Okay, good evening. Recording in progress. Good evening. Hi. Welcome to the August 18th, 2025 meeting of the Armouth Board of Health. This is a hybrid meeting and I call to order the meeting. So, let's
go with attendance. Eric present. Mary here. Hillard. Larry here. Alex here tonight. But we do have a quorum. So, let's begin with public comment. If anyone out there would like to come forward, it's a great
opportunity to do so. Anyone at home with their hand up. Okay, the line's not too long. Anyone see anything there? I don't I don't see anything up there. Okay, let's go to number four. First up is Steuart Painting and it's saying
toxicazardous material storage license request. And in your packet, of course, I'm sure you reviewed uh Carl's uh report for this request for some
variances. So, um I see someone's with you. Perhaps you could just introduce yourself, sir. Hi, I'm uh Sheldon Stewart with Steuart Painting. Okay. Welcome. Thank you for coming in. Carl, do you want to start? Just give us a little introduction of what's up.
Uh certainly. Uh my name's uh Carl Los and I'm the hazardous materials inspector with the health department. And uh the hearing before you have before you is a proposal from uh Steuart Painting. And um Z painting was founded in Barnsible in 1984 by Sheldon Stewart
who is uh still the current company president and who's uh seated beside me. And uh the business focus is interior and exterior painting, power washing and carpentry service to residential and commercial customers. Um the business
was formally located at 379 Route 28 in Hyannis. Um, a fire at the at the multiple unit commercial building on March 12th of this year required Steuart Painting to temporarily relocate to MASHP uh where they are currently uh
remain. Um, uh, Mr. Stewart proposes to purchase the commercial property at 539 Higgins Crawl Road in West Yarmouth and permanently relocate his business to that site. Uh, the location is within the Aqua Protection District for the town drinking water supply. Uh, the size
and type of operation will not change with the proposed new location. Um, I've had several in-person meetings and phone discussions with Mr. Stewart and his production manager over the past several weeks, uh, during which I've learned of their operations and they have learned of the town armouth regulatory
requirements. I also visited the present location of MASHP and performed a non-regulatory inspection just for the purpose of identifying um what practices or handling procedures they need to change if anything. And I found everything complied uh with county
Yarmouth regulation except the secondary containment requirement. He'd have to increase that a little bit. Um I I'd be very surprised if he did comply because it's a town of Yarmouth requirement, not a town of Mashp requirement. So, uh, the purpose of, um, this meeting is for the
board to learn the details of the proposal and decide whether or not to recommend it to the zoning board of appeals and to also please decide whether to include or revise the recommended health department conditions uh, on the last page of your memo.
And um, I I should say as well, it's important to know all present handling and use of toxic and hazardous materials by Steuart Painting complies with the Armouth regulations. the handling and use is all in compliance. So, thank you. Great.
Sir, anything you want to say before we questions if we do? Uh, no. I um uh just excited to uh be able to relocate to Yarmouth. It's been uh 40 years in business and uh we
provide residential and commercial repaint and carpentry and and house washing and um and you know it's been a uh the last couple months have been little little rocky but uh we're excited to uh to relocate to Yamoth.
Okay, great. All right. Uh Larry, any questions? Um yeah, the only I might be a foolish question, but I noticed that you were uh looking to keep a single barrel of um
um let me see it was a hazardous material. It was in a 55gallon drum and that was sort of problematic. That was one of the problems that we were concerned with. Is is that correct? Because you couldn't get it up because of weight um onto that intermediate bulk
container. Yeah. So, we'd have to have the uh Clean Harbors pump out of the 55s, right? We've had them pump before. Um so, they just have to pump the 55s. Okay. So, I noticed the the um
there's that other pallet, the lower pallet that you right now, that's where you're keeping that uh uh barrel on the 55gallon drum on. um that's set up to to handle four 55gallon drums. Is that correct?
Yes. But you're just looking to put one on or you're looking to put four on the No. So So the 55gallon drums would be on that pallet, right? On top of an ICU, right? So it would be a almost like a
double uh spill contingency plan. It would those only hold, I believe, 49 gallons. Correct. Right. So while you can physically place four drums on that deck, they don't have the sump capacity, the containment capacity that Yarmouth requires.
So the total sump capacity for that lower uh lower pallet is uh what size? 49 gallons approximately, I believe. Yes. Which is is not enough. Yeah. So we're looking we need something like 75 or 80 gallon capacity.
You need 150% of the total. Yes. Okay. Which we would get if we were on top of Yes, you'd have more than enough. Is that Is that a possibility to do? Oh, yeah. That's what we plan on doing. Taking We would just That is um It's forklift able to be put on top of the
ICU, right? Safely. Yes. So, it would So, we'd have more than enough by having that on top of the the the four 55gallon drums on top of the ICU pallet. Correct. On top of the ICU container.
Right. Right. Okay. I mean, that's that's all I had really. Thanks, Mary. Um, I'm just wondering if the license is issued, it doesn't go into effect until all of
these things are taken care of. Correct. All correct. Because there's quite a few of the spill containment things that aren't aren't handled yet. But I I understand you're not even in the building yet, but um and they're all new to you. or many of them
are new to you anyway in terms of the requirement. We have a a great deal of them already. Uh we still need to I think one more ICU container. Um but we pretty much will have everything by the time we would be
ready to move in. Um all the ICUs would be in. Thank you. You're welcome. the intermediate the IBC uh container um spill deck um is in your p there's a picture in your spill deck and that's a photo I took of his
location in MASHP um that's one unit but he presently has two I observe two on site w with more to be purchased three on site three on the spill control the um so the pallet just has to be you have to
have more than the one that he has concerning the the lower of of the two pallets in the picture. The the lower height pallet uh is undersized. So, he'll be using the the taller height pallet that you see.
Anything else? Barry Eric, I I have a few things. Um there's to me there seems to be a number of things that aren't finalized which is not what we usually see in these presentations um
of listing some things that choices of things or whatever but haven't really been um determined. So that's what's bothering me a little bit. Um for instance here um
this is on the third page. Um under new materials third paragraph here it says oilbased paints oilbased stains and solvents will be stored inside flammables cabinets with secondary
containment provisions options under consideration by steward plumbing painting rather I apologize or a concrete secondary and so on. So there are things that are being considered of what to do. It's not finalized. So as a board, I don't know what that
will end up being. Um we're talking about our drinking water. That's the reason why you're here tonight. Um under on the end of let's look page three here last paragraph is about I
guess simple green allpurpose cleaner which is um company that owns the drums and I guess are going to be filled with the with whatever cleaner is used.
Um and on p top of page four in that first paragraph here it says another option under consideration is a poly dolly which is a sturdy plastic transport hand truck and so on. Once again it's something that's not finalized. We don't really know what
Steuart painting is going to to use. Um on page four again under waste materials if you look at one two the fourth paragraph uh the last sentence it says therefore
the drums will be placed on IBC spill control pallets or other structures to achieve adequate secondary containment. So it's not finalized. We don't really know what it's going to be. That bothers me as only one member. I can
just compare this to sitting on the board for years and hearing these and the details and the usually very well described all the details. I don't know if this was rushed or it's just not what we normally see.
Well, I I truthfully was under the uh impression that the IBC units that we proposed would be sufficient to meet the Yarmouth regulations and that we would place our all of our uh items on those
IBC pallets. I think uh that if there was a recommendation for something other than the IBC's that we would be we would accommodate. Um, so I'm from my end I I
think that I'm pretty clear on the IBC's and I think you can see them in the yellow the big yellow containers that we have already that they would be sufficient for all of our wastewater waste paint bleach and Joe. Um, and
that's kind of how I anticipated it going. So if there was a recommendation from the board, I don't know if if I've never been in front of the Yamoth board before, so I don't know if there was a recommendation for the board, then I
would be open armed, but I I believe what we originally stated with the IBC's would be sufficient to meet the Yamoth's uh uh 150% uh sub capacity.
Um we're not the experts on this. You're sitting next to the person in the health department. It's Carl who is. Just keep that in mind. Sure. We don't pretend to know anything about this and we're all learning. We're just trying to protect the environment. That's all we're here for.
Um I had a question when you're done. My my thought is since the you haven't purchased this property correct at this point or you have Well, we we are closing on it uh
September 15th. So, my thought, and you can tell me if I'm wrong, is if we include um on uh pages five and six, toxic toxic and hazardous material disposal, environmental safeguards, health
department requirements, and license condition requirements as a stipulation that um these criteria are all met. Could we go ahead and and proceed with the this proposal?
We have plenty of options. Okay. That including including that. Um that that's something you could monitor, Carl. Uh yes. Yeah. In these types of situations, I I stay in, you know, close contact with the business owner or the new company.
And I always tell everyone involved not to purchase or build anything in until we review it together. I would think that to ensure that the requirements are met. I would think that's the problem. Yeah, doc. That he's I think trying to get a sense on whether or not this purchase is
going to work. At least that's how I interpret it. Yeah. I'm just, you know, being new here, I just the history is the new is it's quite different what we normally see, right? Where it's all it's all done and we vote on it. Sure. and we usually vote for it trying
to encourage businesses here in in town. That's what I'm I'm pointing out. I had a couple more questions, I guess. Um on page four under toxic and hazardous materials use um some items are painted
uh there in that first paragraph in inside the building and it gives an example of shutters. What else would be painted inside there? Uh, well, maybe cabinet doors. Maybe some
cabinet doors. Uh, if um most of our painting is happening on site at customers houses, um, it's usually only when we have inclement weather or um, but it's usually shutters um or cabinet door. I would say cabinet
doors, brushes. Brush. Yeah. Brush roll sprayed. Um if on shutters, we'll try to spray them because of the slats. It's much easier. I've done it. Yeah. So the question is what precautions need
to be taken for spraying in in the building. That's I'm throwing a question out there. I don't know the answer, but certainly is protecting employees. Um well I mean so how we've done it in the
past is we all of our employees have uh respirators that they have to purchase themselves. We purchase the first one and then they have to purchase them after that. Personal uh safety um eyewear um but we
truthfully have sold very little. I mean it's um it's usually seasonal too. Sure. Okay. Um, it's mentioning about cleaning um the sprayers in a closed loop fashion.
Yes. The other board members know. I don't know exactly how that works. What does it look like? How how are they cleaned? What is that like? So So you have um three five gallallon buckets, let's say, of water, right? And
one's a first rinse, second rinse, third rinse. And a sprayer has uh it's an airless sprayer. So it has an intake and it comes out the hose. So you put the intake into the water, right? You take the hose or the gun and you put
it into the paint and empty the paint out of the out of the hose into back into the gallon of paint. When water starts to appear, you stop. You go back to the first rinse bucket. You put your gun inside the bucket and you rotate the
liquid through that that first rinse. You then take turn the pressure off, turn the the machine off, you take the the nozzle, you put it into the second rinse, and then you do the you you just do the process cuz it's got water in it now. Then you're done. You you close it off.
