##VIDEO ID:DFDeX2NjDtI## e e e e e e e e and the a little bit okay [Music] there you go okay mhm got my blank hey folks hello hello how are we we are all here except Jerry um so guess we could probably get started I'm sure she'll join us I haven't heard otherwise okay so I'm gonna call the meeting to order welcome everybody um seems like we just met you know I know right um so I'm gonna call the meeting to order if you can just uh state your name um I'll go alphabetically s s yep s here Carrie Harry Janelle here Sophie Sophie Hansen here Kevin Kevin seon here Joan Joan Wetzel here and Rick Lopez um so in terms of uh the agenda for tonight just a quick review we have um introduction of our new Administrative Assistant we'll have some public comment if there's anybody to join us um we have a variance request that we're going to vote on at 1051 Main Street and then we have uh a series of um regulation uh updates and proposals one around the human habitation which we reviewed um at at our last meeting we're going to go over it again uh we have an RFP for a comprehensive Road and Management Consultant and then um regulation update on um dumpsters and uh the food code and then our usual monthly uh report and uh we'll wrap it up so uh I'll turn it over to a day for introduction all right thank you very much Dr Lopez and good evening everybody I would like to introduce our new Health Department administrative assistant her name is Haley Murphy haly comes to us with vast experience from the hospitality industry uh which is extremely important when dealing with our residents and people in general um she's currently working on her degree in business administration hay start date was on December 2nd and uh she has hit the ground running since then she's been adjusting very well and learning our software with the lightning speed we're happy a is here with us and uh please join me in welcoming haly to our health department welcome welome thank [Music] you I I I I just have to say when when I saw one message from Haley I was confused for a second because I thought I was getting a message from two of the select board members and I was concerned I made the same assessment when I looked at it real quick I'm like why did they just call me I was like what is happening but no it was it was a whole not we have our own Haley Murphy so welcome great all right in terms of um public comment um I see a couple members of the public Jen and Mary say I don't know if they're on just to observe or to um comment uh Jen hi hi welcome thanks thanks for um having me and allowing me to speak again tonight sure I'm gonna try to be brief I know you have a long agenda but there are several points that I really wanted to make tonight first I wanted to acknowledge the efforts of this board in um addressing the rodent issues across the town I know that this is a challenging problem and I do hope that the remediation initiatives are successful however I really want to emphasize that my neighbors and I have been raising concerns about a very specific issue for over five years and I have personally been advocating for over a year myself with still no meaningful action um the the issue is pretty straightforward this uncovered dumpster with an ample food waste located next to a brook with an active rodent population I mean it's really a textbook example of a public health hazard that requires immediate attention yet it remains unresolved and the lack of meaningful enforcement or accountability for this business is becoming increasingly frustrating I mean just this morning and right now that dumpster is left wide open and it was all night long so it's not something even if some small action was taken within the last 30 days it's not been effective enough and I also would like to say that I strongly disagree with delaying action on this specific issue to develop a rodent activity map for the town while I can appreciate that the map can provide helpful insight it should not come at the expense of addressing a known acute problem within the town and I question the validity of that data also I mean for example I know a resident on Charles Street who observed a rat in their yard but they never reported that activity to the town because many residents are unlikely to think of even contacting town hall for such an issue so if the map is going to be a useful tool I would suggest that it needs to have or maybe see click fix needs to have rodent activity as a reportable category to encourage broader and more accurate data collection um just a few other things and then I will let you get on with it but you know I also would like to address the town's dumpster program and I know that it's on the agenda tonight but why it was publicly posted on the website if the town did not have the authority to enforce the program I'm just questioning you know why is it being presented as an active initiative I know you know if there have been any steps and I think that they have um but if steps have been taken in the last month to give them program real Authority or to address the issues behind 274 Main Street it would be great if we could get an update on on that tonight and if not it would be great to understand why um lastly I'd really like to understand how this board is addressing public nuisance complaints specifically the ones filed by my neighbors and myself over the past year but according to the Mass General Law chapter 111 section 122 you guys would know better than I would the Board of Health is requ to examine into all nuisances sources of Filth and causes of sickness within the town I mean it feels like a clear directive and I'm just left wondering whether this board is choosing not to categorize these complaints as public nuisances or if it's just not taking them seriously or not filling these particular responsibilities I really would like to urge the board to develop clear and a clear and actionable process for addressing public nuisance complaints with accountability measures in place for businesses and Property Owners immediate enforcement of existing regulations such as securing the dumpsters is going to be an important step to toward resolving this problem and preventing further public health risks um I recognize that rent mitigation requires a proactive approach but if you if you if we're not holding these businesses accountable for basic standards which you know five years one year today that dumpster Still Remains open then we're not preventing food waste from becoming a food source for rodents and any mitigation that you attempt is going to fall short so I really you know I really do hope that this board can can offer some concrete actions this evening okay thank you Jen appreciate your comments um and I think we'll hear more about um rodent's dumpsters and Pineville um over the next um hour or two there's um there is work being done but uh let me ask um Mary C is there is do you want to make any comments or um should we move on because I'm not sure not hearing from Mary C I think I will I had to figure it out hi my name is Mary Cooper and I'm I'm a tenant at 1051 Main Street and that's going to be the next topic so okay I'm joining in tonight so that I can be you know up to date as to what you guys are going to decide and I can know how things are going to work moving forward here in my house okay well that's that's a perfect segue um to our next agenda item um which is 1051 Main Street and I'll turn that over to a day uh to shepher that discussion uh real quickly uh Rick and day before we go into that I just wanted to bring um something up to the board so um a friend of mine is a mutual friend of Charlie uh baros and reached out to me the other day and asked me if to give him a call um within regards to the inspection report that we all saw um in our emails so I I raise it to the board because um I don't feel like it's something I need to um step out of the room for or preclude myself from from discussions in it however I I don't want to make that decision for the board if the if board members so wanted to you know felt more comfortable with me um recusing myself from the discussion I'm happy to do that as well too um but I I don't know um Charlie Baro I just know where there was a mutual friend of ours um I thought it'd be worthy just to bring it up to you all could I say something quick too sure um I've also been at a an event with charie I maybe talk to him for five or 10 minutes just to put it out in the open I I you know I don't even know if Charlie remembers be talking to him but I just want to tell everybody that I've talked to him before too and and um so uh I Mr Barbo did some work for for me um on one of my on on my my sofa um and also what happens I do have a close personal friendship with um his niece seems like everybody knows Charlie for real fast here yeah right well you know I think I mean I think that um it's hard to make uh you know this decision sort of um spot on in the in the middle of a meeting um yet we have to given the situation I think we have to uh make a vote I guess um it's always it's always safer to uh recuse yourself if there's any question or concern in terms of uh meeting the you know state requirements um around conflicts of interest um you know and and I guess that would uh um in doing so that would that would be either uh I mean if there's a wide range here if you had a five minute conversation um I wouldn't think that would be enough to uh influence unless you feel it would be on the other hand if the individual has done work for you and you've had had more of a relationship it may be of an issue so what I would what I would suggest unless a day has um some other thoughts on this um would be to ask uh individually right now ask S Kevin and Carrie um again if you feel that the relationship that you have uh with Mr Barbo is Salient and significant enough that you would feel more comfortable being recused I if if all three recuse uh we can always um Elevate um Sophie to um a full member for a quorum and have the discussion and make a vote on it so um Kevin I can we can certainly start with you yeah as I said I'm fine moving forward um I'm about as impartial of a person as you're gonna come across so um I've I've had about a 10-minute conversation over the phone in regards to this specific issue I just I we're not uh acquaintances whatsoever so okay so you're you're fine with that um S I feel the same I mean it was just you know talk about the weather talk about you know inconsequential things so 5 10 minutes was I'm very impartial okay and Carrie yeah I'm I like Kevin I consider myself pretty impartial um I um I have never socialized with Mr Barbo um you know and and my friendship with his niece is is kind of independent of that but I just wanted to be transparent okay very good um you know I think um in terms of taking a lesson from this because this is actually the first time this has even come up um in the five years I've been on the board and often our freeboard information doesn't come out until late the day before so there's very little time to you know uh have this discussion and make a decision and and so forth we'll have to a day and I will we we'll think a little bit about this and uh maybe uh discuss with Town Council if there are ways that we can um inform people maybe sooner around particular issues that um where there could be conflicts of interest so that um those decisions can be made you know prior to the board meeting but we're I think we're all set for now so I'm going to turn it back over to a day for the discussion right thanks Dr Lopez on December 3rd we responded to a complaint at 1051 Main Street we uh conducted a comprehensive inspection and found multiple violations that needed to be corrected the violations include but are not limited to missing smoke alarms Windows not capable of being locked or staying up when [Music] open um in this instance there's no window at all it's just uh you know Plywood And you know the air conditioning system um in some of the rooms there there are broken window panes there's some cracks on the walls and um you know the foundation area is not weathertight and we also found some Burrows on the the property um as you all know Mr babo who is the owner of the property is here tonight from what I understand he's uh currently working on bringing the house back into compliance I believe he has replaced the smoke detectors and um he has secured the windows that are not capable of being locked I did have one he can I can I say one thing real quick yeah yeah go ahead so I was looking at the variance application and at the bottom of the variance application it says that we don't that this has to be in a week before and it was only two days before that he signed this so I don't know I mean I don't want to take his you know if we're doing something special for Jolly I don't know but I that's for internal purposes only so we try to get people to turn it in earlier so we can plan better okay I just pointing that yes that's fine yes it is so pretty much um you know um Mr bble is requesting an extension of compliance time and um I would you know pass it over to Mr bab to State his name again and tell the board the circumstances surrounding in his uh request and um how much additional time he's going to need to get this um you know violations taken care of thanks um I'm Charles babo I live at 1055 Main Street in Reading and we're talking about the property next door at 1051 and I before we get started I'd like to apologize to the board because this never should have came before you the first I've seen of these violations uh or heard of these or but any record from Mary was your letter uh registered letter that showed up at the house on Saturday immediately uh I was called on Thursday by the uh fire chief uh I went down and bought smoke detectors and they were installed and and running on on Friday before I got this letter um fully uh uh uh going to comply and fix everything that needs to be fixed without without question um but every one of the windows in the house have been uh need uh to be repaired and are not available for parts and mechanisms that are broken in the disarray no handles on the windows the gears are stripped from using Vice scripts to open and close them um the uh uh most of the other stuff is pretty easily fixable um I talked to my contractor he says he's