All right. Okay. Good afternoon and welcome everyone to the Westport uh Board of Health meeting on May 29th, 2025, which I am calling to order under Mass General Law, Chapter 3A, Section 20F. This
meeting is being recorded. And please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, we are going to begin with um presentations on tick and mosquito prevention by Oliver Cherky, our shared services coordinator for the South Coast
Public Health Collaborative. And then that'll be followed by Linda Pierce, our uh public health nurse, to talk about common tick and mosquito diseases. Okay, literally the very first thing on the agenda. Hi everyone.
Um, I'm here to just talk briefly about how to protect yourself, your yard, and your pets from ticks and mosquitoes this season. Um, we just hosted a great tick and mosquito prevention training and presentation that hopefully we can do
again. So, this is kind of inspired by that. Um, so I'm going to start first with just how to do how to treat exposed skin. Um, repellents containing DE are the best defense, but they are not
sufficient to protect yourself completely against tick bites. So, this is a good first line of defense. Um, but that's kind of it. If you read the fine print on the label, DE should only be applied to exposed skin and when it's freshly applied, it can repel some ticks, but there's also the possibility
that it repels ticks to areas underneath clothing where they could bite. Um, de's protection is also fairly short-lived against ticks. You want to try to cover as much skin as possible with clothing so that the de exposed skin is
minimized. Um, anytime you go to a tick habitat, you should thoroughly wash your entire body and check for ticks and remove them immediately if you find any. They do not wash off easily in the shower, so you will have to pull them out.
Um, secondly, we're going to move on to tick repellent clothing. You want to treat your clothing with peromethine. If you treat it yourself at home, it will be active through six washings or 45 days. And you want to treat your footwear every 4
weeks. There is pre-treated tick repellent clothing available. Um, there's a brand called Insect Shield that sells clothing that's pre-treated with peromethine and that can last through 70 washes, which is basically the lifetime of the garment. Um, you can
also get pre-treated tick repellent clothing through Orvis, LLBAN, REI, or you can send your clothing to Insect Shield and they will treat it for you even if you didn't purchase it from them in the first place. Um, the protection is odorless, invisible, and when it's
done commercially, it can last a lot longer, like I said, than if you were to do it yourself. Um, here are some just quick facts about peromethine because some people get worried about having like a chemical on your clothing. Um, it's
2,250 times more toxic to ticks than to humans, and it doesn't get absorbed into the skin very easily, and it gets metabolized quickly. People also use it for scabies and head lice. So, it's used for a variety of different critters, I'll
say. Um, next we're going to talk about how to protect your yard. A perimeter yard spray, so just spraying around the sides is definitely helpful. It's not a foolproof solution. Again, the tick repellent clothing is probably the most
important aspect of this. Um, in most situations, treatment is not needed for open, sunny lawns. the heat is enough and the sun is enough to protect that against ticks. Um, you want to use peromethine or bifth
bifenthrine for your perimeter spray. Those are the two best active ingredients. Um, spray treatments should be applied using high pressure sprayers and two applications usually work best which is sometime in miday and then again in mid June. You want to focus on,
again, like I said, the perimeter that might get more shade and areas that have overgrown shrubs, leaf piles, wood piles, stone walls, and any kind of woodsy areas. Um, similarly for mosquitoes, you want to remove any standing water on your property. They
can lay eggs in water that is standing still for more than 4 days. Um, lastly, I'm going to talk about pets. So, obviously, you want to check them for ticks. every time you go out into tick habitat. Um, you can use topical products like Frontline or a
Cesto Collar to help repel ticks. Insect Shield, that um, company that I was talking about earlier, also sells a peromethine treated dog vest and it's cute looking, which is a bonus. I love when dogs wear clothes.
Um, so there are also EPA registered products that are available through your vet that contain peromethine. They have collars um and a few other products that are safe and effective. So, you can talk to your veterinarian about what would work best for you. And as far as
mosquitoes go, make sure you clean animal bowls, buckets, and troughs at least twice weekly because that will help reduce uh the breeding habitats because like I said, they can lay eggs in water that's standing for more than four days. Um, so that's my brief
presentation, but in addition, there are tickformational materials upstairs on the info tables if you would like to grab some things to take home. Thank you. Any questions? There's one thing we learned too from Larry about if ticks
get on your clothing, people tend to throw them in the wash. Yes. Don't put them Well, you can put them in the wash, but that's not going to kill them. You want to put them in the dryer on hot. That will kill the ticks on your clothing. That's right. Yeah. But they kind of like the water in washers, so
they thrive. What what I learned was 82% humidity keeps them alive and anything less than that kills them. Yep. Very specific. 82% or higher. Um, so does the
peromethine is it a repellent or is it an it insecticide? Does does it work by killing the tick or Yes, it works by killing the tick. Okay. There are videos that you can find online where it's like a pair of treated pants and the tick is climbing up and then you can see it just
like die. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. But people get nervous about, you know, the insecticide thing, but it's really not dangerous for people, right? I would just like to underline that. I asked because one of the factoids that I thought if I got it right was
interesting about it was that ticks really attach themselves to you not because they are necessarily aware of your scent or heat or anything. It's just purely
um you know a convergence of your body being close to where the ticks are hanging out. Yeah. And they are attracted to carbon dioxide at some degree, but um yeah, they can't see. Yeah. So, Right. And they don't like jump out of trees and stuff like people
have said. They literally just like stay where they are until someone is lucky enough to pass them by and pick them up. They also respond to your sweat. It's the humidity piece again. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Thank you. Any other questions? I'm just going to relay a quick story because I was surprised. I went swimming um on Sunday for an hour in the pool when I took a shower and I found not embedded but a
nymph tick on my finger. So I even being in the water for an hour, they don't drown. Nope. They don't. So you really need to be conscientious. That's actually really important to hear. Yeah. That's good. And the nymphs are tiny, so
good job looking out. Yeah. And one of the things that are is upstairs is our little tick ID card, so you can tell the difference because different kinds of ticks spread different kinds of disease, right? Yep. And that's what Linda's going to be that's a great segue for what Linda's going to be talking about
next. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you all. Appreciate that. Good afternoon everybody. So I'm going to talk about ticks and mosquitoes what they carry. Uh so ticks need to be on you at least 24
to 36 hours to transmit any lime and if it's removed immediately when you see have better reduced risk of contracting any kind of disease from them. New England is a breeding ground to tick climate, abundant seas, vegetation,
