10.29.24 Board of Health

good afternoon everyone to the land in the land of zoom and welcome to the Board of Health virtual meeting on Tuesday October 29th scheduled for 3:30 my name is Thomas Cory present with me via Zoom is Michael cofin Dr Steph gagliotti and Tess Curran our agent of the board various guests and participants in today's meeting Tess will you please call the role Thomas Corey yes Michael Coughlin Steven gardy

yes the first item of business is the approve oh where's my I don't have my open meeting or advisory ladies and gentlemen there's a recording being made of this meeting whether perceived or UNP perceived by those present and uh and uh you're all going to be recorded either way sorry I don't have the proper wording today I'm I'm in a different office next item the approval of the minutes of

the meeting from Wednesday October 2nd are there any additions delions or corrections to be made to the minutes of the meeting is printed no motion to approve second we have a roll call Thomas Corey yes Michael Coughlin yes Stephen gardi yes next we have the request for approval of tattooing establishment for Kenneth stady at painted Savage tattoo 974 North Main Street Fall River I see Kenneth is here who is

present I'll be presenting uh the case here um I did the inspection on uh October 25th he's got all the proper equipment the requirements all the proper notices um he's pretty much ready to roll I mean he's got everything he needs he's waiting uh patiently pretty much for uh the approval okay Mr state do you have anything to First can you state your name and address for the record uh yes

my name is Kenneth sty I live at 15 Duke BM Road harwitch Massachusetts 02645 where is harwitch Cape Cod and you got to come all the way every day absolutely wow that's devotion gentlemen do we have any questions no questions motion to approve second can we have a roll call Thomas Corey yes Michael Coughlin yes Ste gardy yes okay next we have the request for approval of a t tattoo practitioner

license for Kenneth um to work at painted Savage tattoo yep he's got all the requirements that he needs to uh perform tattooing at the shop so he's got everything yes Hees he's good to go gentlemen move to approve second yes can we have a roll call Thomas Corey yes Michael Michael gaglardi Michael coflin Yes Stephen gaglardi yes tennis good luck thank you very much hope you don't get caught in traffic coming over the

bridge me too you guys have a great day thank you very much good luck thank you bye we have the request for a variance for the keeping of chickens off for Stephanie Alexander 881 Barrett Street PA River M who's presenting and Stephanie is here with us okay very good all right and I'll present so a few minutes ago I received the last piece of paper that is required and that is the exterminators

contract okay uh so I don't um didn't have time to get it to the board um this like many of these cases started with a complaint from a neighbor so so M Alexander didn't know like many don't that a peret is required um and so I've been ushering her through the application process this was the last piece it was promised we preferred it come a few days ago so you'd have it um

the contract does not state that it's annual but um the fee there's an initial fee and a monthly fee and that's indicative of contracts I've seen that it is annual fee um an annual contract because you have that that base amount that you pay and then a monthly fee I I've had a contract just like that myself so it seems to be in order um right now you may see if you're looking at the

application the number of animals has changed that some things have been in flux new arrivals and some sad departures but right now the number stands at 16 14 14 I apologize 16 you are correct 16 all right I want to keep changing it um on paper they're asking for 17 but uh we've had a couple of as I say side deps um it's a brand new Coupe uh it's a large yard um they got some additional

chickens sort of in the process here and that's why they constructed a new larger Coupe um they had to do some Tiding up in the yard and they've done so uh I was last there a couple of weeks ago and that's that's pretty much it um I've seen their facilities they say they the rat proof food containers they do um the um so you'll see on the document that um the management plan it just says

traps well that's what they first responded with the actual requirement is not in the regulation and so what happens a lot is that despite the fact that we verbally tell them what they need many applicants don't come up with the the actual contract right away because they refer back to the regulation and that's what's one of one of the reasons for the delay in the actual contract so we've

had some Communications back and forth about that uh the disposal of dis analy is pretty standard uh buried at least two feet deep um so everything appears to be in order and um they have a pretty nice setup and i' recommend that the grants be granted was there any um no communication from Neighbors of Butters or anything no there was one telephone call and I asked them to to