you're looking at uh three to four months before he's got to Auto Windows uh then once they come in then he would make arrangements to come down and install them and he's running on that for an average uh it's home one he's another gentleman that's from Reading uh that does all my work and I can get to something in writing if need be um but I certainly plan to uh to bring everything back the way it needs to be to to comply the uh Burrows that were found under the house uh are are from uh Wildlife being fed outside um we've got families of skunks family of raccoons fisher cat couple of groundhogs I've myself have trapped three large siiz rats that have got into my property um that um and multiple multiple squirrels three times I've had them in my attic and had had to have them uh extracted um so and and um there's a bird feeder on Mary's property and and and this is what they're also feeding off of other than um some stuff that's been left outside to feed the animals um which I've asked Mary a couple times now to to stop feeding the wildlife um but that's what the borrows are from the foam that's underneath the foundation um Mary felt that the uh animals were getting in so she put moth balls around the foundation and then immediately closed up the foundation with foam spray uh along with several places in the house with foam spray um the uh and evidently must have locked something in underneath her house um then it caused uh a fly issue and an odor I call the Exterminator um they said they would not open up walls and Foundations and so forth to try to extract anything and that um for a short period of time the the Flies would go away um the uh so that wasn't an option of trying to find the Yoda uh but everything the uh that is on the list if if she' come to me with a list and and and gave it to me I mean this could have been totally avoided um and uh I don't know if there's any other questions that you guys might have uh I don't know if any of you have tried to call a plumber contractor or or uh you know or anything of that nature they're um nobody can come out till after the first of the year they're all book solid and they can't do the work until um you know roughly three to four months is the average I got I call two other contractors uh that I don't know that don't do work for me and I uh if at all possible I would like to use home one to do all my work he's the person I trust and he he does a lot of work in this area um and I I think other than that that's pretty much it but I've been in there every day uh since I've got the letter Saturday um and uh uh taking the uh time for my own business and family to do as much as I possibly can uh to get these strained out all the windows have been secured and are latched closed and and and uh and the broken window has been replaced um the fire detectors are are been replaced and working I actually went up to the the fire chief and showed him the ones I bought that didn't comply that he said were in stock and it didn't look like they complied to me and he said yeah those are no good you need to get these other ones and I'm like well they don't have them and he says oh I was there yesterday they got tons of them so he went on his phone online and he goes oh yeah I goes they don't he go but so I ordered them and then they were going to be here the following day which would be Friday um and he said just do me a favor get them in as soon as possible and soon as they came in on Amazon on Friday night I went down put them in hooked them up and and and uh and they're working um so those have been replaced so the issues of the windows now if we do replace them which um I called uh the uh Anderson window and their uh and PS department and old window department they do well they do do not make the mechanisms for the windows that are all stripped and the handles broken off so the windows will have to be totally replaced U with new windows is which is the Dilemma for mostly the uh the delay the tiles on the bathroom floor and so forth also it needs a tile person to come in to do those uh uh have not heard from he he does tiling also he's a general contractor cont ractor so he's got uh his you know several people on a crew that do all this that he contracts out and uh but and two other tile people I called have not even called me back yet uh so it's extremely difficult and in that aspect is trying to get uh you know anything done in any short period of time although the uh the holes in the tile floor I will go in and fill um and seal all that off um the uh and I I think that pretty much covers everything on the list um and and again I I apologize to the board for taking this you know valuable time is mine and yours something that didn't need to you know even come before you I believe and uh and I've been uh you know with Mary for a long time or she's been with me for a very long time uh for very substantial discount and as the uh and I just hopeing you know the board takes that into consideration not that it that has anything in realm to do with the repairs that are going to be done but uh I have always and and done my best to do best the best by her and I I think that I don't if you guys have any other questions or and so forth I the uh and that's it I guess I just had the one question about like the smoke detect this with the smoke with smoke detective's gone I I read because she was smoking in the house I have no idea I I don't know where they went is that why they were gone yeah wondering who took them down yeah the smoke detectors were gone um they uh the handles on the windows are missing and they're gone um the uh and I did have to have a variance to have tenants in there and Mary's been there for 22 years um and this is the first you know uh problem that we've had uh I didn't know they were missing the fire chief went there for whatever reason or I would assume that Mary called The Board of Health to come in and or whoever and he was one one of them that came notice the wires hanging all three smoke detectors are are out and gone um and they're uh uh didn't take any time at all to replace and rewire but they were hiwire so were still working uh I assume at least I had no no notice that they weren't I had no notice that they were missing um and and so for and I I don't really think there's much on the on the on the other on the rest of it um the air conditioner that's in the window with the board on it is is the tenants it's not the landlords it was not supplied by the landlord uh or put in by the landlord uh the outside outside of the house we talked about already um the cracks in the walls and and around the windows and everything all have sprayed in foam filled in around them that evidently Mary felt that that was the best way to do it without uh asking me for permission to uh are checking of maybe you're Googling you know how to seal up around the moldings uh which would have been just cocking so um do any of the board members have comments questions yes Kevin um yeah I have a uh just a just a couple of questions um I guess comments um so the the first question I would have is coming off of the report itself um a day and I know I spoke to you the other day but I forgot to ask you um is that standard procedure to give one day um fixes is that um like can you just because I you know I I work with contractors a lot as well too and I know that's it's not a feasible um thing to be able to do um in a lot of those regards so could you walk me through that yes so we go by the time frame on the code um anything that has to do with uh smoke detectors um that's a 24-hour violation it needs to be you know repaired within 24 hours anything that has to do with um you know rodent rats being able to gain access into somebody's um dwelling is a 24hour um violation that needs to be um taken care of right away um so some of those violations State um one day and some of them State 30 days so um it just depends on what the code says okay so it's we're just basically going off the code correct and the reason I raised the question is I know in general this board and your department um certainly has looked to um make people comply rather than to find them into it um you know work with us not not not have us force you to do so through through fines and it's just it struck me as odd to because those things weren't going to get fixed in a day couldn't get fixed in in a day and that's going to make it um put that person into um you know a finable offense which I think what kind of raised all all the alert um on this one anyways um and so you know I I understand that this you know it seems like Mary and yourself child have had a a long history um together um it sounds like you're um you have kind of the the um the report in front of you to start working at and so I think um you know my question would be you know saying two or three months for some of the for some of these things to be fixed fixed um that sounds like more like that's a permanent fix right is there is there like you know a handyman that can come out and temporarily set these things up in in the interim while you're waiting on contractors to actually do the permanent work is that that that's what's being done now and myself and my uh uh property manager is doing this the handyman stuff and securing everything that needs to be like the windows have now been secured um the next thing I got to do is is uh uh work on the tiles in the bathroom um and and uh and I think that's pretty that's pretty much it and everything is U that we possibly can do shy of uh taking out the windows putting new making new openings and putting the new windows in it's beyond our realm uh it needs to be done by a contractor sure sure but that's that's in the works as well too yes that is I I actually called him today in case I and I said I'm going to need a time frame tonight because I'm sure that's going to be the next question and what what are we looking at and when could you get in to do it um he was like it's it goes just tell him three to four months he says I got to get in measure the windows put a special water in because they're all on very small so they're not not standard stock replacement windows and that they would uh um he says that's once the windows come in and we aut them then it would be uh you know anywhere from four to four to8 weeks for me the schedule to put them in he won does not schedule till the products are all in uh for the fact that it you know he he has to keep moving from job to job um but it it is it is in the works um and I don't see any problem in you know and continuing and doing it okay that's all I have a day do you have a recommendation my recommendation would be to uh Grant a two we extension two weeks Mr Buble um as long as um the violations are I have to go through each one but like the ones that are one day violations as long as those are taken care of um there 18 violations and I think three of them are 30 days and the rest are one correct so so so I guess what I have a question so I guess with Charlie's explanation could it be two weeks for the temporary repairs that he has to do and then schedule out the permanent fixes absolutely so if if he's going to change all the windows right I mean we we understand going take a while exactly he's going to need more than two weeks but he's if he's going to put some kind of luck on it you know or temporary handle for it to be at least functional within two weeks then that's that sounds reasonable to me they they can't be they can't be made functional can only be lock closed the windows have I I I I had a two or three conversations with Anderson the pots are no longer available the the U mechanism are in such a disr that they're uh they can't be operated um so they they they are already a fixed closed um the I am in the process of putting a a ceiling fan in the bathroom because now we don't have a window in the bathroom that opens so that will cover the code for the bathroom and which my contractor said we have to do uh if the window doesn't open which is not a problem that'll probably be done tomorrow or the day after and I'm already uh you could already come in and do another inspection and and and see that everything that's uh that needs to be done immediately is taken care of um the outside of the building we're going to recap board and everything again may not be able to be done till the better part of the weather um and when the contractor comes the uh and but it is uh the ply with that's on the outside and the foam again was not done by me um you know uh it was done by the tenant um and that when he comes at all that can be addressed um and uh and so forth um and Mary's typing I'm looking at her types now the windows are 22 years old the windows in my house are over 50 years old and I don't have one that needs to be replaced all right that's and uh and they're all landerson windows also um and so forth so I mean that's and I'm you know like I said I'm I'm probably ready for you wanted to come down and inspected 90 90% of what can be done just getting ready to head into the bathroom to to work on the floor uh literally can be a couple of holes in the tile that there is a uh uh a main underneath the the bathroom floor um that has a subdo that's cking around it in the tile to get to it um that there's a hole in that because she's had a couple frozen pipes in the bathroom in the past years a couple of years now and before that we would put a space heater in to throw the pipes um and that's what the hole in the floor was for that can be closed up it's not it should be there no I don't think so either and but the tiling the crack tiles on the floor would be the whole floor FL probably has to be retied okay Mr Mr bar hold on so a day um you're saying that the fire and monoxide detectors have been replaced and that was a that was sort of one day and that the standard would be 30 days for everything else is that that's what and and everything else that doesn't have to do with rodent entry into the dwelling unit so like the the holes he can close those holes you know in the bathroom on the bathroom floor yeah he doesn't need four months for that so and there's never been any rodents in the house right we can't you know we can't at three to four months that's that's a long time in my mind and I think you know I think for the windows um the we might we might go longer than uh