anyone that feels aggrieved by a Health Department decision can bring their project to the Health Board. Health Board Meeting Minutes: May 16, 1989 Page: 7 Changes in Vertical Separation Policy: The Health Departmentkas a policy that requires 24" of vertical separation between the bottom of a drainfield and any water, and Janet Welch asked if that policy will be changed? Cynthia Howarth reported that if there was going to be any change in this policy, it would come before the Board of Health for approval. No local change is anticipated yet but the State has proposed a larger vertical separation. MEETING ADJOURNED JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH /J5:Y~,~J B.G. Brown, Chairman ~J-~~"", Lar ennison, Member J d &f - -~t/"J' ,- /~~~,~ George C.' Brown, Member COMMUNICABLE OISEASE CONTROL PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING VITAL STATISTICS ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH HEALTH EDUCATION 802 SHERIDAN PORT TOWNSEND. WASH. 98368 (206) 385-0722 May 13, 1989 The Jefferson County Board of Health supports the application of Jefferson County Health Department for Adult Dental Care funds for the period July 1, 1989 through June 30, 1990. The funds will be used to provide primary adult dental care and education needed by the citizens of Jefferson and Clallam counties. '" /~-tf7i-f ~ (1/ /i::tJ.~'--T'\. George' rown, Chairman ~ B.G. Brown, Commissioner Commissioner