##VIDEO ID:QNY3P6lCNB4## e e e e e e [Music] PA [Music] those flowers spring flowers good afternoon welcome to the Board of Health meeting September 9th 2024 please note this meeting is being recorded and will be available shortly Hereafter for scheduled an on demand viewing on any smartphone or tablet device if anyone is recording this meeting please notify the chairman pursuant to Governor Hy's March 29th 2023 signing of the acts of 2023 extending certain covid-19 measures adopted during the state emergency suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law until March 31st 2025 this meeting of the chadam Board of Health is being conducted in person and via remote participation every effort will be made to ensure the public can adequately access the proceeding as provided for in the order a reminder that anyone who would like to listen to the meeting while in progress may do so by calling 1508 945 4410 conference ID 887 93551 pound or join the meeting online via Microsoft teams through the link in the posted agenda while this is a live broadcast and Sim class on chadam TV channel 8 and 1072 despite our best efforts we may not be able to provide real time access we will post a record of this meeting on the town's website as soon as possible I'll turn the meeting over to our chairman Dr Noble Hansen thank you it shall be the policy of this board to conduct its meetings under the open meetings laws so as to encourage public participation whenever time permits and as part of agenda item discussions so today we have uh five uh items on the agenda but first let's establish a quorum and as I call your name please pray play say uh presid uh John Beckley present Ron Broman present dick Edwards present and Noble Hansen I'm here okay first on the agenda is uh a request for exemption from the real estate inspection regulations for Mark and Katie thorough 693 Orleans Road attorney Lichfield representing good afternoon Mr chairman Bill Lichfield uh on behalf of the applicants in regard to 693 Orleans Road uh it is an approximately 2 Acre Site which uh prob well I don't know but it may have a Cess pool it's almost certainly uh not been upgraded in many many years my clients uh have retained Clark engineering uh who has done a preliminary plan perk tests are done this week the existing structure which has not been lived in for some time as I understand it is proposed to be demolished and instead of uh putting in a septic system that might be in the wrong place we simply decided to request a view a waiver uh from the regulation uh Judy has uh with her a letter from Clark engineering and also a preliminary site plan with a septic location suggested but with 880,000 square F feet 50 almost 60,000 Square fet which is buildable up and plenty of room uh time frame uh uh we probably wouldn't be constructing the new house until a year from now uh but the existing house as I said has not been lived in and we would execute any wouldn't be a covenant because there anything to record but we can assure you that no one will be living there okay so um judor has has proposed uh one year for the um and then if you can't do it any year you just come back for an EXT by by that time we would if I may Mr chairman by that time I would suspect that the plan will have been submitted to the Board of Health for review the actual construction won't uh occur for a year but a year would be fine if there's any delay we would be back to you right so the proposal is to for uh demolition of the current Pro property and then uh there'd be a new septic system being installed and then plans would go through Judy at that time correct um let me ask you so just it seems pretty straightforward from my standpoint but um just uh for me we uh Grant the variance to the owner so you're the buyer coming in how how do we all believe that the letter is all in on all this the letter that Julie has I believe was submitted by me on behalf of or email I don't recall attorney Kathleen Kil Kenny represents the current owner right so it was uh yeah a copy sent to the attorney for the uh if she didn't sign it she was copied on it and is very much aware of it right okay is that sufficient Judy that's how it works yeah that's usually kind of what we've done in the past and if something happened if the sale fell through then um we could take another look at it but yeah if if I could if my clients don't buy it uh then the seller will still be obliged to come before you for either an inspection or a waiver for the next buyer okay uh open up to the board for questions or comments I'm so the the the house is currently unoccupied correct correct and will not be occupied uh uh in the future not uh for my knowledge of that house no would agree I don't have any questions is the water still on or I honestly don't know the answer to that we did receive incidentally uh a waiver from the fire department the smoke detector inspection requirement again based on the fact that the house will not be lived in so Judy when when they apply for the uh uh for the putting in the new septic then you dictate that what happens to the old septic in terms of pumping it and all that stuff oh yeah that's part of the septic plan they they abandoned the old one and you know okay if there's no other questions or comments uh any anyone from the public have a comment uh hearing none uh can I get a motion I would move that we Grant the variance uh to uh not have to do the real estate inspection and a second I'll second that and that will be for for a year um from this date or the DAT of transfer okay and I think we can take a Voice vote on this uh all in favor of the variance for 693 Orleans Road say I I I all opposed say no okay so that variance is granted thank you very much yeah and then um second on the agenda is uh request for exemption from the real estate uh uh inspection regulations for Francis