we might go to three months you know but I think for everything else it ought to be it ought to be reasonable to have some fixes in place um you know certainly before three months and if the law um if we're already granting 30 days that's Jan that would be January 3D that's 30 days after following the inspection um you know maybe what would be reasonable would be um to expect um the fixes to be completed except for the windows which may take longer um you know and by February 1 or or by February 13th which is when uh our NE our February board meeting is um and perhaps have have a report back at that point uh to see where things are what ad day what do you think of that well again you know like things like the the hes on the floor can be done he doesn't need um you know 60 days to to get that taken care of um you know if a window doesn't have a hand he can screw a handle on the window um temporarily or put some form of um you know temporary whatever he needs to do if not um from what I I think the only thing that warrants a 4mon extension will be the window replacement nothing else and maybe the foundation if he's going to you know try to do the foundation over over um maybe but like you know holes in the ceiling um holes there are no but the ceiling ceiling holes are fixed they're done okay which were caps for recess lighting that covers that were broken and missing again I don't know how they could get broken in the ceiling but they did and they were and the Rings were gone th those are done already okay so yeah but from from my understanding the only thing we on four month extension will be the the window replacement window replacement in the foundation the outside boarding correct yeah and I think that's all I think that's the only thing that's not not really done yet the uh um like I said the uh four windows in the front do open two two of them the ropes are broken on the on the weights inside to hold the window up when you open it I can give her a piece of wood if she wants wants to put in the window in the meantime if she wants to open them um and there several of them are missing screens or broken screens and so forth too um so why don't we why don't we uh given given that he has 30 days that's January 3D why don't why don't we um Grant an extension to February 1 to pretty much have everything done except the windows and possibly the uh I think I think what we need to see by February 1 is a good faith effort to address the vast majority of the issues that were raised and we understand window replacement can take time and certainly if there's a a found major foundational issue that could take time but what I would like to see is a good faith issue a good faith effort by February 1 to address virtually all the other issues um and so I would make a motion and we can either vote it up or down or you know um to Grant an extension to February 1 um for all the issues uh except for the window replacements and um I'm not sure where where the found maybe the foundational issues if if they require um a major uh uh intervention um and then we can we can report back at the February 13th board meeting uh to see if any further extensions are are warranted so again my motion would be February 1 for all the items with the exception of the windows um and uh and possibly the foundation so that would be all the issues that were raised um in the report um and that we bring back we bring this back to the board February 13 uh to see if um any further action is going to be necessary I have a question yes um I think a day just said that 18 of the violations were one day violations 18 violations there's I think three of them are 30 maybe four of them I think three or 30 days the rest are all one day from the date of notice so my question is why would we Grant him two months on the one day violations I thought I thought a day was saying he would give them give him two weeks two for for um non-permanent fixes but they had to be fixed in some some fashion that some acceptable fashion right was that what you said have already been fixed yeah um okay he said 90% of them are already fixed Charlie said himself so and and one way or another and I I with u and I can see Mary typing while I'm talking that the rodent problem or the the animal problem I don't know what we do about that that needs to be um I've got you know pictures and so forth of families of raccoons at are back door and in the yard um there she used to put food out in the parking lot in under my my storage unit uh because they were living under that um um and that's the reason that there was borrowing under the house um again that's so that I would I would like to move on from this discussion we've spent a half hour talk talking about this um I did not hear a second to my motion does anyone else want to make a motion um for short a period of time longer period of time other than February 1 um you know I was I would second your motion because he has 90% I he supposedly had 90% done already I would second your motion right thank you any any further discussion Carri before we vote yeah sorry before we go what's the schedule for reinspection to to ascertain if if the fixes have been made you know pursuant to our request pursuant to the inspection report so uh typically um for the one day violations um you know he already took care of most of those um and we verified that I'm just it's it's it's a little hard for me to kind of keep track of where we are on on we have we have three people three departments enforcing the issues we have enforcement from from the building department we have enforcement from the fire department and then we have enforcement from the health department and we're all in communication with each other um the fire department verified that you know that has been taken care of so we can go by you know what they're telling us okay um that's I just I like I said it's just it's a little I I read but it's a little trying to understand the progress is is where I'm I'm I'm getting tangled up that was helpful thank you ad day yeah I agree with you Carrie so like after two weeks everything should be fixed to acceptable conditions so while we checking on that I guess is amendment to the motion hopefully well do we want to amend the motion to to state that there should be um an it there should be an inspection then done um you know pick a date um you know possibly right before uh next meeting right well maybe January in the first week in January um and then again uh February 1 if that's yeah you know and then we will have the meeting February 13th and we can uh we can assess whether adequate progress has been made and I mean we don't have to wait till that time he said he's GNA put a ventilation mechanism in the bathroom right once gets done with that he can call us we'll take a look he's going to uh close the holes on the floor once he he gets done he can call us so we don't have to wait till February to do a reinspection we can like um in real time okay yeah I I second obviously again second you motion Richard okay I'm going uh remind what the motion is again sorry the motion yeah the motion again is that um all the repairs will have been completed no later than February 1 with the exception of the replacement of the windows and if a major foundational change has to be or intervention has to be done that that may take longer but other than those two uh items everything else um will have been uh completed by February 1st as a day say they can check ongoing between before then um I I think I think ultimately we we will need an inspection no later than February 1 to visually ensure that everything has been done um and and then we would bring this back to the board on February 13 um to see if you know things were completed so uh it's everything but everything but the windows okay go ahead Carrie you have Ballo the balloons I have no control over I don't know why that happen but um I I given that the that the bulk of the violations cited were one day violations February 1st feels like a long time off a long time is my concern um and given that we have indications from a day that that progress and from the the property owner that that progress is being made on addressing all of them I I wouldn't want to um slow momentum um so I don't know if if and and a day you can tell me if I'm wrong but I you know I think you had originally said maybe a a two week window um and that you know seems to me like that would be fair I just I don't want us to be seeing seeming lenient on numerous one day violations you know the the one day violations in the code are not um they're one day because they're serious and and I don't want us to be um inadvertently giving lency on on an area of the code that is is is um you know treated more seriously so maybe a friendly amendment to um to adjust the time frame from February 1st to um I don't know what the two week period is um I agree Gary I was under the impression that's what I was seconding that two weeks is the the time the time limit to get all the serious ones so that would be that would January 6 January 6th right our next meeting I mean there is a mitigating factor of this is in the middle of the holiday season and new years's and um I in terms of getting contractors and people in it's a little tougher but you know we could we could i' I'd be comfortable amending it to January 6th um to have everything done but those two other larger items and you I would also advise that you put a time limit on those other two items for foundation in the windows you don't want to leave it open-ended um do you have a a recommendation for that you probably do I mean it's it's hard to say you know we start we start playing a lot of he said she said games um you know with contractors not saying it's going on here but you know I can only go off of what Charlie said to his contractor that he uses telling three to four months my guess is he's it's probably could be done sooner than that if need be um you know it it really comes down to the ordering that's that's the biggest problem with with Windows it's not the contractor's time to put them in it's can contractor get them um and I've driven by this this particular um um house all the time back and forth to um school kids and they are not um sitting there somewhere in a warehouse they're going to be made it's just they don't make these sizes um so that always adds time to it how much time that is unless you call up Harvey windows tonight and get a quote from them I have no clue what that kind of window takes but I just think we should have at least some time frame on it so saying three to four months might not go three maybe maybe we just say the next meeting that Charlie can come with the it's within three weeks Charlie can come with the time frame to us and ask for another variance right because guessing better idea so guessing is gonna do no good for us right now just come back with us with the you know time frame yep for both the foundation and the windows right yeah exactly okay so then you should just make it all the same um again because of the holiday I'd push it out past the 6th into the following week um and then maybe we can have all that wrapped up as well as the estimates for the timeline on the foundation and windows as well right then we'll know if everything all the other items are tied up too at that point because it'll be past the two weeks yeah I is that our meeting week though is that what you worried about Rick a January meeting is uh January 9th right okay okay so I don't wanna I don't want to push this into February given the sense no we don't want to push it past that right so so the six is fine worst case scenario is he has to come back with force on the ninth to extend the variance right right yeah perfect I'd put everything for for the six then because then he can just request at the that hey I need a variance on the windows I need a variance on the foundation here's the timeline okay makes sense so is that a motion Kevin I think it was a friendly amendment to go from February 1 by Kerry to January 6 January 6 for all items for all items and report back to the board on the on January 9th if uh if they're not all completed y so you just need to accept that as a friendly motion Okay so you since you made the motion right okay you accept the friendly amendment I I accept the amendment to my motion and S you seconded it and I did you're with that okay let's take a roll call vote uh s yes Carrie yes um Kevin yes Joan yes and and uh yes Rick okay so uh so I just before we we walk away from this I just want to make um um just just say something in regards to what's going on I know there's a lot lot of um um chatter back and forth about the conditions the the Health Department's role here is to bring the home into compliance we do not deal with Aesthetics um that's between tenant and landlord um so you know Charlie and Mary suggest you know you kind of get your heads together and and and and come up with that component of it our side is really just compliance I just want to make sure that everybody understands that well said thanks Kevin yeah thanks you okay thank you Mr Barbo thank you Mary and uh we're going to move on to um the next item which is uh an update on the regulations for human habitation so uh good day Amelia all right um thanks Dr Lopez so um and real quick sorry cut you off a day Mary and Charlie you're both welcome to stay for our entire meeting but you are not obligated to do so if you want log on whatever's whatever you'd like to do who else I'm sorry before we continue I and I had no way of knowing this but I have to jump off at 8 I have a client emergency that I have to tend to I'm not voting so I don't think I'm going to mess anything up but I apologize I thanks so sorry folks okay I will see you soon thanks bye all right so at the last meeting um the board uh discussed updates to the human habitation regulation which is section 10 uh just to give you guys a quick uh recap um you know we added a section about uh pest elimination we also added uh section regarding refu um you know collection and storage and also um maintenance of areas in a sanitary and safe condition and of course we uh updated the um penalties and fees so um you know this was um discussed at the last meeting so that the board would have um you know time to further review the amendment and uh