put that in writing um but I think the problem was the person didn't want to identify themselves so we I never got that okay but other than that no nothing at nothing at all okay so Stephanie the application is for 17 that means you can have 17 and under but never 18 19 or 20 right right no I will not sir you have the rodent contract in in place you'll get additional inspections

during the course of the Year and no roosters no my goodness no well that's one of the reasons that the the numbers going down a couple of chicks turned out to be boys so I get okay gentlemen do we have any questions no questions move to approve second th Thomas Corey yes Michael Coughlin yes stepen gaglardi yes all right Stephanie Good Luck Good Luck much everyone thank you next uh item number eight the

keeping of animals a cease and deist order was issued for a first defense of the Massachusetts general laws chapter 111 section 31 Antonio soua 988 Stafford Road Fall River is there anyone here to represent Mr Souza uh Mr Souza called and said he was in the waiting room the zoom waiting room um okay no we have a wa everyone just yeah I don't know when he exactly logged on he did call me after 3:30 he

called me here um you like I can give him a call and I I double checked with him today I sent him the login credentials uh again uh that all happened this afternoon see well I guess we table it huh he's not here Mr Souza you're you're in the zoom waiting room

okay um I'm in the middle of the meeting I just wanted to check on that we don't seem to know that you're there but um I'll call you back uh I don't know he said he says he's there on a telephone who's the person on the iPad I don't know he said it was that's me Jennifer okay tobacco uh usually we would table an application I don't know if we can table a cease and

assist what was the reason for the cease and assist to be issued well very briefly this process started in February uh it was a complaint from a neighbor uh we sent a letter saying you have 30 days to apply it sounds like a long time but it doesn't seem to be I got a response so I sent a ticket then I got a response and the application was made in April uh April

24th um once again the Exterminator report wasn't the way it was supposed to be um he sent several versions so by May 20th I got that and then tried to get him on the June meeting but you know Tom you and I had a talk about his yard all that said what's happening is twofold one is that I can't get into the yard keeps his yard locked uh I've asked

many times about this and not been gain granted access I see things that I can't really identify it looks like the original coup was augmented he did rece he adopted some additional Birds I can't really examine the cou it sound um the issues that we discussed there's a so there's a of shingles now uh shingles um U shutters in the trash area there's always a pile of something it's it's whacko this part

of the yard is is unkempt that part of the yard is then unkempt and this has been a pattern of this and right now I guess really is that it's gone on so long and I can't gain access he keeps his yard locked and it's surrounded by obid uh to do a thorough inspection so you know we're getting on to what is it nine months is say eight months

um I I I just I wasn't able to bring this application forward uh because I did not his have his cooperation so I issued the cease and assist I didn't know what else I could do well I we don't need to take a vote on the cease and desist right you B has the authority to just do that on his own and and I saw a letter from a lawyer

where Mr SU wanted to appeal the cease and deist so I thought that's what we were going to act on that and that would be if uh Mr Souza was able to join the meeting as I right so so that's what I that's that's why I said suggested we table it because the ceas and deist is in effect is it not am I wrong about that it is in effect except that there's

enforced has an enforced yeah no well you know I I believe we have to give him the opportunity to appeal it before we Zoom user just showed up maybe this is him Mr suer that you to the zoom user hello hello yes can I talk if you identify yourself name and address Antonio Souza okay 988 Stafford Road for a mass okay so um tell us your tell us your side okay my side is

um the reason I have the the gates all locked up number one we've been robbed in the past this year it was been a complaint to the cops uh people like homelesses homeless people came in somebody stole my uh loan machine somebody already started sleeping on my porch in the middle of the night um some neighbors come leaving nasty notes on my door and we can go so far only so far uh

this is the number one number two I tried to contact Miss fers saying now I'm available for him I know he had a lot of things to do I'm not the only one in the city so um I never respond him I never have a response from him back couple weeks ago Mr Foo just came uh he said called me in the morning Tony I just saw you outside but I can see him