dense forest, mild winters, and humid summers. New England's common uh common disease transmitted by tick bites include lime, lezio, anoplasmosis. Other less common but still present diseases
are Rocky Mountain, spotted fever, borealia, and powinsson. Um lime signs and symptoms are fever, chills, body aches, fatigues, nausea and headache. Besia it infects red blood
cells. Your the signs and symptoms may feel like flu symptoms, fatigue, fever, headache, bodyaches and severe cases can lead to kidney failure. They're treated by zithramycin and antrovacquin. Anaposmosis signs and symptoms are
fever, headache, chills, nausea, muscle aches. They're treated with doxycyc. Borealia is treated with doxycyc. Doxycycline is a sun sensitive. So you need to be aware that you would burn a lot quicker and pay attention to
how much time you're out in the sun. If you are on doxycyc, let your doctor know other meds in case there's a conflict with doxycyc in your meds. Untreated line progression is serious, even fatal, can cause arthritis and
nerve pain, cardiac arhythmias, inflammation of the brain and the spine. Um, when I do Maven, um, Maven wants Department of Public Health wants just Lyme disease that you acknowledge it
that we we have a person that has Lyme disease, but the other ones, they want you to investigate for that. um because it it truly is if people don't pay attention to what's going on, they really can have real health problems.
And you know, it's not just a little tick bite and I'll clean it with alcohol. It's none of that. It's really important that you go and see your doctor and get a blood test and they call it a tick panel which will test for each and every one of the tick tick different type of tick
disease. Um I'm So mosquito disease is a western disease and the virus is a leading cause of mosquito transmitted disease in the United States. 80% do not experience any symptoms. 20% experience fever,
headache, bodyaches, vomiting, diarrhea and rash. It can lead to potentially fatal neurological disease like encphilitis or menitis. The elderly and the imuno compromised people are the most at risk for severe
disease. Some people have factors that can increase the risk like being over 60, organ transplants, cancer, high blood pressure, and kidney disease. It can last from weeks to months for recovery. Those who develop neurological
inflammation surrounding the brain and spinal cord. West Nile is from mosquitoes biting an infected bird and then are infected themselves and so when they bite a human um that's when they get infected. There
are no vaccines for West Nile or medicines or other treatments for West Nile. In general, it's mild fever illness, rest, fluids, and over-the-counter meds that can just treat the symptoms. It will not heal anything to treat the symptoms to
relieve symptoms until the infection runs its course. Eastern in inquin and sephilitis. Most people do not develop symptoms. Incubation period is 4 to 10 days. Fever, chills, body aches and joint pain. The illness can last one to
two weeks and most people recover completely when they there is no central nervous system involvement. Neurological disease can include menitis, inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and the spinal cord. Signs and symptoms of fever,
headache, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, behavioral changes, drowsiness, and sometimes coma. Onethird of people who develop severe eastern ecoin and sephilitis die. Death usually occurs 2
to 10 days after the onset of symptoms. Many people who recover are left with long-term physical or mental problems. These can range from mild to severe intellectual disability, personalities disorders, seizures, paralysis, cranial nerve
dysfunction. People with severe disease, ongoing disabilities often require long-term care and die within a few years. There's no specific medication to treat eastern ecoin sephilitis. Antibiotics are not
effective. So the whole moral to this whole story is when you are outdoors, protect yourself. That is the best prevention you can do. We have all these different sprays. We have all these different
um things that mosquitoes don't come out unless it's 55° or or warmer. So, if it's dusk and it's warm, either spray yourself or keep yourself in the house, you know, because we don't know who's carrying what and and it really is up to
you for our prevention. And that, you know, you really can only do that with paying attention to all the information that is given. This is not a joke. People can die or get such disabilities with all this. if they pay
attention then maybe they can just escape all this. Does anybody have any questions? Um I have a couple of comments. Um one is um I have a neighbor who's an infectious disease specialist um
actually lime specialist and we were we ran into him the other night and he said that the Poassin um virus is is on the on the uptick. Okay. Um, and so that's something to be aware of. Um, and that's one of the ones
that is like has a 10% fatality rate. So, um, be aware of that. Um, and just a personal anecdote is my husband has, um, lime arthritis. Um, and the, uh, he
probably got a tick bite. They his PCBs six months ago and we just never never had symptoms. Never. And we are we weren't as religious in the winter time about doing tick checks, but we are going to be now. Um but we've had warm winters and so you got to be aware of
that. You know, I mean, we've been lucky that we have warm winters, so we don't have to spend too much oil or gas to heat our houses, but they're around. And you know, we tend to be outdoors cleaning leaves and bringing them into the woods and such. And you know, and it's not, oh, it's cold now. It it's
October. It's the end of November. No, pay attention and bring your socks up over your pant legs and your long sleeves and and everything else and and all the other sprays that they have. All that's great, but pay attention and and hopefully you're not alone. But if you
have a full length mirror and you after you get out of that shower, you better be able to look and see if there's anything that you're, you know, missing and maybe it's not a freckle, it might be a tick. So, very important. Okay, any other questions or comments from the
one thing I learned too is the reason why um the tick has to be on you for 24 hours for a disease to be transmitted as it moves from the gut. The disease um bacteria moves from the gut, it has to go into the salivary glands to then get transmitted. So the sooner you remove a
tick, the better. Yeah. And the exception to that is pasin which Yeah. only requires 15 minutes. Yeah. So just things to be conscientious about. Another thing to worry about, but if you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, you should be okay. Yeah. And
and it's important to recognize that, you know, maybe only 25% of ticks carry disease. It's not everyone. So, you know, don't panic. Oh, yeah. And the other thing about ticks that I thought was interesting was we're so concerned about deer, but it's not the deer. It's
the small animals like the whitefooted mouse. Yes. And the chipmunks that are carriers as opposed to the deer. And you know, one thing going um to whites a couple weeks ago, one thing I did Lauren now, so I'm always weeding my
my little flower beds, but I have big trees and it's all shaded. So you never think you just think that they're all over the the yard, and that's not true. But still don't take that that it's okay to be in the sun, you know, just because it just sun may have moved and they
they're there and just pay attention to what you're doing and that's the most important thing. Um because we can really um get really sick or maybe have disabilities after all this. Great. Thank you very much, Linda. I
appreciate uh all that information. And um as we said, there's information and ID cards upstairs. Uh thank you. Um okay, we'll move on to um the director's written report. Um can you hang up one sec?