You put a your tip back in. You close your tip up and it's self-contained. Okay. Thank you. Um it's also here under toxic hazards materials disposal and that's page five
that second paragraph once again. Um, therefore, future hazardous waste disposal may involve pumping the waste material from the drums instead of So, it's another open-ended item here that's
um sort of not finalized or is not a definitive plan that's being presented to the board tonight. It's just another example of that. Well, we would um we would prefer to
forklift it off and put it on the ground and have have Clean Harbors take it. But but if Clean Harbors chose to come on site and pump it out, then we would leave that decision to Clean Harbors because they're the
professionals. I I I certainly don't want to um make a decision that Clean Harbors is going and then sure and then have to live with and then Clean Harbor says no, we'd prefer to do it this way. I just know that I've seen
them do both. Um so I offered both. Do you know what any other businesses are doing in town with that problem? Uh we we see um waste oil pump frequently. I I don't have another business in town because our other businesses that involve painting are
small finished carpentry shops that use much less material. So they use for disposal of of the same types of items they use paid participation at the county hazardous waste um collections. So the most commonly transferred waste
material is waste oil in which it is pumped the material is pumped from a waste oil tank within the business to a waste oil tank within the um license hazardous waste haulers truck. So that's when I see waste material being transferred most often. Okay.
Um, another question here on page five under other. Um, it says, "Steuart painting company vehicles have a vehicle maintenance service named Lube on location, complete oil changes at their business site and
plan to continue." Um, I don't know who they are. I don't know if the health department does. In other words, what precaution being taken if we're changing oil in zone two here? someone's under the trunk,
you know, and draining the oil. What protection is there uh for the drinking water? Uh you're not doing it. You're having someone come do it. I'm uncomfortable with that. I don't know who they are.
So, uh, Lub on location is a commercial, uh, outfit that, uh, services multiple, uh, other companies all over the Cape. They come to your site and they change your oils. Uh, they change your oil in
vehicles. Um, we also have our vehicles go to Sullivan Tire. Um, and you know, they they do repairs and oil changes on weekends for us. Uh so again um in the
past we have had um lube on location take care of our vehicles. Um so we would love to still be able to do that. However, if it's determined that we needed to do that offsite then we would
do it offsite. Just make sure you understand the concern that you're the aquifer and no I your company's not doing it. someone else is doing it. That that's Yeah. No, I certainly understand um the concern. I I know that um for all of the
years that I've been in business and I've used them, they have been very very good. Um I mean, we we'll have them sometimes even come to a depending on the the emergency or not, well, they'll come to a residential home and do it. So, I haven't had any bad experience
with them. Most most of the uh businesses have not had their vehicles right serviced on site. Usually they are not doing maintenance work or washing and so on. Right Carl? I mean generally that's right. Usually we have some dedicated um
automotive repair shops of course which is all they do. But as far as other businesses that just use vehicles, right, most have them serviced at a at a facility or a dealership, right? Um, I just had a thought about the volume of
wastewater uh on site. I mean, I see your signs all over the place. You're obviously very successful and you mentioned there's 60 painters or 60 employees in the summer. I was just trying to, you know, before coming in did some quick math and seeing
what kind of volume wastewater we're talking about. Um, and let's say you 55 of those 60 employees are painters. Mhm. But they're not. I mean, so our our
employees range. We have uh six office staff. We have four um we have uh four sales reps. We have uh we have an office in Hingham that houses six or seven people. Uh we have our uh location in
Hingham I mean in uh on uh Nantucket. So when we have out of those it starts to get diminished right you start to have you know you got 10 carpenters uh now you so so you're chipping away at that
50 number reason I'm bringing it up and that's helpful is think about on site you know how many gallons of water for cleaning yeah on how many sites do you have going at any particular time um if it's 15 or 10 15 gallons pounds
per site per day. It ends up being a lot of waste water that you need to bring back. I suppose uh you're not leaving it on site. No, we So, we're we're pretty creative with the water that we use. Um I mentioned earlier that we had the three
buckets. Um, we also as waste water is put into a 55gallon drum, the sediment settles and the top part becomes cleaner water that we can recycle through. Um, so we we're able to really put the the five gallon buckets back and forth quite
a bit. Um, so we don't use as much as you would think. Now the men are all responsible for the we don't provide hand tools and paint brushes are considered hand tools. So the men are responsible to maintain their own hand tools. Um so it's not like we have 55
painters coming back to the shop and right cleaning paint brushes. Um it's a very limited uh really to if there was a a sprayer that needed to be cleaned or if somebody was brushing in the shop they they had to change colors or something they might dip it into the three gallon
fives. Okay. Um, what happens with used tarps, ones that have just gone on too long, they need to be thrown out. I know with rags, you have those picked up, dirty rags. What happens with the canvas tarps that you use? Cuz they're big.
Yeah, drop cloths would get just thrown away. Where where does that go? Uh, it would get um thrown in the in the in the dump. Okay. uh the paint, you know, they're when
when these drop cloths are getting thrown away, they've got holes in them and that, you know, that no long you can't cut them up and make runners out of them. And you can't use them for uh site uh setups where you can take these and um if they have a lot of old paint on them, they they work pretty good
because it's like a canvas. Uh and you can have your your job site setups uh with an old drop cloth. So when they're beyond all of the uses that we could try to find with them, oh, they last a long time. I mean, yeah. Um I'm just curious what happens. How is
that how are those different than rags? I mean, what getting rid of rags or are your rags being sent out to be cleaned and sent back? No way. But the rags are uh obviously smaller and they get used for paint and
water and and they get soaking wet where dropcloths are to catch miscellaneous drops of paint. So there's much less paint on a droploth than a rag. Okay. Is there a landline on there if
you an emergency that someone can call if you do have a spill? Oh yes. Okay. Yeah. Carl, you had mentioned something about the bleach, any particular risks of storing the bleach there. You had spoken to that before the meeting.
I had a concern regarding uh the bleach uh which is of course oxidizer and corrosive being in the same space as a flammable. They don't have much flammable material. I've already consulted with the fire inspectors about that and they gave us a preliminary idea
as to what's required in terms of physical separation and also our concrete walls in between and what guides the size the height the width of the walls and uh relayed that to Sheldon and he's prepared to comply with that.
So the the details as to the actual size of the wall height if needed is yet to be determined because we don't know for certain how much he may have enough horizontal vertical space to separate the corrosive with the flammable. So
that has been discussed. It will be discussed further. Okay. It will be reviewed further I could say. Okay. for regulatory compliance.
Okay, I don't think I had probably enough questions. Okay, I don't think I have any other one else listening to all that. Any other thoughts? And if people want to proceed, you had
mentioned something, Larry. I don't know if I'm spot with it or not. I read Yeah, I read through this and it seems pretty complete and also um I I sensed Carl's endorsement. Um and my thought was that um following Mary's
lead from last meeting to approve consider approval of the proposal as long as these conditions were met. Um starting on um page five
and uh and including page six. as long as those conditions were met that um and um Carl was involved in uh inspection of the
process. I would uh feel like we could approve the proposal as as it's written. It's just my opinion. Okay. Is that concise enough for Should we do it again
for a motion? Yeah, I think it would have to be a little bit. Just think about it for a second, Larry. How best. Okay. I I recommend that we accept the proposal as long as conditions on pages five
which um included toxic hazardous materials disposal environmental safeguards other health department requirements and on page six
license condition recommendations were enforced. Thank you. I at one other point on the lube company there they're a Yeah, go ahead. Do you want to bring that up in
discussion or you want to add this to your motion right now? I I would add that to my motion. Okay. Yeah. Oh, I I I just had an aside because you had a concern about the lube process. That company, they would have a
lot of liability if they weren't uh conforming to um standards, you know, as far as a a spill. Okay, that that's more of a discussion. Okay. Um, we can also make it just aside
to Is there anything you would want added to a motion about what we should do tonight that's about this company? Just what I stated. Okay. So, in order to get to any further discussion, if we want, we need a second
to that motion. Second the motion. Thank you. And some further discussion tonight. Somehow I need feel I I need some guarantee that all these things are going to be cleaned up and finalized. That that's it's just being repetitive,
but it it's just not finalized the way it normally is. I need to have some security that these things are going to be taken care of that meet the town's requirements. What I can say in that this kind of got pushed through or I'm not it's just a gut feeling.
I I I agree there are some options still there but we would not the health department would not sign uh a license a hazmat license or a building department occupancy. We would not approve unless all the conditions were met. So, I'm I'm going to assume too that
the purchase of the building for you is contingent upon your a ability to get a license to carry on your business from this new building. Yes. Which may be why the timeline is a little bit different here.
Do you have a date that you need to leave the MASHB site? Yes. So, uh, we are out October 1st soon. Yes. Couple of weeks after you close. Yes.
Are you hoping to be right away in business October 1st again? Well, I um [Music] I would want the office to be able to be
intact and then uh if the trucks and other operations had to be delayed for uh you know public notice, then um we would have to make accommodations.
But yes, I'm trying to get the whole I'm trying to get from point A to point B. I had a thought with regard to the vehicle service. Yeah. Um I don't know if it's possible to service the vehicles inside of the building and
would that address the environmental concern associated with changing fluids outside? have to have special drain drainage. Some of these may bring up uh zoning and other building department uh
regulations. So, I'd have to check on that. Yeah, as you said, Mary, that could trigger perhaps plumbing code. I'm not certain. I'd have to investigate that. Okay, Carl, do you think that um a couple of
weeks is enough time for someone to move into a new space and have everything in place that you are requiring and or that we are requiring if we pass this motion? I think it would work. Uh, I I was
surprised when I went to the um inspection I made in MASHP and they already had the IBC pallets on site because we had only discussed those a few days earlier and they had already purchased them and set them up.
It certainly seems and you're prepared to be there and help them meet that deadline. I'll do everything I can uh terms of uh inspections and uh guidance that I can. Yeah. Carl, let's say this uh
passes the board tonight. What are your options if some of these things aren't done? Do you you know to this specs that you are requiring or we're requiring? What would happen then?