maybe because I was in rush because I have health issues and I have to go to uh he in air like new for this and that for doing tasks I'm not want him to think I am ignoring him I don't do that Mr can I respond to that sir to the boy can I can I respond to that and I'm not done yet my friend and it is you see the sh you seen my

house quiet for minute Mr fiori okay all right so as you know Mr Souza came in with his request for appeal in person and so and I I spoke to him about this um so the next morning I believe it was I went to his property um I did see him in his yard I called out to him he didn't hear me I went to the house I called him from from the

sidewalk my phone my cell phone and asked him if he could come out and let me in he said he had company could I call him in half an hour uh I said okay and I did call him in half an hour he didn't answer the phone I left a message for him uh he did not return that call now there's been a lot of my trying to contact and him and

I'm not trying to indict him any way about the communication sometimes you play phone tag but at that point Mr susza surely knew that this was important and I I just didn't feel that I should be calling him every day after that it was Inc coming upon him to just call me back to once again there was many other requests several other requests to at some point in time when

he could let me in I thought there was a good opportunity because he was home um I didn't know that till I went there but but that was the last communication I had with him um he's had several opportunities to let me into the property we have discussed it we have discussed the area and I'm talking about that's always has some new or different trash on it uh despite the fact uh I've

made other attempts to get in but that's really wasn't not the issue it was that attempt it was I don't mean that attempt but it was at the point where no matter what I tried there was two patterns a pattern of him not getting back to me and a pattern of the yard never being quite in shape so just to clarify Mr it it wasn't a single phone call or a single phone call I

don't think you made back to me uh it was just over the months you know I I understand that and what I'm saying is I understand that you can't always get back to someone as soon as you'd like to it's just that it's been months and I just wanted to clarify that

okay Mr sua y okay continue okay that the the trash he's talking about the trash on the house this and that means replacing shots at the house because I'm replacing that it's a old house I'm putting everything new as I can so uh the shots was being replaced it's not trash you don't see Plastics you don't see bags of trash around the property you don't see abundant cars around the property you

don't see this a stress to me but having things like replacing on the construction work it's one thing trash for me it's other thing trash for me it's bags of food trash bags all over the place you know a little further in that street on Frost Street yes let it further down you're going to see a lot of that yes but you not in my property no the property is been in

construction it's only that replace new shots replacing some uh uh uh vinyl outside of the house because people are throwing stones to the house it was cracking the vinyl of the house so this was the reason you seeing some vinyl outside you actually you're going to if you go there today you're going to see some iron uh Gates outside of the house but it's not trash it stays to fix the

house okay go ahead right so if I could just just reply to that there is other demolition material leaning up against the house as of yesterday there's something in the front yard that I can't see so really the Crux of this is that you know I've I've tried to have a walkth through with you I have had conversation with you about that particular area and how it's going to remain clean I've conversed with you

about one day one area of the yard is overgrown and weedi and then the next day it's it's it's been cleaned up there's another y area so that area near your house where you put that other demo material that was very recently cut down tell because the roots are all brown um it it's not really just that one thing sir that's just the that's just an example the problem has been that every

time I go there is something else and wood any kind of wood on the ground is a promise of it's a violation of the minimum housing code that is not something we would immediately bring you to court over but I just cannot verify uh certain facts about your property it doesn't it almost doesn't matter what's going on in the property I just can't verify it I haven't I have your exterminated contract I have we

like to verify that there were traps on the ground that's you know not really necessary but I have not been able to get a close look at your Coupe it looks like you augmented it it looks like that temporary Coupe you had for your adopted additional 20 Birds a few months ago which was another Wrinkle in this you know all of a sudden 20 new Birds showed up they were temporary you told me

that's fine looks like it took pieces of that and might have sort of leaned them up against the coupe I don't know the real problem here is that despite my several entreaties to you you simply have not provided me with a time to go and take a thorough look at the property so I have never been in a position here to present to the board the information that they need to to Grant the

variant okay and since this began in February and we're now in October that was that was the reason for my decision I I'm not sure what else act what other action we can take we're certain not going to Grant the variance until F has a chance to do the an adequate inspection so I I again move that we table this uh and and Mr suer uh works out uh the opportunity for boster