Uh any questions on that? If not, we'll turn to the verbal report. Okay. So um regards to the blood drives. So, the blood drives are, you know, we go over this every week because we want to keep reiterating the schedule, but uh the following schedules have uh been
coordinated by our public health nurse, Linda Pierce, and the American Red Cross. So, the next blood drive is coming up on June 12th at Whites of Westport, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. And then July 17th, Whites of Westport, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. My question, Linda, is
August to December, have you have is is there any schedule available for that? schedule to make sure um don't forget about our syringes. Yes. Um so as you know we have the shops drop off program here for our kiosk and we
have a big thing on our web page that says you know uh shops can't be left unattended in the um hallway. But yet just about every day we get people leaving shops and containers that aren't um suitable for shops to to make it even worse in the hallway. So I don't know
how many times, you know, I can reiterate and we can reiterate the fact that can't use shops unattended. Um call the public health nurse to set up a time to drop them off or when the schedule is posted when she's here and not here. Um otherwise if you know continues to
happen, we're going to discontinue the shops program. period. It's a safety thing, you know, because we don't people leave things at my door. It's a safety thing. We don't know who's coming through the door behind them. So, I I'm very adamant about that. Um, and they're
not scheduled yet. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. So, anyways, that's in regards to shops. I mean, we get the message out. We have it posted was talking about it now for whoever may be watching this or watching it later. But um yeah, it's a definite
safety issue. Okay, maybe we need to put a um a sign up that says, you know, the shops program will be discontinued if we continue to rece, you know, see shops left unattended. Um so please do not do that. You know, just
something to make it a little bit more in your face that um you're risking the entire program. Okay. Okay. So, as Olive Med mentioned, we had the tick training for the collaborative on May 21st. The training was very
informative and wellreceived by all who attended. I think this is something we're going to do every year around the same time for the collaborative and bring people in from other groups um because there'll be new people and there may be new things that need to be addressed. So, Matt, can I make a
suggestion? Sure. That we tape it. Yeah, we we last minute we tried to arrange a hybrid type with a taping, but it it wasn't possible to do this time, but next time around we it was it was um we talked about it one of the best presentations with the speakers that we
had. Um is, you know, I didn't get bored. It was interesting. It was new information. It was very helpful information. So I hope that maybe the next time we can videotape that and then put it on um the community access TV.
Great. Thank you. So the bidden contractor originally selected for the transfer station improvement had to withdraw from the project so requiring us to solicit additional quotes. A new contractor was selected and hopefully we'll be starting
next week or the week after to get the paving work done. before the end of the fiscal year. The So that's where we are with uh with that. Matt, question about your um up at the top when we're reporting on
Joe, John, and Nick. Yeah. Are we also in Nick? Is that including I can't remember our new person's name. Gina. Gina. Uh include her information. Not in this report, but um she has been called out uh a few times now. um after this
report was done. So um for the next meeting you'll start seeing a report during early and we don't include Gabby stuff in this. We we do not uh we do not include no her or shaman in this. We we can but they're just we reporting
on the most of the time they're in other communities where right I just you know that that the collaborative the work the collaborative does you are directing the collaborative I don't know if it would be helpful for the rest of the board to
know what's happening with specific members of the collaborative and what what they're providing for us in Westport. It's going to be completely on Olive to um make those make those reports and put it together in a way that to show where
everybody is and when and what they're doing and where. Yeah. It may be helpful. Not so much the details of for other towns, but just, you know, uh Gabby was in Westport. Yeah. 20% of the time and these are the things she did. The rest of the time she was in
these other communities. Yeah. I mean that's that it would I I just think that people in the community need to know that being part of this collaborative is a benefit to us and how it's a benefit to us. In what ways do the people who are working in the collaborative helping
Westport are helping Westport? I would like to see that. We need to toot our own horn better. Okay, great. Anything else, Matt? Okay. Um then we will move on um to
minutes and we have a um there's two separate minutes. Yep. May the May 6 which was the special um meeting right before the town meeting. Yes.
And thank you for taking the notes, Donna. It's my job. That's why they picked me the big bucks. Yeah. Can you spell my name right the next time? Huh? Can you spell my name right the next time? I'm sorry. I thought I did. Um, you did double O just up top. Okay. Um
Um that that was the minutes were fine in my book. Mhm. Okay. So I move that we approve um the meeting the minutes for May 6, 2025. Second. All in favor? I unanimous. Thank
you. and May 12th. Was he any issues with May 12th either? Bill, you all set? Yeah. But wait a minute. There's a hesitancy in that. Yes, he's just No, I Okay, I'm fine. So, I
move that we approve the minutes for May 12th, 2025. Second. All in favor? That's unanimous. Thank you. Uh okay. Um let's just do a couple of quick uh other business until our 4:30
appointment. Um we have um 2:30. Huh? 2:30. Oh, sorry. I'm I'm You were at the 4:00. Yeah. 4:00. 2:30. Yep. Um so we have a memo from Nancy the Greater
Tobacco Fall River. I'm a greater Fall River Tobacco Coalition. Um, part-time agent appointment. Um, they have a new person, Mary Beth Diglio. Um, so we need to appoint her. Is it Digio or I had two
different spellings on her name? Um, oh, Biglo or Diglio. Blog. So, if we look at the um Yeah, I Well, we'll I think we'll figure it out and um
Oh, boo. Oh, jeez. Mhm. Beu. It's Beu. Okay. Um so, um we'll um use that name. That's probably the right one because that's our email. G L I O is would be the correct, right?
