Board of Health

Meeting Minutes
July 13, 2010

12:00 Noon
Rice Conference Room

Present:	Mr. Will Burbank; Mr. Brooke Greenhouse; 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. Brenda Grinnell Crosby, Public Health Administrator; Dr. William Klepack, Medical Director; Mr. Jonathan Wood, County Attorney; and Mrs. Patty Stamm, Administrative Assistant
Excused:	Mrs. Sylvia Allinger, Director of CSCN and Mrs. Sigrid Connors, Director of Patient Services
Absent:	Dr. Erin Hall-Rhoades
Guests:	Steven Kern, Sr. Public Health Sanitarian; Carol Chase, Sr. Public Health Sanitarian; Jane Daum, Public Health Sanitarian; and Stephen Maybee, Public Health Engineer
Privilege of the Floor:	Pam Gueldner, Manndible Café

 

Call to Order

Dr. Macmillan called the regular meeting of the Board of Health to order at 12:03 P.M.

Privilege of the Floor: 

Pam Gueldner of Manndible Café addressed the Board regarding the violation of creamers on the milk station being out of temperature.  She stated they have rectified the situation by adding ice inside the thermoses and temperatures are now being checked every two hours.  The milk is being discarded if it goes above 45 degrees.  She added renovations are being done at the café, with a plan to install a stainless steel bin to hold the creamers which will assure that they are being held at a cooler temperature. 

Approval of Minutes:

Mr. Greenhouse moved to approve the minutes of the June 08, 2010 Board of Health meeting as written, seconded by Ms. Morgan; carried unanimously. 

Financial Summary:

Mrs. Grinnell Crosby         distributed the Health Department Financial Summary for June 2010.  She reported that the first quarter State Aid is filed with the State.  Due to some glitches on Medicare’s part, Home Care currently is unable to bill so revenue could show low for up to another two months.  Mrs. Grinnell Crosby added the billing is being prepared so they will be able to send it out as soon as they get approval. 

As far as the State budget, Mrs. Grinnell Crosby reported it appears the Home Health Agency optional service will take a cut.  She estimated this could run between $150,000 and $250,000.  She added this was less last year due to higher revenues, adding that as revenues go higher, State Aid decreases.  She also added that the Preschool Administration Program is looking at about $32,000 which won’t be reimbursed as of this year.  She stated that CHHA State Aid is effective July 1st, meaning it will affect this year’s budget, as well as the 2011 budget. 

Administration Report: 

Mrs. Grinnell Crosby reported the Health Department will be moving to 55 Brown Road this Friday, July 16th.  She reported that staff is doing a terrific job packing offices, supply and file rooms.  The move will start Friday morning and continue on through the weekend.  The phones will still work in the current facility and will cut over to Brown Road at 8:00 A.M. Monday morning.  She added that they anticipate having limited operations on Friday and the early part of the next week.  Mrs. Grinnell Crosby stated they did get a verbal approval on the Certificate of Need from the State.  Arel LeMaro, Director of Facilities, got a Certificate of Occupancy from the Code Compliance Officer last Friday. 

Medical Director’s Report:

Dr. Klepack reported on a quality review he recently did at Planned Parenthood who has the Health Department’s STD contract for doing sexually transmitted disease treatment, individual client detection, and prevention services.  He stated the survey went well, with only a few comments from him.  He commented on the fact that because of cost issues, Planned Parenthood is not able to vaccinate at the point of service (this is only done when they have grant money available for this service).  These individuals are referred back to the Health Department for vaccination.  He added often a percentage of these people will only go one-step by getting diagnosed, but will never follow through with the second step of going for the vaccination if they have to go to another location.  Dr. Klepack indicated he would discuss this issue with Karen Bishop and explore the possibility of supporting vaccination of  Planned Parenthood clients at the point of service.     

Direct or of Patient Services Report: 

Mrs. Connors was excused from today’s meeting.

Children with Special Care Needs Report: 

Mrs. Allinger was excused from today’s meeting.

County Attorney’s Report:

Mr. Wood stated that he had nothing to report.