staff to get over there and and and do an adequate inspection very good how about Friday well you work that out offline we we we can't we're not going to schedule the appointment for you okay I Tom and Dr Gagliardi do you agree with what else can we here I mean I think I think he has to make him himself available and I think he has to um make all efforts to make himself available um

so that this can get resolved and I think it to be resolved by the time we have our next meeting can I ask a question here may I ask a question sure so just just hypothetical I'm not predicting this if I do go and inspect and the yacht is not in acceptable shape if the coupe is not in acceptable shape um see this this process begins with education and aiding the the applicant

at some point uh you look I'm an enforcer that's my mindset Maybe I'm Wrong I need some guidance here you have to sort of pivot to well we've tried our best and now we're going to with Force if if it's not in shape at that inspection or I wonder under what circumstances does this come back comes back either way you're going to lift it from the table the next meeting and we

talk about it how many chances do I give them he said if I am told oh well I I didn't realize come back next week and it's still not in shape where do we draw the line or maybe we can't answer that question right here and now in this particular case I'm kind of asking because they have other similar cases uh where do we draw the line and say had your chance uh what I was

seeking motion on the table but uh a motion before the board but what I was seeking was a denial I mean an upholding the cease and assist uh the reason we have a Corporation Council Hing the um um the meeting is that we would take uh civil action separate from the board but we need that written decision uh to do that now this may all be moved because you're going in a different direction but

I just I don't know the process here it's kind of new territory if he doesn't if he doesn't pass muster I just don't think the board is going to accept this application do we we we just pre-arrange to come back and to say yes or no then or what happens I think it has to be resolved to your satisfaction by the next meeting by the next meeting I mean what do you guys

think well I mean I'm certainly not in a position to to vote to approve anything right now I and and my understanding is is that with the cease and desist in place there should be any chickens on that property and if there are you should find them and take them to court well that's what that's the plan but we uh I was seeking a written denial of the appeal just as a

matter of law to bring to court to say well the board has ruled on this and that's why we're taking this action well I suppose we can do that but but if if you know unless we Grant an appeal there's there's there's no appeal the ceas deist is in order you know what I'm saying but but but I'm I don't I'm fine with doing that if if if if you want

that to to support you as you go further in process try to be prepared Mr Fury yes you in the past you've been in my house you saw this the chicken cop you saw the chicken cop in the past but from a distance now it looks different to me and I have not been able to verify that it look it looks the same Mrs I did with you ask that's why we

have inspections so I did what he ask me putting down I had a company each month to go there the Flint company gentlem I don't think this board meeting is the is the place for for for you to negotiate with the inspectors uh Mr okay I'm not trying to negotiate this chickens is not in business this is for me for my house this not for business this and that I move I move

that we deny the appeal okay second Tess where are you there you are H we're doing roll call second um sorry Tom Thomas Cory I'm just trying to find my charger because I my laptop's about to um Thomas Corey yes Michael Coughlin yes Stephen gardy yes all right f up to you okay give it let's give uh I would just throut you said if you get together by Friday and if it's not by Friday then uh

go for it well all right so the next step would be to issue I've issued one fin in the past Next Step would be issue a fine so I think that means that I would not do that at least until after that meeting on Friday depending on you know depending what happens there um all right Mr Souza I'm GNA give you a call not to waste the board's time to nail

down a time for us to do that okay okay to everyone thank you very much for your time I really appreciate it all right good luck thank okay next we have a a tobacco violations hearing second offense an act to modernize Tobacco Control at Friends food Mar 407 this this will open up the hearing Jennifer you're presenting yes uh so I did complete a round of inspections on September 3rd and then I went into FR

food mall at approximately 257 p.m. I found flavored Vapes and flavored cigars uh somewhere behind the counter and some were located in the back storage closet uh this is their second violation within 36 months I issued a fine of $2,000 with a possible 7-Day suspension as of this time the fine is paid and their first violation took place on November 5th uh for a sale to a minor November 5th what year uh uh