possibly take a vote to adopt uh the amendment tonight so um yes I'll pass it on to Dr Lopez um if you guys are comfortable voting on the amendment minutes tonight that's fine if you need more time for review that's fine as well one question I had a day was um and I think I think this was answered last at the last meeting but the the um changes in the regulation that are you know highlighted in yellow um these are these taken from state regulations to be made specific to to reading I mean these weren't created denovo these were these are um I don't I don't know they're from the state state regulation okay and so the state has these regulations as um for possible adoption by local local cities and towns but otherwise don't apply currently is that correct are they are they sort of model regulations that cities and towns can adopt and we're adopting it for reading or we we are just we're updating um the you know habitation human habitation code for for reading the previous um code pretty much has nothing in it right nothing to really enforc so we're just ording it to make sure it's in alignment with you know the state regs and uh you know when people go to the website they don't go searching for you know Massachusetts state regulation and things like that they actually go on the website and they look at you know they look for uh the town regulations and things like that so we thought it would be best for us to like align our own um reading codes with the state code right and Amilia do you have anything you would like to chime in no not at this time of day thanks so this sorry I'm sorry you go um so so we are essentially adopting the updated State sanitary code and incorporating it into our regulation so it's explicitly clear to anyone who comes to as you said a day to check the the reading bylaws and and regs that that these are the rules and these rules go back to the state sanitary code if the state were to update the sanitary code in the future and I know they're not going to anytime soon because it just happened but um but if they were we would still be bound by what we have adopted until such time as we adopted the new sanitary code correct thanks so this is word for word the state regulations pretty much yeah um okay I and we we won't change it at all we're not discussing changing it we're just taking it as is correct Kevin do you have a comment um no I I was just trying to get around so I think what you were trying to um um discuss um in regards to that Rick let me okay then then let me ask a day just a slight Twist on this make sure I'm clear is if this is current state regulation even though it doesn't appear in our current reading regulation are we still uh required to follow this regardless of whether we formally adopt it or not we should be following this today at this moment not and so the purpose of incorporating it into the reading regulation is really to make it clearer to our residents who might go to our website and is that is that that's yes that's one of the main reasons the other reason is the the other the prior regulation was in conflict with the updated State regs okay yeah I guess also right so the state regulations really can't be enforced by the Reading Town inspector unless we adopt it into the reading is that true no um we can't but yes so so the state regulation is vast it's like almost I don't know like almost 80 Pages or 90 pages so we this is just the human habitation section of the state regulation and we have a human habitation regulation specific to town of Ren that is in conflict with the state regulation so what we did was to update our regulation that's in conflict with the state regs the newly updated State regs to align both regulations for consistency purposes so can you walk through in Conflict what that exactly means does that mean that we can't um is that have we been bound to go by what we have on the books and not the state or so you know somebody can say that the state is telling us to do this but you are telling us to do this you know okay right really we're really just talking Clarity here more than anything yes same thing same thing we deal with in uh in Congress like federals will come in and state will come in completely different Rule books and you you it's just a conflict so yeah that's I mean that's smart and I think Amilia has something to say yeah Amilia um hopefully this kind of clarifies it a little better so our old regulation goes off of the old housing code and in April of either last year the year before sorry two years ago they amended it and changed the entire housing code so what we had as a town is no longer um in guidelines with the state sanitary code that we can always enforce so for the housing inspection that we just discussed that was based off of the state sanitary housing code we want to amend this regulation so that it meets the new housing code but also highlights specific aspects of that code being pests refuge and collection and storage of any debris on private properties so that way if we do run into an instance that a property is harbouring trash and it's causing a pest nuisance we have the ability to State our specific regulation and we don't have to we don't have to State the state regulation it still corresponds with the state guidelines of the sanitary code it's just we would be enforcing Our Town regulation that correlates with that state sanary code and I hope that kind of clarified that a little bit better that's perfect thank you so I would make a motion to adopt the proposed uh revision Visions to the reading um uh human habitation uh codes for Section 10 second roll call South yes Carrie yes Kevin yes Joan yes andrick yes so those regulations are adopted okay just um before we move on real quickly just to get back to um public comment that Jen was referring to earlier is this something a day that makes it a lot easier now to go um and and make the um compliance with the with the dumpster issue that's going on um yes possibly uh but the dumpster regulation which we are going to uh propose to you tonight would better um address that spefic regulation than this fine yep okay moving on okay a day want talk about the RFP right all right so uh if you recall at the last meeting I stated that the select board approved the reallocation of the remaining APPA funds in the amount of $1,359 91 to go towards uh rodent mitigation efforts apparently um all APPA funds need to be encumbered by December 31st um in other words we have to get a binding contract by December 31st if we don't the funds will be returned to the US Treasury so um that's something we don't want to do all right so in the hopes of securing a contract before December 31st uh we sent out a request for quotes and uh we did that yesterday to uh we sent it to five companies for rodent control services to portions of the Town um you know at this point we only have $21,300 rather than lose the $21,300 um you know we want to secure something and then maybe later on try to get additional funding but we don't want to lose this $21,300 so we pretty much sent out a quote um a request for quote for that amount you know so um let's see so the areas one second So based on this uh request for quotes right um there will be Road and control services um you know U to portions of the town and these areas include sidewalks public areas and public spaces on and around Main Street starting from Park a so Main Street all the way down to Washington Street and then Washington all the way down to Prescott Street Prescott all the way down to sunnide a and then if we go back to Washington um Washington to Min Street and then to Warren a and then on this other section of the town is going to be Western Road through Longfellow Road and then Park View Road and then alurn Street see all right so we are hopeful that uh we will uh execute a contract before December 31st deadline and um I've been in talks with the town manager and I uh made a new proposal that would um pretty much allow DPW to contract with their own pest control company that will cater specific to dpw's construction schedule um DPW knows their you know their construction schedules they know when National grd is coming to open up the roads they know when construction is going on on the roads they know when drain laning activities is going to occur so there's no reason why they cannot have a pest control company that works directly with them and with their schedule to proactively prevent the spread of rodents due to construction so um this proposal was well received by the town manager and I believe uh he's going to uh act on it so we'll see what happens but in the meantime our focus is to get this $21,300 encumbered and uh I'm hopeful that we will um get a contract by December 31st any questions no I have a couple questions I just want to or clarifications one is um you know there's a fixed amount which is the arpa funds of 21,300 um but I didn't unless I missed it I I didn't see a Time frame um in other words this doesn't go on for 10 years this that the 21,000 will be used up um so is is this over 12 months or 24 months or how do you think how you thinking about it as needed um if we need additional funding my hope is to go to town meeting April town meeting to uh uh you know secure some funding if possible but in the meantime we cannot let the US Treasury lay their hands on this 21,300 it shouldn't happen well you know they could use it for the national debt but I think you know probably use it as well but um so so in other words um would this work would are you proposing that um basically um we pay as they go and it could be we run through the 21,000 in nine month in three months because you know they're dealing with these areas regularly and so it could run out quickly so so given that we have less construction going on at this time of the year yeah and then the weather is cold um you know I don't expect them to run through this 21,000 within two months okay so and by the time it starts getting warmer we would be before the town men trying to get some additional funding okay and the other question I had was um there wasn't any specific mention of that issue we dealt with a year or two ago which was the uh the use of um poisons versus rodent contraception um so how would that be addressed here in this contract do would are they um do we have control over what kind of poisons they use so um it is in the uh request for quotes uh under this request Road and control is the use of properly registered safe Humane and en environmentally friendly pesticides and or the use of approved devices on an on call and as needed basis to provide accept acceptable levels of rodent population suppression in affected areas covered by this request for quotes so it is um addressed in this RFQ so so a contractor would know when they're sign on that safe Humane and environmentally friendly pesticides uh does not include absolutely so I also uh require a summary of the company's understanding of the requested Services okay and their specific approach to addressing our needs so um you know we can always clarify things during that you know phase of the RFQ right I would just you know I would just keep that in mind as you go through these you know responses to this is that we don't want to end up with um you know the same controversy we had around Washington Park absolutely we already moved in that direction uh absolutely contraception and um the last I this is more of a comment um that we didn't include the area around uh Pineville because that is specifically around a dumpster issue that we are addressing and and I think uh Amelia and or day will comment during the monthly update as to what we've done so far um but uh I I just wanted to make that comment and then lastly um as I understand it the and what's stated in the RFP is that this addresses rodent control in uh in those areas of reading that were outlined uh that are public uh public areas um that you know on private properties and around dumpsters or private properties those owners are responsible for that uh for that uh management but this is public spaces correct okay we can't go on private properties and you know bait their properties or but we can site them but we can inspect them we can site them and act and have them act so there's really there's really three pieces to this overall program just to be clear that there's the response to this RFP which we would get a contractor and we would be able to address the public areas in the in the areas provided there's uh DPW doing its share of rodent control when it when it plans construction which usually causes the the rodents to to be exposed and then there is um there is the sort of the private properties which can be restaurants or could be other private properties um and and when those uh when rodent problems appear in those private properties we as a health department and a board can site them and a and have them address their roading problems so it's a kind of multi-dimensional uh approach correct and in the meantime we'll take care of you know public areas embankments um public spaces you know sidewalks and things like that so this is really if there any are there any other comments or or questions um otherwise you know a day is g to take this and run with it in terms of getting a contract um in the next couple weeks and I should mention that there are a there is in fact a list of approved contractors for this kind of work uh so it's not the total Universe of contractors out there but I don't know can't was that list approved by the state I think it's yes is approved by the state right and so there's like a dozen companies that the state approves and so it's it's going to a limited number of pre-approved contractors uh who are reputable and and so forth okay okay Joan um I have a a question um referring back to when when Jen spoke with us um about adding rodent um sightings to the C click fix is anything that do you feel like that would be helpful um um they're already doing that um I'm not sure why sightings is already added to C click fix absolutely I just got um J just put one in um right before the meeting so I'm not sure why wasw of that terrific okay how quickly will we be able to move on regulations after uh uh citing well I guess that actually goes back to um the the the regulations now that we've updated those um because we really