Environmental Health Report:

Mrs. Cameron:

• They have started putting a reference number on each resolution to help the division track resolutions.  This will be especially helpful in cases where there are multiple violations.
• Requested adding a minor revision to the fee schedule which will not affect the revenue.  She stated occasionally they get requests for engineering plans or oversized documents that need to be copied out-of-house.  She added they would like to add a fee for sending a staff member out to scan the big file and then give the person making the request an electronic copy.  She stated they are proposing a $20 fee to get this electronic digital image of the oversized plans for up to 10 pages and then an additional $10 for up to another 10 pages.  Mr. Greenhouse stated he felt the proposed fee was low and encouraged Mrs. Cameron to consider increasing this fee to $40 or $50 as the base fee.  Mrs. Cameron stated she wasn’t trying to recover all costs involved, but was open to whatever the Board felt was a reasonable approach.  Mr. Burbank stated he felt the proposed fee was reasonable and suggested going with Mrs. Cameron’s recommendation.  Ms. Morgan made a motion to raise the proposed fee for the electronic copies to $25, which was Mrs. Cameron’s original recommendation to staff; seconded by Dr. Tyler; carried unanimously. 
• Requested that Environmental Health actions be discussed prior to adjourning to Executive Session for the purpose of discussing personnel issues, in addition to the 2011 budget.

Resolution #10-10-26: Pamela Gueldner, Gueldner & Pasetty, Inc., Owner/Operator; Manndible Café, C-Ithaca; Violation of Part 14-1 of the NYS Sanitary Code (Food): 

Mrs. Cameron reviewed the inspection history of the Manndible Café, noting that they had a good history from August 2007 up until the first critical violation in 2009 for temperatures and then repeat critical violations for temperatures in April and May of 2010.  She added the standard penalty for these violations is $400.

Mrs. Morgan moved to accept the resolution as written; seconded by Mr. McLaughlin.

Following a short discussion regarding the process for periodic checking of dairy products for temperature, the resolution was carried by a unanimous voice vote.

Ms. Morgan thanked Ms. Gueldner for coming to today’s meeting and for their efforts in rectifying the situation at the café.  

Resolution #10-10-29: Yeshi Tsondu, Owner/Operator; Potala Café, C-Ithaca; Violation of Part 14-1 of the NYS Sanitary Code (Food):

Mrs. Cameron reviewed the inspection history of the Potala Café, with critical violation(s) in both May and June of 2010 for foods not being stored under refrigeration.  This vendor, which operates on the Commons and attends events, began operation in early May 2010.     

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

Resolution #10-19-32: Michael A. Taormina, The House Doctor, T-Ulysses; Violation of Board of Health Orders and TCSC Article VI (Sewage):

Mr. Greenhouse moved the resolution with the modification that the penalty be changed to $1,200.  Motion failed for lack of a second.

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

Mr. Greenhouse stated that Mr. Taormina has violated Board of Health orders in the past, in addition to being well aware of the need to notify the Health Department when there are problems with septic systems.  He added since there are no fees involved, there is no reason why an individual or a contractor should not contact the department for assistance in trying to address a problem system.  Following further discussion amongst staff and Board members regarding this situation, previous violations and fines, and valid permits; in an attempt to get Mr. Taormina’s attention, Mr. Greenhouse offered an amendment that the penalty be doubled to $1,200.  Mr. McLaughlin supported this amendment in view of the fact that Mr. Taormina’s previous fine was reduced and fines are usually doubled in the case of a second violation.  Mrs. Cameron stated that normal fines for operating without a permit are generally $400 to $500 (willful violation) for an initial violation and then are doubled for a second violation.

Ms. Morgan did not accept Mr. Greenhouse’s amendment.  Mr. McLaughlin suggested a friendly amendment to the resolution changing the penalty from $600 to $800.  Both Ms. Morgan and Mr. Greenhouse accepted this as a friendly amendment. 

Vote:  Ayes – 6; No – 1 (Mr. Greenhouse).  Motion Carried.   

Executive Session: 

At 12:55 P.M. Mr. Greenhouse moved to adjourn to Executive Session for the purpose of discussing personnel issues and the draft 2011 Budget, seconded by Dr. Tyler; carried unanimously.

Out of Executive Session & Adjournment:

At 1:40 P.M. Dr. Tyler moved to adjourn from Executive Session and Adjourn the meeting, seconded by Mr. McLaughlin; carried unanimously.