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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOH minutes 022515MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 25, 2015 Page 1 ORANGE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT MISSION STATEMENT: To enhance the quality of life, promote the health, and preserve the environment for all people in the Orange County community. THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MET ON February 25, 2015, at the Orange County Health Department, 300 West Tryon Street, Hillsborough, NC. BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Elmore, Chair; Liska Lackey, Vice Chair; Tony Whitaker, Mike Carstens, Corey Davis, Commissioner Mia Burroughs, Dan Dewitya, and Nick Galvez BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT: Esther Earbin, Paul Chelminski, and Sam Lasris STAFF PRESENT: Dr. Colleen Bridger, Health Director; Donna King, Public Health Education Director; Meredith Stewart, Public Health Program Manager; Alan Clapp, Environmental Health Director; Rebecca Crawford, Finance and Administrative Service Division Director; Cathy Ferniany, Office Assistant II. GUESTS PRESENT: None I. Welcome II. Public Comment for Items NOT on Printed Agenda: None III. Approval of the modified February 25, 2015 Agenda Motion was made by Liska Lackey to approve the modified agenda, seconded by Corey Davis and carried without dissent. IV. Action Items (Consent) A. Minutes Approval of January 21, 2015 Meeting Motion to approve Consent Agenda without corrections to the January, 2015 minutes as follows was made by Liska Lackey, seconded by Tony Whitaker and carried without dissent. V. Educational Sessions A. Outside Agency Funding Request Review Meredith Stewart summarized the history of the Outside Agency process and the assignments required of Board of Health members for evaluating applications. Board MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 25, 2015 Page 2 members should review the 3-4 applications assigned to them by email, record scores on the scoring card by email, and then send the scoring cards back to Dr. Bridger by March 20th. 56 agencies submitted funding requests with an increase in funding requests of approximately half a million dollars. The BOH members had no questions. VI. Reports and Discussion with Possible Action A. W ell and On-site Wastewater Rule Changes - Vote Alan Clapp reported on changes to Onsite Wastewater and Groundwater rules resulting from legislative changes and the Phillips-Osborne lawsuit. The changes included in the packet are the final rules but did not change since the first reading at the January 21st meeting. The Chair, Susan Elmore, read a letter from the Board of Health to the Orange County Board of Commissioners from 2011 reflecting a long history of working to help educate the public on the importance of the Board of Health Rules specific to wastewater treatment. The BOH members had several questions that were addressed by Alan Clapp, Environmental Health Director and Dr. Bridger. Motion was made by Corey Davis to accept the proposed Board of Health WTMP Rule changes as outlined in the abstract, seconded by Liska Lackey and carried without dissent. B. FY 2015-2016 Annual Operating Budget C. FY 2015-2016 Fee Schedule Note: the Board discussed items B and C together with the discussion of fee changes coming before the actual budget discussion. Dr. Bridger facilitated a discussion about the proposed fee changes, touching briefly on new fees and proposed increases for Personal Health and Dental Health but concentrated on the proposed Environmental Health on-site wastewater and well fees. Dr. Bridger noted that the BOH originally requested that staff determine the true cost to provide these services during the FY 2014/2015 budget discussion. The last time a comprehensive cost study was done in Environmental Health was in 2006 . The most recent cost study found that the Health Department is charging on average 66% of the actual costs to provide these services. Three options for fee increases were discussed: 1) no fee increase; 2) an increase of 33% to reach full cost recovery, and 3) a phased-in full cost recovery over three years at starting with an 11% increase this year. The third option was recommended by staff MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 25, 2015 Page 3 based on benchmarking data from other jurisdictions showing that an increase of 33% would put Orange County with the highest fees in the area and a reluctance to institute such a large increase at one time. Dr. Bridger offered to research the possibili ty of a Fee Waiver program for low-income residents and bring the results of that research back to a future BOH meeting and make sure to review the Environmental Health fees on a regular basis. BOH members had several clarifying questions that were addressed by Dr. Bridger and Alan Clapp, Environmental Health Director. Motion was made by Liska Lackey to approve the recommended fee changes with a phased in fee increase for Environmental Health, seconded by Dan Dewitya and carried with dissent from Corey Davis. After the Board decided to increase Environmental Health fees by 11%, Dr. Bridger presented her recommended FY 2015-16 budget (see attachment). This budget has a total increase of approximately $520,000 (6.5%), with a $233,000 (4%) increase from County General Funds. Dr. Bridger detailed all costs that contributed to the increase that were outside of the control of the Health Department, which equaled approximately $230,000, and reviewed requested increases from the Health Department for an additional Dentist, Dental Assistant, 0.5 Office Assistant to full time, Public Health Nurse, and additional 0.5 FTE to bring an existing part time Family Nurse Practitioner to full time. Dr. Bridger stated that additional revenue related to the new dent ist was calculated at 75% of Dr. Day’s earned revenue based on when the dentist will be hired and that productivity with a new team may be lower than with an existing team. The new dental team will have a focus on pediatric and prenatal patients. Dr. Bridger reviewed the medical related position changes, which will allow the department to see more patients as long as another PHN I is added with it. Personal Health revenue will increase by approximately $60,000, the majority of which will be billed by the full time Family Nurse Practitioner. Dr. Bridger reviewed requests over $5,000, which are mostly related to a projected increase in patients seen. The additional $30,000 in contract services is related to an agreement with UNC Chapel Hill and the Town of Chapel Hill. Each entity will contribute $30,000 to hire a staff person to oversee the recommendations of an Alcohol Prevention Task force. The task force will ask the ABC Board for an additional $40 -45,000 to support the position. Dr. Bridger stated that the ABC Board is very excited about the collaboration between the three entities and encouraged the task force to submit a grant request. Dr. Bridger reminded the BOH of the upcoming budget calendar and process timeline. The BOH members had several questions that were addressed by Dr. Bridger. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 25, 2015 Page 4 Motion was made by Nick Galvez to approve the proposed FY 2015-2016 Operating Budget with a phased in fee increase for Environmental Health, seconded by Mike Carstens and carried without dissent. VIII. Adjournment A motion was made by Tony Whitaker to adjourn the meeting at 7:00 p.m., was seconded by Mike Carstens and carried without dissent. The next Board of Health Meeting will be held March 25, 2015 at the Orange County Health Department, 300 West Tryon Street, Hillsborough, NC at 7:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Colleen Bridger, MPH, PhD Orange County Health Director Secretary to the Board