2023 J are you here for the tobacco hello sir it says hell hello sir we can't you are you muted uh do you think I should disconnect I'm Anon Su I think you Mr you can disconnect yes thank you very much Jennifer can you see this gentleman and see from the from the um it looks like I think he just joined the call um on the last part of the Board of Health

call but I don't see him on here anymore he was I just saw when I saw his video pop up when he called in and now I don't see him on the call I have a gentleman on my screen looks like he's broadcasting from a car do we all see him y I see him sir can you identif yourself it just says health so I don't know what that mean

sir I think he's on mute having some audio

issues okay uh

okay now on mute yes can you guys hear me okay yes all right now we can you state your name and address for the record so my name is Misan rman and the address is 47 South minist stre okay so m my brother so um he's busy right now he's not in like in here he's like he's like kind of sick so he like he's kind of s to his doctor so he's not in M

him I'm sorry sir are you representing him yes sir okay let's hear the side of the story so the thing is uh the we we don't like uh the next door that um I believe she got those stuff on the next door it wasn't ours before we just newly rented the next place that we got and the last owner I believe they had those in there and unfortunately we like when we renewed everything the next time

she came in and it was there we didn't like put it in garbage and uh like do those stuff it came I don't know how it's uh how it came out but it wasn't our hold on do you have all the proper signage up in your your establishment I'm sorry sir do you have all the proper signage up in your establishment all those signs that say don't smoke no flavor tobacco the whole list you have them

up yeah I had the like before other side yeah have you ever read them do you are you employed at the store do you work at the store no sir okay does your brother work at the store no sir who works at the store uh we have employee at the store okay your brother's the owner yes sir I have to assume he doesn't read the signage he has posted in his

store all these tobacco signs no one reads them as the owner how often do you visit the store what color of the sign it's justs no flavor tobaccos and stuff flavor toac so how come you have flavored tobaccos in the store I think what he was saying was that the previous owner left him behind yes sir that's what I'm trying to say but I can't you know my English is not that

good so I can't explain it to you guys because it was next door it wasn't our door we just rented the next door nearly over the bus hello how long ago did you take over the business we T take over the business for like a year and the next door that we just rent we just open like last not even last month it's like couple of days like maybe three weeks or less than a

month that we just open the next door it was uh like someone else next door we didn't open that one it was an hour now I'm confused are there two variety stores side by side so this is two like this is two two door one door it was ours and next door was someone else and that was empty so we just rented the place and we just renovate everything then while renovating Jennifer showed up and she

found on the next door and that's how we get the ticket okay so so it sounds to me like they they rented a they expanded into a new storefront and and the the products were were in the new storefront and they they never noticed it and and didn't get rid of it is is that what you're trying to tell us yes sir and Jennifer can you can you conf can we have your sense of this the

store and the ownership and and all of that um so it looks like they took ownership um back in 2023 all this stuff was located inside of the store though the existing the old the previous storefront the the the original store Jennifer as a posted the the a new storefront next door were you there did that did did it look to you like they had just expanded into a new storefront when you were

there no it it didn't look like that it just expanded it what do you mean it just expanded it it doesn't look like it expanded it was just it's just that one store that's there yeah J Jennifer is not confirming what this gentleman is just told us it just we just opened this newly maybe last month uh we have the uh what is called but apparently apparently sir apparently your violation was was issued

before you open the new store for based on what you're telling us right now so you're still reliable for this I think we should just take action based on what we usually do on a second violation did they pay the fine yet Jennifer yes the fine is paid okay so the question is are we doing a s day suspension

oop sorry here the question is are we doing a sday suspension we we generally have have been waving those yeah for most of these cases there was one exception well a few months ago so I I don't I I don't know what the what my colleagues think I'm I'm undecided Ed again we can um we can wave the 7 day with the warning it'll be a 30 day if there's another violation that sounds

reasonable okay we we have a motion motion second Thomas Corey yes Michael Coughlin yes Stephen gagleard yes all right you're all set sir thank you so much guys have a if we if we should meet again with the board it'll be a 30day suspension you and your brother I hope it doesn't because the guy was there he shouldn't do this he's like all right thank you have a good one sir