Um obviously you want to start running the business. So what happens then? Uh well he would have to move in um concert with the building department. So what the health department is doing we would not issue a license. We would not
sign a use and occupancy permit if these items aren't met. Sometimes the occup oxy permits might be phased for lack of a. So perhaps he would open his office. Okay. But not store any hazardous materials. Okay. That's kind of what I want to
hear. Great. So I I guess the best way I can summarize that is it could be a phased Right. That's what Mr. mentioned too. Okay. All right. Let's let's vote.
All in favor passing the motion raise your hand. Say I. I. I. I. Congratulations. That passed. All right. Thank you very much. With the move. Yes. Take advantage of Carl. He's Oh, we already have. Yes. We appreciate the knowledge.
Thank you. Thank you everybody. Okay. Okay, let's uh switch themes here a little bit. So, number five in the agenda 64 Witchwood Road and it's for Swine Variance. Um I guess we could use an update uh
from Barry and Larry. Um just to date. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, as we learned at our last meeting, um Mr. Russell Uk has uh a pig that got loose. It was running and it was retrieved by
natural resources. Um after discussion, come to find out that it is an emotional support pig and he's had it for close to oh 13 years. Um it's domesticated. It's in the house. Um
Larry made the motion that we postpone it to this week and him and I go out and meet the the Violet. Yes, Violet. Um I got there early. Um I walked in and if I didn't know that
there was a pig in the house, I wouldn't have known there was a pig in the house. It was just she was just chilling out on the on the couch and just her little tail was wagging, happy to see me. So, um, no smells, no it was it was just a a
pig. So, then Larry showed up and what do you think, Larry? Well, she didn't wag her tail for me, Barry. I don't know. Well, Larry, what was Violet? What was she watching on TV? Maybe it had something to do with it. So, um, my opinion is that she certainly poses
no public health hazard or a nuisance to the neighborhood. Um, and I feel that there really no concerns as far as uh any health issues regarding the pig. The only recommendation I'd
make is when I went into the gate, I had a little bit of an issue trying to close it. And that's how we all ended up here tonight. So my only recommendation for her safety, not because she's going to be a nuisance or public health hazard,
for her safety, I would recommend some kind of a closure, a self-closure like a spring-loaded gate or something like that. Just so if you're in that same situation again, she's not going to go out and be in danger because I'd worry about a dog attacking her, a car hit by
a car or something like that, you know. So that that's the only um addendum that I would make, but I totally agree with Barry that she's certainly no public health hazard and the um spirit of the bylaw wasn't written with Violet in mind. Yes.
Yeah. It's not a 600 pound pig like you would kind of expect. I neglected to just ask you just for the record to state your name. Okay. Russ Woolard Jr. Yeah, we know. Just for the record though. Okay. Sorry about that. No, I'm I'm supposed to ask you
Um, it was interesting. I was trying trying to figure this out. Why Why are we looking at stables here, which is chapter 202? It kind of falls under the same the same category and they just I think when they when they intended this originally, it
was for people raising pigs and having big pigs. Oh, absolutely. Not a little little baby violet. Yeah. No, I found it understable. The definition is any building, lot, structure, enclosure, premises or portion thereof where a farm animal or
animals are kept or maintained for any purpose. So that includes your house. So it does it is in the right place. Yeah. So before the last meeting when I saw um Russell was on the uh on the
schedule, I went and reviewed my pig husbandry and quite frankly Violet the pig husband husbandry does not apply to Violet. So that was kind of a wasted effort on my part just trying
to compile all that information. So be prepared for the meeting. head is not the same as farm animal. Um, you had prepared the variance approval right here. Yes, sir. In front of us that's in the packet and
um look at the last um number three there in the list of conditions. What were we now stable under stable? No, this this was a variance approval.
That's essentially what we would be voting on I guess tonight. Your animal support animal um and last part of it um saying future emotional support
animals upon the passing of the current swine violet. The approval of the board will be required prior to housing any replacement emotional support animal on the property unless the animal qualifies
as a service animal as defined by law. So I looked up in mass uh state rags the definition of a service animal is first of all it's only dogs
or rare cases of miniature horses trained to perform disability related tasks or service animals. Correct. Yes. That's all. Just so everyone understands that it's certainly different than a therapy animal or one for you know emotional support or
whatever. That's all. Um, okay. Eric, Mary, anything here? So, we ought to vote on So, I I would I would recommend uh
deleting number three. Okay. Because I don't think that really applies. I think Violet's really kept really under great conditions. So I don't really unless you're going to use this for a future I I don't really see
any value in that from a public health standpoint. So my suggestion is to delete number three. Okay. Well, it doesn't say it can't happen. It just said that the person has to come before the board again.
Okay. I mean that's so that's how I took that. It wasn't saying forbidden. It just said we'll h have to hear about it and consider it. Okay. But we even in the future we would need a a variance for for a pig, right?
Whether it's going to be a house pet or Right. Well, it can't be a a farm animal. Has to be a house pet, right? So I guess from that perspective that it's fine. Yep. And a lot of times we don't know about we don't find out about this stuff until
till it gets loose. Yeah. Until it gets loose or a neighbor something calls and lets us know. So you've done a good job for 13 years keeping her. The gate was working. I could see how that would happen though with her.
I don't think she offends any neighbors anyway. She goes for walks often. So I mean all the neighbors know we have her. um Facebook. Everybody knew we had her once they they posted on Facebook there. They're like, "Uh, is that Violet on got
arrested as a joke? Uh, one of the young police officers told me to I guess it technically had a booking number." So, she gave me the booking number, so I wrote it on there. I'm here to release Violet. And he didn't find humor when I brought up to get Violet. I guess they took a bite out of crime,
though. Yeah. This is what we're doing here everyone. So, everybody want to vote on a variance? I move that we approve the chapter 202 variance requested by Mr. Wikott.
Thank you. Is there a second to that motion? A second. Okay. Any further discussion? Hopefully not. No. Good. Okay. All in favor passing the variance approval. I All right. Best wishes to Violet. Thank you very much. Thank you. Now, thanks for coming in
twice. How long do pigs uh live anyway? Usually, well, thinking 15. I told I I was told 30 years after I got her. So, my wife's going to inherit her when I die. Usually, it's only Usually, it's only six months. So,
no jokes on this. I get 600 lb in six months, too. Yeah. No, if they're well taken care of, they last a long time. That's great for you. Enjoy. Have a good one. Thanks. Okay. Okay, we're up number six, pesticide reduction home
bylaw determination. So, Barry, can you help us out just to get us back on track with this? Yeah, we have Lori up here again today. Lori Kelly um from the
protect our protect our Cape Cod Aquafer. she's put the petition forward to for the pest reduction law. We also have the um golf courses here also to speak after Lori. So, and one other
gentleman looks like in the the back. So, okay. Um if anyone else wants to come up, just come up, introduce yourselves, all the people who just mentioned, you don't have to, but just we could start for the record. Just your name, please. yours. Yes.
Hi, I'm Laura Kelly. The formality of it. Sure. Yeah. So, Barry, what's our responsibility tonight? So, when they were in last week, they gave their proposal of they want the
board to grant not approval, but their blessings to move forward to move this to the Slugman. They're looking for a letter stating that the what they're proposing is best for the town and for
the drinking water. So hopefully you guys have had two weeks to think about it and discuss how we want to move forward. This is a situation that needs to be done. I don't know if this
is the right way, but it's we live on a small island that's full of sand and we don't have much drinking water. So, it's needs to be done some way and somehow, but
hopefully we can come up with a right solution on this. Okay. Thank you. Well, board members. Yeah. So, I agree. I totally agree with everything that Law proposed here. My
only concern is a concern that Barry brought up. There's so many laws and bylaws on the books today that aren't enforced. It just seems like more bylaws on the books are going to be for the people
that obey the laws and not for the people that don't obey the laws. That's why I feel I think Barry's alluded to this that it's going to be such a hard uh proposition to enforce that you know
I I really think that we might think about another approach than bylaws. I mean there like I said there's so many bylaws already that people just thumb their nose at and and uh that they're
really hard to enforce. um it's going to be problematic certain certainly to enforce these laws and I think it'll be selective and there'll be some violations that'll go unpunished and there'll be other violations that
could end up um being just because of some neighbor has a grudge against another neighbor. it it just could open a whole can of worms in my opinion and my research um with like four of the other towns it
uh when they Laura came in front of it it's golf courses and landscapers have come forward and they're all MDAR certified and they use the minimum or less than the recommended doses. It costs them money. And it's not the big
guys, the golf courses, the DPWs, the big landscapers. It's honestly, it's it's myself. It's the the local homeowners that are going to Ace Hardware or whatever. I don't mean to take on Ace, but and they're getting it
and they're like you said earlier, it's it's America. More is better. And dumping more fertilizer on the ground. It's the education to the public that I think we need to somehow work on to for the local homeowner to do. So,
yeah, I know from a personal standpoint, so many times I might use a product and very rarely will I read the directions on there. So, I'm sure I'm not alone in that and I'm pretty conscious about toxicity and that sort of thing. But
that's that'd be my concern about making these bylaws. [Music] Eric, I have a lot of thoughts about this, so I'll try to keep it brief. Um,
wholeheartedly support the mission, but I do have a lot of concerns, mostly for the the licensed applicators, the people who are making their living applying products like this. And I think you mentioned
last time you were here that those aren't necessarily the the folks that you're concerned with um because they are reporting their use. They're getting audited. They're licensed by the state. They I'm a licensed pesticide
applicator. And I think it's important to remember that nobody nobody dislikes handling chemicals more so than the licensed applicator because they're exposed to these on the on the daily. So, I feel very strongly that um that
it's a great mission, but I'm concerned that we might be headed down a similar road to what we saw uh was it last year when the when the plastic uh reduction
plastic single-use plastic ban um was was voted on at um town meeting. And what you may be familiar with, what we found was that it was it was a little bit too much too quickly. Um,
so I would be in favor of something, whether it be a phased approach or something that I think our golf course community members and the the business community um need to to
come together with us and and I think we need to come up with a solution that accomplishes the environmental goals while still preserving the integrity of their businesses and their livelihood. And I think there's a number of ways that that could be done, whether it's
to, I'm just spitballing, only allow licensed applicators to to use the products rather than the homeowner or look at specific products. Um, and just to just to give you a little
brief story, good family member of mine is a is a licensed applicator and I know that um, glyphosate is one of the products that is kind of in the hot seat right now. There's obvious health implications
associated with the use of that product. Um but one concern that that I raised is well just because for example if you were to to ban the use of glyphosate let's say what's the alternative?