Um, so I would request a motion to appoint Mary Beth Wuglio as part-time agent for FY25 and then we'll second. Um, all in favor? I. That's unanimous. Okay. And then we need to do
reappoint um all of the uh folks for FY26. That includes uh Kristen Stinson for burial agent, special agent, Dr. Dennis Callen for medical advisor. Jonathan Potter is non-paid burial agent special agent. Shane Ericson Potter is
also non-paid burial agent special agent. Jennifer doera tobacco control non-paid special agent. Mary Beth Buglio um tobacco control special agent and Gabrielle Elmeita South Coast Public
Health Collaborative GR funded full-time health specialist. and Shaylen Rodriguez um also South Coast Public Health Collaborative Grant funded part-time health specialist. So I move that we approve all appointments for fiscal year
2026 as written. Second. All in favor? I. That's unanimous. Thank you. Okay. All righty. Um, what else can we do? Um, the I think we have time to do the
um I have 2:30 on my phone. Okay, it's 2:30. We will move. And I see potter back there. So, yes. Um um I call the 230 variance hearing. Um Len Potter representing Dana Camra for 83 Shirley
Street. This is a three-bedroom repair with a quick for and advant system on an 8,100 ft lot. Mr. Potter, please present. Good. How are you? Good. Good. Green cards.
Not using the green cards. Okay, one part here for Dana Kendra 83 83 Street and the proposal is to replace an existing uh thousandgalon tank and
leeching pit with a title 5 quick force system with an Advantax pre-treatment unit. Uh the home that exists is going to be demolished and a new home built in its place. The existing home is threebedroom. The proposal is still
three bedrooms. Uh but we have variances we need for wells and they are distances to well. The owner's well is going to end up being 59 ft from the proposed system and we have
uh 70 70 I got here I got 81 Shirley Street is less than 100 ft proposed separation is 79 separation so soil absorption system in the well at 82 Shirley Street is less than 100 ft proposed is 66
uh the separate between soil absorption system and the well at 7 water street is going to be 87 ft. The water samples have been taken except for 82 82 Shirley Street which is on the opposite side of
Shirley to the south. The people uh do not do not live there in the winter. Uh attempted to do a water test but the house is closed. So, the owners contacted someone that knew her and she didn't respond. She called me and she's
back in town as of uh this morning and they're going to make arrangements to do the water test, but the system is a DI system anyway. So, no matter what the results are, it wouldn't make a big difference. Central Water Street I don't I know has a high bacterial level and
high nitrates. Yeah, nitrates. What is it? 11 nitrate. So, yeah. Yeah, I know. I know that. Right. So, um we'll have to address that separately. But yeah, the owner's well was good and the uh ward well was good, which
is maybe one surely. So, other than that, everything seems to be in order. Those are the only variances we need are well variances. Okay. Um I will turn to Matt for his report on this one.
Okay. Questions from the board, comments? No. Oops. I'm going to request a correction. What correction is that? Um, the the plan needs to be fixed because it references the existing well at 85
Shirley Street, which is uh non-existent. I think I think the intention because this says 59 ft. So, I'm assuming it's on the owner's property, the owner's well. So, it should be 83 Shirley Street. 82 Shirley. 83. 83 is the owner, right? Um, if you
look at the plan, I'm looking um you see where it says um the existing well at 59 ft away from the system. Yes, it says existing well 85 Shirley Street. Do you see that? Look on the schematic side. I think it's over there. Yeah, I
see it. Turn on the right. It's on the right side of the plan underneath. Remove and dispose tree underneath. What is it? The remove 85 Shelly Street. I got it. Can we just fix
that? I can fix that initial. No problem. That's all I need. Just want to be accurate. You got it. No problem. Easiest thing I've done all day. does does seven Water Street um she's been made aware of the situation. Yeah.
And and uh she knows she's known for a while. The lab called right away and said to notify her that the bacteria was high. They weren't worried about the nitrates for that reason, but she knows. Okay. Um I uh I already talked to Matt
about that and we will send a letter um because it's not portable. The water's not portable at this time. And according to our septic system records, uh we don't have a folder on that um property. The house was built in 1956. So we're betting there's probably a cess poolool
there most likely. Um and so that that we'll need to follow up on that as well because that is probably a source of um contamination for that. Well, okay. Any other questions or concerns from the board?
