Hi D. >> Hi Dr. Lopez. How are you? >> Good. How you doing? >> Good, thanks. >> Hi Rich. Hey. Hi. Hi everybody. Good >> evening. Good evening. >> My camera.
Oh, there we go. >> Hi everybody. >> Hi. >> Hello. >> Hi. I only see three of us so far. >> So far. Uh Sophie is not going to join us tonight. >> Yeah, you said that.
>> Yeah. >> So Carrie and Kevin, right? Kevin, >> right? Okay. Oh, there's Carrie. >> Hey, Carrie. >> Hello. >> Hi, Carrie. >> Hey, Carrie.
>> You're on mute. >> It's only 7:01. I'm not really late. >> Not really. Not at all. >> Happy New Year. >> Send to you. Here comes Kevin. Kevin's playing ditch. >> Yeah, right.
>> Should we admit him again? >> It's slowly letting him join. >> Yeah, >> Liv made it in. She was in the waiting room, too. I don't know what's up with Kevin. Hi live. >> There's live. >> Hi Liv. >> Hi.
>> Hi everyone. Happy new year. >> Happy new year. >> I don't know what's going what's going on with Kevin. >> Yeah. >> I think we should probably get started. I'm sure he'll join us. Oh, there he is. >> He's in now. Y. Okay, good.
>> Sorry, it was telling me I had to admit him and I I didn't realize I had to do that. >> Interesting. >> I had I hit the symbol, too, but I just didn't do it. >> Oh, well, because you guys were all co-hosts. >> I I assume the admin needed to do it.
>> I did. It was I did do it, too. It's weird. >> Yeah. So, were >> you really trying to keep Kevin out? Is that what >> Not at all. >> Yeah. No, no, no. >> Okay. So, I'm gonna call the meeting to
order. Um, we'll just do a roll call. Um, Kevin >> here >> and Rick here. Rick Lopez. So, >> it sounds like there's a lot of background noise. >> Somebody has to mute themselves. I don't know who it is.
>> Yeah, >> that's it. >> It sounds like it. Yep. Thank you. stopped whatever it was. All right. So, um terms of tonight's agenda, um we're gonna
a day is going to introduce the new health inspector. Uh we're going to review the minutes from the last three meetings. Public comment if there is any. um we have a request or we'll have a discussion about a community church
refrigerator which is an interesting uh topic. >> Yeah. >> And then we'll do our updates and uh and wrap it up. So it seems like it'll be pretty straightforward. Um so in terms of our new inspector day,
do you want to introduce him? You're on mute. >> Yes. Thank you, Dr. Lopez. I would like to introduce our new health inspector, Zerhan Ayel. Uh Zerion previously worked as a health inspector for the city of
Medford. He has a strong background in public health and prior experience conducting environmental health inspections. He received his master's degree in public health from UMass Law. Please join me in welcoming Zarion to our health department.
>> Welcome. >> Welcome, Zaran. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Welcome. >> Welcome so much. Zerion, do you want to say one or two things about yourself or >> I mean you say it so
I I I can what I can say is just I'm so excited to join this team and um um I cannot wait you know to do my best uh to protect the health and safety of um our community and it's a very good
opportunity for me um to work with you guys. So >> great to have you. Yeah, thank you. >> Good to have you for sure. >> Um, okay. So, in terms of the minutes from
our November meeting, which was a regular meeting, then we had these two sort of short December meetings. Um, any I'll handle them all three together. Um any edits,
uh comments or suggestions on any of them? Yes, Carrie. >> Thanks. Um on 11:24, page two of the chip update, it refers to um peer associates and it's pair associates like the fruit. So just
fixing it. Um, >> and then I just didn't I didn't know our protocol because I noticed on the December 18th minutes that um, Liv was listed under members not present and I didn't know if members was voting member or you know board of health members or or not. I know we want to keep track of
who's here or not. But >> yeah, I saw that too. Yeah. >> Yeah, I think that was a I was going to mention that as a type actually for both the December meetings. Um, live is me. >> Oh, was that right? I missed that. Yeah. Okay. >> Yeah. Um,
>> and so we probably ought to just delete that and just Yes, you got that, Haley. Okay, >> great job, Haley. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Other than that, any other edits or
suggestions other than those two comments? No. Make a motion to approve the minutes for November 24th, uh, December 8th, and December 18th. >> Have a second. >> Second.