long meeting today next we're going to welcome Michaela Petty she's the new epidemiologist and she's gonna uh give us some some information Michaela welcome hello thank you I have a couple slides to share so we are kind of in a transition um from Summer to Winter uh definitely getting deeper into the winter side of things um so I wanted to provide an update on kind of where we ended with

tick and arbovirus season this year and what might be in store for Respiratory season so looking at kind of just the general summary of tick forn illness that was reported through Maven um nothing particularly unexpected this year we did see a few more cases of bosis and hga as compared to last year um but in terms of lime and general seasonal Trends it was pretty on par with what we typically see

with a peak in July um and then kind of tailing off in August um we'll probably see a couple more cases pop up before winter really sets in um as far as distribution of cases pretty standard um about half male half female age distribution was typically what we see this year it was a little bit more evenly distributed across the various age groups and we did see um it skew a

little bit younger typically we see 50 um and 65 plus as the primary H demographic um but overall relatively standard year when it comes to tickborne illness um arbo virus season is where things got interesting this year um especially in the last couple of months um it started off pretty slow and then quickly within kind of September uh August and September things heated up especially for Triple E this year

thankfully in our jurisdiction we never had any animal or human cases detected um and our risk level remained low for most of the Season or for all the season um some surrounding towns did end up being bumped up to moderate risk level um but as far as we were concerned um we made it through the Triple E season um West Nile is relatively similar um it was a little bit more active than Triple

E so we didn't have any human or animal cases again but we did have several mosquito positive samples throughout the season um and ended at a moderate risk level um so kind of looking at where things ended it was definitely a busy year which was anticip ated um we'll have to see how the winter goes given with um kind of the activity towards the end of the season could potentially be

another similar season next year um it has been a dry fall and if we have a relatively hard winter we might get lucky next year um but we'll kind of see how the winter goes um but just wanted to sum up kind of where we started and where we ended um but then thinking about the winter it is very much respiratory virus season um so the CDC did publish their predictions for what this season's going

to look like they're expecting it to be relatively close to last year if not lower in terms of hospitalizations um that's including covid flu and RSV um this model was published uh I think late August early September and they'll be updating it throughout the season as things kind of unfold one of the big things this year was we saw a very late summer peak of covid um High case counts more so than we saw last

summer um so there are kind of two different scenarios now this is starting to play out a little bit more as we turn the corner into November um it was possible that cases would continue to increase through the fall from the summer Peak and we'd see earlier peak of cases it's looking like um we're in scenario B where cases have dropped off after the summer um we're in

a bit of a low but then cases will pick back up kind of in the typical respiratory season pattern with a peak somewhere in mid to late um January so looking a little bit more locally these are cases of flu and covid um from both last season and kind of looking into what we have so far in this season um green is covid cases gray is flu um so we're really on par for what

we saw around this time last year case countwise for both flu and covid um so similar to kind of the CDC models we can expect a peak similar if not lower than last year sometime around mid January um and as far as age demographics go we saw pretty typical flu with um younger and older populations being kind of the most directly impacted um for both covid and flu um some potential things that could

increase the case counts more than we would expect would be a new covid variant or an emergent flu subtype that was not in the this year's vaccine um lower vaccine uptake is also a big factor um and then lower vaccine Effectiveness than we would anticipate um as far as variants and subtypes go we don't have as much control over that that's more of just helpful context as we move through the

season um vaccine uptake is something that as a health department and as a board of help we can kind of try to promote um so did want to take a minute to look at our vaccine rates and I'll kind of go through this quickly this is available on the state dashboard as well um and they'll track this throughout the season the main takeaway is in Fall River our vaccination rates are lower

than the state um for both flu and I'll show Co in a minute um especially among kind of that young adult population um which is a trend we see across the state but is something to keep in mind as we're trying to PR back inations and increase um any available opportunities so this is also the co vaccination rate which is also much lower than our flu vaccination rate um so this is helpful in providing both

kind of an action item in terms of we're still early in the season there's definitely time to be vaccinated before we really get into the thick of it but also if this trend does continue throughout the season it's important context to have as we make recommendations under understanding that our population is not as widely vaccinated um so touching on those V uh those recommendations this is a busy slide and

