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Home My WebLink About081524M 4/ 'on Public Healt REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Jefferson County Board of Health Thursday, August 15, 2024 @ 2:30 p.m. Jefferson County Courthouse — Commissioners' Chambers 1820 Jefferson Street, Port Townsend, WA Hybrid Meeting Board Members Staff Members Greg Brotherton,County Commissioner,District#3 Denise Banker,Community Health Director Kate Dean,Chair,County Commissioner District#1 Dr.Allison Berry,Health Officer Heidi Eisenhour,County Commissioner,District#2 Michael Dawson,Water Quality Manager Amanda Grace,Vice-Chair,Community Stakeholder Alisa Hasbrouck,Environmental Health Manager Dr. Kees Kolff,Public Hospital District#2 Commissioner Barb Jones,CHIP Program Manager Monica MickHager,Port Townsend City Council Apple Martine,Public Health Director [Vacant],Consumer of Public Health Pinky Mingo, Environmental Public Health Director Veronica Shaw,Public Health Deputy Director This meeting was delayed due to quorum insufficiency. Chair Dean called the August 15,2024 meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health to order at 3:08 p.m., when a quorum was reached. Members Present: Chair Kate Dean, Members Greg Brotherton, Heidi Eisenhour and Monica MickHager. Staff Present: Staff Members Denise Banker, Dr. Allison Berry, Michael Dawson,Alisa Hasbrouck, Barb Jones, and Apple Martine. Due to the shortened meeting, Staff members Martine and Berry proposed revising the agenda, placing New Business item 3 ahead of New Business item 2, allowing item 2 to be postponed in the event there is insufficient time. PUBLIC COMMENT Chair Dean called for public comment. Commenter spoke concerning avian flu and stated that tests were finding no live viruses in samples of raw dairy that were tested. Commenter questioned whether there was any actual risk of contracting avian flu from ingesting raw dairy products. Commenter then moved on to recent statements from World Health Organization declaring"monkey pox"the next emergency. Commenter referred to such statements as"psychological bio-terrorism,"calling out"be scared situations" in response to minor threats. Responding in reference to avian flu, Dr. Berry suggested that the study commenter referred to tested Pasteurized milk, and that live virus had been found in raw milk. Dr. Berry suggested that members of the public not"be afraid" of avian flu, but"be aware." Concerning mpox, Dr. Berry drew a distinction between the mpox circulating in this country and the Glade of higher fatality circulating in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Respectfully submitted Page 1 of 3 G. Gilbert APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Dean called for a motion to accept the agenda for August 15, 2024, noting the proposed amendment. MOTION: Member Brotherton moved to approve the agenda as amended. Member MickHager seconded the motion,which carried by a unanimous vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Dean requested a motion to approve the minutes of the July 18, 2024 meeting. MOTION: Member Brotherton moved to approve the minutes. Member MickHager seconded the motion, which carried by a unanimous vote. OLD BUSINESS AND INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 1. Jefferson County Public Health(JCPH)Report Staff Member Martine spoke about the efforts of Public Health to protect people wanting to be outside, active, and in groups during the summer months: efforts such as monitoring water quality in streams, lakes and beaches, shellfish monitoring, approving temporary food service permits for festivals, market vendors and other pop-up events. JCPH's WIC program received an award from the USDA for excellence in breastfeeding support. Also, JCPH will be part of an event commemorating Overdose Awareness Day on August 31, 2024. A team from JCPH CHA/CHIP, with VillageReach, will be presenting an abstract entitled "Equity-Driven Environmental and Climate Health Assessments: Bridging Gaps in Public Health Planning"at the WSPHA(WA State Public Health Association)conference in October. 2. State Board of Health Update Chair Dean announced that a petition by Jefferson County residents to revise state regulations limiting the use of septic holding tanks was denied. Consideration is under way for adding to the list of conditions that are part of newborn screening. Also,the Board is considering rule writing for inflatable aquatic center add-ons. 3. Infectious Diseases Update According to Dr Berry,the news is good. There has been no recent significant surge in COVID,though it lingers, and is likely to increase in the fall. A new COVID vaccine is anticipated for September or October. Locally,there has also been no significant surge in avian influenza and no human transmission. NEW BUSINESS 1. Overview of the Special BHAC Meeting—Opioid Settlement Funds Planning Staff member Martine, with additional input from member Eisenhour and staff member Anna McEnery(all members of the Behavioral Health Advisory Committee), shared a presentation about progress made in the past year about what could be done with incoming opioid settlement funds to Jefferson County and what steps are to be taken next. The presentation included discussion of the misuse and overprescribing of opiates, leading to addiction, overdosing and deaths, and the culpability of drug companies and pharmacies. A broad spectrum of contributors to the on-going discussion have provided numerous possible distribution strategies for use of the funds arriving over the span of seventeen years. 2. Consumer of Public Health position on Board of Health Staff member Martine announced the Board of Health is accepting applications for a new, non-elected member of the Board, specifically for a"Consumer of Public Health"member, described in WAC 246-90-010 as "the category of Respectfully submitted Page 2 of 3 G.Gilbert persons consisting of county or health district residents who have self-identified as having faced significant health inequities or as having lived experiences with public health-related programs." A stipend for the"Consumer of Public Health"member is under consideration. Outreach for a"Tribal Representative"to the Board continues. 3. Zoonotic Disease [Postponed until September meeting.] FUTURE POTENTIAL AGENDA TOPICS No discussion(but see Announcements). ANNOUNCEMENTS WASALPHO(Washington State Association of Local Public Health Officials) is offering Local Board of Health Training in Leavenworth in October. Per Chair Dean, a report on air quality is hoped for in September, but is not yet confirmed. AGENDA PLANNING CALENDAR The Agenda Planning Meeting for the next regular meeting of the Board will be held on September 12, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. The next regular Board of Health meeting will be held as a hybrid meeting on Thursday, September 19, 2024 from 2:30 p.m.—4:30 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Chair Dean adjourned the August 15,2024 Jefferson County Board of Health meeting at 4:30 p.m. until the next Regular Meeting or Special Meeting as properly noticed. JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH Kate Dean, Chair Glenn Gilbert,Public Health Assistant Respectfully submitted Page 3 of 3 G.Gilbert