So this family member of mine um he applies pesticides as his livelihood and the homeowner requested that he not use glyphosate. So he used an alternative product called
Tricopir. So he had to do three applications of Tricopir and still saw limited results. So So just a just a concern. It's food for thought. Is it better to apply three
times? you know, now now the the animals in the yard, the aquifer and the applicator are being exposed to a product three times as opposed to one with limited
effectiveness. So, I just I think that there's a little more work that we could do maybe involving our business owners to come up with an approach that that might ultimately work towards the goal and meet the goal
just um in a different fashion. So, I I'm just one person. I just wanted to share share those thoughts. Yeah. The the only other point I noticed the years ago, you know, the paint industry, for example, used a ton of
oilbased paints and they've really changed now to the lat latex or acrylic paints and it seems like they've gotten some really good products that way. I'm wondering if that wouldn't be another approach that we could work toward with
pesticides, you know, because the paint industry now is totally uh you know, it's much more palatable than it used to be, less less hazardous. May I speak to any of these points?
Okay. I've been um happy to listen. So, thank you for your thoughts. I appreciate it. Um if I may start off with the enforcement um ideas, um the state has a telephone
number. You can call them directly for any enforcement uh meeting uh if this passes at your town meeting. This is the course of a home roll petition. Uh my simple request
today is just a support letter to the select board in order to get this on the town warrant. Allow your citizens to decide what they want for your town, not a board. Um this or the next, let's say,
um because it goes then to the state house and becomes a bill and then goes through the state house, the energy and environmental association. and it goes to the House side, it goes to the Senate side. It's a two-year process that either dies in committee on somebody's
desk or gets to the governor and gets signed. So, this is a first baby step of can we just talk about this at the state house. It's just an opportunity. It's not going to change and in your town the
day after the citizens vote if it passes at your town meeting. That's just the beginning of getting it to the state house as a bill. Um, Orleans has passed it. East Ham Town citizens passed it.
Wealthy town citizens and now Truro just did in May of this year almost unanimous all citizens. It was almost 100% passing vote in Truro. Um, so it it gets me to see that it is
important. is something uh that's worth discussion at this time. We're certainly not wanting to take anybody's job away. That's not the point. Uh golf courses, there's a waiver that they can be exempt. There's always a way in and a
way out of things. This is not a town ban. So, it's not like the straws or the singleuse plastic. This is a reduction in use. And again, the language is going to be shifted this way and that way at the state house
level because they're the lawmakers. We aren't and we aren't. You know, um we could do temporary or certain bylaws within town, excuse me. Um but not a home roll petition. A home roll petition is to get to the state house to allow
them to decide what is best for us. this um authority for pesticide reductions, fertilizer and such was taken away from the select boards, the town governments in 2014. Uh since then the language hasn't
changed at the state house. So that's why towns are, you know, wanting to do more, wanting to have a little more more power and control than the other 251 towns in the state of Massachusetts. started in Orleans saying, "Yeah, we want we have water below us, you know,
we want to will reduce our pesticide use, reduce it, and how can we do that?" So, this is just a way um we don't want to target any business, but homeowners and a bulk on a whole are definitely
using more product than the landscapers all in all than the golf courses overall. Um there is a waiver for anybody, Mrs. Smith down the street to a whole entire golf course. It's a simple piece of paper of how much, what's the
address, how often, what's the product. At this point, it is written in the home roll petition that this is to be at the town manager's office. Anybody can walk in or select board office and it is up to the select board and town manager to
then read it and decide what is best for your town depending on what it says. So, at this point, that's where that is at. Again, the governor or somebody through the state house will say, "Oh, no, no, it should be the the board of health. This is a health issue
or something." Um, but as far as enforcement goes, it's already set up. We've taken a lot of this language is straight from the Massachusetts websites. So this is already in Boston and we crafted the this is the Orleans
select board crafted the language with great intention to bring it back to the state and say see this is what we would like and you have already put this in writing so we believe it's going to actually work. Um so far it's passed
through the EA uh favorably. there was a word that we're interested in. So, we'll see if it gets any further. That's through the town of Orleans. So, at the moment, there's a 1-800 number. So, what's enforcement mean? Yeah, I've got a property. My neighbors, you know,
wafting something. I can see it going across my front lawn. I've got my dog with me. you know, you either call your town hall and they call whoever the enforcement authority is with the state and they come down and they d do their
measures. So, at this point, the onus is not on the town, it's on the state, excuse me, sorry. And so that's where it is in writing um in these four pages. So, I hope that clarifies a little bit
about enforcement, a little bit about your intentions of, you know, if we try to get the language and rewrite the whole entire thing, it waters down what the other towns have. Like, if all 15 towns wanted all 15 something different,
the the governor is going to be like, "What?" you know, it's easier to get the conversation and then let them decide than for us to take another three years to curtail the language that's best for this town, it's best for this town. We're hoping this becomes countywide uh
again in whatever they believe is best for Cape Cod above their aquifer. So, I hope that's helpful and it is a process. It's the be it's the baby step, not the whatever that is. I don't even know you know it's like can we just talk about
the fact that we as humans continue to uh loading right uh the TDMLS how long how much are we doing we don't even know it's a free-for-all are we going to wait for a tipping point or
should we start reducing the use that's where we're at it's like well yeah we should probably start reducing the use of pesticides and fertilizers I say that in general general um insecticides, rodenticides, yeah, herbicides, there are alternatives and tricloor, I get it,
it's a little wimpier, but there, you know, try something else until it works. And once it does work in that situation, you're all set. You know, you figured out that formula. businesses. I think it's time for them to shift off of
pesticide products cuz it's not getting safer. You know, they're getting stronger. If we take glyphosate out of the picture, Patriots next. And that's got 240 in it. So, it's not like an answer. It's just a
momentary lapse of time. Again, we as homeowners, all of us should just volunteer, not to use any. Find an alternative that works for that particular situation and then you're all set. You've got the recipe that works
for you, but try keep trying and and and get off the use of these drugs. We're we're drinking them. It's how can it not go the direction of gravity when our regulations are 50 foot buffers and 100
foot buffers are intended horizontal and gravity goes vertical? Why don't we have 50 foot and 100 foot intended buffers for a drink of water and they're not there? These are regulations that are so outdated. Can we just update them and
talk about reducing the use? So this is just a little baby step. There's a way in, there's a way out, there's a waiver for everybody. So when that time comes, it's there. You know, we're not trying to just ban the sailing use. That's
illegal. I wouldn't even ask that. We're just saying, can we talk about the state house? We got an aquifer below us. Let's all try to do a little bit more to protect it. So thank you for listening. I appreciate it.
Thanks. So just just for some clarification, if this gets on the town warrant and the community members vote yes in favor of this, the petition just goes to
the state. It's not it's not in effect locally. Is that correct? Right. Guess so. Yeah. That is correct. Yes. I think for me it's a little bit
difficult because I again like I I don't I wholeheartedly support the mission. I don't apply anything at my house. I don't use any products. Um, but I have concerns about honestly
leaving it up to the state to develop a a regulation that works for everybody. I don't know where that leaves us as a as a local authority here. What is the deadline? Do you know in
order to get something on the on the warrant for your town meeting is October 12th? And so I'd love to be in front of the select board having this discussion. So I need a little time for that too. So I was hoping for just a support letter. It's
the first step. just a support letter to the and then then they need time to ask their questions and listen to a presentation and and such. Um but I'm just hoping that it gets to the citizens. They get to read it. We can
have open hearings. We have open meetings um from people's living rooms to gymnasiums. Doesn't matter. whatever the town's people want or we help educate and enough that the voters feel comfortable to either, you know, vote
one way or the other, you know. Um, so yeah. Has this issue come in front of the select board here in Yarmouth. That will be the next move. I came to the board of health for you to that hasn't happened. Correct. Your organization hasn't reached
directly to them. Correct. Okay. You seem to be standing there a long time. You're welcome to stand as you long as you want if you'd like to introduce yourself and speak or you can even sit down and speak. I'm good here. Thanks. I was just waiting my turn. Scott Gilmore, director of golf for Town of Yarmouth. Um,
welcome back. Thank you. I just had a couple quick thoughts on this. Um, I know that um, bylaw was crafted for town or trying to get every town county town is very different than town Orleans. I mean we have 45 golf holes alone in this town
and we follow zone 2 regulations. So one of the things that you guys are looking to do is possibly maybe reducing you could start by following the state of mass zone 2 regulations which already reduce a lot of pesticides in this town. So um if you're looking for stings to do
it stuff like that we have to follow that through the state. Um, so that's very helpful if you're looking as a way that you could possibly reduce things in this town. But I find it very hard that if you're going to have all 15 towns or so follow the same guidelines, it's it's
very difficult. Some of these towns don't have golf courses or big times businesses support. It's a much easier reduction for them if it's mainly after home owners. For us, it's very difficult. you know, you're talking we have uh a lot of golf rounds that go
through this town that are very uh economic to this town and and our operation. So, I would hope that the town of Yarmouth could do their own as well and maybe exempt the golf courses out of this and continue to follow the state regulations that we currently do
now. But my one suggestion would be to zone 2 already protects the aquifer and they continue to remove stuff and put it on that list and always add to it rather than take it away. So those are my couple thoughts. Thank you.
Thank you. You know, I know a lot of the the uh towns in the state seem to be directing the bands really a town property excluding the golf courses. That seemed to be the most common thing I came
across of of being successful at that as opposed to dealing with the companies, dealing with the house owners and so on. It seemed to be starting with the town property which I know a lot of our town property here there aren't any weeds.
Um so could be a place. So I did that five years ago. I went to 15 towns in one year. Actually went to more than that. And I went to 20 towns in one year, including Plymouth. 15 towns volunteered,
townwide. You know how much land town owns, beaches, I mean, I was so surprised. School systems. I had the list. It miles long parks. And I asked them to volunteer and they did. 15 towns volunteered to not use
glyphosate products at any town. So that gave me the first step that you know what these people care they want to do more and they're going to do that was town owned land. So the next step is to then have a pesticide reduction home
rule petition. It's just got a little more teeth. It's a little stronger. It tells the state we want to do more to protect our drinkable water source. I mean PAFS's PFOAs, they're showing up in our water. That's a forever chemical. I'll tell you a lot of these pesticides
are too. Why aren't they not showing up in our water? Because we're not testing for them. So, it's that moment of, you know, we just can't keep up with everything that's going on. So, wouldn't it just be better? You're the
authorities in this town. You've got strength now is brought to you something that is working in other towns. You can do this. It is up to you to do the right thing for your town. you're talking about oil and all these other things. I'm so impressed by the details that you
folks are really good. It's great. I I'm I'm commend you. Um this is another working order that is a possibility if you and it's just discussion. It's a state house that gets to decide. So this
has just allowed us to move forward and let the citizens decide what they want for the town of Yarmouth. That would be my ask. Thank you. You sir, what's what's on your mind?
