The Fall River Board of Health held a virtual meeting on Wednesday, October 2nd, where they addressed several key items. The meeting began with the acceptance of the minutes from the August 27th meeting, which was approved unanimously. Two tobacco violation hearings were then conducted. HB Gas and Convenience at 178 Robison Street faced a second offense for selling tobacco to a minor, with a previous violation for flavored tobacco. The owner, Bashar Abaz, explained the corrective measures taken, including employee training and the purchase of an ID scanner. The Board voted 2-0 not to suspend their license but issued a stern warning that a third violation would result in a 30-day suspension. The second tobacco hearing for Friends Food Mart at 407 South Main Street, concerning a second offense for flavored tobacco products, was tabled due to the absence of a representative from the establishment, despite the fine having been paid. Following the tobacco hearings, the Board considered a request for a local upgrade approval from Allan and Carol Saia of 1551 Copicut Road. The Saias sought approval to construct a new leaching area 180 feet from the Copicut reservoir, which is less than the required 400 feet. Dan Agar, representing the city, recommended approval with two conditions: a three-bedroom deed restriction on the property and an excavation depth of 152.5 feet for the septic system. The Saias agreed to these conditions, and the request was unanimously approved by a 2-0 vote. The meeting concluded with the Director's Report, presented by Tess Current. She announced the posting of two new positions—a Shared Services Coordinator and a Public Health Specialist—under the Shared Services Grant with Seekonk and Swansea, with more positions anticipated. Updates were provided on the opioid settlement funds, with grant award information expected after council approval. It was also noted that Michaela would present next month on mosquito/tick season and respiratory virus season. The Board confirmed the next meeting date for Tuesday, October 29th, and then adjourned.
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City Officials
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good afternoon to everyone on the land of zoom and welcome to the Board of Health virtual meeting on Wednesday October 2nd scheduled for 3:30 my name is Thomas Cory present with me via Zoom is Michael Coughlin Tess current our agent of the board various guests and participants in today's meeting pursuant to the open meeting a any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting and may
0:29transmit the meeting through any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible Tess can we have a roll call please Thomas Corey yes Michael coflin yes the next item of business is the acceptance of the minutes of the cor Board of Health meeting held on August
0:5827th are there any additions deletions or corrections to be made to the minutes of the meeting is printed to accept I'll second Tesa we have a roll call Thomas Corey yes Michael Coughlin yes okay next item is we're opening a tobacco violations hearing this is the second offense of an act to modernize Tobacco Control with HB gas and convenience one 78 Robison Street in Fall River 02720 uh Jennifer is here and Jennifer
1:36if you'll present uh so on August 26 I did a round of compliance checks I sent a female youth buyer in around 10:30 a.m. and she was able to purchase a single backward cigar for $2 using a $5 bill uh the clerk did not ask her ID or her age and she described the clerk as being a short meil with a beard I did send a season assist since it was their second
2:04violation within 36 months and issued a fine of $2,000 with a possible 7-Day suspension I did uh just check and the fine is paid and then just as was a heads up for their first violation that was on January 4th of 2023 for having flavored tobacco products sir yes sir can you state your name and address for the my name is Bashar abaz 178 Robinson Street for River all right sir you you've heard the
2:37situation you want to tell us your side of the story my side of the story is we've been doing business in forever since 2017 and from from then till like maybe like a year we faced challenge to find good employees but I know mistakes happen and we we failed twice and I hope which is not I hope I'm working to be this is the last time because uh uh sometimes which is what we're facing now
3:18with the employees and how they focus with the customers and we teach him everything that we supposed to be done and from 2017 till 2024 nothing happened there we were everything was we didn't have any fine selling tobacco to a minor so now that guy he's he's not there anymore uh I bought a scanner so we I we scan all IDs for to buy any tobacco any tobacco accessories which is including lighter
3:51which is including anything that goes with the with the tobacco products and so far we've been doing well because we are rejecting too many uh sales per day because we need to make sure that we we we doing it right which at the same time we we we have a lot of customers they leave which is they don't have ID the ID is we ID everybody regarding the the regardless the age so
4:32when you don't have a ID you don't you cannot buy any tobacco products and we have a regular customers they come every day to the store so like I don't want to say that I'm losing money I don't want to say that because but but we facing too many challenges to do but I'm I'm I want to take these challenges because I don't want to lose my business because this is
4:58my business I pay more mortgage I pay there is a mortgage on it and I pay my bills so I cannot be uh I can I have to take that decision to send that guy home buy that scanner use the scanner all the time and we scan all IDs so you have a standardized training program yes you for all new employees we put signs on on the windows on the
5:29outside at the at the at the windows outside at inside the store we ID everybody regard regardless the age so we're trying very hard and we are doing it very hard and I'm going to keep doing it to that's it this is if I want to sell tobacco if you want to come to my store I have an ID if you don't want to if you don't want to buy it from me go