No, this is a this will be an improvement to the situation. Um uh so I would be I can give it a shot. Okay. Thank you. All right. So,
um, so move to approve the plan for Donna Cra at 83 Shirley Street, a 3bedroom repair on a plan dated 41425 um with an advant four um
system subject to concom approval. uh three-bedroom deed restriction um local upgrade approval waiverss um for the well setbacks that are set
out in the plan um for the site well um 81 Shirley Street, 82 Shirley Street, and 7 Water Street. uh 3 years of well testing and a whole harmless agreement
and the owner's property of 83 Shirley Street. Oh, in the correction. No, no, no. 83 Water Street. 83 Shirley Street. You mentioned 81 82. Oh, 83. Yeah. Oh, I thought there were just four of them. There five of them. 83. This war I may
have misard you. I may may not may have missed I just want to make sure we reference 83 shortly as well. Yeah, I said the site I mean yes you're right. Sorry, my mistake. Yeah. Yeah. TNT and well testing. Yeah, I said three years of well testing. Okay. Yep. And
hold to nutrition and compliance the IIA compliance with standard. So it will be two years of total nitrogen testing. Okay. Okay. So I second that motion made and seconded to app approve the project for 83 Shirley
Street with those conditions. All in favor? I I That's unanimous. Thank you, Mr. Potter. And it goes to conservation room 10. Okay. And you just do the um John with their hands up. Oh, yes,
ma'am. Sorry. Hi, I'm Jav. I live at 82 Shirley Street and um as Mr. Potter stated, I was contacted indirectly about water testing. Um So, I I would just like to note that I would like the water to to be assured
that the water will be tested at my property before the septic septic system is installed. Um, it would have to be before permits issued. It would have to be and it is. Yeah. I gave Dana Cambers, he's in
California. I gave uh the number for Janet Hadley to his sister Judy Palmer and she's going to contact Janet to make arrangements. Okay. Well, Janet is here now. So, great. Um yes. And it also requires um three years of water testing
post installation so that there'll be regular monitoring um uh of the well and the monies will be held in escrow by the board of health to order that testing. Yeah. There's no expense to so no expense to you, right? Um
um because the well um because the system is um a denitrifying septic system, it's an improvement to the existing um system regardless of your well test results. um he'll be able to
proceed, but I understand you want to get the results and and and um that will be part of the um conditional approval process. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for coming in. I did tell M I did tell Mrs. B not to buy today. He was just
back. You're very considerate. We are available 24 hours a day to organize water. You travel You travel long way. Thank you. Thank you for coming back to Westport. Okay. Mhm. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome.
Okay. Um, back to other business. Um, we did board of health appointments. Um, review, accept, and sign shared system easement for 2038 and 2040 main road. Um, this was something that came before us last fall. Um and we have the
um grant of covenant and easement um to um oversee that shared system um uh so um first turn to Matt. Anything to report on that? Uh no, I looked them over and everything seemed right. Um
they just there's two different addresses there. I didn't see any typos so everything looked appropriate. It's a template um cognitive easement that we use. So, okay. Any questions for the board? I wonder about Mr. Phil who has
some legal experience to say if there's anything I think. Yeah, I think this is um a document that is incorporated into the rigs, right? is this easement. So, um, so I just really didn't read it as
if this was the proponent proposing this. So, we have to give it a critical reading. This is D's following the template. Yeah. D template. So, um, yeah. So, so I'm fine with it because Okay. I
take a motion to app um authorize or approve um a covenants for 2038 Main Road and 2040 Main Road for the shared system easements. Second. I didn't Is that Wait a minute.
Who did Oh, I thought you were I'll make the move. I thought you said I'll make the motion. Motion made and seconded. All in favor? I I That's unanimous. Thank you. Okay, I'll sign those. Um, okay. Um, I'm
just wanted to circle back to FY26 board priorities. I apologize for that special for the working meeting that I had to leave early. Um, and uh, I know there was some discussion uh, really focused on the priorities from from Matt's perspective,
but I wanted to give the board an opportunity to articulate its own priorities for FY26. Um, and we can, you know, we can revisit this at another time, but I just wanted to make sure that people had an opportunity to talk about that.
Well, I think that Phil and I did and we asked Matt what his priorities were, but we need to hear what your priorities. Yeah. Well, um, and I'll have the minutes done for the next meeting for that. Um, could you just summarize what your priorities
were so I don't overlap? Okay. Let's see what I wrote down. I I made a list. Okay. Okay. I mean, kind of just out of memory, you know. So one was the private well rigs. This is not necessarily an order private private
wellres rigs. What I call the cesspool compliance strategy. Uh the unknown uh you know the unknown system status confirmation strategy. How we going to do that? And
and Matt raised what I think was you know what I characterize just personnel issues. Um, and there's one that I was, you know, going to add, but it may not be, uh, you know, something that happens in
the next six months, but, you know, both the climate resilience and the, um, hazardous um, mitigation, these both these plans are in work and they both involve the health department. Um and so
there may be um you know activities or responses that you know may come up kind of action plans that will come out of that that we should look at and also just by way of putting continuing to put board
resources in there is something that um I just thought was worth noting you know so I'm on the climate resilience and Matt and I are on the um hazardous mitigation committee. Okay.
So, so that was off the top of my head list. Yeah. And those are the things that I um have written down as well along with Matt's um priorities, which was to keep his head above water. So, it's not just my head. We could get it.
I was thinking about we could use some floaties. Those water wings. Uh it's not just my head. It's, you know, the staff is uh, you know, quite busy with a lot going on. And we really could use um a
part-time clerk for for more than one reason. The number one to help with the workload. Two, to start getting somebody kind of in tune of, you know, to what we do, just in case someday we have, you know, we have to bring in somebody new
for one reason or another. Um, but I can tell you that the biggest challenge is the dumpster rake and tra chasing these people down to pay the fees has been a nothing short
of a migraine for Nancy, a severe one at that. So, we need to maybe take a, you know, sooner than later to take a serious look at do we want to continue that program or do we want to try to make a try to make a hard
pitch to um, you know, uh, Jim and the select board about bringing on a part-time clerk? Because, you know, the downside to that is if we just abandon it, then then the town's going to lose out on 60 plus thousand dollars a year in revenue from that program.