I'm just recovering from a hip replacement, so I can't stand for too long. Why don't you have a seat and you No, no. I'm I I actually It's good for me. Um my name is Jim Wolf. I live in For 13 years I've lived over in Yarmouthport. um near the power lines.
Um one of the few people in town who still has a well. Um few years back we uh I I developed some thyroid problems and I communicated um under your toutelage actually um to
the Massachusetts Department of MD culture resources. Yeah. um basically to try to get uh Eversource um in that time it was NSTAR to stop spraying glyphosate in my backyard 75 ft from my well and we were
successful with the help of the town and eventually the town started informing them every year of where the wells were and eventually um this particular chemical became so costly to bear that I think that the company is realizing that
it ain't worth it to continue on with uh glyphosate, but the replacements, who knows? So, you know, where where I'm coming down on this is um 13 years, like Mr. Weston here, um I haven't touched my property with any chemicals. I've got
like an acre and a half over there in uh Yarmouthport. And you know, I'd almost like invite any of you to come over and look at how beautiful my place is. you know, it's a sort of a mix of formal landscaping and and the woods because I'm in the woods. And so as you get closer to the house, it gets a little
more, hey, those are bushes that Jim and Irene planted as opposed to uh the woods. So the main thing I'm feeling here and since it's been referred to like Eric, I mean Mr. Weston, excuse me, um you know, mentioned that at his own place he
doesn't um use chemicals. So, you know, my question is we always come back to are we protecting the water or are we protecting our commercial interests and uh it's tough when a town bans something. I'm sort of arguing uh for
what Laura is saying. It's like we don't have the resources to test chemicals. We don't have a lot of the resources that are provided by the state that can be provided by the state. However, I got to say that the boards year after year after year, we petitioned MDAR to get
them to stop spraying on the power lines and we couldn't be successful because the way the politics works at the state is that the people who were appointed in there are friends or recent employees of the company that's doing the spraying. You know how it works. However,
this particular subject where we have so many unknowns and we have somebody who's professionally in this room professionally applying the chemicals but doesn't like to do it at his house. I think we need to push this thing to a place where like Laura says the the town
has the ability to talk because when we talk about education the problem is you know we're all in our silos but we have conversations with each other. We have conversations with neighbors. we see the neighbors spraying, we're not spraying, you know, we're like, what's going into our well? And so from a process
standpoint, this one, and I was all over that plastic thing. I didn't understand why it took 18 months for us to get plastic bottles out. I'm a corporate guy, retired now, when we decided at our company, which was Cape, uh, a local
company, that we weren't going to use single use plastic anymore. At least when I was there running their sustainability program, we stopped and we stopped real quick. So I was wondering why did it take 18 months to get the businesses together to do that to to get it done in town. And I think
one reason is because we made it so that it was commercial interests versus the people. And yet we have a commercial interest right here sitting on your board. And he he says he's in favor of eliminating the chemicals and finding another way where you still have a
business, but you just don't use chemicals. Like at our house, we have beautiful landscape and we don't use this stuff. Beaut's in the eye of the beholder. But what I would ask for is that you don't get in the way of this process continuing. Of course, Laura can
go to the select people with or without the health board writing a letter, but I think that you put yourselves in a really good place in this one about democracy, which is the education that's going to happen is people talking, getting up at town meeting and talking
about it. People who may have more information than we, the people in this room. So, that's that's all I'd like to say. It would be really cool to see this thing move forward. And I do understand your concerns about we're our town of Yarmouth is going to say we prefer the
state to do this, but remember the state kind of lags, but when they put in a regulation, it's serious and it's been studied. So that's that's all I have to say. Let's let's let this go the democratic route. Thank you.
Okay. Thanks for coming in. Now sitting here I mean we need to do something. Um I think the least we should do is decide we can tonight is what how to move forward starting something. In the same way uh with the plastic reduction
you know took a long time and then very efficiently something came forward and materialize which was great just to start the process. Question is what what to do. So I think you know the the board's
mission is in alignment with with the home rule petition. So, you know, while I might be conflicted about the some of the um details of it, I think
as a board when we look at our mission, we look at their mission, we sort of have a responsibility to to make a statement. But, you know, we've written our own regulations before. I think we could decide amongst ourselves if
this is something that we wanted to do on a local level. Is that correct? Independent of endorsing protect our Cape Cod aquifer. That is illegal. That
opportunity was taken away from us in uh 2014 by the state. The towns cannot regulate monitor. I guess you can you can monitor but you can't regulate um pesticide uh in any town in the state of
Massachusetts. The authority was taken away from us um by the governor at that time. I suppose you could create some sort of bylaw that is you know uh do you know where we could read about
that? Yeah. Yeah. Where's Jim? It was your brother, Dan Wolf. Senator Dan Wolf at the time. This is Jim Wolf. Dan is his brother. He was our senator. and uh he brought it to
the attention of the towns that um that this was coming up the pike and we were given a year we the towns were given a year to come forward and uh what came out of it was six towns
saying you know you can't take away our authority blah blah blah blah blah so so the state wrote a uh a way um saying the strongest language of that
get a you get a kick out of this is that we cannot apply any pesticides from the 15th of October to the 15th of April.
Now, if you think about that, that's like telling somebody in the summer, you cannot put snow tires on your car. Who's using pesticides in December, January, February, March? So, it did
nothing to actually protect our natural resources from pesticide use. Again, yet another reason why Orleans moved forward. Orleans crafted this language off of Nantucket. Nantucket started it, moved it forward pretty quickly and then their own people
whatever fell apart. Somebody came off a board somebody new came on blah blah blah. Orleans picked up the language and has moved forward with this. So there was an opportunity at a time and we asked Dan, thank you Dan. Get Dan for another year. We were given another we
were given two years to get our uh towns together and uh literally that's all that came of it. A six-month rule to not use said products um that
didn't that didn't help. So again it it just kind of gets us to say we got to figure something out and this is that next thing that comes down the pike, you know. Um, so if you want to create the next thing that comes down the pike, I mean that's up to you folks. It's it's
it's it's something. I I just have to understand what authority we have because we just finished writing a green home burial regulation and we've done tobacco regulations. Is it within our purview to
draft something for the town of Yarmouth regarding pesticide and fertilizer application? I don't have the answer. I'm just either raising it for discussion. It's not difficult to write most regulations. It's not
um the authority about that. I don't know the specifics when dealing with the state. I know there aren't a lot of towns doing it. Zero. The enforcement would be on us on you. We would have to follow through, follow up, you know, blah blah blah.
whereas this is a state where we're asking the state to have the authority. We're asking the state to do that kind of work, you know. So, yeah, unless you know our regulation was very specific about something something
specific to change, then I I'm not sure we'll accomplish very much on a local level that way. We would have to, you know, if it was flavored tobacco, if it was, you know, to pinpoint something that we could maybe
it would have an effect um, you know, an allout ban. It's not going to it's not going to work. You know, that, you know, that's illegal. Fortunate, but I'm sorry. It's an an all right ban out ban is
illegal. The sale, the use, it's it's illegal to do even on a town level. because they approve it at the state level. I just got a couple things to add. Sure. Um water testing was mentioning. I know obviously homeowners it's hard for them
to test water but speak up a little bit. Thank you. Sorry. I know that um for homeowners, it's obviously hard to test the water as this gentleman mentioned, you know, having a well there, but for commercial operations like us, we are required to test the water and as mentioned in the
previous uh couple weeks ago that we are cleaner coming out of the site than in. So, we clearly are doing our part to protect the aquifer, which is the overall goal for everybody. We continue to want to do our part is to protect it. We all have the same goal here, but what
that is written in is not the same goal. That is, we would be affected wholeheartedly the same way. And I would hope that we could be exempt from that and continue to do it through the state level is what we're requesting. Um, as all what she was mentioning on the
October to 15th to April 15th window, the reason that's in play is because the plant no longer can take up any pesticides. So the reason why you're not putting on stuff like that is that would immediately go down into the ground and into the water. So that is actually a good thing the state put in plate. So
the reason that window exists is so that you cannot apply pesticides during that time is so the plant no longer can take that out. So we use science facts to do our jobs and we continue will do that. Thank you.
It seems that this would kind of take it out of our hands and put it in the state's hands. And what's to say that they decided no waiverss for anybody? Granted, nobody knows until we get to that point, but there's always a way in
and way out of things. Excuse me, I don't mean to talk over you. I apologize. There's always a way into and a way out of um things, you know. So the the way the state has um we took the language from MDAR,
Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources has um a website that we got the language from. So on the four pages that you have in front of you, there are also um alternatives, not alternatives, these
are other um what's the definition of things um for everything? What's a synthetic substance? What's allowed? you know the ethanols, the chlorates that so the so attached to the four pages are
these numbers right that say this one is C it's a seven CFR205.601 601, you know, so there's a couple of regulations that are within the
petition. Does that make sense? Yes. So these are statew written um from MDAR themselves. So again, yet another way that we're hoping that this all goes through at the state house and the the waiver is also
from the state house. So we there's a way into and out of things. And granted, yep, maybe the governor, who am I? I can't speak for her, but maybe she's like, "Yeah, no waivers allowed. This is great. Cape Cod needs this now.
No pesticides allowed." You know, I don't know what's going to come from it. Obviously, it's just the baby step. But I don't want to play the what if game because what if what? I don't know. Um, what if homeowners aren't to use a
mixture of triclo glyphoside and a marzipart? That'd be great. I mean, that would be an incredible outcome, you know. So, uh, maybe when you go to purchase at a Ace Hardware, the person standing there says, "Oh, here's a mazipar and here's
tricloor and here's glyphosate. I can't sell you these at the same time." Like there's got to be little ways that we can't even think of that that things can happen. Maybe there's a tag source that everything in red is toxic to our drinkable water source. Everything in
yellow next to it is the alternative. I don't know. But somebody else is going to think of these things, not you. And that's sitting here today. [Music] You have some thoughts? Um, again, it's 100% for it. It just needs
to be a little more cut and dry. I'd like the education part like what you just said, the have these shops put up signage maybe saying just for the local homeowner, for myself, this product is not good for the uh the water. This is
an alternative. I mean, just simple signage and education that these stores can do might be able to just help the the normal homeowner move forward and do this. Again, it's not Scott, it's not
Eric and his company, it's it's me, it's my neighbor, it's Q, it's um education is going to be a is going to be a big part of this. Um, if we can distract or detract
one person a day from not buying the the bad stuff and going with the alternative, it's good. And I know some of my neighbors probably want the the bad stuff and we'll just drive five miles to Dennis or five miles to hyenas and get it. So that doesn't help much.