and Chris Christiana Fabrizio 189 Moon peny Lane Attorney James Norcross and attorney William Lichfield representing good afternoon uh Jamie norcros representing uh the fabios um they are the purchasers for the property very uh repetitive to Mr litchfield's presentation but uh my folks are closing on the property a week from today um they've engaged Clark engineer ing uh for the septic design they're going to be doing perk tests uh on the 17th um Robert hour has been hired to install the system once it's designed um this property uh different from the uh Orleans Road property that Mr lfi just referenced it has been used by the seller uh my clients um bu sporadic use over the next few months if any is what they Envision for the property it does have a Cess pool which uh we are told been is functioning um and so I think we're uh looking looking at a six-month uh time period for them to uh have their plans for the new septic system and so the houses is will remain oh well there that's part of that we may be back in the future to be candid with you they're not sure the extent of the changes yet um if the uh are more changes than expected then we would be back prior to six months asking for more time and if it's extensive changes the house won't be occupied during that time period of the work um their architect has just been hired somewhat recently so hasn't had time to go through the property yet to determine next steps on that uh because you one of Judy's conditions is the property to remain vacant until new system is installed so that's okay no they can yeah they they' mentioned coming down around the holidays maybe for a few days but I don't think that's a really a deal breaker for them so if that's a condition I mean that's not in stone I didn't realize that they were going to be planning on using if the CES is operating and they are going to continue to move forward with the plan stuff upgrade I don't see why they can't continue with the use of the system do you need a report to that effect from an inspector um asserting that it's in function and did did Robert aard do an a cursory inspection of it or something so I I couldn't say it was Robert hour somebody did a cursory inspection I'm not sure who that was um again it's not for them they just mentioned when I spoke to him earlier he just said well we might come down for a few days around the holidays their main use is the summertime so if it's a again a Prohibition that's not a a huge deal for them yeah because I think the to me my opinion if we're um giving a variance to the inspection but somebody's moving in the house that would be sort of a yes unusual situation so but granting that without the house being occupied would be pretty standard for us sure that's fine that's okay yeah I'll explain that to them other questions from the from the board or yeah and so this is within six months yes and you may see us back if plans change but um um nothing from the board any uh these conditions yep or questions from the um public okay and Judy could you read the conditions the owner the new septics is to be installed within 6 months from the date of transfer or the owners must return to the Board of Health for an extension of the variance property to remain vacant until the new system is installed okay thank you and I think we can I take can I get a motion for this I move that we exempt the real estate inspection for 6 months and second okay and I think we can take a Voice vote on this all in favor of the uh variance for 189 Moon Penning Lane uh say I I I all all opposed say no okay hearing none that variance for 189 Moon Penny Lane is granted thank you very much okay great we we didn't do this on first one that okay I mentioned at the end um okay um the our third on our agenda is a variance hearing and approval of IIA technology for Peter and Teresa Cohen parcel ko5 Port viw Road TS L surveying Thomas Stell uh presenting the the uh case for the variance and do we have someone from Sue are you gonna present it or is Tom gonna be here no Tom's not unable to be here today so I'll be presenting okay can you hear me okay yes okay great uh Susan Leo from Eastward company on behalf of Peter and Teresa Cohen I'm just going to go through the items that we submitted to the board uh we did submit a completed and sign variance application the San sewage Disposal system plan proposed floor plans nitrogen loading calculations a butter list and a notification letter and certified mailing receipts and if you take a look at the letter that I submitted uh the existing conditions the subject lot is a 15,964 with the subdivision plan and and we are proposing a three-bedroom home in this lot and it's similar to other homes in the neighborhood about 24 nearby homes in portview have on portview road have three bedrooms so we're proposing to uh construct a three bedroom home and the in the septic system because of its size the lot it would only accommodate a standard two-bedroom Title 5 septic system under the board of Health's current regulations and the sight and septic plan proposes the installation of a 1500g septic tank utilizing the microfast uh IAD approved nitrogen reducing technology to allow for the three bedrooms while decreasing the nitrogen or nutrient load of the flow from the Wastewater the accompanying nitrogen loading calculations included in the packet demonstrate the environmental benefit of using the microfast system for three bedrooms versus the standard tidal 5 system for two bedrooms and Al the lot although the lot on zero port viw or what we're requesting as 99 Port View Road is allowed two bedrooms for the current Board of Health nitrogen loading regulation we believe that the Board of Health can grant the requested variance from section 5.1 procedures which have requires that a sewage Disposal system shall be designed to receive 440 gallons per day or less per 40,000 square feet of lot area and pursuant to the requirements of section six of the board's regulations to allow for the Ia system an additional third bedroom based on the following a two-bedroom standard Title 5 septic system designed under the current Board of Health regulations will have a mean nitrogen load of 10. 