The Board of Health (BOH) met June 3, and the members in attendance were Andrew Petty, Tom McMahon, Tom Massaro and Helaine Hazlett.
Prior to discussing the items on the agenda, Petty applauded Hazlett for her years of work and dedication to the BOH and how much he enjoyed working with her.
Joanne Miller, a former BOH member, followed with a tribute to Hazlett for her decades of volunteering in Marblehead: decades on the BOH, founder of the Marblehead Task Force Against Discrimination, years on the School Committee, support for the creation of Marblehead Mental Health Task Force (MHTF), etc. She also thanked Hazlett for “slowing down” to let Miller understand the history and process of the transfer station renovations.
Hazlett was presented with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and another of roses.
Community Health/Creating A Healthier Marblehead (CAHM) – UMass Boston Health Assessment Contract
Massaro updated the Board about the continued work on the health assessment. A contract has been signed. A five-person team (Massaro, Miller, Petty and two others from the UMass Boston Collin Center) will continue to meet this summer so that the health assessment may start just after Labor Day. Massaro hopes there will be a high response.
He is continuing to meet with the various health groups, pediatric and OB/GYN, in terms of maternal and child health needs. The MHTF merging with the Marblehead Counseling Center is moving forward. On June 24, Massaro will make a short presentation of the CAHM to the Select Board. After the summer, a detailed presentation by Dr. Caitlin Coyle of the UMass Boston assessment group will be presented to the Select Board. Massaro reminded the group (and the community) that no tax dollars are involved in this study.
Assistant Director Waste Department
The need for an assistant director for the waste department was discussed in detail. In particular, the waste removal contract for FY27 for the Town is coming up and will require much time getting bids, contracting, etc., which is a task for Petty as department head.
Of note, much has changed in the waste removal and recycling environment. The costs for waste removal and recycling have significantly increased. The Town is no longer receiving money for recycling. Now, the Town will have to pay for it.
Much will have to be reviewed about curbside waste removal: Will there have to be a limit of 65 gallons for each resident? Will businesses have to pay for pickup? etc. In addition to the contract, much time is spent with phone calls, emails, filling in for employees out at the transfer station, picking up waste missed by the truck, etc.
Petty would like to be able to split his time 50-50 between the waste and health department, which he has not been able to do. An assistant waste director would allow this to happen.
The salary for this position is in the waste budget, and in the first year, it will be entirely paid by the waste department’s revolving funds. These are fees that are collected from construction, demolition and other disposal, so no tax dollars will be used.
McMahon wants to track the time spent on the transfer station and separately with town trash removal so the salary could be divided fairly between the revolving funds and the Town in the future. Petty is to write a job description based on the criteria for other assistant directors.
As to a hiring date, this could be as soon as July 1. If approved by the Board, the interviews could begin now. The board, after consideration, moved and passed for this to proceed. The job will be posted internally for one week and then externally.
Director’s Report
Household Hazardous Waste Day (HHWD) was again very successful with 203 cars coming from Saturday May 31 9 a.m.-noon. Petty discussed having another HHWD in the fall, perhaps, as before, on a Wednesday from 4-7 p.m., which was well attended.
Transfer Station Construction Update: Petty discussed going ahead with the initial steps of doing the site work and the scale house then seeing what funds were left over for other projects like the swap shed. Because this will have to go out for rebidding again, there are additional costs to Winter Street for the architect, structural engineer, estimator, civil engineer, etc. These all total approximately $26,000. The Board moved and passed two motions: First, to go ahead with the site work and scale house, then to pay Winter Street Architects $26,000 for the rebidding.
Republic, Prevailing Wage Rate Increase FY25 and FY26: The contracts with Republic, which is the waste removal company, stipulate that their workers must be paid the prevailing wage increases. Consequently, the amount paid to them will be $61,000 for FY25 and $74,000 for FY26.
Executive Session: Pursuant to Mass General Law, Chapter 30A, 21 (a)(2), an executive session was held regarding contract negotiations with non-union personnel, specifically Petty’s employment contract.
This report was written by Tom Krueger