5:50buy it from somewhere else which is which is this is what we doing now and people they leave they leave I'm sorry nothing can do about it because I lose 20 customers per day or I lose my license which one I want I will lose 20 custom this is the challenge that we're facing every day what what do you have to say about the previous violation selling the flavored tobacco that was
6:21uh I don't know what happened that time but I believe that was uh misunderstood with the with the with the understanding of the with the flavored but now we have none Flav we don't have any flavors of the store nothing since then we paid it we clean we we send everybody we put everything in the trash and now we have everything is
6:54clear ready to follow your lead well the sir the the last several times we've had a merchants in we've been trying to use this as an educational situation um I'm going to move that we don't suspend your license today for seven days but I will tell you this if you appear before us again we will suspend your license for 30 days understood so continue with the training prog program use that scanner
7:32use common sense when you're hiring use common sense uh you know when you're dealing with with the customers and and do and do keep in mind that's for any violation of of the to Tobacco law you know you got hit for flavored tobacco you got hit for the sales to underage either either of those would count as your third violation and you'd get the additional suspension okay now I'm sure the uh they go every and
8:04they check everything we I somebody was there maybe like a month ago and there's nothing and then I can you can go anytime and you can see that we don't have anything like there's no there's the educational with the with the with the employees and the customers and the scanner that we use for each transaction which is tough it's very like like if I will tell you that I spend my whole time on the phone
8:31watching the camera to make sure that each customer that get scanned with the license this is what I do this is my this is my last uh 30 days doing check in the cameras all the time text message talk on the phone so I'm really really I'm trying very hard but and thank you thank you we we've made it clear where we stand and and you're you're we're we're excusing your your suspension this time
9:03uh anyway Tom I'm seconding your message your your Mo okay and we can go ahead and and Tess can take the roll call okay Tess if you would Thomas Corey yes Michael Coughlin yes all right sir thank you for appearing Please be aware make sure you you're training the employees make sure you use that scanner use Common Sense thank you so much I really appreciate it and have a good day okay
9:34that concludes the tobacco violation hearings for HB gas and convenience next we're going to open up a hearing on Tobacco violations hearing second offense of an act to modernize Tobacco Control for the friends Food Mart at 407 South Main Street in Fall River Jennifer if you would okay so let's see so I completed our round of of of inspections on September 3rd I went to French food Mar
10:05at approximately 2:57 p.m. I found flavored Vapes and flavored cigars uh the cigars were behind the counter and then the fla flavored Vapes were like in their back room area uh this is their second offense within 36 months so I did Issue a fine of $2,000 with a possible suspension of seven days and at this time the fine is also paid their first violation was back on November 5th 2023 and that was for sale to a
10:35minor okay who is Mr Mrs sauc is this for you okay who's who's representing bren's food Mark Megan or Britney is there anyone here from Friends food mark okay one more time is there anyone here from Friends Food Mart this is the opportunity to
11:17speak hearing no response seeing no response Jennifer you said they had paid the fine uh yes so they did come in on Monday and they paid the fine okay I called them on Friday to remind them of the meeting and they said that they would stop by Monday to pay and attend the meeting so I'm not sure maybe they for I don't know if they forgot or something do we want to table this till
11:47next month till someone comes in let's table this is table it this is unusual this the first time since I've joined the board that that we've had a no show at a tobacco hearing I think we should just table them all right so we will table so that will close the tobacco violations hearing at this time for friends Food Mart and we will revisit this at our next meeting next we have the request for a
12:11local upgrade approval requesting the following pursuant to 15. 4051 G the applicant proposes to construct a new leeching area to be 180 ft from the surface water supply the reservoir where 400 ft is record ired um I know Kevin is here from the engineering firm Mr agar is here from representing the city Mr Mrs SAU are you here for that one yes we are oh okay all right um Dan will let
12:43you go first if that's okay thank you so um we were contacted by the owner and the engineer to go out do some Pro tests uh for them to move forward with the design of a failed septic system that they have out on on the property of Copa Cut Road at 1551 we did the appropriate soil testing the engineer submitted a design plan we worked back and forth with a few comments and questions that they have
13:06been able to address they've completed all the required paperwork for submission paid all the required fees I've reviewed the plans and I would recommend that you approve the plan as submitted with two conditions one that there'd be a three-bedroom Beed restriction placed on the property uh prior to conveyance because of its proximity to the copicut reservoir um and then also the depth of excavation
13:31for the septic system should be at a depth of 152.5 which puts them at the bottom of the percolation test hole not at the top so we want to make sure that we are in that good material but beyond those two conditions um I see no reason why you couldn't act on the request okay Mr Mr Saia can you state your name and address for the record Allan Saia 1551 copicut Road
