Board of Health

Meeting Minutes
April 13, 2010

12:00 Noon
Rice Conference Room

Present:	Mr. Will Burbank; Dr. Erin Hall-Rhoades; Dr. James Macmillan, President; Mr. Patrick McKee; Mr. Michael McLaughlin, Jr.; Ms. Janet Morgan; and Dr. William Tyler
Staff:	Mrs. Liz Cameron, Director of Environmental Health; Mrs. Alice Cole, Public Health Director; Mrs. Sigrid Connors, Director of Patient Services; Mrs. Brenda Grinnell Crosby, Public Health Administrator; Dr. William Klepack, Medical Director; Mr. Jonathan Wood, County Attorney; and Mrs. Patty Stamm, Administrative Assistant
Guests:	Steven Kern, Sr. Public Health Sanitarian and Carol Chase, Sr. Public Health Sanitarian
Excused:	Mr. Brooke Greenhouse and Mrs. Sylvia Allinger, Director of CSCN

 

Call to order

Dr. Macmillan called the regular meeting of the Board of Health to order at 12:05 P.M.

Dr. Macmillan welcomed Dr. Erin Hall-Rhoades to the Board of Health.  Introductions were made around the room.

Privilege of the Floor: 

No one was present to speak for Privilege of the Floor.

Approval of Minutes: 

Mr. Burbank moved to approve the minutes of the March 09, 2010 Board of Health meeting as written; seconded by Dr. Tyler.

Ms. Morgan requested that on Page 2, 1st bullet under Administration Report, the second sentence be changed to read: “She stated that this report ranked all county health departments across the United States according to several factors, adding that Tompkins County came in 3rd in New York State.”

For clarification: The new meeting format will begin in May, whereby any individual(s) planning to speak before the Board will speak under Privilege of the Floor.  The agenda will maintain its usual format with Environmental Health actions being last on the agenda.  This will allow Board members time to process any discussions held during Privilege of the Floor.

Minutes, as revised, were unanimously approved.      

Financial Summary: 

Mrs. Grinnell Crosby distributed and reviewed the Financial Summary for March 2010, adding that she had nothing major to report. 

She did state there was an error in the program software.  She referred everyone to the Medical Examiner Program at the bottom of Page 1, where there is an error in the modified budget.  Mrs. Grinnell Crosby stated she would try to have this corrected before the next financial summary statement.

Mrs. Grinnell Crosby stated the State of New York has paid the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Quarters of State Aid for 2009; they are still awaiting 4th Quarter payment. 

Administration Report:

Mrs. Cole:

• Passed around a listing of Board members including addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses, as well as a short biography of each member.  She asked each member to check their personal information to make sure everything was correct and to make edits as necessary.
• Reported the move to Brown Road has been delayed, yet again.  The new tentative move date is June 25th.
• Requested that the discussion on the Bylaws be removed from today’s agenda and moved to another meeting.  Mrs. Cole stated she is awaiting comments/edits on the Bylaws from Dooley Kiefer of the Legislature.

Medical Director’s Report:

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

Dr. Klepack did report that it looks likely the funding for the Medical Examiner Program will remain within the Health Department and not moving to the Division of Criminal Justice Services as originally proposed. 

Division for Community Health:

Mrs. Connors:

• Expressed “Kudos” to Ted Schiele, Planner/Evaluator in the Health Promotion Program, who has spent the last three years working with the Ithaca Common Council to get the smoking ordinance passed which will limit smoking in public areas, parks, children’s playgrounds, and common areas in the City of Ithaca.

Children with Special Care Needs:

Mrs. Cole reported that Mrs. Allinger was away at a conference and offered to answer any questions.

Environmental Health Report:

Mrs. Cameron:

• Reported her Division is interviewing candidates for a vacancy in the Sewage Program. 
• Reported they have interviewed candidates for a vacancy in the Healthy Neighborhoods Program and hope to fill that position as soon as the State signs the contract.
• Requested the Greene Café action be discussed last since it involves different issues.

County Attorney’s Report:

At Mr. Wood’s request, at 12:20 P.M. Mr. McLaughlin moved to adjourn to Executive Session for the purpose of discussing the move to 55 Brown Road, seconded by Ms. Morgan.  Carried.

At 12:25 P.M., Dr. Tyler moved to go out of Executive Session, seconded by Ms. Morgan.  Carried.

§ Board of Health Bylaws – Comments from Health Committee: 

At Mrs. Cole’s request, this has been postponed to a future meeting.

§ Approval of new 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Policy: 

Mrs. Connors briefly discussed the new policy, adding the vaccination schedules among infants and children are very complex.  She suggested a spreadsheet might be helpful in coordinating immunizations for children.     

