The Board of Health held a meeting May 13. The members in attendance were Andrew Petty, Tom McMahon, Tom Massaro and Helaine Hazlett.
Mental Health Month Acknowledgement
Hazlett wished to acknowledge that May is Mental Health month and wanted to voice the board’s support for this as well as for the Marblehead Counseling Center, where there are excellent therapists. Petty added that the health department has a list of therapists at the MCC, as well as a list with the Mental Health Task Force.
Community Health/Creating a Healthier Marblehead (CAHM)
Massaro has the latest survey proposals from UMass Boston and would like the Board to approve this. The latest proposal had only three focus groups versus four in the original proposal, but Massaro intends to push for the four.
The other good news is that the health assessments will be fully funded with funds from groups, such as the Female Humane Society, rotary groups and others from the community. This means it is funded with no tax-payer dollars. He is seeking specifically to move forward with the contract with UMass Boston Social and Demographic Research on Aging. The group has recently added another member who has a PhD, an MPH and 10 years of public policy work experience. This was moved and passed by the board.
The “calendar” for this assessment starts in early June and will be a hybrid survey. Massaro has met with various groups who would be of interest in the assessment: the chair of OB/GYN at Salem Hospital, Marblehead Pediatrics and also Pediatric Associates of Greater Salem, who see about 50% of Marblehead children.
Letter to Board from a resident about a flu study done at the Cleveland Clinic
The Board received a letter about a flu vaccine study that was done at the Cleveland Clinic in the Cleveland area. This is a “preprint” study, meaning it has not been peer reviewed or published in a journal. The study was of 40,000 employees at the Cleveland Clinic, 80% of whom received the vaccine and 20% who did not. The data showed a 2% infection rate for the vaccinated and a 1.7% rate for unvaccinated.
Massaro wanted to underline that this is a “preprint” study that may or may not hold up to greater scrutiny (peer reviewed). The 2% rate is a very low percentage of influenza infections, where normal years are up to 25%. Also, the flu vaccine decreases the risk and severity of hospitalization; vaccination decreases hospitalization in children by 40% and in adults by 80%.
The question remains why the unvaccinated had such a low rate. Perhaps other factors were present: the unvaccinated may have had less or no patient contact, they may have been reassigned to less contact areas, they have masked more, etc. These considerations make it imperative to wait for the peer reviewed and published versions. Moreover, it would be essential to see what the experience was at other institutions, such as MGH/Brigham. Conclusions in medicine are never based on one study.
Hazlett and McMahon have seen Massaro’s reply to the resident and thought the reply was thoughtful.
Marblehead Mental Health Task Force (MHTF)
The MHTF met last Friday at the MCC and are moving forward as it now makes sense for mental health counseling to become the focus. The chair, Marc Lebon, noted the accomplishments of the MHTF, especially during the pandemic. It developed a web page, issued numerous articles in the Current, hosted wellness fairs and speakers, etc. The plan now is for the MHTF to meet after the summer at the MCC and be folded into the MCC.
Petty said the resources listed on the MHTF website will be “slid over” to the MCC. Of note, the MHTF website was hacked, but all the information was on the MCC website, which has links back to the health department. What happened? It was held for ransom, but there was no money there. Further discussion was about maintaining the website if it is salvageable. If it is, McMahon would pay for it to be a website for substance abuse issues because the name of the website is similar to what other towns use for their substance abuse issues.
Bills
McMahon read the most recent bills from vendors and their costs. As the costs for trucking were read, some board members wished for more explanation. Petty discussed the various trucks and the role of each: curbside trash collection to the Transfer Station and recycling to the Greenworks facility. Currently there is no charge for the latter.
The amount of $32,000 is for just the trash collection from residential curbside, schools and municipal sources. Cardboard in front of stores is also collected but may have to change with new contracts.
Director’s Report: Household Hazardous Waste Day
Household Hazardous Waste Day (HHWD) will be May 31 at the Transfer Station from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. The company that comes recycles fuel, paint (latex and other), pesticides, etc. The fees that are charged are based on gallons or pounds, with the costs in three different amounts (small, medium and large). This day is also shared with Swampscott residents who account for about half of the volume. Petty asked that residents who use the Transfer Station try to avoid these hours as it is very busy.
In the past, there was a HHWD on a Wednesday from 4-7 p.m., and perhaps it can happen again in the fall, but it is up to the vendor. This is the final year of the contract.
Director’s Report: Landfill Monitoring Expenses
Since the Transfer Station is a “capped” landfill, ongoing monitoring is required by Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The company Hailey Ward – a highly regarded company who is also the “face” with DEP – has been doing this twice a year, collecting water and gas samples, at the periphery of the landfill to be sure nothing is leaching in the surrounding areas.
This is the responsibility of the town of Marblehead. As with other contracts, the costs are rising, and Petty would like to have a long-term contract with Hailey Ward. He outlined the costs of the contract from 2026-2029, with costs gradually rising from the spring sampling of $26,000 to $28,000 and fall sampling from $25,000 to $26,500. The proposed contract acceptance was moved and passed by the board.
Director’s Report: Beach Testing
Marblehead has five beaches: Devereux, Crocker Park, Gashouse, Grace Olivers and Stramski. Sampling will begin June 11 and end Sept. 10. The beaches are sampled once a week via waist deep/elbow deep samples on Wednesdays with results by Thursdays. For three of the beaches – Devereux, Crocker Park and Stramski – if a sample is positive for bacteria, the beach will remain open, pending a second sample. For the other teo beaches – Grace Oliver and Gashouse – a positive sample will result in the beach being closed until the next sample is negative.
Petty went on to explain the procedure for collection and said all health department personnel are needed to help. In addition to the samples, other data is collected – potential sources, presence of dogs, rash line, tide level, number of people on the beach – and are included in the report.
After the above agenda, there was discussion about a plaque at the Transfer Station when all the work is completed.
Public Comment
One resident asked about when the board will be a five member board. This has to be approved by the Massachusetts legislature and the responsibility for follow-up rests with the Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer.
Where will the new scale be located? It will be right in front of the tipping floor at asphalt level. This will allow for a truck to be weighed, dumped, reweighed and then paid. Because of the location, residential exiting will be directly out.
Executive Session
Once the meeting minute notes of the executive session are made, the conversation to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-union personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with non-union personnel, specifically the Health Director Employment contract, will become public.
The next Board of Health meeting is June 3.
This report was written by Tom Krueger.