>> Second. Kevin. Uh, roll call or Yeah. Vote. Roll call. S. >> Yes. >> Carrie. >> Yes. >> Kevin, >> yes. >> Joan, >> yes. >> And Rick, yes. So, those minutes are approved. I don't see any members of the public
online. So I think we can move on from that. And um a day was the uh was the pastor of the First Baptist Church going to >> I don't see him here. He probably
>> I don't see him. Was Was he planning to attend? >> Yes. He probably forgot about it. >> I know. We're so forgetful, you know. But I mean we can still >> we can still talk about the issue. >> Talk about it. Correct. >> And if he joins us, we'll we'll hear his
his comments. So do you want to go ahead and frame the topic and what? >> Yes. So um pretty much uh the the proposal is that um they would like to have um First Baptist Church at 45 Wuburn Street would like to have a a
community fridge outside and um you know I was doing some reading about it and this all began um you know um it came about in order to like fight fight uh food insecurity and waste.
and um you know multiple municipalities have been accepting the proposal. I think they have about 200 locations in in the state of Massachusetts. >> Um they have some locations around the
world as well, you know. Um but the thing is that the idea doesn't really fit into any category. Um the department of public health does not have any guidelines or regulations
um specifically for community uh fridges. Um the town of Reading does not have any specific regulations as well. Um you know so it just seems like ultimately um it would fall under
you know the same guidelines for food safety. >> Mhm. Um, but again, you know, the the idea is is new. I mean, it's not that new, but it's still new. Um, it's not something
I don't want to sound insensitive, but it's not something that I would like to, you know, encourage. I don't I wouldn't like to see like 15 community fridges in the town of Reading. Uh, I wouldn't like to see that. Um but the idea behind it
is is is kind. Um so if the board were to allow this to happen, I believe that um you know um certain food safety guidelines need to be met and um I have a few that I can discuss with the board.
Uh so for example um I think that the fridge must be uh located um you know on a non-porous surface. uh with access to electricity. Um I know that the electrical outlet has
to be a special kind of electrical outlet. So that needs to be approved by the building department, the electrical inspector. Um and this is just my personal opinion. Um I think that it should be located um you
know under a surveiled area if possible. Um, I also think that there should be an enclosure to protect the fridge from weather elements. Um,
I believe that there should be a thermometer with a data logger inside the um, refrigerator just to monitor the temperature um, you know, remotely. Like you don't have to be there. you can just go on, you know,
your iPad and look at the temperature. Just make sure it meets the appropriate temperature. Um, I think that the fridge should be in a well lit area. I think it should be well illuminated on
the in the interior. And I believe that a person in charge must be uh assigned to monitor, you know, the fridge, you know, to make sure it's in uh proper sanitary conditions. Uh it it's
maintaining the proper temperatures. Um I also believe that the person in charge uh you know must schedule regular cleanings and sanitizing to prevent you know unwanted debris from accessing the refrigerator um food
unwanted food residue dirt and dust. Um, if the board were to allow this, I feel like the board has a role to play in terms of what food items would be permitted. Uh, for example, um, you
know, I I don't recommend like out of state, um, sorry, out of date, expired or expired foods. Um, I know that, uh, you know, in some grocery stores, you know, you can sell,
uh, food items that are out of date. As long as you label it as, you know, out of date and you let people know that they're out of date, you can sell those. So, I wouldn't recommend any of those uh, in this fridge. Um, I wouldn't recommend food items that have been repackaged
or, you know, opened. Let's see. Food items that I may recommend will be like uh whole fresh uncut uh produce, prepackaged unopened produce,
um unopened dairy products, let's see, factory packaged and prepared meals such as you know frozen meals and canned soups. Um again it will be the responsibility of the person in charge the person assigned to the refrigerator to ensure
that the fridge uh does not contain uh food items that are not allowed. It won't be the board of the board of health. It won't be the board uh it won't be the job of the board of health or the job of the health inspector. We we can't keep going out and you know
inspecting a community fridge like every second. We can't keep doing that. So somebody has to be assigned to that refrigerator making sure that things are going properly. Um also the board has to determine if you know prepared foods would be
permitted. Um and if the board allows it, it won't be like leftovers from somebody's dining table. you know it it will be like um food prepared by a
licensed food establishment, a restaurant under the supervision of a food safety manager. Um you know again it seems like it's not complicated but it really
is. Um and I think that uh if the board were to allow this the church needs to like come up with a good standard operating procedure, you know, that is um you know that makes
sense that's that the board would approve. >> So um let me we have a couple people with hands up but let me just step back one second. Um, you know, I have not
actually heard of this concept um until two days ago when a day uh brought it up to me and it it appears that it's it's an idea to address food insecurity. Um it it
looks like as I did some research on it that a lot of these um community refrigerators or fridges um sort of started at the tail end of the COVID pandemic. Um,
you know, I think that so the idea is that either private individuals or charitable organizations or churches would put a refrigerator not inside a building but outside
and with the concept that um take what you need and leave what you can. Um it it reminds me of those uh sort of community book things that we see um in some front lawns where people have a