do need to move on this Pine Veil situation or Domino's situation I mean we are we are moving and they are they are complying you know but I think we're gonna hear more about that at you know at the monthly update okay okay let's um let's move on to the dumpster regulations all right so um let's see at the last m in um the board discussed uh updating uh dumpster regulation section 4 as well as our food code regulation section 9 Amelia has played a major role in updating these regulations I'm very thankful for that and uh I'll have her go ahead and give us a brief summary of both um updates and um for tonight this is for informational and discussion purposes only uh no votes will be taken tonight regarding these two uh regulation updates uh we anticip we anticipate a uh board vote at a subsequent meeting so I'll go ahead and uh pass it over to Melia thank you um ad so just to be conscious of our time here too I'm going to do a brief summary of um this regulation so we've revised our dumpster regulation to ensure proper compliance with the general laws of the Commonwealth specifically section 31a and 31b of chapter 111 the human habitation standards for the state which is 105 CMR 410 we've which we've talked about a little bit here tonight and the town of reading General bylaw um article one section 8.11 which is just general Provisions um we are hoping to broaden this regulation to Encompass not only commercial buildings but also to include residential and Industrial entities as well so if we start at section 4.1 when it comes to the pre-installation requirements we want to specifically specify the following so we would like a plan to be submitted to the health department regarding the location of this dumpster prior to a dumpster being placed on a property and they would also need to obtain a permit which is approval from us that that dumpster can be placed in that location we would also like a written agreement that clearly defines who is responsible for the maintenance maintenance and collection of that dumpster um we also want to ensure that any commercial building that occupies multiple businesses have access to a dumpster for their disposal and also that any owner of a dwelling containing two or more units any roaming house homeless shelter Etc is responsible for the final collection and disposal of that Refuge um our fees correlate with are permitting fees for annual dumpsters and temporary dumpsters in the town which is $50 for annual dumpster and $40 for a temporary dumpster at this moment um in section 4.3 our dumpster requirements are as follow so we would like all dumpsters to be enclosed or screened so that they're not visible from any public ways um and we will also be approving these enclosures prior to their installation um of course with temporary dumpsters they do not need to be screened as they are only placed there for a short amount of time also any instance that comes up regarding an enclosure issue will need to go through a variance request and be approved by the board for that variance um we also emphasize here as well that dumpsters cannot be picked up between the hours of n sorry that they are not to be emptied between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. and also that dumpsters need to be of a sufficient size to eliminate any overflow and if we feel that um sorry and that also dumpster lids and enclosures are closed when the dumpster is not in use along with routine weekly pickups will be required for all dumpsters as well um in the event that a dumpster persists as a nuisance we would like that the dumpster hauler is um responsible for deodorizing washing and sanitizing any dumpster that we deem necessary um along with haulers being responsible for ensuring that all contents of the dumpster is picked up and they prevent spillage when emptying these dumpsters uh we also ask that dumpsters again just to emphasize this are locked by the end of all business days to prevent any illegal dumping issues that may occur and also that temporary dumpsters shall comply with these Provisions as well regarding sanitation and picking up of those um dumpsters so when it comes to the authority of these dumpsters we're asking that if any dumpster is deemed a nuisance or has repeated violations the health department can order dumpsters to be enclosed if they're not already enclosed that their locations are changed the dumpster size is changed and additional pickups are added if that's needed um we want to also um order a dumpster to be added to any premises that may not have one but we feel could utilize one um and this determination will be based off of complaints inspections or nuisances that are causing environmental health risks to the town or the general public uh the health department and its agents reserve the right for random inspections to be conducted to ensure compliance of these regulations and we'd also like that corrective actions are ordered and if not followed we will take whatever legal action is necessary to correct these outstanding violations and of course any person has the right in writing to appeal 7 days of any suspension revocations or violations to the health department when it comes to penalties We are following our updated fine fees which is $50 for our first offense $100 for our second offense and $150 for our third offense and when it comes to our variance process again this is in regards to anything that is issued to an establishment that they feel was not just and also if a dumpster you know needs size revocations or anything of that nature they can also apply for a variance in writing to the board to be granted and that is our amended dumpster regulation thanks Amelia so as I stated earlier this is just um for discussion purposes we anti a board vote at a subsequent meeting um not tonight so um the board can take time to review um you know these amendments and um go from there at the next meeting so similar to our discussion earlier around the human habitation are these uh regulations proposed regulations are these created denovo um by us or are these an adoption from somewhere else it's a a combination of um the complaints that we've been receiving and how to internally address those complaints and also um how other towns um you know address their dumpster violations as well okay oh I had one question about the fines so it's 50 100 150 and after 150 is it every day afterwards so how does that work so here we're saying that it's going to be 150 for additional offenses so once we hit that third um 150 it'll be 150 every day after so each day that the offense continues shall constitute separate offenses but we'll go off of 150 as that is our highest um fine that we can issue so it would be every day after that yes correct okay okay if we get the chance to go there every day you know you know some people there's this impression that you know a dumpster management requires us to go to visit all the dumpsters in the town of reading on a daily basis that's not going to happen right so won't it won't be automatic it'll be whenever ailia goes again it'll be 100 so I guess what I'm asking is if if ailia goes January 1 and it was the third offense gives $150 fine and doesn't go back until December the maximum they'll get is $300 for the year so if it does come down to me having to go out every day I will be going out every day if that's what it has to take I'm hoping we don't have to get to that point because I'm you know I I want to work with our establishments and our commercial buildings and our residents but if it does have to come down to me going out every day you know then when that comes we can evaluate that I don't want you to have to do either yeah to total waste of time so okay thank you if there are no further questions we can move on to the um food code updates I just have just one real quick um in regards to uh 4.1.4 um this is by no ways intending to um U make uh a person with a a two or three family or or greater dwelling get a dumpster it just puts them as the responsible party for the disposal of the refu correct correct and um you know if we de you know it mandatory for sure problem sure correct if we're getting complaints and you know then we can make that determination I just wanted to make sure it wasn't compelling uh every two and three family or more to do so automatically you know what I mean yes okay thank you thank you all right if there are no further questions we can uh go on to um the food code updates Okay so we've updated our food regulation to be a bit more specific um and in correlation with the FDA 2013 food code and 105 CMR 590 State sanitary code chapter 10 minimum standards for food establishments um so we start here with our definitions section this just defines any abbreviated verbage that is in our regulation which I will not take up our time to read through um I've recategorized our food establishments to meet the fga risk retail standards for good practice so what that encompasses is food establishments are placed on a risk category 1 through four and it's off of their food process so if you're a convenience store and you're only selling prepackaged Foods you would be categorized as of risk category one if you are a sit down full service restaurant handling raw meat products maybe you have a um cooking cooling reheating reserving process that would put you into a risk category three and then our risk category fours are nursing home specifically um anyone with a hasset plan so that could be um sushi establishments anyone doing sving would put you into a risk category 4 and the risk categories are really to ensure proper food safety compliance because that UPS our inspections that we conduct on these restaurants So based on your risk is how many times you'd be inspected throughout the year we also have reserved the right to recategorize at any time a food establishment that we feel is a risk to the public um once we feel that that establishment has demonstrated proper active managerial control and food safety practices we will re-evaluate that risk new risk level that we've given and we can always reinstate their original risk but again that has to be shown through active and repeated improvement over the time of routine inspections we've added a reinspection fee um I know that's kind of scary when you look at it cuz it just is but we're hoping that introduc introducing a reinspection fee kind of kicks restaurants into gear to not wanting to be reinspected so a reinspection fee would would occur after the first reinspection so we would conduct a routine inspection a reinspection and then if we felt that that restaurant needed another reinspection it would follow our fine schedule that we have so $50 $100 and 150 of course if we feel that the restaurant is a risk to the public we have reserved the authority to close or mandate a hearing with that restaurant and we have reserved the right to um have them obtain a food consultant so that they can properly train their employees and ensure that they are meeting food safety compliance um so we're kind of hoping with the introduction of these reinspection fees active managerial control will be ramped up employees will be trained properly in food safety and um you know hopefully we won't have to do reinspection so that's um kind of new and we're introducing that when it comes to Applications of new food establishments we would like restaurants to hire a food consultant or registered sanitarian to help them with their plan review process plan review processes can be tedious and they can be confusing and they can be very long if you're not in the restaurant industry if you don't have that food safety knowledge and it's tedious for us to go through a plan review and give back feedback and kind of you know get restaurants to a place that is ready to start construction and you know start that pre-operational process um we've also added a separate fee of $150 for Plan reviews just because of how tedious those can be but we're hoping with introducing a food consultant or a registered sanitarian to that process proc it's a smooth um it's a smooth process for everyone for the health department and for these new restaurant owners when it comes to permits and certifications I re we we really want to see those posted some restaurants do a great job of keeping those updated and posting them every year and you know ensuring that they're in compliance with their current food code uh food permit or their dumpster permit so I just we just added that section to remind restaurants that we do look for those um you know we do ask questions about food manager certificates allergen certificates choke safe if it's applicable and you know we just want them to be in a conspicuous place for everyone consumers and retailer regulatory authorities to see as well we added a section with person in charge so in the 2013 food code where um these two bullets were taken from a person in charge is anyone who is a certified food protection manager or has been appointed by a certified food protection manager and is of 18 years and older so when I go into restaurants and I ask hi is there a manager I can speak with everyone's a little bit up in arms because maybe the certified food protection manager isn't here and you know people haven't been told that they're designated as the person in charge so we just want to ensure that during all hours of operation we have either a certified food protection manager or an appointed person over the age of 18 that has been trained by certified food protection manager to step in in the event that they need to be uh present for employee health forums is a big one um last week we had some uh foodborn outbreaks that I had to investigate on Wednesday so we really want to ensure that employees know not to come into work when they're sick specifically if they're experiencing diarrhea vomiting jaundice which is yellowing of the skin sore throat with a fever any lesions on your hands wrist or any exposed body part um and this way restaurants are having that conversation with their employees and they know to call in and say hey I'm not feeling good today I can't come into work and um God forbidden the event that someone does test positive for any type of food born illness we can catch that before an outbreak occurs so we really want to have employee health forms on site we want