379 parts per million the proposed three-bedroom septic system utilizing the microfast niia technology will have a mean nitrogen load of 9557 parts per million or 822 parts per million less than the two-bedroom system an additional 110 gallons per day can easily be handled on this lot with the use of an IA nutrient reducing technology in conjunction with the on-site subsurface sewage disposal Disposal system as demonstrated in the nitrogen loading calculations the majority of the existing homes on Port View Road have three bedrooms each and the proposed home will be comparable with the proposed three bedrooms on a similarly sized lot to the others in on the street a literal enforcement of the provisions of the regulations could potentially involve substantial hardship Financial or otherwise to the applicant as proposed as the proposed third third bedroom is generally consistent with a majority of other homes in the neighborhood and creates enhanced value for the applicants property the nitrogen loading calculations also demonstrate to the board that the discharge of the affluent from the proposed septic system will offer the same or better level of protection to the ground or Surface Water Resource as would be provided by the strict application of this regulation the proposed 1500g septic tank soil absorption system and designated Reserve area will meet the board of Health's regulations for setbacks the proposed system will have little to no impact on present or future private or public drinking water wells Watershed or wetlands in the depth of groundwater soil conditions and or Topography of the site where the system is proposed are suitable for the proposed system and uh I believe Peter Cohen's on the line the owner of the lot and also Don poyant from Eastward is available if you have questions thank you um dick uh I'm looking at the plans and I see a a guest bedroom on the first floor and a primary bedroom on the second floor is the office the third bedroom we are we are considering that the third bedroom so that's the third bedroom and the area under the other two dormers on the second floor is doesn't look like any access to that area that's just attic space it's it's actually a cathedral or a vaulted ceiling over the living room space okay it's open so the third bedroom is the office and there's nothing in the basement it's just open space yes um okay other qu other questions or comments from from the board all right you see it's pretty straightforward with our rules um 15,9 foot lot two bedrooms by right we can grant a third bedroom if uh they go from Title 5 to uh IA technology septic system um so no comments from the board then any comments from the public yeah yes you yeah yes hi my name is Pamela Miller I live on 29 Taylor P road which is the property directly below the proposed um house to be built and I just had a quick question where is the septic system going to be installed in the front of the house or the back of the house it's in the back of the house the back of the house so this is the street and then we have the back half of the lot can you identify yourself up at the podium I'm sorry my name is Donald point I'm the president of these sort companies okay okay so that's the and this is the proposed right all right so that's our hous yes so it's on the north side of the property correct and what what home did you say you were at um below 29 Taylor Pond below yes below the all right so the to the north yeah we tried to leave this vegetated trying to as many Tre as we can so we're just claring okay I just wondering where you going to put the septic okay so it's going to be up in here okay great thank you [Applause] oh there I'm sorry there for the for the offsets there's another um there's someone online Al vus did you want to have make a comment you can go ahead you're muted uh so do we have input from someone from the public I think he's trying well that's my husband oh you're gonna have to go up to the you go up to the microphone if you're going to say something for us for the record I think he did this on purpose much I hate this okay my name is Valerie vus um my husband and I own the house at 93 port view right next door um Al has spoken with both Peter someone at Eastward and septic designer Tom Stella because we after having consulted an environmental engineer were're a little concerned about the placement of the septic system because it is fairly close to our property line we have a bedroom right very close another bedroom there our outdoor showers there Our Deck is there and the environmental attorney excuse me he isn't also an attorney an engineer said that um vent pipe and motor which emits a noise could be a problem could be an issue so they've spoken with Tom Stella and Peter Cohen and they talked about moving the vent pipe and the motor to the other side of the property instead of our property line the other side but we haven't been able to confirm that that is what's being done so I don't know if Peter can hear me because Al hasn't been able to get a hold of Tom stala today and I know we tried Susan at Eastward which by the way built our house very happy we have no problem with the third bedroom it's just the placement of the sewer if there is any issues with odor or noise uh again Don poon from Eastward companies yes president of eastw companies um our preference is to leave the components where they are as shown in the on the filing um we believe um from firsthand experience I I personally have a fast system at my home that the um the noise from the