little bookcase. It's almost, you know, and people take a book and they leave a book and and it's just a shared community thing. Well, it's the same thing with food. Um, you know, the big difference as a day points out that, you know, makes it potentially of concern of
this uh board is the fact that unlike a food pantry where like the Reading Food Pantry, which pretty much takes um, you know, boxed foods and canned foods and people collect them and then they look
and they make sure they're not expired and then they hand them out. It's a very um you know that's a very safe environment. This environment is people bring potentially perishable foods to a refrigerator that's outside on someone's
lawn and um and other people would come and potentially obviously take those foods if they need them because they don't have access to them. And that raises all the issues that Adave brought
up around you know um proper uh maintenance of the food and and the environment in which the food exists whether it's you know frequent temperatures and and so forth. Um, the interesting thing about it, as I did a
little Googling, um, was that there's probably a couple dozen of these around the greater Boston area. Um and that as AD said there's no uh DPH guidelines and
and actually communities in general that I've seen I haven't you know I could be wrong but everything I looked for it's the board of health or the health department hasn't promulgated
specific regulations for um community fridges. Um I what they tend to have done and you know I saw this uh there was a Cambridge city of
Cambridge thing that was fairly um uh in-depth was they would the board of health and the health department would produce um a set of guidelines that they would ask the u individual responsible
for the community fridge to adhere to. And obviously the health department would also respond to complaints about um food safety that might come up from the community based on that. Um ultimately
um the health department and the board would have the authority to shut something down if there was a a real food safety issue that wasn't remediated. Um but unlike food establishments, not necessarily a permit every year,
inspections, you know, one to four times a year, um like we do with food establishments. So it's sort of a that approach which I've which it seems like a number of communities have adopted would be an in between approach. you
know, we could decide to either say no, you know, we won't allow these in our community, but seems like a couple dozen other communities have said it's fine. Not sure that sends the right message around our concern around food
insecurity. And the other option is the other end of the spectrum which would be to create a set of regulations specifically about this which as a day said would require the inspector to inspect these probably this would be a
four times a year type of inspection given the nature of uh the situation. So um was hoping that the pastor would be here but he's not. So I'm gonna um just we can have a discussion and see where
we end up on on this. So I start s do you w to comment? >> So I guess this is my uh my expertise because I live this every single day >> and all my senses went off when I started hearing this discussion. Um you
know I I guess I I love the idea and concept like yes I definitely 100% want to feed people who need to be fed. Um, but in my head having untrained people, you know, putting stuff in a refrigerator,
would the people be trained? I don't know. That's one question I had. Um, but the list of list of things that came in my head were crosscontamination, allergies, you know, if you're putting nuts in, nobody knows what's touching
what. Um, sanitation records, who would who would be keeping track of sanitation records, uh, temperature records, outside contaminants. If you know, if you you're not washing your hands before you touch the food, you're not washing your hands before you touch the
packages, somebody could go in and have something on their hands, touch this one, and be like, "Oh, I don't like that one. Put it back. Take the next one." Right? No, the next person doesn't know that happened. Right? Um, temperature records. I said outside contaminants it and you open the door and it's you're
in an open environment. You're not in a controlled environment anymore. How long was the door open for? Did the did the door open and defrost everything inside the freezer? Possibly. Nobody will know that. Um our rat problem seals on
refrigerators aren't that rat proof, right? Um, ready to eat food is very high risk. That's like the most high-risisk food you you know most most the biggest hazard you can have is ready to eat food. Um, unlabeled product. So,
if somebody cooks something and brings it there, nobody knows what the ingredients is in that product anymore unless somebody labels every single, you know, ingredient they used. Um the last ones were like you know it's and it's being produced the food is being
produced in a you know a space that isn't a manufacturer. It's not under any guidelines, right? So, somebody's making in their kitchen. I, you know, I hope everybody's kitchen is clean enough to serve people, but you never know. Did
somebody It's kind of gross, but did somebody go to the bathroom, not wash their hands, come back out, and try and make your food, right? It's it's this is like right in my wheelhouse. This is where this is what I do every single day. And all red kind of red flags come up. I would love to be able to get to a
point where I'm comfortable with something like this, but I'm really struggling, you know. So, that's that's my two cents. >> Okay, good points. >> Yeah, Carrie,
>> thanks. Yeah. Um, this is where I I kind of hate some of our work because it's like talking to the infection control people at the hospital because after you have an infection control orientation, you want to wrap yourself in plastic and never touch anything, right? Um, and
it's true, but it's also um limiting. Um, you know, I just I I mean, I I sit on a few different committees and and I've just been binging out to folks and I haven't heard anything back yet. Um, I'd be interested in I think
this is a great topic actually for um Miha or maybe MHA of kind of how do we how do we approach this? Clearly, it's happening in other communities. It's being established right there that just googling real quick. I got a dozen and
they're departments that I really I respect those health departments um sorry their communities in which I respect those health departments. So I'd be interested to know what their kind of process was and their thoughts were not to say we do the same as them but to
