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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOH minutes 062702MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH June 27, 2002 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 1 June 27, 2002 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 June 27, 2002 at the Government Services Center, Hillsborough, North Carolina. BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS PRESENT: Jonathan Klein, Chair; Barry Adler; Martha Stucker; Lee Werley BOARD OF HEALTH MEMBERS ABSENT: Moses Carey, Jr.; Alan Rimer; Kate Wilder; Alice White; due to work conflict or vacation; Mel Hurston, Vice Chair; Janet Southerland; Sharon Van Horn. STAFF PRESENT: Rosemary Summers, Health Director; Donna King, Health Promotion and Education Services Division Director; John Sauls, Animal Control Services Division Director; Anne Miles, Administrative Assistant GUESTS PRESENT: None I. Welcome and Introductions Jonathan Klein called the meeting to order at 7:25 P.M. West Nile Virus Disease 2002 Campaign Donna King, Health Promotion and Education Services Division Director, reviewed new Health Department plans for the campaign against West Nile Virus. This year the character of “Smack Attack Jack” was added. Public service announcements were recorded and produced by the UNC On-line Instruction Group featuring “Smack Attack Jack”, using the voice of a volunteer from Australia. These announcements are already receiving airtime throughout the day on several area radio stations. A flyer with the new 2002-2003 theme was created and other campaign materials were updated with current statistics and data. II. Approval of June 27, 2002 Agenda Due to lack of quorum this item was by-passed. III. Public Comment for Items NOT on Printed Agenda None IV. Action Items on CONSENT Agenda A. Minutes approval of May 23, 2002 meeting. Due to lack of quorum this item was by-passed. V. Reports and Discussion with Possible Action A. No Fault Well Repair Fund Update Rosemary Summers reported that staff met with residents from the quarry community MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH June 27, 2002 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 2 June 27, 2002 area on June 3rd to discuss the changes to the draft of the No Fault Well Repair Fund (NFWRF) Policy as it was on the agenda for the Board of Commissioners on June 4th. Those residents made an additional request regarding the policy and expressed concern with other issues involving the quarry operation. The citizens requested the policy be extended back to June 4, 1999. The current date for those claims only goes back to October 10, 2001 or the date when the Special Use Permit was granted to American Stone Company. The Board of Commissioners approved the No Fault Well Repair Fund Policy as it was presented at its meeting on the 4th. They did not take action on the additional requests by the quarry area residents, but instead referred the matter back to the Board of Health for review. Empowerment, Inc., who is coordinating the community efforts, withdrew the request to change the effective date and keep it as it was approved in the policy. Empowerment also made a request to the Health Director regarding the $15,000 per year OWASA fund that is separate and apart from the NFWRF monies. They asked that the money be used to fund a community organizer and also that the fund be administered by the Health Department. It is the Health Director’s view that this proposal would put the department in an untenable position and is an inappropriate use of this fund. The staff recommendation to the Board of Health is a negative recommendation on this proposal. B. Reappointment of Board Members Three Board of Health members have terms that expire on June 30, 2002. They are Kate Wilder (Veterinarian representative), Martha Stucker (nurse representative), and Sharon Van Horn (at -large representative). All three are eligible for a second term of service: July 1, 2002 – June 30, 2005. This item is on the Commissioner’s agenda for tonight’s meeting. C. Summer Meeting Schedule For the past three years the Board has chosen not to meet in July. There is a meeting scheduled for July 25. There are a number of contracts that have not been submitted to the Board or to the Commissioners pending the state and county budget approval process. The Board of Commissioners only meet once in August, therefore, to have contracts considered at the August meeting of the Commissioners, the Board of Health would need to meet in July. The Board agreed to hold the July meeting and proposed to not meet in August. This will be decided at the July meeting. D. Updates on Various Topics • L & W Mobile Home Park Progress toward installation of a lift station is being made. A letter of intent was received from the contracted engineer confirming plans to begin construction soon. At this time Mr. Paschall, owner of L & W Mobil Home Park, is continuing with MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH June 27, 2002 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 3 June 27, 2002 weekly pump and haul and the existing septic systems in use are tested on a regular schedule. • 2002-2003 State and Local Budget Decisions The Board of Commissioners made the final decisions on the budget and basically they have cut just about all of the capital projects that were scheduled to take place this year. The Whitted building HVAC replacement and the clinic renovation is going forward. The Commissioners have created a Human Service Contingency Fund of $300,000. This money will be held in reserve pending what action the state takes on budget cuts to human services. • Rabies Investigation John Sauls reported on an incident with a raccoon being kept as a pet and its known exposure to neighborhood children. The raccoon was kept in an outside cage at times and the possibility of contact with a rabid wild animal existed. It is illegal to own a wild animal in Orange County without a special permit from the State Wildlife Commission, which the resident did not have. Due to the high number of rabies cases to date, the Health Director determined the raccoon should be tested. The raccoon was detained in the animal sanctuary. The resident keeping the raccoon filed a restraining order to prevent the Health Department from testing for rabies. This order was overturned, but before action could be taken the animal sanctuary was broken into and the raccoon was stolen. Without test results available the five children’s parents chose to proceed with post - exposure treatment, at the cost of about $1,500 per person, pending testing of the animal. • Whitted Renovation The proposal for the HVAC system was passed by the Commissioners as part of the 2002-2003 budget. That work is tentatively scheduled to begin in October. • Arsenic in well water advisories to citizens The report on arsenic levels in well water was prepared by Ron Holdway. These reports have gone out to Orange County citizens with affected wells and several have contacted the department. Martha Stucker requested clarification of comparing well reports to the arsenic levels in the report issued by Environmental Health and how to convert the statistics to know if your well is within safe limits. There has also been an advisory put out about arsenic in treated water, particularly in decks and treated structures. That information will be distributed to all the contractors in the county. MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH June 27, 2002 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by V. Anne Miles 4 June 27, 2002 • State Division of Public Health potential restructuring related to local health service provision The state has a restructuring plan to re-deploying some of the state resources out to “regional clusters”. These will be clusters of approximately ten (10) counties divided along the ALHD regions. Our region includes Orange, Guilford, Alamance, Durham, Rockingham, Person, Cadwell, Chatham, Randolph Counties. There will be a “lead” health department identified in each cluster. The lead health department wo uld receive a deputy administrator, support staff, and the Health Director in that county would receive a 7% above their current salary bonus. That cluster would then be responsible for developing a business plan to deliver core public health services in that region. Local health department structures would remain in place but the state may pull some of the local funding and re-deploy it to various departments. Up to two other departments could be identified as outcome leaders, so if they had particular expertise, that county would receive some state resources to be the “outcome leader” and then be responsible for the outcomes in that region. The state also wants to begin an accreditation process. The goal is to start all of this and have it in place by July 1, 2003, however these are currently in discussion. • Handouts Cigarette Tax legislation Newsletter to interpreters Media news articles VI. Board Comments/Announcements None VII. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned by Jonathan Klein at 8:45 p.m. The next Board of Health meeting will be held on July 25, 2002 at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 7:00 PM. Respectfully submitted, Rosemary L. Summers, MPH, DrPH Health Director Secretary to the Board