I'll send out a cleaner version of this with the minutes um but this is kind of summarizing a lot of the new updated guidelines for both strategies for protecting yourself during this season as well as isolation guidelines um the CDC kind of reworked it and I know there's been some questions and confusion as they've updated it from um kind of the pandemic recommendations for covid specific and now they've broadened

it to all respiratory illnesses have kind of the same guidelines um in terms of isolation and general protection um so that is the the quick update uh I will stop sharing my screen and open it up for any questions um or any comments

it's really cool to have to to they have that sort of data um for the board and the department to use it so thank you for for doing that those those recommendations weren't for us to take any particular action right they th those are what what the CDC and the state are just recommending in general to the public correct yes yeah that's just general recommendations especially kind of as a primary as we do move

through the season if there's any type of change in Trends uh good to have in the back pocket we able to do we're only able to use our bully pulpit to to educate the community about what they should be doing yes trust who of you to take the lead on that for us yes we'll continue to to you know Push Messaging out to the community and to Our Community Partners to engage

their you know populations to encourage vaccinations um you know we have received a number of calls from from folks in the community and um who aren't able to get to a clinic um there is that new um State atome vaccination program um for homebound individuals or others who have troubles getting to a clinic so we we do know that folks with um some you know whether it be Mobility challenges or other challenges in terms

of getting to a clinic are reaching out um to us in that way um we have held clinics at the senior centers um and so we are you know encouraging populations to get out there and to get vaccinated and um to Michaela's point you know we'll continue to do that as the season progresses um you know again the goal is to get everybody vaccinated by the end of this month or as many people as we

can um so certainly have um work to do in terms of um getting those num numbers out but um you know when you look at that state state dashboard you know you do see that we are in line with some of our other big cities in terms of the numbers of folks um that are vaccinated so it you know it's um it's a struggle that I think a lot of communities are facing um especially

after Co with those low rates okay employer do employers get get those recommendations for when people are sick so they kind of know how to guide people on getting back to work um we just making sure I was off mute um we you know I think that that's a good point um and something that we can certainly kind of look to um a lot of times we get we get calls um and

we'll answer those calls kind of as they come in um but I think that we can look to do something maybe even with the um uh uh it's not called the Chamber of Commerce anymore I'm forgetting what it's called um now but we can connect with them to maybe try and really get some messaging out because we haven't done that really since um since Co but we do receive calls not only from

internal departments but um from others um about what the recommendations are so so that's a good point Dr gley already I think we can look to do something like that I think in general you know people get C they get covid whatever I think the same guidelines would follow you know you have a fever don't go to work you're feeling better go back to work kind of thing so um and wearing a mask

for five days seems pretty reasonable I think a lot of employers um might not know because of all the you know the regulations that were there beforehand that we all had to deal with yeah there has been you know some changes but um and you know I think we do still struggle with folks not staying home when they're sick um so just continuing to encourage that um we

you know we need to do um to kind of go back to those kind of you know behaviors that if you're sick just um do everybody in your office a favor and um you know or workplace whatever it may be um and stay home well we went from a time when there was unlimited free sick time to now you're going to use your PTO so yeah people would rather use it for a beach day in the

summer for a or cold okay any other questions for Michaela thanks Michaela thanks H uh anything for the director's report um you know we're just continuing on we have several positions posted for our shared services Grant so we um are are looking to hire um folks those um positions have been posted um not only on the city's page but elsewhere um like indeed and other um like Massachusetts

you know again continuing on um we do have some updates regarding the opioid settlement funds so decisions have been made and Council has approved um a number of um um of of those applicants so that that period of the RFP being open is closed um so we will be working with Community Partners and getting contracts signed um so once those are all signed and in place um I can give