understand what what kind of things they went through on it. Um so I guess I wouldn't want to say I don't want to say yes right now but I also don't want to say no off the bat. I'd like to know some more. Um and um
you know I don't know if this is something that I don't know if a day or or as a hun if if either of you are active in Miha um or or want to um you know if it's something that you would want to pursue as talking with your other colleagues and make a report back
and I'm happy to share with you what I get back from my colleagues our colleagues as well. Absolutely. >> Okay. >> I'd love to be completely wrong, too. I'm I'm not saying I'm against it. Like, I want this to happen. Like, I'm, you know, I came off like a Debbie Downer,
but I really I really want this to happen. I just want it to happen the right way and people to be safe. >> Absolutely. And I guess I mean the thing is that we have to kind of figure out what's the you know, you're right S. There's all of those risks are completely accurate. You're you're 100%
right. Um the question is the risk profile and how much does you know does what what's the what is the likely impact right and that's what I want to understand a
little better um so that's all >> thank you >> hello can you guys hear me >> yes yes >> I know I'm an associate member and I'm no vote but hopefully I can I can chime in and give my two cents. I mean uh just
like s uh I have a maybe auxiliary background. I work in pharma vaccines and coal storage and all that is second nature to us and especially I'm in manufacturing and supply. U so all those concerns that sedressed are like on
point. Um I I I do think we can alleviate some of those through like tempts and continuous monitoring and things like that. But the question then becomes like who is monitoring that right? I think that's that's the fun part. Um and and part B of these this is
like um my my my heart says this is such a good effort and and I come from India and for for me in America when I see this food wastage every single day >> without it being accounted for but I know the liability part with it right I
know people are just scared getting sued and whatever that is. So I know this is a very random offshoot for what Kerry said. How can we explore this more? Right? I think rather than I don't know if it's a yes no vote today. Can we can we deep dive this a little bit? Can we
see how can we make it maybe I know waiverss sounds such an escapist way like oh if you're taking the food then you're taking the accountability and all that but I think there's a combination of factors that we can enable as this board of health that you have your temp controls your monitoring you have your
checks and balances and then the person who's taking is like I know what I have seen and I think this is something that goes with my risk profile I would I would rather have the food than worry about if it's past like one day shelf life or something like that. So that's
just my my two cents on this. Thank you for letting me uh speak. >> Thank you Addie. Other Kevin. >> Oh Kevin off mute here. Um yeah I mean I I I definitely agree with what everybody is
saying and and and I think you know the simple answer here is there are no answers, right? So it's like I have a billion questions and zero answers. So right out of the gate I'm a no. just because of that factor alone. I don't need to know any other factors other than I have a billion questions and no
answers. Um, and I think everybody's kind of in the same boat where it's like on paper in a vacuum, what a great idea. Like what a great idea. >> Now, how do we make it work so it continues to be a great idea? That is probably my biggest question that I
have. Um, I think the fact that what' you say about 12 communities have adopted this, Rick. Something like that. When I looked at the map, it it seemed like at least a dozen. Yeah, at least a dozen, maybe more. And I don't know if it's a local Boston Massachusetts thing or this this is sort of a national thing
because I'd never heard of it before. >> National. >> This seems to me like something that you take a a step back and you watch others fail at the product. And you know, Reading's got a very good history of not reinventing the wheel. Let somebody else
figure it out first. step in, make it better and and and we've done that as long as I can remember volunteering. And I think this is a perfect example of that case where we have communities that are already doing it. They they are already working through the minutiae of all the questions that we have. They've
already tried figured out a lot of the problems that we have and come up with solutions or maybe they haven't and and that's useful information as well too. Um, so I I I look at it with a standpoint where there's so many questions and we already have, for lack of a better term, you know, a test
product out there to kind of pull information from. I I'd wait and see on this one a little bit. Um, because it just it sounds like it's more problematic than it's worth. And I get the premise where we have, you know, the argument would be, well, you have the food pantry. Yeah, but that's not
anonymous, right? So, this would be anonymous, which is wildly helpful for somebody that has food uh food insecurities, right? So, that would be a wonderful thing to have, even though I'm not casting anything on the food pantry. I know they are wonderful people down there. My daughter volunteers down
there. Um they're wonderful people. Uh but again, I can see where some people may be hesitant to go in there and ask for help where this is like, I can go in there at 2 am, get what I need, nobody knows it, and I can walk away. that's a great thing >> for that person. So like I get all the
positives, but right now there's so many questions. I think we let the other communities figure out. I think we, you know, nudge those communities like, "Hey, how's this program going? How's this working? How did that work out? You were told this would happen. Did it happen?" I I think that's probably the best approach for this. And I think it's
a slow approach unfortunately um to come up with the right solution for what writing can do in regards to this in in the end result. I'm all for it. I just want to make sure that we do it in the right way. >> S.