blower we're going to we want to put the blower below grade um so that we'll be below grade which will mute the noise from the blower and you really can't hear unless you're a couple of feet from the blower um and similarly the concern about smell um as long as the systems properly maintained the Coen are year round are going to be using this on a year round basis it will be um used on a regular basis it's not going to be a seasonal home these are two um young professionals that are going to be living in our community um and the uh you know we think that this location part of what we're trying to do is make sure that we don't have to move things in the future if the Cohen or anybody else wants to do a pool or anything like that by running the the components across the property it's going to add cost and it's going to uh complicate things in the future so um we think that the you know the proposed plan meets the requirements and uh we'd like to um request that the board approve it as presented so are you're saying that it can't be moved because of the possibility of building a pool in the future is that what I heard yes talking about this right here the vent and the blower it's just the vent and the blower that we're talking talking about um that they that they right but moving the whole system is not necessary because you say there's no noise and the vent doesn't admit odors correct from my that's from my personal experience at my property yes right and U Judy what what about the might what I from what I know but you know better uh if it's functioning properly you don't get odors from the vent no a small system like this we have we've had really no complaints over the the last 10 or 15 years that we've been putting these in quite regularly um the only time I've ever had complaints has been in very very large systems with that are shut down and then started back up um when they you know take a few weeks to kind of process and and work properly but a system like this a small and you did you say you were going to put the blower underground yes so that will basically eliminate any any sound and there's minimal sound that comes out of them um as well so I don't foresee any ISS isues with odor or sound on this can I ask um on this plot looks like the blow is about 15 1/2 ft from the property line it looks it's roughly the same distance from the unit from the microfast unit is does it have to be that far away from the from the microfast unit the blow and the and the vent I would actually propose to move the the blower and the and the um the vent pipe closer to the house closer to the Cohen's house house um I think it it will um allow for the Landscaping component of it to to work better um it and it would still it would be a little bit further away from the property line uh but closer to their house at my again I'd hate to be bringing up my personal experience but my blower and my vent are 8T away from my house I have a finish lower level I have my master bedroom above it I have another bedroom above that we've obviously opened the windows and never had any issues with noise or smell or anything like that so it can go closer to the house and um and function fine and again it I think it will work better with the Landscaping of the property so now it's 15 15 ft from the lot line if you move closer to the house approximately how far would it be from the lot line I'm going to guess it would be rough I'm just guesstimating but around 25 ft 25 ft yeah okay so it's not unusual for them to move those around at the time of installation to you know once they get out on the site they start putting things in they'll so is that something you're willing to do for absolutely yeah I mean I think that they might wind up being a retaining wall on that side elevation and if there is a retaining wall I'd probably tuck it behind that retaining wall so again there would be no visibility from uh the vitus's property and it would be um additionally U screened from their property to the extent that there would be the the vent uh stack sticking up okay that sounds like a good faith effort um other questions or comments I see Mr vas's Hand is still up I don't know if he's still trying to talk he's the one who would have questions I'm kind of the conduit and his undergrad is engineering so when people talk to him he understands it you have to write it down for me and send me something to read so the motor the motor will be underground which is uh important the environmental engineer had said learn blower motor does make noise motor is within a small enclosure enclosure may be insulated to dampen noise so that sounds good operates 24/7 vent exhaust septic gas no charcoal filter permitted per micro fast so has sorry has will have will have an odor will be constant I'm sorry grammar there um they're very popular dite systems I'm sorry I would suggest blower and vent be located in center of yard which sounds like you're doing so I'm hoping I'm right that this sounds good so Judy can you address again that the odor problem with the vents in a microfast system is that no we haven't had we have as I said that's the the majority of them in Chan are microfast systems as I we have not had any significant issues with them um and I didn't I thought you could put charcoal filters on them so I that's something I I don't think you're supposed to put the charcoal filters but again personal experience I'm own my own lawn I go buy the vent stack on a you know weekly basis and occasionally I'll get a minor whiff if I'm within 5T of the of it but otherwise there there is no yeah no smell to it whatsoever okay other questions or input from the public yes my name is stav Miller I live on 29 Tes Pond Road my wife just asked a question um with that we didn't see the plans or any information about it except just to come here today so I do apologize for that my question