It's really not the best thing I think at this time. Um, yes, I think that's something that um, you know, next time we schedule a working meeting, we can um, start diving into these. and I and I appreciate that
being in on the um agenda. And um in relative to the part-time clerk, there's also the online permitting transition that will be happening that will also be a um yeah, an uphill client for the board just given the workload. We've had
to postpone the online permitting because this we have quite a bit of different applications and and stuff that we have to get to the company to upload them. Then we can start working and transitioning to this online system. And so we're in year end just you know
pretty much now and uh by the time we get out of year end it's usually sets itself down a little bit in August. So, we scheduled something in the middle of August with the company doing the online permitting to try to, you know, hopefully Dancing and I will have a chance to go through all the applications, get them up to speed. We
want to make some changes, get them uploaded, and then we can start to make that transition to go online. Well, I think then that says before mid August definitely we want to have a um board discussion about all of
the um permits that we require because we have a lot of permits. Most of them are are statutoily required, but some like the dumpster rig is a local requirement that you know we have to look at balancing
um the workload and and um what we can continue to accomplish because when when the staff are overloaded then things get overlooked, mistakes get made. We can't you know we have to prioritize basically based on the resources that we have. So
um so I think we should be thinking about scheduling something to have that discussion before you go into the the online permitting sort of I just a question process is um do you have a sense of if most of the or
what percentage of the dumpsters is related to construction and what and how many are just related to I don't know people deciding that Um, I don't know. They used they want a dumpster. Yeah. Like they used to go to the transfer
station and now they're just going to use a dumpster and hire somebody. I don't I've never really looked at that, but if I had to guess just basing my my conversations, I'd have to say it's probably pretty even. Maybe tipping the scales a little bit towards the people who don't want to go to the transfer
station type getting a dumpster more than the construction dumpsters. Okay. Um, would be my my best guess. I mean, just this week alone, we've had a half a dozen dumpster complaints come in. Yeah. So, um, so, you know, Joe and I are all chasing around with those complaints and
seeing if there's any validity to them. Right. Okay. I'm sure. Yeah. So that I mean that's another there's like kind of the compliance aspect of it and then there's the fee part of it and just to say the re maybe so the reason that I
was asking is you know because one way to collect ensure the fee is collected is that we work with the building department and say person doesn't get occupancy permit until they pay all the fees. Yeah. I mean, we could definitely
we could definitely do that. My my strategy has been so Nancy will, you know, go back and forth with these people, but it gets to a point where I step in and I send I'll send a letter saying if we don't get these fees within x amount of time,
your permit to haul through Westport's going to be suspended. Um, and you'll have to come by the board and, you know, explain why you haven't paid the fees and right so on so forth. So, um, sometimes that helps. Mhm. But there are some some people that just say go ahead,
you know, but still operate anyways. It's cuz it's hard for us to, you know, manage everybody. You there's no way that we know somebody sneaking a dumpster into town after we suspend their permit. Right. Right. Well, I just think it just make the if the hauler doesn't do
it, consider having the homeowner who's waiting for their occupancy permit to either get the hauler to pay or pay it and go after the hauler. Yeah, it could be a strategy we could definitely try. It's just an idea. I was just But it still doesn't solve the
entire problem, right? But it's just one way to Okay. Okay. Um uh Well, thank you for that list. I I'm I don't have anything um particular to add. I know there was one point at one point we talked about composting program at the transfer
station, but we have our hands full with just managing what we've got there. So, um I'm not going to put that on the list. Um so um I hope to have some more update about the mapping for the
unknowns and I have been tracking um all of our our um pumping pump records as they come in and and um the um permits you know the variances and stuff that we
approve and um that does has identified a number of unknowns Um um if they're obviously if they have a plan in place then then that's sort of resolved cuz they will have to do that within 3 years. Um but the other ones where it's
based on pump records um that gives us more information to um help narrow down the scope of the letter that we might send them. So So that's something that we do need to follow up on because of the deadline of 2028 for
cesspool upgrades. Um, and so I think those two, accessible compliance and the unknown um, status are both ones that we need to really um, dig down into and start because that gives people it's now less than three years. So we want to
give them as much notice um, uh, as possible to move forward. Um I um wanted not to add to the priorities. Um I'm trying to figure out
as the chair of the opioid settlement fund advisory committee how the board of health can assist in all the details of managing the funds. right now the in the advisory capacity
and it's just something to think about. We're not going to move on this but we have to go through the select board for all the financial requests. Um is that something the board would entertain taking responsibility
for so that the process can be smoother than it is now? And um because part of you know my thinking is I have I'm trying to work out um you know how we request funds that we have to go through the select board
every time we have to collect request funds as opposed to taking responsibility for it so that we can make decisions and then move forward without having to go through that such a detailed process. So I'm in terms of priorities for me being the chair of this committee, I'm finding it a little
cumbersome to go through what we're going through now and we haven't even asked for RFPs yet. Mhm. Right. Um so it's something for us to maybe talk about and think about but um I I I think it would be helpful to get
feedback from the select board. What Yeah. Well, the thing is the select board asked um initially what are other towns doing and other towns and many of them have given it to the board of health to manage. Um that wasn't a
recommendation initially but as I'm now on this committee and I'm having every time I need to do anything with funds I have to go through the select board. So I asked them for administrative costs. Um, so they granted $5,000 for me to use
administratively, right? For us to use administratively as a committee. Um, when it comes to any kind of grants, we've got to go through all this process as well with um and uh through the select board and then through Nicole and you know how that money is going to be
distributed. I'm just trying to think of a way to make it a smoother process and I don't know if having the board of health take responsibility for this or taking a certain percentage where administrative costs could be covered by
the um this funds a certain percentage of the funds can be used for administrative. So, um, so I just wanted to throw that out there because I'm in the process of trying to, um, you know, plan for money to be distributed in the
fall. Okay. And I don't know that the select board would say no. Um, but in the event that they said yes, what is what what are we prepared to um
to do or not do? Uh well, given the the work mode uh existing, it would need to that admin some of that administrative would need to involve having hiring somebody to help or something. Um I would think Well, I was thinking if a part-time
person was going to be hired, maybe a percentage could be supported um by the settlement fund if so many hours a week were put towards. That's something that we would, you know, we could um discuss probably at one of our working meetings
and figure out. So, so, you know, I I'm I just brought this up because I hadn't brought it up before, but um um certainly worthy of discussion. Uh yeah, and I think if if funds could be used to help support another person uh that a
percentage of time was put towards the opioid settlement fund, it would probably be a small percentage, but but it would be helpful. Okay. All right. Great. Thank you. Um okay. Um then moving on to um board
member updates. Uh any updates, Phil? Um well, let's see. Do I have any updates? uh the the um what's on the horizon, but I don't have a date for and I might have
mentioned this before, but what came out of the last um ZBA hearing regarding the Pine Ridge Estates was that there was going to be a
meeting that is going to be chaired by um the chair of the ZBA and there'll be representatives from the proponents uh and then there'll be representatives from the
uh you know the local boards um on the outstanding issues. So um of which one of them is ours and has to do with the waiver of the our local regulations regarding percolation rates. So, a date
hasn't been set and I'm not exactly sure what the intent of it is and what the um but my sense at the last meeting was
that it was an effort to come up with a compromise that um all the all the parties felt comfortable with. um on the topics and so storm water and our regulation are
two big ones I think. So so um our our stake right now is just um whether the ZBA will approve the perk rate regulation waiver or not. Right. Um and so um we've made that argument to them.