>> Yeah, I'm the same. I mean, is there any way we could get photo? Like, I don't even know what type of refrigerator they use in like maybe there's a an option where we can use two refrigerators to mock them like nuts. No nuts. Like, you
know, like separate things a little bit. Like, it's just in my head. My my brain is spinning right now cuz you know my food safety my food safety self is like this is like a horrible idea. But my like humane self is like I want to feed
as many people as I can. Right. So I want to I want to get >> How do you open the fridge is my first question. >> Well that's the thing just pull that sucker open. >> Is there a lock is there >> is there a lockbox code on there that somebody needs to punch in? Is there you know there's all there's like >> that's hugely problematic if there's
nothing. I mean, and I know again it defeats the anonymous part of it, but that's one of the problems. >> And not to think nefariously, but you know, where like your bioteterrorism comes in, right? Like, so do you really >> get teenage boys more than bioteterrorism, but we'll go >> which is biote, you know, the same thing
like you can, you know, adulterate the the product and then you're making people sick on purpose, right? It's it's just there's no food security there to my in my my brain, >> but I want to feed people. is is my problem.
>> Terry, >> I think Joan I want I've already talked once so I think Joan had something I want to let I just >> I just my voicing my opinion and I think I think it's very similar to everybody else. This sounds like a wonderful idea and it may fill in some um areas that
people from the food pantry aren't able to provide and but there are certain very important questions that needed to need to be answered. I myself am from the world world of microbiology and um you know quite familiar with what can go
a miss with with bad food. Um, also my guess would be that people who have um allergies would not use this, >> right? >> Um, not that, you know, >> right? that means that, you know, not everybody knows they're allergic to
things and whatnot, but um you know, I I think um I think perhaps with some careful guidance from other towns as um S and Kevin have mentioned that um there might
be a way to make it work and uh I would I would like to pursue further information to see if there would be some possibility. Um, Zirhan is is is there uh this in I believe you were in Medford. Did they have one in Medford? >> They actually do.
>> They do. Yeah. >> Um, is he familiar with how that worked? >> I mean, it may be that PE, as AJ said, people are saying, you know what, this isn't in our purview. We don't like it, but it's not in our purview. >> I believe Melrose has one, too. I just
feel like if people get really hungry, you know, hunger makes people do, you know, things they would normally not not do. So, if you were allergic to something, you might take a chance and go in there and eat. You know, how I'm just I'm just doing like, you know, >> Yeah. >> You're doing worst case e worst case
planning, which is right. Which is right. Which is right. But yeah, sorry. >> Oh, and and not to put an attorney's hat on, but where's the liability >> there? So, >> is there Go ahead, Carrie. Yeah. Yeah. >> So, so the way that these have been
framed in the other communities and this is I've just done a very quick and dirty research. So, these are mutual aid benefit, right? So, there's not a liability, right? This is a a caveat emptor. A person goes in and they take their thing, right? There's this is a a
mutual aid mutual benefit >> thing. And um and I what I want to know I I would like to propose that as I was saying originally that we ask a day in Zhune to um survey you know the dozen
that we've come up with um just by googling and ask them a handful of questions that we have of how they approach it or what they've chosen to do or not do. Um, and then as I said, I've reached out already to my colleagues in the um, training hubs and in the Mass
Association for Environmental Health and I I can contribute the information that I get from them. Um, and I'd also ask that um that a day in Zurg look at um the cottage food regulations because I think that that might be um that might
be similar. Um, for folks who aren't familiar, uh, cottage food is a a um it's a residential kitchen basically, and it causes the same kinds of um concerns that everybody had um that
we've been voicing here. But there has been a successful move and it's gotten through some of those organizations I work with and um and their standards are a little different. So, I think looking that maybe it fits under those um you
know, the standards we're talking about are kind of like vaccine fridge requirements. They're u I mean they're they're they're very comprehensive and I want people to be safe, but I don't I don't want us to overengineer something.