is how far from the property line is that motor going to be and how far is that um filter going to be and is I it's a new system that Chad's been using in a while but is there a performance um I mean we live on a pretty good Hill um and in the past I've had some problems with other things before I moved here and what's to prevent the tank from failing and flooding my backyard cuz I really that's my that's my biggest concern may I yes um so you can see on the plan um this is where the Tank's going it's it's quite a distance from from the rear line It also says propose 40 mil vinyl flow barrier so because of the topography on the lot there's going to be a vinyl barrier on the back side of this which is going to prevent anything so that if there ever was um some kind of failure it would would be contained by the by the viral okay it's very sandy soil there Dave so even if it something did back up it would go straight down it wouldn't there'd be very little likelihood of that breaking out um and then as as U Don said they're putting in a flow barrier there um so I I don't see that can you just summarize that what you just said for the public I apologize I was just um going over the plan and and just showing where because uh again they're downgradient it's the Topography of the lot is fairly Steep and on the back side the lower portion of the of the plan it says a proposed 40 mil vinyl flow barrier so that again if there ever was a breakout situation the the vinyl barrier would prevent it from creating a problem for the Millers and then the motor is just is right with the the yeah the motor fast system yeah would that would all be up from there so that's yeah and I do have one other question um which I'm sure you can help uh it's not a huge concern of ours but um there is this going to affect the groundwater at all in let's just say in our area and and our neighbors area I mean this is a a nitrogen reducing it also um increases the it reduces the amount of bacteria and uh viruses and parasites so it's it's a very environmentally sound system um much better quality affluent than you're going to get out of a conventional septic system okay my concern is we I do know there's some people in my neighborhood that do have wells um yeah I I don't they should be showing any Wells I guess there is there's a requirement to be there's 100 foot setback shown so if there's if there's any Wells they should be shown on this plan I'm not seeing any so we can double check that okay so at Taylor's Pond there yeah that's that 100 foot set back it looks like it must be a basement well because it's shown inside their foundation and they're well over 100 ft okay says the well is located in the front for the homeowner on that 37 Taylor's Pond so the 100 foot Arc he's just showing that it's beyond that yes okay [Music] sorry yeah okay yeah it's well over 100 feet away in the front which is the requirement by the town okay other uh comments or questions from the audience or the public or husbands neighbors wives okay okay all right um so any other questions from the board or comments from the board and um Judy can read the uh conditions for us would you want well one of the conditions when we when we add a allow a third bedroom on this size lot going to IIA is that we put a um restriction no uh short-term rentals so that's understood by the property owner yes that's understood again it's a full-time residence for okay and then Judy can go ahead and read the conditions that will be one of them so the applicant should restrict the property to a maximum of three bedrooms and record the restriction on the deed at the Barnesville County Register Deeds with a copy of the executed deed uh submitted to to us the applicant shall sign a covenant with the board agreeing to comply at such time as the town of chadam through its Board of Health Andor Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners directs the connection of this property to the municipal sewer when it becomes available this Covenant shall State the property may not be used as a short-term rental this Covenant and three bedroom deed restriction shall be recorded at the barnable County registry of deeds and a copy of the executed Covenant shall be submitted to the to the health Division and Board of Health throughout the life of the system the system shall be under an operation and maintenance agreement this agreement shall be for at least one Year and may be with any Mass certified operator of the appropriate grade that has received training by the company on the operation of the system effluent from the system shall be monitored at least twice per year for the first two years preferably May in October the eilin shall be field tested in accordance with the mass D standard conditions for secondary treatment units certified for General use revised March 20th 2015 in addition a lab test of the effluent for the total nitrogen to meet the performance standard of 19 milligrams or leader shall be collected and analyzed by a certified lab water meter readings are to be provided with the semiannual report if any of the field tests or lab tests fail follow-up tests shall be conducted by a certified lab an evaluation by the operator within 30 days after the required two years testing the application can be made to the Border or its agent for review and possible modification of the monitoring requirements the applicant agrees to apply a minimum of 6 in of compacted top soil to all Disturbed areas of the property the engineer shall submit an engineered asilt plan including asilt elevations with a written certific ification that the system has been installed in accordance with the approved plan no alteration to the floor plan of the dwelling or the engineered site plan will be allowed without further review by the board or its agent this variance is granted pursuant to the town of chadam