Board of Health

Meeting Minutes
June 10, 2008

12:00 Noon
Rice Conference Room

Present:	Dr. Francis Fox; Mr. Brooke Greenhouse; Mr. Michael McLaughlin, Jr.; Mr. Frank Proto (12:45 PM); Dr. Jeffrey Snedeker, President (12:10 PM); and Dr. William Tyler
Staff:	Mrs. Sylvia Allinger, Director of CSCN; Mrs. Liz Cameron, Director of Environmental Health; Mrs. Alice Cole, Public Health Director; Mrs. Sigrid Connors, Director of Patient Services; Dr. William Klepack, Medical Director; Jonathan Wood, County Attorney; and Mrs. Patty Stamm, Administrative Assistant
Excused:	Mr. Greg Stevenson and Mrs. Brenda Grinnell Crosby, Public Health Administrator
Absent:	Dr. James Macmillan
Guests:	Steven Kern, Sr. Public Health Sanitarian

 

Dr. Snedeker called the regular meeting of the Board of Health to order at 12:12 PM.

Mrs. Cole introduced and welcomed Mr. Michael McLaughlin, Jr. as the newest member of the Board of Health.

Approval of Minutes:

Dr. Tyler moved to accept the minutes of the May 13, 2008 meeting as written, seconded by Mr. Greenhouse, and carried by a unanimous voice vote.

Financial Summary:

In Mrs. Grinnell Crosby’s absence, Mrs. Cole stated there was no financial summary for today. She added the proposed 2009 budget would be presented at the July Board of Health meeting.

Administration Report:

Mrs. Cole distributed:

• 2007 Annual Reports

Mrs. Cole reported:

• On June 26th, 3:00 – 4:00 P.M., LaBella Associates will be doing a presentation for staff in the Rice Conference Room on the design for the new Health Department. Mrs. Cole stated the Brown Road project is only about a week behind schedule. It is hoped renovations will be started in January 2009, with move in scheduled for October 2009.
• Mrs. Connors has been chosen as an NEPHLI (Northeast Regional Public Health Leadership Institute) scholar. Mrs. Connors will spend the next year with other selected colleagues from the Northeast region from Maine to Pennsylvania working on various projects they hope to take back to their local health departments. Congratulations to Sigrid!

Medical Director’s Report:

Dr. Klepack had nothing to add to his written report.

Division for Community Health:

Mrs. Connors reported:

• The vacant Sr. Clerk position in WIC was just offered to a new candidate on Monday, June 9th. A response to this offer is expected on Wednesday, June 11th. An acceptance of this position would bring the WIC Program back up to full staff.
• Mrs. Connors has received notice of two upcoming retirements: one Home Care nurse and a clerical staff position.
• Regarding WIC: The State informed the Health Department the RFA (Request for Application) was going to be delayed for another year. In addition, the State has informed Mrs. Cole (to be acknowledged in writing) the funding will be stable and they also expect to add funding for additional nutrition time. The decision was made for the Health Department to apply for the RFA when it comes next year. Mrs. Connors added that she is currently working with the WIC Director in her submission of the 2009 budget, since their fiscal year starts October 1st. They are looking at creating a Team Leader position who would cover for the WIC Director when she is not in the office. This person would take some of the duties that fall to Mrs. Connors when the WIC Director is unavailable, thus alleviating some of the drain on Mrs. Connor’s time.

Children with Special Care Needs:

Mrs. Allinger reported:

• The Children with Special Care Needs Division collaborated with the Early Childhood Direction Center of the Southern Tier Independence Center to present a workshop on ‘Autism and Sensory Integration Perspectives.’ She added it was well received, with very positive feedback. Mrs. Allinger passed around handouts from this workshop for everyone to look at. She stated her Division would be partnering with the Early Childhood Direction Center to bring future workshops, adding they are in the early stages of planning a workshop for first responders working with children on the autism spectrum when handling an emergency in the field.

County Attorney’s Report:

Mr. Wood stated he had nothing to report.