Um you know, so I'd love to know what are these other towns have they decided they have no role? have they decided, you know, have they gotten guidance from town council that says, "No, you're good. Just stay out of it." Um, are they enforcing anything? And then I'd also be
interested in in a look at the cottage pool food law and seeing whether that might apply in this circumstance. So I think the difference between the cottage food and this is that the cottage food is
permitted by the health department. We actually permit >> Right. Right. Well then that's the question today is we're trying to figure out >> that's what I'm saying a day. Sorry to cut you off but that's what I'm saying is there is a way to regulate and do we do it in that fashion or do we not? And
then and I think I want to say too like um if folks are familiar with Lasagna Love and the food um pantry that's like the little little library free library. There's a little there's a couple of little free food pantries around town. Maybe don't folks don't know about it but they're out there and people are
getting food and it might be expired and it might be dented and it might be whatever but it it is happening. So, I think I just want to open us up to the idea that there that we don't necessarily have to engage in this is
where I'm going. That's what I'm trying to >> The board doesn't have to be involved. We don't have to permit those fridges. >> Right. >> Can I ask a quick quick question in regards to that? Sorry to cut you off, Carrie. Um, so I know we used to have and I'm I'm asking you a day if we still do. We used to have on the books where
if a church wanted to have a function for example and they wanted to do baked goods and it was a giveaway. There's no money exchanged. It's everybody shows up. It's a potluck kind of thing. They need to just apply to us for um to tell us that they're having this to which we give them a sign that says the board of
health has nothing to do with this um this exchange. Right. You're you're at your own risk. >> Don't correct. We still have that in the books. Correct. Yes, correct. >> This would kind of fall under that same guides. It sounds like like where we
have we would just need to post something that says, "Hey, you're you're you know, this is at your own risk. The board of health has not inspected this. They they do not monitor this. This is not up to them. This is not on their purview." Um >> that to me seems like this is a perfect
case of where this would fall if we can get this to work. >> Yeah. I'm just read I'm just reading a couple things in their website. Just a couple rules. You know, it's like um food should be kept in a clean airtight container to avoid food spills. Label meals with ingredients and the date
prepared. If you notice a fridge needs to be cleaned, help clean it. So, I mean, I don't know. Are people like outside taking all the food out and like bringing their own stuff and cleaning the fridge? Like I I don't know. >> Actually, S I would say yes. >> Yes, they are.
>> If you go up to the community gardens we have up in Mata Cabin, I would actually say yeah. Yeah, the people that are going to do this, they're they're actually >> really kind, dedicated people and they're going to bring in their own products. >> I don't Yeah, I don't doubt that. >> But there is I I know where you're going with this because there is that off
chance. >> My whole thing is and this sounds horrible. >> Yeah. >> Say it though. Anyway, my whole thing's liability. I'm always looking at liability. >> Right. So liable for it. >> Yeah. then I don't have as much of an issue with it so long as people
understand specifically like big bold print on the front of the the the thing. The board of health has nothing to do with this. You're at your own risk, >> I guess. Yeah. >> All right. But we have to state that. So, for example, if somebody goes to the
fridge and they get poisoned, >> they may be able to sue the the church. >> Correct. >> And then they can come back and say, "Well, the border approved it." So, as long as we have a disclaimer saying that we do not approve, >> you know, uh, community free.
>> Yeah. I think we'd have to ask town council a day as well. I mean, it's are we really are we really, you know, exempt from being sued? >> If we post Yeah. If we posted, >> we are.
>> And and and I'll say as well, you can't cure a liability. You're never exempt from being sued. we're in a latigious society and somebody can decide that you can get a lawyer who's gonna say yes we're going to name everybody. So so same kind of thing you have to kind of
measure the the exposure. Um >> that said though I I still would slow play. I still would find out all the information that other towns have gathered and before a decision on it. >> I mean I mean back you know back to the the cleaning right Kevin? So, somebody goes there and wants to clean the
freezer on a 90° day, takes all the stuff out and puts it on a table or I don't know where. And then cuz that's where my that's how my mind works about food safety. >> Yeah. >> Leaves it out for maybe they're a slow cleaner and leaves it out for 45 minutes, grows some bacteria, puts it
back in. You know, it's just I don't know. Like I said, I want I want it to work. I 100% want it to work. Maybe there is some kind of uh measure that other towns have worked with with private organizations to ensure that that's that that exact thing hasn't happened or that it's >> Yeah. So,
>> I'd love I'd love to know. I'd love to know. >> All I know is we have a whole host of unanswered questions that I would like answers to that would make me feel a whole lot better about it. I feel great about it from a >> um a human standpoint. I I I think it sounds amazing. I just want to make sure
that >> we have I just want to make sure that we have all the all the questions we have answered so we can make a more informed decision. >> One picture I see >> we should embrace the liability part, right? Why why not do a waiver and and and I'm assuming this is not a fridge
where today Adi just decides that I can't feed my whatever, right? And and I just go in and whatever. There probably is a system. There's probably paperwork to be filled in. there's approved list of people who go in and whatnot. Um I think I think we can set up the controls
and again the waiverss, the paperwork, everything that kind of exempts the town. It is a religious society. K. I fully agree. It's the biggest difference I've seen in United States compared to any other country. >> But maybe we can put the safeguards in. Right.