subservice sewage regulations and nitrogen loading regulations and is valid for one year from the date of the Board of Health approval a permit must be issued and work commen during that one year or the variance shall expire okay can I get a motion have a question you need to go up to the mic just make sure I understood everything correctly no changes may be made to the plans but what about moving the septic system to the center of the lot isn't that a change they're they're not moving the septic system they're going to just move the blower and the um and oh okay and the uh vent and they can do that at the time of installation so all right thank you clarifies it for me okay I'll move that we uh accept this variance with the proposals uh uh the conditions that Judy uh just read and a second I'll second that uh and with the moving of the vent as discussed so I think we can take a Voice vote on this all in favor for the uh variance for ko5 Port viw Road TS land surveying uh say I I I all oppose say no okay so that variance is granted um for Peter and Teresa Cohen okay all right so uh next on our agenda is h a show cause hearing for Connor Fitzgerald 99 Main Street uh regarding short-term rental occupancy and uh this Mr f f Gerald or Mr Norcross yes good afternoon Jimmie Norcross representing Conor Fitzgerald who is here with me today yep um if I may Mr chairman just I kind of wanted to explain a couple uh of the items uh from the reason for Conor reting the hearing today um one of the main reasons Connor did want to uh impress upon everyone that he is taking this very seriously he understands the ne necessity of complying with the short-term rental restrictions and so when he got the letter uh he did want to take the opportunity to come in um let the board know that he understands the requirements need to be met and that he takes the requirements seriously um I think there's also um uh looking a need or or an ask for some clarification moving forward that so for next rental season he's uh ensuring that he is in compliance with the short-term rental restrictions so again there's not the need for the town to become involved because there's issues and not needs for uh Connor to have to come to meetings like this so um I think a couple of the aspects that we had questions on if I may in terms of trying to get some clarification for next season would be helpful okay so you have questions on we did yeah yeah uh and then Judy's here who and Karen chimazo who were're part of the whole process so uh go ahead we can sure work on those as we understand it's a four-bedroom home permitted four-bedroom home um and there was a deed restriction that was put on back in 2017 uh prior owner had uh done some work to the property to the main home I believe and this uh Barn uh pool house area um Connor uh bought the property in 2021 um as you see from the filings he does rent the property some of the time uh the goal uh in the future is that's going to be full-time for him and his family but he's not quite there yet um and so one point of clarification the uh in terms of the bedroom so there were floor plans that were filed back in 2017 when they did the renovations from the prior owner and it shows uh four bedrooms on the second floor and no bedrooms on the first floor although there's one room labeled as a living room which seem like it may be uh constitute a bedroom under the the definition the plans that were used by Connor's rental company um show a total of five bedrooms in the main house so it shows four bedrooms upstairs and that living area downstairs as uh a fifth bedroom and so I guess an initial question again for next year for clarification so he ensures he's in compliance in order to comply um is it um should does Connor need to uh reclassify and reuse one of the five rooms as a bedroom and if so is he able to determine which of the five rooms are not going to be used as a bedroom for rental purposes if that makes sense right uh yeah fair question go ahead dick when we look at these plans there are five rooms in the main house that according to our definition are bedrooms regardless of what they're called on the plan and so in order to comply with that deed restriction the property would have to be reconfigured in such a way that one of those rooms is no longer able to be used as a bedroom and that means it can't have privacy and is that's usually the main consideration right so one of these doors would have to be con would have to be converted into a six foot CED opening without a door so there's no privacy then you didn't call it a living room or or an office or a study or a library but it would otherwise as it's configured now regardless of what you call it it's a five-bedroom house and then that pool house you know that in the pretty picky you know advertising is listed as a bedroom and shows a I think there was a bed and a photograph of it yeah that can't be used as a bedroom so one I guess another point of clarification then is Connor has hasn't done any changes the interior of the home in terms of structural uh changes so what was there in 2020 when he purchased it is what's there now so it I mean again the floor plans that were submitted in 2017 when the renovations were approved it's a hand drawing so I guess it's difficult to determine if it's um exactly the same I guess we can't speak to whether or not the prior owner made changes between 2017 and 2021 I I understand your point I just I guess if it was considered a certain way back in 2017 then I'm not sure why it's different now I can show you this this is the floor plan that was submitted when the septic was put in it shows four bedrooms on the second floor as Jamie said and then there's a um family room it's a hand sketch there's no door you know it's not very detailed so this is what we used to accept it was at the word of this is this is a very