Board of Health
6:00 p.m.
Members Present: Mark
Baker, Dan Brown, Duane Gregory, and Ken Janson (arrived at 7:15 p.m.)
Members Absent: None
Health Agent: Jane
Evans
Health Inspector: Patricia
Pajaron (excused absence)
AGENDA
The meeting was called to
order at 6:00 p.m.
Public Comments
There were none.
Public Hearing
Revisions to Board of
Health Title 5 Supplemental Regulations
These revisions can be found
online.
Duane Gregory disclosed that
she is involved in Real Estate and is presently involved in a sale of a
property that would be affected by the proposed changes to cesspools (i.e.,
becoming automatic failures at time of real estate transfer). No one objected to Duane sitting in on the
discussion.
Mark read the Public Hearing
procedures that would be followed. The proponent was identified as the Town’s
Health Agent.
Jane Evans then asked
everyone to go to page 2 section 4 –and to strike that from the proposed
regs. This regulation will be discussed
at a future public hearing.
The regs haven’t been revised
in a long time and Jane wants to keep Provincetown in line with other towns on
the Cape (i.e., requiring all grease traps to have monitors and alarms, and
requiring septic system maintenance & pumping to become mandatory). A bedroom definition has been cleaned up and
delineated. Jane continued by stating
that we are the only town that does not - on the sale of property -
automatically fail a cesspool. There is
also a fee change – septic system inspectors have to get an annual permit that
would cost $200/yr. She feels it is
important to regulate these inspectors, especially if there are problems.
Mark Baker said he was
concerned with the January 5th deadline for grease trap
monitoring. He felt the timing was too
short. He wondered if this could this
be made January 15th or a grace period of some kind be allowed. Jane responded that the seasonal places just
wouldn’t be able to get their licenses until they have complied. She will hold a seminar for these people
some time in February. She is thinking
about a grandfather period and will add “effective as of February 1st.”
Mark had a correction on page
18 from “then” to “than.” Duane had a
question regarding failed cesspools: “Was it a February 1st
deadline?” Jane replied that if she
receives notification prior to Feb 1st then it will become a
grandfathered item. Duane continued,
“Are we going to have a form?” “How
will this affect business – the buyers always want to see an inspection report.”
Nick Norman from Truro said
that in the past, people had to pay $500 for an inspection to prove the
cesspool had failed. Now, in Truro, just a letter will suffice saying a
cesspool has failed, but Truro wants the Title 5 in the ground before
the sale is completed.
Duane asked about timing from
the Health Agent. Jane said she does
check property transfers and then the new buyers of cesspool properties have 60
days for installation of a compliant system.
The caveat is that if the buyer needs additional time, they can always
request a hearing before the BoH.
Duane had a correction on
page 2, section 3 - #1 – pumped every year should be changed to every 3
years. Same CMR reg that applies to
condos. And, referring to the bedroom
definition, she thought that we weren’t going to spell out all these measurements. We were just going to cite the building
codes – add “ according to current building codes” or “requirements under
current building codes” as regards to bedroom needs for egress. Mark said that in order for the regs to be
more user-friendly, we should just leave it in as is and if the codes change
then we’ll change the regs.
Under sewer line (page 14)
for grease traps under section 17, this refers to the line out from the
building. Under Article 18 –
“accessory use structures” – is a bedroom considered an accessory use? Jane says we will just deed restrict
everything, so that covers those situations, and Jane noted that “accessory
use” is defined as meaning a building “not attached” to the primary structure.
Dan contributed a few
corrections (i.e., discussion on use of periods and spelling).
Nick Norman wondered how long
people have to get the Title 5 in the ground?
Mark said, “If they have a problem with the standard 60 days, they can
always come before the Board with a request for extension.”
There were no Opponents to
the proposed regs.
At this time, Mark called an
end to the public portion of this Public Hearing.
Motion: Duane Gregory made a motion to continue the
public hearing after hearing the 14 Howland Street case. Dan Brown seconded the motion and it was
passed 3-0-0.
534 Commercial Street -
Title 5 Variances
Bradford Walker is the owner
and presented his plans to the BoH.
Jane recommended approval with a deed restriction for 5 bedrooms as a
“housekeeping measure.” Dan had a question
about the room count, but that issue had been satisfied by Jane’s walk-through.
Motion: Dan Brown made a motion to grant the 25% SAS
reduction variance for 534 Commercial Street with a deed restriction to be
filed limiting the property to the current 5 bedrooms. Duane Gregory seconded the motion and it was
approved 3-0-0.
An abutter to the 534
Commercial Street then rose to state his concerns. He wondered if decreasing a leaching field was precedent setting
and would result, in this case, in construction to reduce the SAS? His name was Kevin Doherty and he was
representing Unit 14 in the condo next door.
The Board explained their reasons to him – that the Health Agent had
done a walk-through and had determined the numbers of bedrooms and thus the
Title 5 & SAS size was mandated but, due to the lot restrictions and the
fact that the SAS is already in-ground, the leaching field reduction variance
had to be granted. He thanked the Board
for the clarification and left.
14 Howland Street - Title 5 Variances
Duane Gregory disclosed that
she has a financial interest in the sale of this property, so she had to step
down from the meeting. Both Alan Cabral
and Nick Norman were very disappointed since without Duane there would be no
quorum, the case had already been postponed once due to a lack of quorum, and
the closing was set for Monday next. Given all that, Duane decided to call Ken
Janson to see if he was at home. He
was. Alan Cabral drove up to his house
to pick him up in order for the case to proceed.
