Meeting Minutes
6:00 p.m.
Members
Present: Mark Baker, Dan Brown,
Duane Gregory, and Ken
Janson
Member Absent: Cynthia
Gast (excused absence)
Health Agent: Jane
Evans Raasch (excused absence)
Health Inspector: Patricia Pajaron
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m.
AGENDA
Public Comments
There
were none.
New Business
6 Oak Drive – John
Reis: Appeal BoH’s decision regarding Title 5 upgrade
David Nicolau presented the appeal. He said he only wanted a little discussion
about the matter. David suggested that
the Board could reconsider its previous decision and “not have them upgrade
now, but have a plan for a compliant Title 5 system done and put on file, and –
in addition to that – if they ever sell, then that would trigger an automatic
upgrade.”
Mark Baker said that the problem was that the owners
couldn’t identify where the components were, i.e., there was no d-box
found. Also, just the sheer size of the
proposed renovation mandates an upgrade.
The current septic is not according to present code and to decide
anything else would be precedent setting.
David said if there had been a problem it would have
shown up earlier. Duane Gregory suggested, “Let’s see a new plan and we’ll hold
up re-considering our previous decision until we see a new septic plan.”
Ken Janson didn’t think it’ll change the BoH
decision, but he told David to feel free to come back with a new design, since
the new design must be done in order to get a building permit anyway.
David Nicolau then withdrew the appeal without prejudice.
Discussion
Dog Leash By-Law – con’t from 8/12/04
Patricia Pajaron hasn’t had time to look into all the factors in the case, so it was decided to continue the discussion until the next meeting on September 9, 2004.
Approval of Minutes for August 12, 2004
Duane Gregory had a change on the case of 48
Commercial Street. She wanted the
minutes to state that she recused herself because of a possible conflict of
interest.
Motion:
Ken Janson made a motion to approve the minutes with the one correction
Duane requested. Dan Brown seconded the
motion and it was so voted 4-0-0.
Any other business that shall properly come before the Board
Mark Baker informed the Board that a definitive,
formal sub-division plan has just been submitted by William Rogers, II for the
Off-Cemetery Road property.
Mark continued by handing out an Emergency Action
Plan (for sewer malfunctions) which was part of the contract and had been
approved by the DEP. It is now coming
under scrutiny. The BoH will review the
action plan and discussion on it will be placed on the agenda for September 9th
after the BoH has been able to digest the information. The last spill was fully covered. Mark asked Sandra Turner about a monitoring
device possibility that would warn everyone of malfunctions.
Also, Mark asked Pat to find out from Keith
Bergman’s office if the BoH has been invited to the BoS meeting on Monday night
since the Selectmen’s agenda involves the BoH.
Pat will follow up.
Both the Grace Gouveia Building and Cape End Manor
(CEM) seem to be scheduled for a hook-up to the sewer system per the last BoS
meeting.
Mark also wondered why the BoS opted to increase the license for Steve Bogess’ laundry from 10 to 15 years? Conjecture feels it may allow for a sufficient payback on the laundromat investment.
Health Agent’s and Health Inspector’s Reports
Patricia Pajaron informed the BoH that there is a sewer complaint log. She found that the DPW and the sewer team kept track of it. Most complaints have been on odors. The group then went through what happens when a sewer spill occurs. The DPW and Woodard & Curran (W&C), operators of the system, are informed. The police direct the complainants to call the sewer hot line at (508) 487-5474 and inform them of the spill. The men then spring into action and go down to the main vacuum station in the center of town and try to figure out where the problem is. This is not an acceptable handling of a potentially health-damaging situation. The sewer spill continues while the operators try to figure out WHY. Thus the following motion was made:
Motion: Duane Gregory moved and Ken Janson seconded
that upon receiving a call indicating the presence of septage inappropriately
arising from any part of the municipal sewer system, the Sewer Hotline staff
and/or operating staff of the Provincetown municipal sewer system is to
immediately notify the police to cordon off the area (either by closing off a
street or using Do Not Cross - Police tape) until such time as municipal sewer
system staff and/or Town Health Department staff inform the police that the
contaminated area has been properly disinfected and is no longer a possible
threat to the public's health. This passed 4-0-0.
Rationale: Since municipal
sewer system staff may be required to be at another location (like the CVS) to
deal with the source of the problem, and Town Health Department staff may take
a while to be on the scene of the spill, this protocol will at least safeguard
the public's health by cordoning off the contaminated area until such time as
it is disinfected by appropriate staff and no longer a possible threat to the
public's health.
Motion: Mark Baker moved and Dan Brown seconded to
strongly recommend to the Town Manager that the Town purchase or provide
two-way radios to the Health Agent and the Health Inspector to aid the Town's
Health Department staff in responding in a timely manner to possible public
health emergencies. This passed 4-0-0.
Rationale: During the
recent septic overflow that occurred at 11 Bangs Street, both the Health Agent
and the Health Inspector were out of the office on town business and were in
areas of town that were not serviced by their cell phones. Since no contact was
possible after repeated attempts and since the spill was thought to be sewer
related, DPW staff and municipal sewer system staff responded to the overflow.
Other town employees have such two-way radios so that they are always in
contact with their departments when needed (e.g., DPW and Fire Marshall), therefore
it makes sense that the Town's Health Department staff be similarly equipped to
safeguard the public's health.
It was thought that perhaps Mark Baker could send an
e-mail to Chief Meyer and other Town officials informing him of some of the
discussions/decisions made at this August 26th meeting.
Pat Pajaron received a letter from the Nelson’s
regarding their rental cottage on 7 Garfield Street. They were going to ask to appear before the BoH to ask for an
adjustment to the BoH’s motion that limited their rental occupancy. Pat further researched the housing code and
found that a 100 square foot bedroom can accommodate 2 people and not the 1
person as originally thought. Thus the
sleeping capacity of the Nelson’s rental should be 7 – not the 5 that was
originally mandated. Rather than having
the Nelson’s come in for further review, a motion was made.
Motion: Duane Gregory made a motion to reissue an renters certificate for 7 Garfield Street stating that they can accommodate up to 7 sleeping occupants based on further reading of the code (105 CMR 4.10). Mark Baker seconded the motion, and it was approved 4-0-0.
Board Members’ Statements
There were none, except that Duane Gregory wondered if there had been any more complaints about Acapulco Gold’s illegal body piercings. Pat noted that there have been none.
The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Evelyn Gaudiano
Evelyn Rogers Gaudiano
Approved by ____________________________on ______________, 2004.