Dr. Tyler expressed the feeling that the idea of a flow chart with a vaccination schedule might be a good idea and suggested that it might be part of the policy.  Mrs. Connors stated they would work on that.  She added perhaps the National Immunization Action Coalition may have or will also be working on a clear guide for vaccinations.  She plans to follow-up to pursue this. 

Following a discussion amongst Board members and staff regarding a possible flow chart with a vaccination schedule, Ms. Morgan moved to accept the policy as written, seconded by Mr. McLaughlin, and carried unanimously.

§ Violation of Part 14-1 of the NYS Sanitary Code (Food):

Harry Patel, Owner/Operator; Hampton Inn Food Service, C-Ithaca;

Ms. Morgan moved to accept the resolution as written, seconded by Mr. McLaughlin, and carried unanimously.

Richard and Blodwen Monclova, Owners/Operators; Orange Blossom Pancake House, C-Ithaca;

Mr. McLaughlin moved to accept the resolution as written, seconded by Ms. Morgan, and carried unanimously.

Sarup Sing, Owner/Operator; Mehak Cusine, C-Ithaca;

Mr. McLaughlin moved to accept the resolution as written, seconded by Ms. Morgan, and carried unanimously.

Charles B. Park, Owner/Operator, Greene Café, C-Ithaca; 

Mrs. Cameron briefly discussed Greene Café’s extensive history of temperature violations, adding they were doing well for a while and then things fell apart again during their most recent inspection.  Mrs. Cameron reported Green Café closed for the spring break and has not reopened.  She added that, according to Mr. Wood, Greene Café will not be reopening.  She noted that the resolution stating that any existing permit be revoked effective April 14, 2010, and Board of Health approval be required for a new permit or permit renewal, was drafted prior to knowledge of their closing; however, she felt that the penalty of $4,500 (in addition to the outstanding penalty of $2,500 of September 8, 2009 Board of Health orders) and precautions to make sure they don’t reopen without Board approval are good measures for the Board of Health to take.

Ms. Morgan moved to accept the resolution as written, seconded by Mr. McLaughlin.

A discussion ensued regarding the size of the establishment and the fact that it is difficult to comply with New York State regulations with such large buffets.  However, during the inspection of December 9, 2009, following the arrival of a new manager from New York City, staff was found to have been trained and everything was fine.  Unfortunately, this manager returned to New York City and operation of the restaurant had deteriorated by the time of the next routine inspection on March 18, 2010.

Following an additional discussion regarding restaurants with potentially hazardous operations and follow-up inspections, a vote was taken resulting in: Ayes – 6; Noes – 1 (McKee).  Resolution adopted.

§ Part 5-1 of the NYS Sanitary Code

Jeff McDonald, Operator; Taughannock Falls State Park, T-Ulysses; Time Table of Compliance – Extension for Part 5-1 of the NYS Sanitary Code – Ground Water Under the Direct Influence of Surface Water (GWUDI):

Dr. Tyler moved to accept the resolution as written, seconded by Mr. McLaughlin, and carried unanimously.

Robert Kopf, Operator; Seabring Inn, T-Newfield; Violation of Subpart 5-1.51(b) of the NYS Sanitary Code – failure to submit coliform sampling results:

Mr. McLaughlin moved to accept the resolution as written, seconded by Ms. Morgan, and carried unanimously.

§ Approval of Environmental Health 2010 Fee Schedule Modification:

Mrs. Cameron reviewed two events that have occurred since the Environmental Health 2010 fee schedule was approved by the Board of Health:

1. Changes to Subpart 7-1 of the NYS Sanitary Code for Temporary Residences were finalized.  Now, local health departments will rely on the Certificate of Occupancy issued by the Code Enforcement Officer and will no longer be doing plan reviews for those facilities when they open. As a result of this, Mrs. Cameron proposed eliminating the temporary residence (hotels and motels) plan review fees from the 2010 fee schedule.
2. NYSDOH failed to approve proposed changes to Article VII of the Tompkins County Sanitary Code.  As a result, the Environmental Health Division no longer regulates “Local Public Water Supplies;” so fees associated with these facilities need to be eliminated from the 2010 fee schedule as well.

Neither of these changes is expected to have a significant impact on the net EH fee revenue. 

Following a short discussion, Mr. McLaughlin moved to approve the Environmental Health 2010 Fee Schedule modifications, seconded by Mr. Burbank.  Vote: Ayes – 6; Abstain – 1 (Tyler).  Adopted.     

Save the Date:

Mrs. Grinnell Crosby announced Mrs. Cole’s upcoming retirement dinner on Friday, June 18th, at the Lakewatch Inn on East Shore Drive in Ithaca.  Cash bar and hors d’oeuvres are from 5:30 to 6:30 P.M., with dinner and program to follow.  A formal invitation will follow.

Adjournment:

Mr. McLaughlin moved to adjourn the meeting at 1:10 P.M.; carried unanimously.