employees to sign them acknowledge them know that they're being enforced and I would like to see those when I go out to do inspections that those are on file at the restaurants um we had a section on time as a public health control so we have some pizza establishments that hold their pizza at room temperature which is completely fine we just asked that it is done within 4 hours maximum and that they're logging when they're placing that pizza at room temperature and when they've discarded that pizza after 4 hours so we just added a little section in here so our restaurants know that we're looking for a written procedure on that they have logs available and if that's something that someone wants to introduce to their establishment they're applying for a variance to come forward talk to us a little bit let us know what they're doing how they're doing it how they're ensuring that 4-Hour window and those logs um just so we're all in the know and we understand that they understand how to do time as a public health correctly um labeling is a big one so a lot of restaurants have like little cookies or brownies at the front of their um POS stations which is fine um but we're just asking that they're labeling those ingredients that is mandated by the state uh common names ingredients specifically those of allergens if those have to be kept refrigerated or not if they're perishable when they expire um if they're manufactured out of the establishment who's manufacturing them where they were made um any nutritional labels we know we really want to see that and that specifically will also be for our residential kitchens as well we want to ensure that they're properly labeling their food so we added an example of what food food packaged food labeling should look like just so that way restaurants can use it as an example for them and how to make their labeling of their um baked goods or you know whatever it is that they want to sell to the public mesin Shell stock tags we want to emphasize that they should be kept in establishments for 90 calendar days and in chronological order that is from the Food Code not that specific section but that is also enforced through the 2013 food code and it's just a way for us to understand where these shell stocks are coming from if God forbid an outbreak happens with the shell stocks the restaurants can track it back to see if a batch they've obtained has been affected and they can pull it off their shelves um we also ask that no one is mixing their moleskin Shell stock so if a batch does become infected you know they're not like oh my goodness I don't know what out of these batches what is infected and what's not so we added that little verbage there frozen dessert testing we also added this is just ensuring um bacteriological testing for dairy based frozen desserts that's anything that is from a soft serve dispensing machine or an ice cream Barrel um and this can be done on at least one Dairy based Frozen product and it has to be done monthly by a certified laboratory usually gnl or Morel or any other laboratory and we would also like to see those laboratory reports because if something comes back with a high coliform count we want that soft serve machine or that ice cream Barrel freezer shut down we want it sanitized we want it retested by the lab we obviously want to see a lower coliform account and then we can give everyone the okay that they can continue to serve that soft serve um ice cream or continue to make that ice cream when it comes to food trucks we emphasize a little bit of both of what our retail restaurants emphasize and then going off of 590 the retail food codes from the state so this is just ensuring that a certified food protection manager or again appointed official from a food protection manager is um at the food truck at all times we want to make sure that employees are trained properly in food safety and that they understand allergy awareness um we want to know what their menus are what their beverage items are being served we also want to see copies of their food establishment permit if they have a commoner kitchen um their hawler and Peddler's license and their most inspect most recent inspection report in the truck as well along with their certified food protection manager allergen certificate and that's all encompassed in our application process as well we also ask that food employees you know maintain a high level of personal cleanliness such as handwashing food handling just like our retail stores they're using utensils or single service gloves you know we want the food trucks to be properly cleaned and sanitized uh there's wear washing when there is needed to be wear washing and they have sanitizer in the food truck um is food grade approved um also this is a reading uh regulation by the fire department that any truck operating propane tank over 20 pounds has to be inspected and approved by the fire department and that's a separate entity that the fire department will give them a permit for and this is kind of what we're asking when obtaining a permit and again we're kind of asking for these to be in the food truck as well when they're serving food to the public in the town of reading ice cream trucks are following about the same when it comes to what we're asking them to comply with um the only difference here is we would like a copy of their vehicle registration and their um auto insurance and I believe they have to check in with the Reading Police Department and submit any required forms that the police department would need uh prior to driving around um in the town of reading residential kitchens we don't have a lot of of residential kitchens but we wanted to Encompass residential kitchens into this food uh regulation in in case they do come up in the future so this pertains to 105 CMR 500 good manufacturing practices for food and it's basically kind of talking about food preparation and protection and general requirements that we ask our retail restaurants to do um just kind of worded a little bit differently for our residential kitchens um and for our residential kitchens we're asking that they produce lowrisk Foods so that could be cakes cookies breads or confectionaries and a retail kitchen license is going to be needed for anyone that wants to serve products to the general public meaning that they want to attend a farmers market a flea market um anything of that nature where consu uh consumers are purchasing their products that would consider yourself as a residential kitchen those also sorry to interrupt in in the general requirements the last bullet point uh I think that should read pets not pet yes but we'll make that adjustment this is just a draft copy so yes absolutely good no no no perfect awesome I'm glad you caught that so yeah so that that is a big emphasis we don't want cats or dogs in the kitchen when commercial food is being prepared um we're also asking them to have a food manager certificate and an allergen awareness certificate so that way they're with the same knowledge of our retail food establishments um residential kitchens are also to be inspected once a year by US unless we deem it's necessary to inspect them more frequently so we just want to add that in there um when it comes to grease traps we're asking that establishments install or relocate an internal grease trap if we deem it necessary so in any food establishment that's preparing or selling food that can that is producing a byproduct of Grease shall have either an internal or external grease trap that is complying applicable with building and plumbing codes and we're also asking that any food establishment with 150 seats or more installs an external grease trap uh with a capacity of 1500 gallons um we're also asking that internal grease traps are cleaned out four times a year or as needed and that as needed stance will be on approval by the Board of Health so people can come and obtain a variance if they feel hey I'm not producing you know grease enough to clean out four times a year could I clean out my grease trap maybe once a year or twice a year you know they would come before the board you know present a variance and you guys would vote on whether you deem that that's necessary that their grease trap doesn't need to be cleaned out four times a year um we're also asking that grease trp haulers send us their service reports I know a lot of restaurants don't have on file their service reports and this kind of talks talks about what the condition of the grease trap is how much grease was pumped out and what they're seeing when they're inside that grease trap so it's good knowledge for us to know that if hey you know this grease trap is super old it's corroded you know it's not really doing the job it's supposed to you know we can advise the food establishment that you know it might be time for them to get a new grease trap um so we did add that and we there's also a grease trap log that haulers are actually really good about filling out in the establishment so we just want to keep them keep up have them keep up with that log so when we go in to do an inspection you know we see that green uh log and we can say okay they were just here on 1122 awesome uh we're also asking that owners and managers check their grease traps at least once a month uh we know that the haulers are coming out and doing that initial check as well but we just ask that owners stay on top of their grease traps that if God forbid something does happen you know they're catching it before their holler comes out um and you nothing dramatic happens you know in in an instance like that also we're asking that records be maintained by the owner on the premises for no less than two years again in the instance that we have to refer to them you know they're easily accessible when it comes to Pest Control we have some restaurants that do it monthly we have some restaurants that do it twice a month we have some restaurants that don't do it at all um we're asking that Pest Control is performed as needed or as we feel is needed to The Establishment Pest Control you know can be expensive but it is to serve as a tool for preventive and active control of any activity in an establishment and sometimes being proactive helps to mitigate a bigger issue from occurring so we want our establishments to perform pest control but we also understand that if it's not needed as often as monthly you know we're we're a we're happy to work with that um enforcements is just that you know we enforce all provisions of this regulation and you know at any time these food establishments can be inspected for compliance there's obviously criminal and non-criminal penalties that are involved with this which hopefully we never have to go forward with um restaurants are entitled to hearing so if they receive in order to correct letter you know we mandate voluntary closure um you know we're doing multiple reinspection if they feel like hey you know I want to sit down and talk to you guys they're more than welcome to do that we just ask that they submit it in writing to the Board of Health within 7 Days of an order or a reinspection that has occurred variances are for our time as a public health control reduced oxygen package paging which I didn't really talk too much about um but that's okay our Hazard analysis control plans sving and grease trop cleaning so all of these would require a variance if restaurants wanted to change Implement Whatever It Is by the board come before the board explain themselves there we go um and then Ser ability so that's our food code kind of summed up and yeah thank you very much Amelia thank you great summary I really enjoyed it all right so I would like to point out a few things um first of all um I would like to emphasize that again this is just uh A draft copy um that we anticipate the board um to vote on at a subsequent meeting I also suspect that given the amount of for establishments we have in the town of Ren this may require a public hearing I we'll check with the uh Town Council regarding that and I'll update the board and um I also want to note that we introduced uh a couple of fees like the reinspection fee and the plan review fees um we are looking at restructuring the entire fee schedule for all uh permits so um you know we will um propose uh the amendments to those fee schedules um in subsequent medians as well and also um the last thing I would like to touch on is that we currently have a separate um G strap regulation but we're trying to tie it in you know with this foood code so we don't have to have like you know separate sections when we can just tie everything together and all also um the emphasis on Grease trrap is you know if if there is any dysfunctional G trrap around we will be able to like alert DPW to let them know that you know there's a potential of having a blockages around this area due to this gas strap that's dysfunctional so um yeah so that's it har you have a question comment I do thanks and um thank you ad day thank you Amilia I know it's a lot of work um so a couple things I want to clarify that um this similar to what we talked about with the human habitation section that we reviewed earlier this is not new things that the reading public health staff have invented and are applying to reading this is standard practice for inspection and requirements for people who are um in the food business is that correct absolutely yeah so you know I know it you know it might seem to to some folks like oh my gosh they're adding all these new things but you're not adding new things you're simply incorporating them in instead of so I you know the draft you the the document you gave us in comparison was um um you know the the the town incorporates by reference 590 CMR um this lays it all out explicitly so that nobody has to go to the state regag to find it right correct and it clarifies things so for example we are asking you know for um like a food consultant or a sanitarian to help with food plan reviews uh what we've experienced is that um you know sometimes we have like administrative assistants you know turning in like a 110 page food plan review to us um you know so we want to make sure that you know whoever is Ted in the application they have you know Food Service knowledge and things like that because that makes it smoother it makes the process go easier but if we have you know