>> Yeah. >> Yeah. No, I'm not I I I I'm not saying it's a latigious society. We should be careful. I'm saying it's a latigious society. You you it's that's not a reason that I've seen liability, you know, concerns about liability slow down things that ought not be slowed down
because it's something you can't ever cure um for. But that doesn't mean you don't consider it. And I'm just this is a fabulous philosophical conversations, but um yeah, I think we just Yeah, >> I wouldn't be scared of getting sued if I was feeding people. Put it that way.
That's my that's my take on it. But you're not feeding them. S >> S's gonna be down there cleaning. What are you talking about? >> I want to go I want to go on a field trip to one of the other ones. I want to go see how it is. Now I'm interested. >> My personal feeling would be if there is
some mechanism that still allows people to remain anonymous that has a like a push button keypad. >> Yeah. >> That locks and unlocks, you know, the fridge. Um, I'd feel a lot more comfortable about it for the people that are taking the food out, quite frankly,
because at least there there would be some checks and balances to who, excuse me, as to who that information went out to, and even if it's held by one source, and it doesn't need to be held by more than one. >> So, I I'm going to I think we can wrap
up this uh discussion. I what I'm hearing um is that we're gonna ask a day and his staff um to do some homework uh you know before the next meeting and probably
convey to the pastor that we haven't made a decision about how to approach this yet. But specifically what I heard is one to survey other towns in the area how they're doing it.
Have they set up their own regulations and permits or have they just done guidelines or they ignoring any responsibility completely? You know, we need to hear like, you know, what a half a dozen towns in the area are who have
this are doing. Second, we probably need to check with town council as to whether there's any legal liability for us, you know, not doing anything. Um, and you know, and where she would see this
kind of fit in the whole regulations. I think a day if you could also speak to the department of public health that may have some background ideas have been thinking about this can can provide any helpful information
that would be useful. And then Carrie, um, if you, it sounds like you could maybe speak to statewide public health organizations that may, um, have some knowledge about these and how
communities and some sort of, uh, principles that they would recommend we follow. I it just sounds like we just need a lot of information from all those areas in order to try to decide are we going to regulate this with permits? Are
we going to ignore it? Are we going to forbid it in this town? Um or we just going to provide guidelines and hope for the best, you know, and caveat mour. Um you know, I I don't think we've reached a we clearly have not reached a decision. We just need more information.
>> Yeah. Can I just say one more thing, Rick? >> I just want to one more. I just want to say this is where this is the I mean the beauty of the public health practice community is exactly what we're asking a day to do, right? So I'm going to talk to my colleagues who are trainers. We're
funded by the department of public health. I'm going to talk to the central trainers at the Department of Public Health who are developing the training programs for the food safety inspection programs. I'm going to talk to all the different health directors that I know
out on the list serves that we have a day in Zer Hune can do the same kind of surveying. But this is how this is how local public health functions and this is how municipalities function. It's a beautiful thing. somebody has kind of grappled with this already and we want
to pull in on it and figure out what they've done and you know we'll take as Kevin said maybe you know we'll see what the first bite at the apple did and then we'll decide what we want to do whether it's a we're going to keep watching this one or whether we're going to um keep going but thank you for bringing it to
us today and because it's fun to have a nice um spirited conversation about >> about helping people. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> And keeping them safe. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you all. That was
a good discussion and um hopefully we'll have some insights uh next month. >> Great. >> Yeah. Sounds good. >> So, a day uh monthly update, nursing report and so forth. >> Okay. So, for the month of December, we
conducted two housing complaints. um 10 food establishment complaints. We issued approximately 15 temporary food permits and we mostly focused on the renewals and you know getting the health
inspector position uh filled. All right, I'll hand it over to Liv. >> Thank you everyone. Let me just pull my PowerPoint up. Okay, so happy new year everyone. So for the month of December, for last month,
we had 135 flu cases and 25 COVID cases. Flu is definitely on the rise. Um we're seeing it all in hospitals all over the state. Um respiratory illnesses, RSVs very high right now. So everyone stay
safe. Um let's see. Yeah, please continue to stay safe. Wash your hands. Use caution when in large crowds, especially if you're seeing vulnerable individuals in the near future. And most importantly, if you feel sick, stay at home. Oops. These are my January blood
pressure screenings this month. I just had one today at the Pleasant Street Senior Center. I have one on the 15th at Frank Tanner at 10:00 a.m. and on the 26th at the Reading Public Library at 2:30. I just wanted to highlight some more
things. Um last month we saw a lot of norovirus in the schools. Um as some of you may know uh just wanted to bring attention that it's still running rampant. So wash your hands, prepare food safely. We've had a great discussion on that tonight. Um disinfect
surfaces properly and if you're s if you're sick, stay home and do laundry and clean up. It is thyroid awareness month. Um just bringing attention to um hyperyroidis hyperyroidism and hypothyroidism. This
one out in the town manager minutes. It's also national blood donor month this January. Um we actually have three events happening right here in Reading through the Good Samaritan Lodge at 110 Haven Street in Reading Mass. January 6th already passed January 15th and
January 29th. You can donate locally and you can sign up right on the Red Cross website. It is also cervical cancer awareness month. Um, oh no, my image is a little wonky. I'm so sorry. Um, but one in four women haven't been screened as
recommended. So, if you know of anyone that needs to get screened, definitely encourage them to. Um, my hands only CPR classes are live for sign up. The January one is already full. The March one has three more
spots, I think. So, sign up for May, July, September, and November. Oh my gosh, I have to fix all of these images. What happened to my Canva? So, sorry, everyone. All right. And then just bringing attention back to this uh my diabetic supplies takeback program and my medical
supplies takeback program. Um, that was actually something that the select board talked about how they didn't even know about it and I was like, I talk about it at every every board meeting. So, um, all right. Thank you, everyone.