you you know kind of a presentation of what is um going to go into effect and um we'll be getting quarterly updates from those organizations that are funded to um get a sense of how the program is going so we'll be able to provide you um with status updates as to um as to the impact that that is having on the community kind of in the you know in the short term so um we're looking forward

to to getting that money out into the community um and seeing what what happens um some are expansions of programs or um and some are you know entirely new programs so um so again looking forward looking forward to that um and seeing how those dollars um can get out into the community and what what is really moving the needle so um so those are I think my my two updates

again we just we're looking for um some new team members so um trying to get the word out and really get some great applicants um to join the team okay gentlemen questions T is floration a dead issue so the at this point in time there has not been um an opportunity for the water Department's um systems to be updated so that fluoride product could be added to that so what had um then the

initial goal of um you know doing a capital Improvement plan to the water department um has there's been no movement there um in terms of funding being allocated to do that work so at this point in time you know the water continues to not be floridated okay was there anything for Citizens input we did not receive citizens input Sor sorry sorry Dr gley already I was on mute there for a second um I know there

were some vitamins that have fluoride in them um I don't know if we can you know make a a recommendation that if families want that because I know my father used to give us that when we were kids uh before the fluoride was around um but I mean I don't know if people know that the water is not fluorinated floridated I I don't think they do I we're we're Ming a lot of forite prescriptions for

children yeah the the offices are aware um because we've notified them that the water dental offices and um and pediatric offices in particular you know but I think to that point you know it's not just a youth you know childhood issue that folks even you know is a lifelong you know there's a lifelong benefit to floration um but they're they have been notified in terms of dental offices and um and pediatric offices um

so that they can supplement um those who who would benefit um so at youth or any others um with whether it be fluoride you know application or um or you know supplements so it is you know certainly uh um you know I certainly uh there's clear benefits to having fluoridated water um I think the community would certainly benefit from um having the water continue to be fluoridated so it

it it is um you know going to have a community impact maybe not in the short term but we're going on a few years now without water being fluoridated so you know we will begin to see an impact um in the community that they're you know have not had water floridated for some time you know the DAT is the DAT is quite clear on that I'm sure we

will you know I I raised my kids in Fall River and they grew up with almost no Cav but now I think my granddaughter is going to is going to get them I so that's one way I'll be anecdotally paying attention to this it's a shame should we C should I understand the position you're in Tess should we communicate directly with the with the mayor regarding this because it one point Paul was suggesting that arpa

funds might be available for this and that obviously hasn't happened and probably and and my impression is that that's not in the current plan uh that's that's correct and I you know I I think that there had been requests also you know the water department was was Keen um on seeking a capital Improvement project you know money um to to get that Improvement that it wouldn't just you know benefit them for for

uh it wouldn't just be for the floride it would be you know overall a benefit to their department so um you know the the administration is you know aware of my my position um in terms of advocating for um you know the water to continue to be fluoridated um but I can certainly you know whe whether or not the the board would be interested in in writing a letter or I can

share um again any concerns or thoughts that the that the board may have um with the administration well if you if you think that the administration isn't aware that the board feels this way you should certainly let them know that it does um at least speaking for myself and and it's at least sounds like you're supportive of of floration definitely so I still don't have any cavities good for

you I grew up in a I grew up in a town before they started florid eating the water and I mouth is full of them and but my kids have virtually none and believe me they didn't brush their teeth any any more effectively than I did when I was a kid so that's the story I always tell when I talk about floration okay we have to confirm the date for the

next meeting if we follow our usual patent it would be November 26 which is the Thursday which is the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week yeah um matter to me but but we can change it if if it's the um do you want to move it into December because the December meeting would fall on uh Christmas Eve and maybe that's a good idea yeah let's have one meeting in early December to cover both

months either the third or the 10th anyone have a particular no the 10th seems like right in the middle yes okay right it's fine all right all right Tess is there any other any other items of business you could not make the agenda no no new business all right we have a motion to adure no move second roll sorry my son just got home uh Thomas Corey Michael Coughlin oh yes stepen gardy

yes thank you all and have a lovely Halloween do something scary