In the meantime, there was a
letter that Alan Cabral submitted from an abutter on 12 Howland Street that had
to do with the property line. Two plans by two different surveyors had been
used to determine the accuracy of the property line – so that issue was
resolved.
Motion: Dan Brown made a motion
to table the 14 Howland Street case until a quorum could be established. Duane Gregory seconded the motion and it
passed unanimously.
Discussion
Set Board of Health Meeting Dates for 2005
The discussion centered on
moving the meeting time from 6:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. By consensus of the three
members in attendance, it was decided to try the 1:00 p.m. meeting times for
2005.
Motion: Mark Baker made a motion to accept the 2005
meeting schedule. Duane Gregory
seconded the motion and it passed 3-0-0.
Motion: Mark Baker made a motion to accept the
proposed changes to the regs in accordance with the input generated by the
Board and public during the Public Hearing. The motion was seconded by Error! Reference
source not found..
Then a discussion by Duane
began. She is not in favor of mandatory pumping because she feels it’s a
little bit too much of “Big Brother.” She cited as an example her own
septic. It has been about 4 years since
she had her septic pumped; she pumped it recently, and it was not anywhere in
need of pumping. She didn’t want to
vote in favor in mandatory pumping because it might be a financial hardship to
some people.
Ken Janson arrived at this
time.
Mark said he thinks it’s
important to have these mandatory pumping regs. We’re talking about $100 - $150/yr for precautions that would
guard against a huge expense to replace a failed SAS. He also said that 50 to 70% of our housing stock are 2nd
homes and are probably getting excessive use during the rental season.
Duane Gregory said she will
not vote for mandatory pumping. Dan
Brown agreed with her thoughts on the matter.
Motion: Duane Gregory made a motion to amend Mark
Baker’s motion to take Section 3 out of the proposed Part 7 (maintenance &
pumping). Dan Brown seconded the
motion.
Ken thinks mandatory pumping
should be done. Could be a financial
burden, but the alternative would be much worse. Ken stated that he would
support DG’s amendment, however, in order to ensure approval of the underlying
motion.
The vote on DG’s amendment
was 3-1(MB)-0.
The vote on MB’s motion,
as amended, was 4-0-0.
Motion: Mark Baker made a motion to accept Section
3, Part 7 of the regs. Ken Janson
seconded the motion and the vote was 2 in favor (MB and KJ) and 2 opposed (DB
and DG). The motion was tied and did not carry.
14 Howland Street (revisited) - Title 5 Variances
Alan Cabral was thanked for
providing transportation for Ken to the meeting. Duane Gregory stepped down.
Alan presented the case. Alan used the recorded, stamped condo plan
for planning the Title 5 vis a vis the common property line; he also had his
own stamped plan. He is requesting a
14% reduction along with a deed restriction limiting the number of bedrooms to
the existing 4.
Motion: Ken Janson made a motion to accept the plan
04-149 for 14 Howland Street with the condition that a deed restriction
limiting the number of bedrooms to four (4) must be recorded. Dan Brown seconded the motion and it passed
3-0-0.
Approval of Minutes for
November 18, 2004 and December 2, 2004
Motion: Duane Gregory made a motion to approve the
minutes of the November 18th meeting. Ken Janson seconded the motion.
The vote was 2 in favor (DG & KJ) – 1 opposed (DB) – 1 abstention
(MB)
(Dan Brown opposed because
some of his comments had been omitted.)
Motion: Duane Gregory made a motion to approve the
minutes of the December 2nd meeting. Ken Janson seconded the motion and it was approved by a vote of
3-0-1 abstention (MB)
Any other business that shall properly come before the Board
Mark Baker wondered about the
Heller Gallery renovation. Jane Evans
said that George Heufelder had made a finding that if you can fit an
unvarianced system on your property then you can increase your flow. This information was sent to the Water and
Sewer Board along with the BoH’s recommendation to approve the hook-up to the
sewer system due to the proximity of the property to the harbor; they reviewed
it and also allowed the increase.
Mark plans on attending the
BoS Growth Management meeting on January 10th. Jane also noted that the annual report is
due in January.
It is to be noted that Dan
Brown is a full member of the BoH. Dan
spoke to Doug Johnstone and his full membership was determined. The Board is
still lacking a full member and at least one alternate.
There was a concern on
finding a secretary for the minutes during Evelyn’s absence. It was determined that Phyllis Lutsky would
be called to fill in on January 6th and 20th and on
February 3rd and 17th.
Evelyn is leaving Florida for Provincetown on February 25th
on the auto train, so she’ll definitely be here for the March 3rd
meeting.
Health Agent’s and Health Inspector’s Reports
Jane said she was sure that
everyone had heard about the Grand Union.
They are in the process of complying and are also in the process of
making repairs to the tile floor after the holidays. They are being very cooperative.
Board Members’ Statements
Dan Brown wondered about Mr.
Tran, owner of the Szechuan Restaurant.
Jane told Dan that she will not sign off on his license renewal until
the grease trap issue is resolved. His
present license expires on 12/31/04. Mr. Tran was the only one who went to the
W&S Board and told them that it wasn’t fair to make him do this.
Ken Janson had no statement.
Mark Baker thanked Duane for
her leadership during his absence. Also
commended Duane for her perseverance in going to legal and pursuing their input
on the possible conflict of interest for the Public Hearing.
Duane Gregory has no
statement.
Adjournment happened at 7:40
p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Evelyn
Gaudiano
Evelyn Rogers Gaudiano
Approved by ____________________________on
______________, 2005.