Environmental Health Report:

Mrs. Cameron reported:

• A situation is developing in the Congers Mobile Home Park (MHP). The Environmental Health (EH) Division visited in March of 2007 and found Congers MHP was installing a new sewage system without a permit; their other system had failed. The Board of Health issued orders in November 2007. Mrs. Cameron stated the EH Division has been working with the DEC on this issue. Since the sewage system is greater than 1,000 gallons per day, the DEC must issue a SPDES (State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) Permit. She added the DEC did the official review of the system and issued a permit. Congers MHP started some of the construction, but they did not install the system. Mrs. Cameron stated when staff visited on June 5th, part of the pipe from the old system had been cut and had sewage surfacing. Another Stipulation Agreement and Orders will be drafted for the Board of Health to consider requiring that the surfacing sewage be stopped. Mrs. Cameron also stated they are concerned that Congers MHP does not have the financial resources to install the new sewage system. If Congers MHP is not able to comply with orders, Mrs. Cameron stated they would then be looking at revoking their MHP permit for that part of the park which serves between 28-30 units.
• Due to the time spent on the proposed Environmental Health fees for 2009, she did not get the materials prepared for the proposed revisions to Article VII, so she would like to have this discussed at the July Board of Health meeting.

Richard Louie, Flanders Ventures, LLC Re: Newfield Estates Mobile Home Park, T-Newfield – NYS Sanitary Code and Tompkins County Sanitary Code (water/sewage) Violation:

Mrs. Cameron stated she had received a request for an extension of time from Mr. Louie, the agent/operator of Newfield Estates Mobile Home Park, in order to come into compliance on all items discussed in the resolution. Mrs. Cameron stated action has been taken to address the violations discussed in the resolution, however, as requested by Mr. Louie, she would like to change the 6/2/08 deadlines for compliance to 7/2/08, thus allowing time for all violations to be addressed by that time. She added work has been done, however a report from a NYS licensed professional engineer was not submitted by June 6th. Mr. Louie has contacted an engineer and Mrs. Cameron stated they expect to receive design plans by July 2nd. She added the well cap will be replaced by July 2nd, as well as the water storage tank issue being addressed by that time.

Mr. Greenhouse moved to accept the resolution as modified, seconded by Dr. Tyler, and carried by a unanimous voice vote.

Continued Discussion of Proposed Revision to Tompkins County Sanitary Code, Article VII – Water Supply: discussion and vote:

This item was removed from today’s agenda and will be addressed at the July meeting.

For Discussion: Environmental Health Fees proposed for 2009:

Dr. Snedeker commended Mrs. Cameron for the very detailed proposed Environmental Health Fee Schedule for 2009.

Due to no significant changes in fee-related expenses, Mrs. Cameron reviewed and discussed the proposed fee changes, which included:

1. Low Risk Food Service Establishment Annual Operating Permit fee decreased from $210 to $205 to limit cost recovery to less than 100% of expected expenses.
2. Established separate Community Water System (CWS) fees for groundwater systems and surface water systems based on an analysis of oversight costs (Table 3b).

Mrs. Cameron added that in discussions with Steve Maybee, Public Health Engineer which occurred after she had prepared the proposed fees, it came up that there are some categories which are not being captured in engineering plan review. She passed around a modified pg. 2 of 2 (Proposed Water System Fees and Proposed Sewage System and Development Fees) and discussed proposed categories to be added to the proposed fee schedule.

A short discussion ensued regarding the proposed modifications to the Proposed Water System Fees and Proposed Sewage System and Development Fees schedule. Dr. Snedeker asked Mr. Wood’s opinion of the proposed 2009 fee schedule and Mr. Wood stated he felt the proposed changes were small enough no one would likely challenge them, and they would be much easier to justify if they were challenged.

Mrs. Cameron stated next year she planned to do a more comprehensive review of the programs to see if there was a way to include a percentage of fees to cover administrative and overhead costs which would be consistent for all programs.

The proposed Environmental Health Fees for 2009 will be voted on in July when the full budget package is voted on.

Based on previous events, Dr. Snedeker suggested Mrs. Cameron send the three large water systems a draft copy of the proposed fees for 2009. This would give them an opportunity to contest the proposed fees before they go to the full Legislature for ratification.

Adjournment:

Dr. Fox moved to adjourn the meeting at 12:46 P.M., seconded by Mr. Greenhouse, carried.