13:56Carol Saia 1551 copicut Road okay you've heard Mr agar's conditions um are you agreeable to that yes yes okay Kevin do you have any any comments anyone have any questions for the engineers I do not have any comments unless somebody has a question or a concern so you and Mr agar has spoken and this is all in agreement correct okay I did read through the material it is not the most exciting material for
14:34reading but no job is finished till the paperwork is filed right this is true Michael any questions I do not have any questions I uh move to approve motion to Grant with with the conditions yes move move to approve with the conditions okay second test can we have a roll call Thomas Corey yes Michael coflin yes okay thank you thank you all enjoy the rest of your day thank you next we have the director's
15:19report um yes thank you um so um we are excited to announce that we have two positions posted for the shared Services Grant so um those are currently posted on the city's website so we're looking for a shared services cordinator and a public health specialist um at this point in time so those are those are you know through the shared services um grant that we are a part of with uh seon
15:48and Swansea um So currently we've we've had um essentially a consultant helping us with some of the coordination and we're phasing them out and are looking to hire somebody inhouse um for that opportunity um the public spe the public health specialist will um kind of be a jack of all trades doing things from um like waste mitigation to um supporting uh you know health communication and um even some
16:22inspections so um really kind of a comprehensive position that we kind of be able to flex throughout the department um in a number of ways as as needed so um it's been a a process to get those um approved with with dph and and posted internally so we're excited about that and are really looking forward to having um having some new team members um there will be another position in the near term um being
16:49posted for for that in terms of supporting um the inspectors um and we also are um are going to be looking um for and a clerical team member as well um to support the department so um you know again excited about the opportunities in terms of having more funding and having more capacity to um to do a lot of work in the community um and uh you know partner with C Con consy
17:19on that um so those are some of the main um HHS updates um We are continuing to move forward with the opioid settlement funds um there will be information forthcoming at the next council meeting in terms of of additional um requests for awarding Grant dollars um following council's approval we'll have more information um about what that looks like um but we're excited to um have had the advisory
17:50committee make recommendations to the mayor and and move forward um with those suggestions um so um again more to come on that once once Council gives um the final approval for for the additional um applicants that were interested in funding um next month Michaela will be um invited to the board meeting to give a summary of um mosquito and tick forn season um and we'll kind of be
18:22forcasting and showing what the CDC is projecting in terms of of um respiratory virus season so um we're going to have her on next month so um she's again has been a great asset to the department is and is doing a lot of work in the other communities as well um in terms of data collection and um and kind of supporting nwork with um health communication um as well
18:49so um those are my main updates do have any questions about you want talk to Mr Turner over in Somerset about join the SSA I haven't in some time yeah so I know that my sense is that some folks from from mahb have have connected but um you know I haven't Revisited that with um with Somerset yeah it just seems like a a logical group to logical Community to join the group yeah especially
19:29um the the nurse in Swansea also cover Somerset soay is helping to cover yeah but we certainly I think as a group be welcome to have um an additional community and even increase our funding capacity um so that would that would be a welcome change you know from my my end of things but um yeah not at this time and there are no there were no specific Triple E or westnile issues in
20:01fall river right you hav no unfortunately um according to the State website it does not look like they have and I have been notified of a triple E mosquito sample since September 10th so it has been some time since they there has been a positive mosquito sample throughout the Commonwealth um for Triple E there have been more recent um West Nile virus mosquitoes um but you know the uh those numbers are are going
20:35down um you know for a while there my my phone was getting an alert every you know every few days um about some positive samples throughout you know in some part of of Massachusetts but that's really that's really tapered off and you know the state epidemiologists I think there's been maybe one or two cases of Tripoli you know this late in the in the season across Massachusetts for like
21:03historic historically so our numbers are but I don't recall that we've ever had even a positive mosquito pool for Tripoli and Fall River have have we in during your tenure not since I've been here we have had we've had positive West a virus right right yeah we we've always had some West Nile we actually had somebody pass away from West Nile when I was the director but um uh ever having even a positive mosquito
21:33pool Triple E in florider no we haven't we were you know again fortunate this this kind of this go around there had been again some in neighboring communities um but but not in Fall River and not in no West Isle positives this season we have had some in more recent years but not this year okay okay thanks did we receive anything for Citizens input no no we did not okay lastly we
22:05got to confirm the date for the next meeting following our usual patent it would be Tuesday October 29th does that sound that sound okay Y is there any other business to come before the the the board of such a nature that it couldn't make the agenda no okay think can we have a motion to adjourn no moov I'll second can we have a roll call Thomas Cory yes Michael coffin yes
22:37all right everyone have a lovely rest of the afternoon