>> Thanks, Liv. >> Thanks, Lee. Thanks, >> Liv. >> Um, I have a question. Uh, actually a comment on the question. One is um with the uh spike in influenza cases, I went
on the mask.gov uh website and uh saw that um they have town by town uh vaccination rates and reading's vaccination rate for influenza was 49%. >> Wow.
>> With the statewide average being something like 33 or 34%. So we really did thank you very much for your work because we obviously we did a good job there and similarly for COVID although the numbers were lower it was something
like you know reading had something like maybe 30%. And uh statewide it was like 15%. >> Um so you know those are all good things. the question I have and I'm not
I don't know and I I'm not I don't feel strongly but um I heard today that uh the city of Boston was um actually opening up um flu vaccination clinics again um you know that they
hadn't planned but they've decided to do it because of the uh widespread um involvement of influenza and whether any of that would make sense for us. I know it's it's obviously late in the
season, but what I've been reading is that there's um is that there's >> Sorry, I pointed to Liv. I think she has a >> Oh, okay. Go ahead. Go ahead. >> Sorry. I was trying to figure out how to raise my hand. Um, so we actually I got
an email today um saying that uh Mary Giuliani, she's the nurse over at the schools, they have one scheduled coming up. Um, she emailed me at 6:26, so not that not that long ago. Um,
but we actually have one coming up that I'm going to start advertising tomorrow hopefully on the 23rd from 3:00 to 5:00. >> Oh, great. And at the age middle >> because that gets really booked. I mean there's a >> Yeah, we're we can we can Yep.
>> Because I think people are concerned. >> Yeah. >> People with pediatric deaths. And >> can I ask a question, Rick? >> Sure. >> 49%. So I hear 5050 and and you sound happy with that. I'm like, "Oh, that seems low. Is that historically average
high?" Like where is that? That's just 50. >> That's a good question. I you know I >> I want to say typically we're at 70. >> Okay. >> 70 or 75, but um >> that would make more sense to me. Okay. Yeah, I would I would go with that,
Kevin. >> What I would think. >> All right. So, we still need some we still need some work here. So, >> there's still opportunity there. Yeah. >> Okay. Great. >> Okay. Uh thank you, Liv. Um anything else a day? Uh
>> yeah, I have a few things to share. Um let's see. So um the shared services collaborative coordinator position got filled. >> Good. >> I'm just her name is um Lydia Sweetzer. Um I'm planning to you know have her
meet the board um at a subsequent meeting, but at this time you know I'm just giving her some time to like settle in. Um before this happens, um I had a discussion with the town manager. Uh he would like me to uh
present our proposed uh fee schedule increase before the select board. Um so we're working together to you know to make it happen. Uh we are also working on a new animal control contract.
Um, so the way it works is that um they used to be like uh employees of the town of Wakefield and they would work for Reading, but we would reimburse the
town for their services. And at this point, they no longer work for the town of Wakefield. So we are looking at creating our own contract to keep them on board. So, um I'll be meeting with town council
next week um to get the contract executed if possible and we are also working on amending our private wells uh regulations. I will keep the board updated.
>> Great. >> Okay. Any other comments, thoughts, final suggestions? All right, sounds good. Um, make a motion to adjourn. Do I have a second? >> Second.
>> Uh, roll call. S, >> yes. >> Carrie, >> yes. >> Kevin, >> yes. >> Joan, >> yes. >> And Rick, yes. Bye everybody. See you next month. Next month. >> Next month. Stay warm. Stay healthy.
>> Thank you, Ryan. >> Bye. >> Bye.