Is there so did you get a sense that the argument was Yeah, I I think that they I think that I think that they were receptive to the argument, you know, the argument that I was that I was making.
Um and it's uh so it um which I also a little bit hard to explain. um that I think they were sympathetic with
the argument that I was making about why I think the waiver um had to be uh should remain and it was primarily because the that the proponent had not really made a case as to why
uh why they thought the waiver was somehow interfering with the project. And I don't know, I think maybe it just took them by surprise the way the analysis came out without going into the details, but I think you guys are kind
of familiar with it, which is, you know, the failed recent failed per rate, the you know, it's just like they have no basis to make the claim and I don't know what's going to come out of, you know, the meeting about it. I
think we have a strong case, but it's also kind of wrapped up in this um who has the burden of proof and uh and I think that
the and you know, if there if the ZBA denies it and then there's an appeal of it, I think that the town wants to be in a strong position to defend it. So, but I anyway that's the next thing that's going to happen
and I guess we'll come out of that and figure out what it you know what it you know where it's going and then uh there'll be a subsequent hearing at which I think a decision will be will be made or Yeah. So, but that's the next
thing. So, it's a little bit of a mystery but I think the idea was to see if there was some compromise that could come up. Um okay. Well, it sounds like we you've made a strong case for um denying the waiver and it's either an up
or down by the ZVA, yes or no. Um and um there may be issues around the storm water that sounds sounded seems a little bit more fuzzy, but the I think the perk rate is is either a yes or no. And so it's you know what happens after that.
Um I think you made um a really strong argument and so that I'm comfortable with standing on that and then um depending on you know the outcome and whether they proceed or not eventually those things will come before us and we'll have an opportunity to um weigh in
on any proposed septic plans. But for now it seems pretty much status quo and all we need to do is wait. So, right. So, we'll you will find out. And the storm water we've kind of deferred to the planning board. So, I'm comfortable with that. Yeah. Yeah. And
so, yeah. And so, we'll see how that goes. But I'll be kind of I motivated the conservation commission to kind of commission to kind of get involved and we'll see what happens with that because again they're
uh you know they're Yeah. Yeah, they're they're they're taking a a position which I don't think is consistent with the wetland regulations. And so what do you do with that? We'll see. That's Yeah, that's not our
baywick right here. It really it isn't. So again, I you know, okay. Um but I think um so at this point, we're just waiting. Um we're we're kind of there's nothing to do at the moment. Um, it's a it's in the uh court of the ZBA and it
sounds like if there's any burden right now, it's on the applicant to make a case, a compelling case to overcome your argument. Doesn't sound like they've got one. So, I mean, I don't I don't think the board of health or the conservation commission has ever kind of come in as
interveners the way that have. You know, maybe the planning board has done stuff because so much of their rule is under subdivisions, but I don't think the ZBA has heard from the board of health or the conservation
commission pri prior cases. So, we're making history. I don't know. We'll see what happens. Okay. All right. Well, thank you. Yeah. Thank you for the your efforts. So, we'll just sit back and wait and see what the ZBA ruling is and and you know, yeah, and see what the
applicant does. I expect the meeting to happen before we meet again. So, I'll come back and kind of report on that. Okay, great. Thank you. Okay. And mental health awareness month is coming to an end. We've had three events. Um, so I'm
now moving forward to planning for River Day on June 21st. and pulling up together information. We're going to do uh all the stuff we can on ticks and mosquitoes and we might
even have some giveaways. We'll see. Um uh so so any other ideas you h anybody has to focus on? You want to focus on the um ADU adus
ADUs. I think ADU stuff. Yeah. Um what are are the priorities to have um at our table and I will need um the tent or the it's up there ready to go. Okay. And so
um in case it rains like it did the other time and I'm sharing the tent with somebody. Um just looking at our list. I mean you could give if you you mentioned something earlier about a survey for the opioid task force. Yeah, if I can I will
um well if we can come up with a general um uh survey then I will post the the um QR code for that at the event and talk a little bit about that. Okay. So that's but the you know that the um uh the
opioid settlement fund advisory committee is really not part of the board of health. Um the only way it's part of the board of health is because a board of health member is in the in the um charter. It has to have a
board of health member on it, right? So but I but I concern but it's a public health issue. I just think of, you know, what is the what are the things we want to communicate to the community and I think um opioid um concerns are certainly
um ones to uh highlight. Yes, I'll certainly do some mental health things and I'll and I'll do that as well and I'm going to try to post the QR code. Okay. Um I don't see anything unless there's something I don't know if the climate committee will have booth or
something and they do their own thing. They usually do. Okay. There's usually Yeah, they have it for the for the last Okay. cup kind of cover. Okay. Um, great. Um, we'll uh keep on I'll have to put it in
my calendar. Make sure that um if I can provide some onsite support, I'll let you know. Okay. I know I'll be away for a few days earlier that week. So, I'm going to begin collecting um you know, resources to put on the table and at the
table and if we do have any left over from the tick event that we could be giving away that would be great. I have an just anformational update related to the uh climate committee. Oh, sure. Which is, you know, which is that so
they had a presentation by Buzzard's Bay Coalition and the uh and uh scientists who were involved in answering the question of whether or not
the causeway out to um Gooseberry Gooseberry Island was uh responsible for erosion of East speech or or um uh the siltation invar and the
conclusion was that um that the causeway has has had no effect on that despite the kind of coincidence of timing of
when the causeway was put in and when uh East Beach in particular got erosion that it is actually these this particular uh wave current that is impacted by the island itself. So, it's the island