So, education signage. I like the that that would be a good start for me. I would say I tend to agree with you, Barry. I start simple and then we can The other issue I have is this is at least the way I'm reading it, it's
pretty general. I mean it doesn't really list. I mean some insecticides, herbicides, pesticides are more lethal than others. It seems like we should differentiate. Is that is that going to be part of this
program? Anything ending in sides is made to kill. The unfortunate thing with any pesticide is it does more harm than we realize. It travels. So, this is only for this home rule petition is only for
pesticide use outside of your home. You can use any pesticide you want inside your house. You can use any pesticide you want on your own body, on your kids, and on your pets. So, that is completely exempt from this.
The the the reason why it was crafted is because outdoor pesticide use travels. If you have a weed, we've been talking about weeds, that plant actually has to absorb 100%. Do you think that's going to happen?
Every time it's going to travel on doing more harm, maybe in the air, an insecticide, you want to keep mosquitoes off your land. How is that not hurting all other beneficial insects? It it just
it doesn't discriminate or you know it doesn't get what you want that a a rat or a mouse and you know you use a rodenticide for them and they go on and and an owl eats
them and now the owls are dying you know. We absolutely have these connections from our human youth that are doing more harm than we realize to the things we we need in our circle of life. And you know, there's just this
little quick little thing. You know, we've got to come to realize the interconnectedness of everything. If a mosquito went extinct, extinct bats would starve. If roaches went extinct, then nitrogen cycle would be disrupted. Goes on and on. We may not not like
pests but they have purpose too. You we just need to get off our dependency of drugs and find the alternatives. you know what was used hundred years ago before any sort of pesticide was even invented and created you know like they
survived back then you know so that's the the the thinking that I I think we all need to kind of go back to in a way and see what worked you know vinegars vinegar worked great back then you know clean the inside of your house remember
and um it kills weeds you just have to wait till 4:00 in afternoon when the weed is really thirsty on a dry day, not after it just rained. You know that weed is thirsty, you give it a little vinegar, it drinks, it's dead in 2
hours. So, there's a recipe for success. You just And then you think of it, you know, I I know you have to think of it bigger than than the little driveway. I understand, but you got to figure out what works for that particular instance, you know. Um, herbicides were made to
kill. They do work. And so the the little things are going to be they're going to be harder to figure out, but I I I just think it's an opportunity and I'm hoping this town um moves forward with it. So, I I have no problem
making a statement as a board member that we're in favor of pesticide reduction, whether that goes to the select board or the state. But as far as the specifics of it, I just think that we would be better off drafting
something on a local level that that we know can work here. You're saying a support letter of what our what we would like, what our mission is about, and that we need
the body above us to start the process. Is that what you're saying of supporting reduction? I mean, I'm Yeah, but I but I would rather us draft our own regulation in Yarmouth then leave it up to the state to make the decision.
Okay. But Laura, you said that the state does not allow towns to do that. You certainly can try. That's the part that I don't understand. I'm not clear on. I haven't researched that.
That's something we'd have to get town council involved with. That's right. Yeah. Your attorney, your town council, town manager. They'd know the rules to be able to explain it to you. We'd have to rely on your level of expertise to draft something like that.
I certainly wouldn't have a clue. I I would not either. Um, I would support that. I think that like I I said and and Barry said, you know, it's a matter of educating people, including myself, about what to use and
what not to use. I probably haven't used anything in my property in the last five years only because I'm really into preserving my wildlife. You know, I noticed a real reduction in hummingbirds. I used to have I had another four gallons of vinegar
delivered today. My people walk by my property, it just smells like vinegar. Pickled. 75% by your house. It's strong vinegar. 75%. Yeah, it works. So if if you would just briefly again
this whole home rule thing this going to the state would ask the state to allow the named towns to adopt regulations but to adopt these specific regulations
or this framework for regulations. And the state in considering that can change any of this that the town has requested to be done, but then when they finish,
they're not going to make it a statewide law. or they could but but if they don't then they send back their amended or their amendments or changes to what say Orleans wanted and said okay here you go
you can you yes you can make regulations regarding pesticides according to these changes that we've made with what you've submitted yes that is correct Yes. Uh this is an opportunity make a statewide law
like they've done. Wouldn't that be a miracle? Yes. At um 251 towns I believe in the state of Massachusetts. And whether they can draw a line at the bridge or not, I don't know. I'm hoping to include an
anti Martha's Vineyard as well. And any, you know, ultimately any town that has an aquafer directly below them, Plymouth, you know, there's got to be other surrounding towns. So this language um hopefully will go further than Cape Cod in time. Uh but it's just
it's two years old, three years old now. Um so it's the beginning and uh we just want to see if Yarmouth would be interested in in joining neighboring towns to to be stronger at the state house. You were going to say something. I I I
guess I'm still a little bit unclear what why would if this passes at the state level, why would we then be able to change our regulations? Because what they're asking for is the permission to make our own regulations.
This is what the home rule request is. Correct. So the authority was taken away from the towns years ago and um because of that the towns cannot craft their own language to
a little less than the amount of pesticide use in town. You can volunteer, anybody can volunteer, you know, you can ask your neighbor, don't do that, but authority wise, you can't, you know, give a fine. Like if you are at a stop sign right now and you go blow
through it, the police can give you a fine. So it's that kind of authority, right? Enforcement, I guess, is the word that that and why are we waiting for this? We already know these poisons are not good for a drinkable water source. Why are we
waiting for the state to tell us this? So anyway, here we are. Um, this is asking the towns are asking the state for permission to be in control of the situation at their town level.
That's it. That's all this is. It's called a home rule petition. For those of you at home that want to look this up, um you can go to the Orleans Town website and there's a search bar and you click in pesticide reduction on the
search bar and it'll go straight to the town website and it has years of work has support letters from APCC, the Cape Cod Commission, the Assembly of Delegates. Every assembly of delegate voted 100% for this to move forward,
including Yarmouth. Um, we've got I mean it's years worth of work of support letters. Um, and it's still moving forward. Let's see what else can do. Oh, so on the the the state website, it's also FAQs. That's frequently asked questions that's
four or five pages long. Just basic stuff like that we're going through that you can actually see and reading, you know, um, and you know, correct answers, blah blah blah. That's just another great place for information for everybody at home that wants to learn
more about pesticide reduction. Go to the Orleans Town website and learn more. Yeah. I mean, just I can't see banning things, restricting for a golf course in town if other towns aren't doing it. Um I it sounds like they're doing
everything they can, but I think on a state level maybe can make a difference. um for us to single out like the golf courses seems totally unfair to me. If you know uh that
if it's not the state that's doing it or giving each town the ability to do it, but it's just um it just seems unfair to a specific business. I'm just picking the golf courses out. Um, I wasn't aware that we didn't have any
authority regarding this. I'm learning also I I didn't know that new to me. Um, and if you don't know that means probably no one does. I mean that sincerely. Um, may I make a comment? We
Yes. like to make a comment. Thank you. Sure. Hello. Um, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Mary Vilban. I'm president and CEO of the Armouth Chamber of Commerce. Um, Laura, I want to excuse me, commend you for the work that you're
doing. We all want to achieve the same thing. Um, I just I didn't anticipate to speak tonight, but I do want to say what I'm hearing is a lot of questions on your end. And we learned from past
experience with the plastic reduction bylaw that went through is that we weren't fully educated on a decision that was made. And I think it would be in our best interest to take the time you're referring to. I think it's a seven-page document. Um, okay. four
page, you know, do you understand exactly what's in that document and what it entails? And if you're questioning what a home rule petition petition is, then I think we should get fully educated on it before we write a
letter to the select board to support something like that. So, I'm just again going by the experience we've had in the last year in town. Let's do it and let's do it right when we're going to do it and let's educate ourselves before we
make a decision. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Thanks. This require any vote tonight or not? I don't think so. Not not a vote. I don't think so either. Yes, please. I was hoping you'd vote to
support I was hoping you would vote to write and craft a support letter uh for your select board. Um that that's very clear. Don't worry. And it's no your present put a lot of work into
this. I give you a lot of credit for it. Um thank you. I think we're learning and I think Mary made a good point. We're still trying to figure it out a little bit. Um, it does seem like we're it's a rush to try to get this on the
warrant. It does if we're asking very very simple questions at this point. Um, even our hydraologist here on staff down here, Eric, who's incredibly knowledgeable, is
still asking some very basic questions. Um, so want to move ahead with something, not for a vote, but just let's put some closure on this for tonight. I'd like to suggest that we um we all feel very
strongly about um the benefit of reducing pesticides that we continue our discuss discussions as a board of health and find out some more answers to the questions that we have in terms of what we are allowed to do, not allowed to do, what might happen
as a result of this. um and you try to work toward um a Springtown meeting if we have something that we'd like to see brought forward. Yeah, that's is great as well as sending certainly you know not only to select
board but letter earlier than that to the to the state and discussion about what to do uh you mentioned some of the educational things that we can do. Um that sounds fine with me. Um, we're not going to let this go
by. I All I can tell you, I really commend you and your efforts. We won't let this go by. May I history of being very proactive and I think we're all proud of what we've done here in town.