somebody without the knowledge turning those applications in then we're going back and forth asking questions and you know it just makes it uh you know yeah so and and and to clar so food plan review is only for new establishments So when you say I want to come in and open a restaurant and reading you part of what you have to do is go through this food plan review you pre prevent all the present all of the the the um the the blueprints the schematics and you're showing here's how we're going to to operate but that's not for every establishment um it's not an annual requirement that there be plan review right correct it's for um brand new establishments it's for um people that are trying to renovate an existing establishment and it's also for um addition or removal of food service equipment right so like um I think it was professor's Market came to us within the last year or so um because they wanted to and that was a a modified plan review because it was absolutely just to add that one functionality so correct so um and then because this is the state code this this you know just kind of is explicitly making I know we talk about this a lot it's sort of being consistent Community to community you know people who operate in mult multiple communities I know this has come up when I've talked with folks of how nice it would be if the same things were in forced in different communities and this is part of making that possible you know all more transparent okay absolutely and then we're also exploring the um possibility of um fot truck uh food trucks um so for example we're in a shared collaborative and we believe that if a food truck gets inspected in Andover who is part of our collaborative and we all have the same standards we should be able to accept the inspection report within the town of Raiden so we're also working to standardize inspections um and things like that but yeah I'll keep the bo updated regarding those things yeah that's great so yeah I mean this is really it's it's important work it's valuable work but it's not it's not new we are not creating new regulations to impose on on our our our restaurant folks or food F food food folks um and then you know I'll just say a day my last thing you set me up the the last thing that Regional permit you know that Regional food truck approach I know there are many communities talking about that and I think that if inspectors in in all the communities were had completed tier one through tier three of the required food inspector training that I think that probably would go a long way towards making the um Regional you know the acceptance of a regional permit for a mobile food truck um really um make it more um uh acceptable right you know because because again it's it's you know not just about are the regs the same but are they being enforced the same and as we work on having all inspectors trained in the same way to the same standards um that just makes it more reasonable so abely great work you guys than um if I could add something um two things we added specific things that we you know the food cord food code like you said Carrie um already talks about that we we're noticing in our restaurants so labeling Shell stock tags um employee health forms people in charge you know those are things that are coming up redundant in a lot of our restaurants so we kind of want to have a food code regulation that is a way that they can look at this and understand okay this is from the Food Code that is over 300 pages but are you know that's a lot to read so we're pulling out you know specifics of that food code so it's in a way presented to them that is understandable accessible and it's easy for them to know okay this is what I you know this is what the town is really emphasizing um and then on the tier one two and three I just want to mention that I am doing that and I'm on tier three and Elsa has been training me and it's been going really well and like you said I think it's a great way for all inspectors to be standardized and on the same page so like a day was saying if we they do roll out that Mobile Food Truck you know we're all in the know we're all looking for the same things we all understand the same thing so I just wanted to add those two things in there that's excellent fantastic and and thank you a day for being a director who emphasizes making sure that your inspectors have the time and and and make the time to go through that training it's really important and um I'm proud that we are one of those communities that is in the uh the the the beginnings of that so yay so I have just one question which is somehow I vaguely remember um that the FDA updated its 2013 food code to in 2022 um and so why would as we update our food code uh under Section 9.1 here why wouldn't we say that we're adopting the 2022 so that's a great question Dr Lopez so um me so a day and I did want to adopt the 2022 food code um I reached out to a colleague of mine in the fields um and I inquired about um just because he knows people that work for the uh food specific part of the state if we could adop adopt the 2022 food code as a local Health Department um at this time local Health departments are not allowed to adopt the new food code because we are specifically or the state specifically has 105 CMR 590 which enforces the FDA 2013 food code so until the state revises their policy to move forward with the FDA 2022 food code then local B Boards of Health are allowed to adopt that uh food code as well so ad day and I were looking to meet that FDA you know where that FD the FDA is at the moment but the state is not there yet so we just have to wait until the state gets there then we can get there as well okay thank you that's very helpful any other questions or comments for a milia no question just a lot of work to went into it by the looks of it a yeah thank you it was tedious D can I ask you you mentioned about a hearing potentially for this um is that required for the dumpster regulation as well or not I don't believe so yeah okay so I will check with Town Council and get back to the board okay yeah that would be helpful yeah because I'm just curious why you'd feel that if we're not we haven't really changed much in here we're just moving it around I know we've changed a few things in here added a few things but sounds like we just moved things into more neat package is that is that correct that's what Ker's assessment was um I mean like if you compare the old section 9 to the new section 9 I believe we have um four or five additional pages so um I I feel like that would trigger uh trigger hearing um again let's see yeah we only have that's all we have for the foot code that's it from the old one that's it correct that's all we were still we were still doing everything that Amilia just detailed in one in one place it's just it was all scattered all all about right pretty much okay got it okay so I guess the question for Town Council would be if the changes aren't substantive if they're just organizational then you know does that warrant a hearing and and you know as we've gone through that the the changes to the regs are not substantive they are they are what has been being enforced or or what and what is what is the letter of the law um so there may be new fees enforced they may feel right he changes that's the only thing I could think of um I'll check I'll check with Town Council and update um the board I mean at this point you're not voting on this regulation it's just uh review and discussion um the vote would not occur until uh you know a subsequent meeting and I have enough time to you know reach out to Town Council and figure out how to proceed okay Dave when that time comes I I think it'll be very helpful for your department if you invite um all those uh that this is going to be fall under to that meeting so in one fail swoop of that night we can explain succinctly what's going on rather than you getting 30 40 50 phone calls scattered over a month as opposed to when they know when they send this out to them sa time Harry sorry just and and I think I'm I'm maybe I'm maybe committing a cardinal error and going backwards um but but what the the reg so so since we last met um staff have been working hard to update the dumpster RS and the food code RS correct correct and that was the that was the purpose of the you know that was I mean when we met last month we said we said we definitely want to look at you know updating dumpster EGS and so on and me so so we've that's been our our intent and that's been part of why there's been how how the time has been spent so that we can adequately um address issues that come up for the inspectors yes yes correct thanks okay Dave we want to move on to the monthly report all right so we're going to use the same format as we did the last time I believe everybody enjoyed it so uh we'll let um Amilia up with her um a monthly report and then I'll have uh Olivia next and then I'll just um summarize things after that I apologize I don't have a power point this time but um so since we last met um restaurant inspections have slowed down a little bit just kind of because I hit the ground running a little bit too hard in October um how do you want to um share the monthly report or do you do not want me to share the word document this is what I have for my monthly report um I see the food code we're seeing the food code yeah oh are you guys not seeing Oh my apologies hold on let me stop I don't know why this open let me stop sharing and then reshare my screen I apologize that happen okay can you see the where document now yes okay okay um so this so the last month of November because we're talking about November um renewals all renewals have been sent in October we've gotten about 69 responses in total since renewals have been sent so we're waiting for about 40 more restaurants um specifically speaking restaurants to submit their renewals um when it comes to inspections again just cuz I kind of hit the ground running in October um last month I only did 27 inspections um and only had to do one reinspection and with that reinspection it was a complete 180 it was like I was walking into a brand new restaurant so it was very you know Applause to that establishment they did a great job turning that around um when it comes to orders issued and complaints we only had one which was you know that was you know great um and and Ice ranks which I did back in October was one I know we talked about dominoes so I kind of want to talk a little bit about dominoes so last week December 4th I went out to do a routine inspection with Domino's and after our last board meeting a day and I sat down and we talked about how can we get Dominoes into compliance and how can we get them into compliance now we sent out an order to correct letter to Dominoes and the property owner enforcing the dumpster regulation in the FDA 2013 food code and our current dumpster regulation that involves debris enclosure and compliance um we got a call from the Domino's owner he pled his case he stated that he's working really hard to get that dumpster into compliance he's battling what he States um is illegal dumping um and everything of that nature so we gave Domino's a week to you know get that dumpster into compliance um didn't get into compliance we kept receiving C click fix complaints a day kept receiving emails so I prompted a routine inspection which was due but also a way to talk to the restaurant owner and kind of understand what's going on with this dumpster so I want to share their inspection report because their inspection report that I this is the inspection report I conducted talks about that dumpster so just to quickly go over this they do have pest control and that dumpster is monitored with their pest control Pest Control noted that they see little to no activity around the dumpster however it being a food dumpster they potent the potential of them not consuming that bait is because they're consuming the food so if there's food and rodenticide they're going to choose the food so you know I talked to the restaurant owner about that he very well understood that um my pictures here I had him clean up the whole area of the dumpster we don't see the inspection report can can you can you yes sorry I thought it was there the whole time do we see it now yes yes okay so this was the pest control um this is the Domino's owner he actually was there that morning so it was perfect timing um I had him go out and clean the whole dumpster every single side of that dumpster that debris had to be removed I literally as you can tell by the pict stood there and watched him clean all the sides of that dumpster we got that dumpster into compliance he closed the lids we reminded him to close the fence we spoke about him getting a lock for the dumpster and we would move forward with that the next day comes we received a complaint from 7:30 in the morning that the dumpster lid was open the gates were closed we quickly called a day and I the dumpster um sorry the Domino's owner he informed us hey I just purchased a lock I'm going to the establishment now I will close the dumpster lid and I will lock that dumpster fence um and up until today that dumpster has been in compliance since December 4th um I we understand today that the dumpster lid was open and there may have been a trash bag left um outside of the dumpster we know that the Domino's owner has expressed illegal dumping and a day and I brought that up with the property owner um and you know if that continues to be something that Domino's is expressing we will head into that Avenue of combating an illegal dumping issue that could potentially be present um so that's a Domino's update that I wanted to give and I believe that was my kind of what happened in a month along with these regulations as well Kevin you have a comment uh real quickly yeah thanks Rick Amelia did they ever file any police reports so they haven't and I told the Domino's owner moving forward we would like written um written build a case build a case and then a report yes so we've asked the Domino's owner to keep us in the know if he comes in and there's illegal dumping that he you know his staff didn't put if the lock is broke off we want pictures and you know we want time stamps of when that is happening so we can ES at it to potentially the police department and you know the owner