old it's an antique house um you know there there the the bed the more detailed floor plan that is that I took offline is um shows there's two rooms not not unusual for a home of that age to have a parlor type room um that wouldn't maybe traditionally have been considered a bedroom um but it's now being used as such so I mean we we did restricted it to four bedrooms um only because when the pool house was put in we didn't want the pool house to be the fifth bedroom right at the time you didn't you bought it with the pool house as is is that correct yes so I don't you know I mean it it should be I mean if we looked at this now we would consider it a five-bedroom house but back then we considered it four um it's kind of a difficult sit situation let me just for a second your initial question was would he be free to alter any of the five what we're saying are five bedrooms in the house now to modifying it so would just be four bedrooms that he could choose any bedroom to modify is that what that was the second part of my question yeah the first part was what needs to happen in order for there to be just four bedrooms number one and then number two is he able to designate which of the rooms are the bedrooms I mean I think from my standpoint that would be yeah pretty clearly yes that would be fine um separate question is what Judy was talking about and that is that first floor family room bedroom which now and we look at these pretty carefully is clearly would be considered a bedroom and um so it's come up with the short-term regulation and and um you know problems with the occupancy and the number and all that so it's a good question but what what's the situation um I I mean I I think think as a short-term rental if the board was acceptable to having them you know not use that family room bedroom on the first floor as a bedroom and then open open it up or just you know make it a family room I you still have to change its configuration so that it's not lawfully counted eligible to be a bedroom right yeah I mean I think it would be the preference of the board right that one of these rooms be designated as a non- bedroom and the simplest thing possible uh to do that would be to just eliminate one of those doors and make it a CED opening well the other aspect we were looking at um there's that pass through room on the second floor that has uh a door on each side which um I think sometimes is not considered a bedroom and under I mean well that would only be if there was no access to the the uh other bedroom other than through that okay but there is because the stairs right yeah I guess and I understand your point completely about about the case opening it's just sort of hardw if he was just going to sell the property tomorrow for example and the septic report came in showing this same configuration is that going to trigger an issue or is it going to say Well it matches what was there in 2017 so then it passes as a four-bedroom home uh I don't think so good question question a five-bedroom house I mean with a four bedroom subject we look at them nowadays we we didn't used to but now we do require floor plans and we would certainly question it um if you if the realtor was representing it as a five-bedroom house we would say no you can't do that it's only approved for four bedrooms right um and he's not look right now I mean again he would uh in a perfect world he would have five bedrooms knows he he knows he can't have five bedrooms so he's just trying to come to uh find out a way to get to the four bedroom um designation right so I I guess I had asked uh the owner does he does he Vision that Envision that he can convert one of these bedrooms into what we would consider a non- bedroom like like having a case open from the living room into that room so it's a family room and I haven't had a conversation with him about the case opening for that particular room something I'd have to talk to Connor about in terms of what I mean again his goal is be to get to a maximum four bedroom he understands that's how he's but also you want to get there with the least amount of uh intrusion to the to the property is possible right because again he didn't change anything so from a from a fairness aspect it sort of seems like well this is what he purchased right it was called a certain thing when he bought it that way and he's he's saying to the board today I haven't changed anything it's just it's label differently well the contractor who built this was at fault for building a five-bedroom house for the Ford bedroom septic system and and and that's unfortunate but if you want wanted that bedroom at the top of the steps to pass through bedroom to be eliminated you just have to take that one door uh uh that goes to the top to the steps and make it a CED opening and then you could use that as a study or a library or whatever that would be an easy way to do it and that wouldn't be very expensive okay um then a related question would be not the muddy the waters even more but if he were to want to Envision using the pool house has a bedroom then he would need to restrict the main house to three bedrooms is that correct yes and then we would come back to the board and ask for the prohibition on that not to be used as a bedroom to be lifted is that necessary or yeah you'd have to show show it on the plan with only three bedrooms so two of these bedrooms have to be eliminated structurally so they can't be called bedrooms right and then I think your deed restriction just says the property is restricted to bedrooms I don't think it mentions the pool house yeah I didn't see anything about the pool house in there but we could we would um want the building inspector to um make sure that if the pool housee was going to be used as a bedroom that it meets all the requirements for habitable space and um egress and such which I think it does but yeah I