Absolutely. Um, it's been a month. It took two weeks to get on your first agenda and then you asked for two more weeks, so I'm back again. Would it be okay with you if if I go forward to your select board and give them a presentation because they're going to
need the time as well to ask all the questions. Uh I I came to you folks first and it's been four weeks in my working world and it could be four months which is fine. You know, everybody's different paces. Um but I'm
hoping to you know educate a little faster. um not take the whole winter. Uh if if they're ready and willing and able um and I just wanted to, you know, let you folks know that that's what I'm
going to be wishing to do is to move forward with your select board. So I don't want any ill feelings along the way. And hopefully you're you know we'll educate yourself and if it's on your warrant and moves forward then then you know we'll
see you at the hearing and and keep bringing questions. You of course write to me in the in the meantime and and get comfortable. You know at some point you're going to vote whether it's the fall or the spring and you got to feel one way or the other, right? And and
vote comfortably. So, I'm hoping that that people really understand the importance at this baby step stage to just keeping things going. Otherwise, another year can go by and another year can go by and you know and and our our
TDMLs, our total amount of loading is still going. It's still going. It's not stopping and it's more in the summers, you know. So, anyway, thank you very much for caring for allowing all this time on topic of discussion. and it is
important and I hope that we can actually get it off the table and move it to the state house. So, thank you for the opportunity. Thank you very much. Appreciate you as well. Keep up the good work. Cheers. Okay. Uh, next on the agenda is number
seven, everyone. That's the plastic reduction regulation review. So, Barry, you'll put that on for uh next meeting. Yep. Just for further discussion. Okay. About the pesticides. All right. Thanks. You got that, Riley. We'll put the
pesticides on for further reduction. So, the plastic reduction um regulation review. This is Jamie Vera, Mary. They're the chair and vice chair of the committee. I'm I'm on the committee
myself. That is Mary. Um, we're here because of the there was a single use plastic reduction bylaw put through quickly. Um, and we're trying to make it done right this time. So, I'm going to let kind of
take it over to Jamie what we're looking to do tonight. So, good evening. Welcome. Nice to see you again. Nice to see you as well. Uh, for the record, Jamie Vieiraa. I'm uh not only a member of the plastics bylaw review task force but had the privilege of serving
as the chair. Um you folks recall we were here back in the fall. We talked about the present general regulation concerning the banning of plastics for food establishments and some of the issues that were raised there brought forward by not only the chamber but by
the petitioner herself who's here this evening. The town meeting in the fall voted to delay the implementation of that general bylaw from January 125 to January 126. In the interim, the select
board and through the town administrator created the plastics bylaw review task force. And I don't know if in your packet the charge for the task force was included in that, but in essence, we were tasked with coming up with recommendations to the town for an
alternative bylaw or regulation and make recommendations to the select board on how to craft and implement something that created more of a balance of how to effectively reduce plastic but yet allow
businesses to still operate within in certain parameters and guidelines which don't exist presently if that bylaw went into effect. I I think one of the overriding themes we've kind of heard a little bit here is is all well intentioned but if rushed sometimes
things get caught and there's unintended consequences and rather than rush it's do it right. Um and that was the task that we took and the and the path that we took. We convened beginning in the summer. The task force was composed of
members of the community. And just to give you a background on who served on that task force, uh the select board member was Mark Forest. Uh, Peter Malpass from the Community and Economic Development Committee, Mary Craig from your board, uh, Mike Davis, owner of
Bagels and Beyond Shop here in Yarmouth, Aiden Delaney from the Skipper Chowder House, Jay Gardner, former health agent with Barnesville County uh, was on the committee force. Bill Glass, Yarmouth recycling committee, Barry from the board of health staff. Haley O'Neal, the
former petitioner of the existing bylaw that's there. Jill Tallade was a community representative. Uh myself um and Mary Vilbond, president and CEO of the Armouth Chamber of Commerce. We and I can't go on smoke had tremendous input
from outside sources. one Liz Argo select board member was instrumental in helping the task force and we had a lot of education from folks in the community from large retailers like Stop and Shop to smaller retailers and folks who about
what would be the impact of what exists now and we learned a lot about plastic and I got to tell you there was some educational components about things that that we plastics one through seven I had no idea what that was now I do and it was very beneficial to understand if
you're going ban something, maybe you should understand what it is that you're banning. And and so we took the time to begin with before we put pen to paper to learn what we were tasked with trying to solve the problem. And we learned about the containers that come in food. We
learned about the health benefits of why folks still use plastic in terms of food preservation, prevention of, you know, disease, bacteria, food spoilage, etc., etc. So, we took the time and then we went to work on crafting a regulation
and it is our recommendation that we're going to make through your board to the select board for the adoption of a health regulation here in town. You are empowered to create a health regulation unlike a general bylaw. And what we've got in your package is the product that
we have put together after these months of work that we are then going to try to get feedback from this board this evening on that language. Go to the select board because they tasked us with providing a recommendation. And what will be recommended to them is that this
bylaw proposed once vetted by you folks be enacted as a health regulation. And then once that is enacted as a health regulation, town meeting would then vote to essentially resend the general bylaw that's there so they don't sit in conflict with one another. I can tell
you the town council has reviewed the bylaw in front of you and has approved it as to form, making one small one small revision as relates to enforcement, meaning he added the provision of the bylaw that gives you the power to impose a fine, which we had
asked for in certain instances, and further crafted language for a town meeting warrant article to resend the bylaw, assuming that this passed. So, we're here in essence hoping that you had a chance to review it, answer some questions about it. I can walk through a
little bit about what it is and what it isn't and how it differs from what's there. But ultimately, we will go to the select board, but then we will be back because we would ask that you follow the process that you have and the power that you have to implement a health regulation, notice, public hearing,
opportunity folks to be heard, community involvement, etc. All of our meetings were televised. All of our meetings were were open to the public. So, we had the the benefit of community involvement for those who wanted to participate in what we were doing here. So, we didn't do
this in a vacuum. So, um when it does come before your board, we hope again. Um this has been months in the making, but it has not been something that people have not had an opportunity to hear prior to if they took the time to do it. So, I'm happy to answer any
questions that you may have about what's presented here. Again, we're not asking you to vote on this tonight. That's not what we're doing here. It's more just if you have some thoughts and comments about the process, if there's anything in particular that you read that was striking to you that you may want to
have us think about changing before we bring it back or go to the select board. This is the first step in the process and we're hoping to move quickly because we've got to get back to you folks and get the town meeting for hopefully a recision of what's there before 1126.
So, I'll stop at that and answer any questions that you may have. I just compliment you and uh your team work very efficiently. It's great. Um thanks for the effort both both of you. It's great. Thank you.
Jamie, would would you repeat what you said the town council's addition was? Sure. Um if you have the draft bylaw in front of you, I do. Okay. and paragraph 11 on page six. Paragraph 11 has a subparagraph a
yes and he ends it by saying and I'll start with including comma but not limited to comma noncriminal disposition as set forth in section and then he adds 12 and authorized under chapter 25 of the
general bylaws. Chapter 25 of the general bylaws is just the blanket enforcement provision under the general bylaws, meaning that towns, boards, and committees have the power to enforce bylaws and can impose fines. Your board being one of them, the building
department being one of them, etc., etc. That was that. And then he added a subsection C. Issuance of a fine shall not preclude enforcement in equity. Meaning that if someone is an offender of an egregious
nature, you can not only find them, but that means to enforce inequity that actual a proceeding could be brought theoretically in court to enjoin or stop the procedure from continuing. So someone may make, as we talked about at our task force, someone may make an
economic decision to say that it may be better just to pay the $100 and use the plastic. and this now gives the board the authority to seek court intervention if need be for someone who chooses to go that egregious route. So those would be the two comments from town council.
Thank you. Just explain the difference between a variance and a waiver. It's an excellent question and I we answered that at the prior meetings. The way that we adopted this was we took it in terms of the levels of the plastics. the waiver dealt with things that were
plastics that were I forget the numbers that were less offensive as it were for utilization and that those types of plastics you could get more of a waiver by saying listen there are not alternatives there's hardships there's this and that you could then find
alternatives and phase them out a variance is a little bit higher standard because you're dealing with a more serious plastic problem it more scrutiny would have to be applied to use those types of things, a little more due diligence, a little more economic impact, a little more of a of a health
and safety basis. So, for instance, if the only thing that you can deliver it in is a product that's a number seven plastic, which I guess is the worst of the worst. Haley will correct me. She's here. Um, you would have to get a variance for that. And that's a higher standard than asking for the use of
something that's less egregious of a plastic. And again, she had to catch a little phrase and I forgot it. Um, so that's the difference is the nature of the plastic that you're looking to be able to utilize instead of an alternative. It's clear. Thanks.
Welcome. I have a question for the board. Would the board be is the board okay with this draft that gives my department the ability to do waivers and and variances
similar to like what I do with septic systems. If it's a small waiver or a small variance, we can grant it ourselves. With the larger ones, we would have to come in front of the board. Are you comfortable with with my staff doing that?
I do. Otherwise, we're going to be here three times a week until 10:00 at night. So, yeah. No, go for it. The tough cases come, you know, come forward. Yeah, that's all with just from my understanding like what would constitute small versus large? What would be
So, what would be the difference? 10 pizza parlors come in and ask for a waiver for this because they can't find any alternatives. That's 10 different pizza parlors and they've all done their due diligence. Yes. All right. I can grant you a waiver for that. Where one
pizza parlor comes in and wants a waiver variance for this or the other nine pizza parlor already found it. No, you have to come in front of the board to grant that because there is alternatives to this. Does that kind of make it clear? 100%. Yeah, it's going to be kind of
universal. They all use the same products and they might call it a a clamshell or a to-go container or there's probably 300 products out there. We'll figure out which ones are are not replaceable. So,
and I don't need or want you guys to have 10 different restaurants coming in to ask for a waiver for this when I could do it out in the field quickly. So, what are your feelings about the inventory? You know, these businesses are going to have these supplies. At some date, they're not going to be able to use it. What What are your thoughts
on that? Because I'm concerned about the expense for them and and we talked about this going into effect, but you know, there is a little bit of a learning curve and there's going to be a little bit of an opportunity for businesses who do have supplies to phase out those supplies.
And like we talked about at the task force, if your ordinary and customary business practice has been in this in the November, we'll say you ordered product for the spring and you ordered X number. Okay, you're going to be given an opportunity to phase those products
out. Now, if someone who normally buys a 100 buys 10,000, then maybe we're talking about a little bit of a different problem there. But somebody who's got the product is going to be able to phase it out. We don't want you to lose money. We don't want you to then just be disposing of plastic for the
sake of disposing of plastic. Use it. Phase it out. Work with the health department. Show that you're moving forward with it. And that can be one of the reasons you get a waiver. Look, I've got these containers. I want to phase them out and then I'm going to move on to the next product. The health department agent would be authorized.
And then your board isn't littered with, you know, 700 things on the agenda asking for that type of thing. So, we were mindful of people being able to use the things that they have on hand, phase it out, and work towards compliance.
Again, where the current regulation doesn't allow that. And so, somebody on 1231 with a case or 10 cases of a product, if things stand as they are now, is left with they've just got money on the shelf that they can't utilize.