itself that is driving erosion uh on East Beach and the sand is moving uh towards the Sloum River and um and that's in that direction. That was why
and it was a really good um presentation. Um, and there's a report that's the full report's going to come out and um, so it's, you know, well, they could do something about the causeway. I don't think they can relocate the island. So,
we're stuck with the consequences. So, um, at at at least from a science point of view, they they they put the that issue to bed. Okay. And uh so and then uh anyway so that's thank
you. That was interesting. Yes. Thank you. Probably watch it on YouTube when it you know. Oh when it comes out. Okay. Thank you hopefully for that. Um um I am going to um we have one un unanticipated item um I'm going to turn to Matt about
488 P county road we will talk about briefly. So, um I the I was back and forth with the engineer about the project and the um type of system that they're proposing
can't be used for commercial or business use. And the remedial system um does will not achieve 19 milligrams per liter on the dite side. It looks like it only achieved 25. So, we're
going back going back and forth with the engineer and I told him I would talk to the board today about it to see, you know, how they want to proceed, how how you guys want to proceed with this because although we're treating it as a repair, technically it is an increase in
flow and a lot of the systems that we that are available on the remedial side can't be used for systems that require an increase in flow or commercial use. So, we have to um you know, I'm trying to give them some guidance on what to do
because they they they keep redoing the plan and you know, I'd rather just give them my feedback once. You know, it looks like Tanya and I looked at uh maybe provisional use systems would be the best way to go for commercial use. Um because it is a commercial business
now. Yeah. And there are a number that um Fuji, Nitrax, Nitro, there are there are multiple options for them, but they would have to go to provision. But they they wanted me to ask the board if they would allow um a remedial system. And
that's what I would ask. I think since there are um available alternatives that meet that for which and they meet the criteria for those um because the remedial don't allow for commercial or increase in flow. Um but provisional systems do that my
recommendation would be that um that they need to look at those as an option because it's not like they have no options. Can you refresh my recollection as to whether or not the
the you know kind of denitrification is driven by the nitrogen loading limitations or is it a policy decision about uh how we want you know uh the affluent
to be managed. There's a couple of things. I think the board said anything that is required to be denied needs to be achieved 19 per liter or less. And I think the I have to go back to my notes, but I believe we
set it based on because we set up for new construction to meet nitrogen loading limitations. Right. I guess um so it's uh it's kind of this hybrid, you
know, kind of thing because what we're um so we're treating it as a repair because looking at the overall history of the
site. Um, if we treat it as a new, right, it would it would trigger a requirement for a whole lot of variances because it could meet a whole lot of setbacks. Correct. And you know, and
obviously we don't uh, you know, but everyone agreed that I think it made sense if they maintain the status quo. So, I'm not sure what the increase in flow part of it is because I thought it
um I think it was an increase in flow because like during the summer months it wasn't going to meet the supermarket flow limitation. Yeah. Like why is it an increase if they're going to be doing if their flow
is going to be consistent with what the flow had historically been? like a certain amount during the off season and you know and then an additional amount during the summer season. We set a limit
at the last meeting of 284 gallons per day because that's what that's what title five has as the right as the no that's well we 284 gallons per day was set because that's the maximum load that that lot can take
right if you were doing new construction right then nitrogen loading would be met at 284 gallons per day so that's how we came up right well that's so right I so when I So um so if we that's what I I think I was
trying to get to which is if we look at through the lens of nitrogen loading and then from a just from a title five point of view um because there's a a whole there's a whole bunch of there's a bunch of options there
right or uh in terms of the technology like is there more flexibility under title for the options they can do to address the nitrogen loading part of it or is that just take us back to the same impass that so to speak that you
were describing about you know not using remedial systems and well the problem is the system that they chose it can't be used for business as a commercial use so because that's in the approval of the yeah yeah so okay and then just to say that I look at it
as the existing systems that you know maybe 100 gallons per day or 80 gallons per day and now the new system is going to be at 284 gallons per day. So to me that's an increase in flow but even though we're not treating it we're treating it as a repair it's still an
increase in flow. So it depends that's why you know ask the board how how we're going to you know how do you guys want to just deal with that part of it. I think um regardless of I mean I think the practicality is it is in spitting distance of the river. Yeah. Um and we
um you know I know that there's concerns um about that. So I think we need to um they have options. Um I know provisional use is more um intensive because it will require the
quarterly testing and so on. But um those can be used for commercial applications. They can be used in you know in this situation. So they have options um that I think are feasible. Um so I would say that's
my personal opinion that given the I wouldn't be in favor of granting them sort of more um less stringent requirements than than can be
achieved. um with the with the technologies that are available um that they qualify for. Yeah. I I I you know um I think that's a reasonable response to them which is to say that the
technologies that they're looking to use are not approved by D for that use and so and we're not in a position to wave those. So I think that that you know I think
that that makes I think that that makes sense. It would be different if there weren't any alternative if there weren't any alternatives available then we think about that but there are and so I would suggest that they need to look at that
agree is that adequate guidance and my answer I will get back to them. Yeah. Okay. Um, anything else? Okay, being that there are no other business, I move that we adjourn this
meeting at 3:18. Second. All in favor? I. That's unanimous. Thank you very much, everyone. Well, before we play the next um working meeting, I wanted to ask the board to um put on the agenda the uh household