can rope in some security cameras if that is what's going on over there yeah see the only reason I bring it up is the police are really good if they have this on their radar as they're driving by in the course of their normal duties um you know it's just a it's a quick glance it's a quick notice um when when our uh Reading Police Department knows that there's an issue going on somewhere they're they're really good at you know being at the right spot the right time put it that way um so just as a heads up I would encourage them to absolutely um um file a report even even just based off of what they've done already I wouldn't wait for it to happen again absolutely something we bring I would also suggest having U notifying the building owner to notify the other tenants that they are going to start reporting to the police illegal dumping because this dump this dumpster is way back from that building I can't believe that people are just coming off the street and leading stuff it it's probably from other tenants and and they should know that there may be police reports absolutely and when we spoke with the property owner he informed us that other businesses weren't utilizing that dumpster there are barrels out there with locks on them that supposedly these establishments are utilizing but again there's no surveillance really around that area so we can't determine whether or not that's an accurate statement and has the property owner um have you discussed with them the the putting in surveillance absolutely he has shown uh some willingness to to actually do that okay I think that'll be really um you know really important moving forward because he's going to put a lock on that um on that gate and up and over the the fence goes the bag exact exactly so okay I'd almost rather leave the gate open and put it in the dumpster illegally than throw it on the outside of the dumpster where it can really easily get picked up but that's uh that's neither here nor there any further questions if not we can um move to uh uh nursing updates please yeah mute hi everyone all right in the interest of time I'm going to try to keep this short and sweet okay okay all right um so this is our monthly disease report as you can see here we've had 16 cases of covid in the month of November um cases are coming down from October but we only had 17 in October so that's not a crazy difference um we are seeing some GI related diseases uh coming in the past month we had a case of camplyobacter Naro virus um in with that being said I just want to remind everyone please wash your hands and wash any surfaces that have come come into contact with raw meat and or poultry uh we're starting to see a rise in influenza cases we've had seven in November and we are already up to uh four this December so it's definitely On The Rise um we will continue to see an increase in these cases because through the Department of Public Health of Massachusetts we know that U Massachusetts flu cases tend to go from October all the way into May peak time is November through February so we're definitely sitting in peak time right now um and that it brings me a nice segue into our flu clinics if you know of any homebound individuals who have not gotten a flu shot yet or if you know of anybody that hasn't gotten a flu shot at all please direct them towards me I would happy to do uh a home visit for a flu shot we are going to be hosting um two more evening clinics within the next month for 65 up individuals and up individuals uh to give the high does vaccine so if you know of anybody that needs that please send them my way and that brings us to the end of the disease report going to stop sharing for a minute um I am holding blood pressure clinics throughout the month so if you know of anybody that would like a blood pressure check or screening I do uh Pleasant Street Center the first Wednesday of the month Cedar Glenn on the second Thursday of the month and tannerville on the third Thursday of the month and then I'm going to share once again to I apologize um my all right so we are going to be starting a uh diabetes donation program this was prompted from the um from a call from a resident actually that uh wanted to know of any places to drop off diabetic supplies that had um come from a past family member so we are going to be starting that uh now actually and I'm just trying to share my screen to show you the document however it is not coming up here it comes can you all see this document you cannot no um it will be readily made available on the website as soon as possible um so that will be coming soon I apologize but we are going to be sending supplies to um the American Diabetes Association as well as insulin for Life USA and we'll be P sponsoring or partnering with them to send the diabetes supplies there um a day wanted me to run through the uh chip program updates so I'm also going to be discussing that tonight so as many of you know um we have our community health Improvement plan also known as chip we are slowly chipping away at that and I will be giving a visual in the new year of all the things that we have been working on um but we are working with the senior center recreational team the schools and the reading Coalition as well as many institutions to uh further the chip agenda I just wanted to bring your attention to some of our uh Health priorities and tell you all how we have been working on this uh since I've started in September and how we've been doing that in the past years um or the past year so as you can see in health priority section one that's preventative screenings Health screenings and treatment services um the senior center has been these are just a few examples of how we've been furthering that this Senior Center has been working um to bring in a nurse practitioner to provide monthly foot care for our res reading residents the services are welcome to any reading residents so if you know of anybody that needs a visit from a um Podiatry team just give us a call at the senior center the number is 781 942 6794 we another um thing that we're working on is we're going to be partnering with the mamography van we've brought in the mamama van in the past and we are hoping oping to continue to make this an annual or um in fact a by anual depending on the need um in the future it will be coming either April 29th or 30th I haven't confirmed the date with them yet but as soon as I have that information I will let you know um I have a meeting with vision 2020 coming up next week to bring a vision screening van to uh reading as well as a meeting with belone New England to bringing a hearing screening van and that brings me to goal number two to support linkages of mental health and Behavioral Health Services for those in need and support um we've been working or sorry the middle sex EIC shared services collaboration has just hired a communication specialist chandan Paul who will be working with the local municipalities to expand community outreach programming um I look forward to working with chandan um as well as the rest of the health department I'm sure as well to promote our Health initiatives to the town um along with the mental health and Behavioral Health Services I'm going to as I've said before on past meetings I'm going to the Narcan trainer training in January our Coalition already brings um a lot of Narcan uh information to the schools however I would like to make it a more regular teaching and education to any Town residents that wish to um have that information um Health priority number two talks about healthy environment and inclusive programming specifically talking about the establishment of a community center as many of you may know we have been working with the recreation as well as the senior center to adapt the reading Center for active living also known as recal there is a public forum this upcoming Tuesday December 17th at the Pleasant Street Senior Center at 700 p.m for any of those who would like to hear more about that initiative it's a wonderful wonderful um collaboration and I'm really excited to see where that goes okay I'm almost done goal number two is talking about increasing opportunities for Community connections and support services for those in need of support I've um those of you who don't know there's a wonderful case manager over at the Pleasant Street Senior Center Carrie Valley and she has been working to identify homebound individuals throughout reading for as long as she's been here she's done a wonderful job so if you know of any homebound um individ ual it does not have to be seniors please let us know so that we can identify the any needs that they might need that we have not met along that lines expanding evening and week weekend access to programming we um started doing evening flu clinics this uh past month which actually was um very well supported by the residents that were and they were very happy that um they were able to access treatment without compromising their workday in 2025 I would like to to bring our flu clinics to the reading Community Days as well as um weekend and more evening events all right another goal is to build resilience among Youth and Young adults for to Foster well-being and belonging as I've mentioned in the past we have the children reading children's cabinet that I have joined the team for we have our update meeting in January and I look forward to bringing that update to you all and then lastly we have our healthy eating and active living priority which is priority number three um starting next month I am going to be doing a monthly Meetup to collaborate on healthy living for individuals who are looking to learn more about nutrition and the long-term benefits of healthy eating as well as positive food mapping for individuals with pre- inactive diabetes so keep an eye out on the Public Health site for future information on this I'm very excited about that program um but this is what we have been working on for the 2024 year and um I look forward to presenting a more visual update for you all in the future and the last thing I want to say is that there is a salmonella Outbreak on Fresh cucumbers um or foods made with them like salads wraps or sushi rolls and it is from companies I'm going to I'm going to butcher these names I apologize but sunfed blean ban Walmart Supreme and Yumi Sushi please just go ahead and check your cucumbers and that's all I got oh thank you a day you brought up that that is the diabetes um diabetic supplies takeback program um there are a list of the supplies that we accept it is unused and unexpired diabetic supplies and you just reach out to me and we'll coordinate a pickup and then I will ship it off and that's all I have about right thank you very much and of course we have the budget for for shipping those items so that's great thank you very much great work great although I'm sad we've gone from carrots to cucumbers you know I was thinking about that and you know I have call I had a colleague and that's what she would eat for lunch she was very health oriented you know carrot sticks and celery sticks and cucumbers so she must be just SWAT I I think I'm just going to say it Bacon's never killed anybody you got a point there Kevin you got a point a point well I'm glad I if you have any questions please feel free to reach out I think I just sped through that my 20 minute assumption went from 20 to eight no problems so um I just like to mention that um you know uh we're chipping away at the chip plan and um you know we're doing what we can we didn't uh mes we just don't want the chip plan to be another document just sitting on the website and not doing anything about it so I am very grateful to uh leave you know I really appreciate everything she's been doing and uh we hope that um at subsequent meetings we would have a like a better visual understanding of what's going on so uh we hope that uh we'll be able to present that to you at probably the February meeting something like that but we'll keep the board updated thanks leave all right and um mine is going to be really brief um because uh I had um Pineville but I believe Amilia said everything about Pineville so I I think we're good to go regarding Pineville so um so uh the nicotin free generation amendment is is effective January 1st um as of this date the sale of nicotine products is prohibited to anyone born on or after January 1st 2004 uh we mailed out a reminder letter that's what is on the screen right now and we also mailed out um the signage um every reading establishment received a copy of of the reminder letter and the signage um that was mailed out December 3rd and um yesterday Marin hand delivered the signage to all reading establishments so the goal is for and she did some educational um you know pretty much what to do with the signage and how to talk to uh their customers about the new amendments um so pretty much uh our goal is for each establishment to post the signage on the front door um one on the counter where the cash registers are and then one behind the counter facing the customer um it is well received um with I mean we're not getting too many establishments that are angry about this they know it is the law um so we're not getting any push back whatsoever um and then we plan to send a second reminder out probably uh next week um and um you know hopefully they would receive those before Christmas um just one more thing to state is that um Bel toown uh um adopted this uh nfg regulation last night and the City of Chelsea adopted it to uh two days ago this is a victory for the uh proponents of uh the nfg regulation so thank you very much and I wish everybody happy holidays and same to you I'll pass it back to uh hand it over to Dr great um so and I should also mention I I read something that a few weeks ago that um a couple Representatives on Beacon Hill have also um put uh a legislative action on the agenda uh for nicotine free generation uh Statewide um that will be debated I guess next year so it's it's moving in that direction any other um I don't have any other comments or any other comments questions thoughts before uh we adjourn not seen any I'll make a motion to adjourn I have a second I me second second uh roll call cell yeah Terry yes Kevin yes yes and Rick so we are adjourned happy holidays everybody see you happy Holidays happy holidays be well bye bye now bye thank you