And I don't think that's fair. And and Barry agreed with that is typically the kind of approach that he and the inspectors would take. What are your thoughts, Barry, on this on? I was 100% involved in this. It's
it's going to be education. It's not going to and we don't we don't want to be the the hard nose people. if we see something out there, we're going to give a verbal warning and then we'll go back and then we'll do a written warning and let them know. I mean, we're we want to
work with the with the business owners. We want to and I don't think any of them are going to be malicious and some there's always that one time where there's a case of something and the new kid, oh, here it is. I brought this up and it happens. I even to this day it
the the supplier ships stuff to them that was wrong. So, but education is going to be a big key component for both the health department and the the the restaurants and the and the businesses. And we even want to talk to like the big
distributors, the US Foods, the Cisco, the uh Cape Cod Paper. Um we've had a couple of them come in talk to us already. So, and we're going to let them know what what we're expecting from them also. So you you feel more comfortable enforcing this than
this than they than what's going to happen if we don't do this. It's going to be Yeah. That's not going to be fun at all. It's Stop and Shop came in and gave us a talk and if if what's on the books right now goes in to effect, they're going to
lose 30 to 40% of their products. That means you and I aren't going to be able to go get certain things and they're just we're going to have to go to dentist to get it. We're have to go to Hyannas to get it and it's just going to be very detrimental to the businesses. Um I see the more the mom and pop
restaurants being able to adopt more in the long run. It's going to cost us more. it's going to cost me more as a consumer where the because they're have to get those products and they're just going to push the cost onto the to the customer. Whereas the big stop and
shops, a lot of their products are the deli bags. They're lined with certain products and chemicals in them to help preserve the the meats in them that are to keep them from going bad. I didn't know that until they came in and started
talking to us. Um the cake display boxes are there's a certain kind of chemical in there and they're plastics to help keep the cakes moist and help them travel. It's so you can't like people like oh just put it in plastic. Well some it's not just or not put it in
paper. It's just not about that. It's about the longevity of it's even it's a it's a health it's a health issue for us to help keep the food better and safer. And granted, it might sit on their counter or their case for three or four days, and once you get it to your house,
that's another three or four days, but that's extending the life of that product. So, they're they they have deep pockets. They have a sustainable energy programs, and they've talked to us also. Um, and it's there's always going to be plastics out there. We're not going to
get rid of plastics. We just want to like we just want to help reduce it and do it right. and eventually we'll get to a good happy median. With this draft, it's you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. With the other one, it's just going to be
a a show. And if I can just remind everyone, uh the petitioner herself came to the chamber office to ask for our help to to edit or come up with a new regulation. And Haley is here today. She's been
completely involved in the process and I think she could say that she's happy with the end result. Um she's been very involved in the process and has made some great recommendations. So um we're glad that she was part of this because she was the original
petitioner that went to town meeting to make that original bylaw in effect. I think what the town town's people were voted on when they saw the plastic reduction. They thought just the simple the plastic spoons to go spoons, the
plastic straws, the the to- go containers. That's what they were that's what I was thinking of. I didn't realize the big picture of the one through seven plastics that were out there. though this is a much
better draft and a doable draft in my opinion. The other thing that we talked about was the need for educating the general public because obviously this um this petition passed um I voted for it myself
um without really realizing what it was going to mean. So, I think that um we need to be certain that the public understands what we came up with and why
and that we did it in good faith and that we hope to continue the process as things become more available. Yeah. Not to have the customers be yelling and screaming behind the people behind the counter of something they're not getting. That's all. So, the Yeah.
the education is going to be key for that. But this allows the opportunity to do that whereas before there was no educational purpose because it was no nothing. And so this allows that to happen and I think that's what
makes in many respects that's what makes this just a more workable and and better alternative than what we've got now. Anything else the board can do for you? No, we are going to get on the select board agenda. Great. And I think it'll be fair to represent.
We came here. I think we're well received and we'll be back. Okay. Nice job. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Jamie. Yes, sir. One other thing. Do you think that these regulations are more tolerable to the small businesses in Yarmouth? I mean,
because that's an issue, you know, rather than put them at a big disadvantage versus other towns. You think it's tolerable for them? Yeah, because we had representation of of a of a you know, I'll call them small business operators on a task force as
well as large business operators. So, their input was this and and one of the things was, you know, can you work with this? And they said yes, you know, and so they were two good examples of businesses who said, we can make this
work. This will work for us. So that we had a good cross-section of people on that task force. The last time you were here, that was a real issue, right? And I think what you see is the product of their input as well as the input of of a larger business.
Great. And we were also pleasantly surprised on how much they had already been in the process of reducing the use of any plastic in their establishments. So that was refreshing to get to know that they were already implementing some of those changes
and Mary has been keeping the chamber members informed about this process and of course they'll have the opportunity to come when we have a hearing if this goes through as a board of health regulation to be heard. So still be
opportunity and then also um I know that our group had also talked about the education so certain information has been sent to the town's IT department and they'll be creating a web page so that our public
can get informed about the process all of our meetings our recordings our minutes to the meetings the charge of the committee. So, we'll continue to keep that updated as much as we can and the group will start now discussing how we can do more outreach about this
entire process and Liz has helped a lot with the IT piece. So, thank you for your time. This is kind of one reason why Mary brought up to the to the pesticide thing and it's
we we have had it they kind of go hand in hand and everybody wants the right thing. We're this committee is just doing it the right way and being a little more clear about it. So you've been patient waiting here. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
All right. Have a nice evening. Okay. Okay. Okay, let's move along. Review and approval of minutes from August 4th, which was in in your packet. I just had on page four, the first paragraph, the last sentence. I just
there's a word imply. It should have been apply. That's all. That's the only thing I had on it. So, it's page four, last paragraph, first paragraph, first paragraph, last sentence. Okay. And it says they imply the same procedures. And it's apply apply the
same procedures step to the committee. Pardon? Something I should reply to. You can if you want. What was that again, Mary? What was your comment?
Page four. Four. I got it. Yeah. Top paragraph. The last sentence in that first paragraph. Bayberry is okay. Yeah. Kind of funny that you kind of auto
correct that when you read. At least I do. Yeah. Yeah. So, you're great at picking that up. Okay. On the edit. Yeah. For that. Okay. So, someone make a motion here so we can I move that we approve the board of health meeting minutes from August 4th,
2025. Second it with the one edit. With that one edit. Great. Thanks, Lauren. Okay, good. All in favor say I. I pass. Thank you. Good. New and old business. Um the there's been a lot of uh buzz
around town about the 88100 mil lane potential farm going in. Um it had last time it our last meeting had gone in front of the uh conservation commission and they had postponeed it to their next meeting. I apologize. I don't have that
date when that next meeting is. Um so it's it's on the radar for everything. It's we're getting calls about um a butters if we the board or the health department notifies you of butters if and I been explaining to
people no it's the the owner of the property and it's not like the zoning where it's a 300 foot buffer or uh a butter it's the actual abutters to the property so I'm not for sure how it's going to go through with the uh
conservation commission so I will keep the board updated on that. Barry, can you send us any relevant documents from the town regs or whatever? So, we're in preparation. Hopefully, everyone's going to watch, you know, u the commission, the uh conservation commission meeting. That
would be really helpful. And we have had a foyer request for information. It's a it's a formal request from a couple of the uh lawyers um to get that that those records also
which they're all public knowledge and and sadly enough there's not that many much on record that we have. It was the Bolinskies had a farm and then it wasn't a farm. So yeah, not only that just even
Yeah, the Bozian. Yeah, they both pardon. Yeah. Um, yeah. I mean that any of that would be helpful. You could just send send it electronically so we can read and be prepared to watch the uh the commission. I can send it to you then you can send it out to the board. So or I can send it
to everybody. I don't mind everyone. Yeah. Perfect. So we can get educated for this. So and anything that comes up with this I'll try to get you guys information as much as and as soon as possible just because it's going to it's going to happen and we don't need to be
surprised. So So far, what's the conservation commission input? They haven't said it. Well, they have you have this in your packet. Um, but they haven't really I think they're waiting for the their meeting to say anything official. So,
they put it off till September to decide on it. What else do you have for new and old business? Not much. Riley's doing a great job. Yeah. Perfect. Yeah, she's you're smiling. That's a good sign. Sorry to keep you late.
No, it's okay. She's young. She can handle it. She She knows to expect this, right? Um I don't know. I I'm glad you guys were able to deal with that uh pesticide issue because I didn't know how to I
think Mary really helped us out on that, you know, because it's it is a quandry because all of us support it, but yet at the same time, you know, it took us 11 months to figure out how to do a green burial. I I think pesticides shouldn't be pressured into
two meetings. It It also seems like we need a list of different chemicals because I'm sure they're variable in their impact on the environment. Sure. And that's my quandry is understanding
all these chemicals and how they they work without uh you know I'm not even sure which uh the insecticides and the herbicides are even included. I don't really use any anymore. It's kind of interesting. They the the
labels have to contain all of the pertinent information and there's they've really simplified it. So there's there's three signal words caution, warning, and danger. in in that order, least to most toxic. I see. And they'll also list things like the
lethal dosage or lethal concentration. Um, so a lower number means a lower lethal dose. Okay? So, a low LD or LC number means more toxic. A higher number means it it takes a larger quantity to
to kill a a test subject type. Now, is that on your stuff or is that like on the stuff I can buy at the hardware store? That's a good question. Um, should be on any anything with an EPA registration number.
It should be It should be any product. By tomorrow and take a look. The font is about this big probably, right? So, yeah. And I can get a list from Carl of all businesses that sell that hazardous material and I'll see what I can do. I
can go around talk to them and start the education pro process and just I kind of like the the stickers or just the a sign just right just being proactive than reactive I think. So it's just have to be simple because
people don't want to deal with it. Try the vinegar. Yeah. How's the bring some oil over? How's the fight going? The crab grass fight. Um it I'm just making it more concentrated. In other words, I've moved up into the 70s. It works. I mean, it it
it does work, but it's it's time consuming. So, I'm out there spraying, but vinegar. I wish the bunnies like the crab grass as much as they eat the wrong wrong grass. Yeah. In the lawn, I don't care whatever's left of it. Yeah. They don't even seem to eat the clover.
I don't understand. I've got clover and they just um ignore it like that. Yeah. They were eating my go to BJ's to buy carrots for them. Yeah. Yeah. Well, cheaper. What's the next meeting? I didn't bring my phone. I apologize. We have a Labor Day on Monday the 1st.
So, it' be the 8th. Uh that would be the first Monday in September that comes up. It would be the 8th. If we already have a problem with the room. Nope. We already have it scheduled and reserved. Okay. Riley has it up on the screen.
So, the ETH is good. What took you so long? No. Anyway, thank you. She made it official, right? There's no way around it. Okay. Hey, come on. 7:20. I told you we'd get out of here by 7:25. So, okay. Thank you
everyone. We covered a lot. I think we got educated some tough decisions. Um, and important. The pig was easy. That easy one. The pig. That was easy. That was Violet was the easiest thing we did tonight.
30 years. Wow. If you take if you take care of them, they they live a long time. It's obviously been taken care of. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, Eric, how about you want to make a motion to adjourn?
I move we adjourn. Second. All in favor say I. Meetings adjourned. And everyone, thank you very much. Thank you. Good job, everybody.