think so too and it has a um it has a mini split that was there when Connor bought the property so it does yeah I mean it did say in the it was supposed to be an unheated space so um unfortunately what people can go in get Plumbing permits and nobody reviews those so those happen after the fact quite routinely so but I but back in the process with the pool house it was written that it was to be unheated and not used as a bedroom that was specifically put in somewhere right so the building department would have to go in and for what it is right so we would need to get that condition removed as part of the other aspect is it so the short-term rental uh certificate you apply for it has so many bedrooms and and you one could skirt around it by advertising it on the internet and sort of implying that it has more bedrooms and that gets into a gray area and we're just kind of working our way through the short-term regulation implementation but that's another aspect of this that came up there's there's four bedrooms then you have 10 person occupancy so it's kind of what's I guess considered so on on the website yeah it it can't be buried someplace that well there's actually six bedrooms and you could fit a whole whole bunch more people in there but right and Connor understands that and and part of the I think part of the issue there was the the write up so to speak for the rental was from the prior year before the restrictions carried over and so there was some confusion on that um um what would uh does he I'm sorry to interrupt does does Connor need to provide plans for what he intends to do in terms of coming to a four-bedroom or is that um think a s visit yeah we would want um to build to pull a a building permit and then with a plan showing what his proposal is and um and then we would look at it okay we would review the plan as well as the building inspector and then the building inspector usually goes out and inspects those but I think in this case Karen and I would like to take a look at the house as well um for the short-term Rental process sure so next spring okay so right but yeah I was looking at the second floor that small bedroom I mean you somebody mentioned you could make it a a pass through room you you you shut down two doors open another door into the 12 x 12T bedroom and then it would be a pass through and that that's one of the Y understood so the board would be looking for uh not just relabeling so to speak and reusing it' be physical modifications yeah then and then some plans for Judy y okay um other question from the board um other questions you need answered to so what it sounds like we're at uh the point where you decide what you want to do make some plans submit them to Judy and I don't know if you have to come back to the board again or just go through Judy and get it approved but um building permit is that you said a building building permit yeah okay um yeah and I I think that if I recall the the there was never a certificate of occupancy for uh the work that was done in the pool house to begin with so that would be all part of the process okay so clean that up at the same time yeah okay yeah and and obviously going forward any advertising has to advertise it's a four bedroom y with a maximum occupancy of 10 including children which the 10 is really two adults per bedroom and they're not a half is that what you're telling me no no no child is count of as a full person so you you you you you can't have 12 you know have you know four couples and each bring their kids that's not a lot so Connor bought this be and there have been no building in changes inside so we're we're we're ramping up the short-term rental so it's a process of getting the whole thing working and an understanding of how how it works so there's yeah we'll have some of this give and take uh sure as we implement it so it's understandable no I understand there's a little bit of I guess confusion for everyone in terms of when these things get started so I wouldn't be that harsh but I think there's a process well on this end I'm saying this all right uh any input from the public see none and anything else from the board questions any any more questions do you have this whole process was initiated by complaint is that correct yes that is correct somebody complained uh about the occupancy y well that's good in terms of implementation of the short-term regulation and my view is that people are complaining and they know what to do and and then things get worked out so that's good I think overall my own opinion okay uh anything else no all right great thank you thank you very much thank you okay get your kids she's GNA get kids it's it's it's unfortunate okay um let's uh move on to the next agenda item uh five and that's uh an update on Triple E Eastern equin en sephtis and westn virus and it's it's been in the news the Triple E and spraying and case numbers and so I thought it would be good to have Judy commit and just kind of give us a general perspective what's going on there so that people kind of understand and um the numbers are coming down and all but I think she has a recent report from U I'm sure everybody Department of Public Health I guess it is yeah everybody's um I've been sharing with the board I think you've been hearing on the news about Massachusetts having a kind of a a big year for um westn virus in Triple E um and they did do some spraying um in the Plymouth County Plymouth and middlex County I'm going to just put up a map here I'm going to share my screen hopefully it'll work all right there's my screen so this is a map of Massachusetts this particular is map that I have up is the uh Triple E risk map as you can see Cape Cod uh down here is in the um remote to low range for Triple E um if I scroll in let's see I can go we have no human cases good wellon because there's no human cases I'm going to go back hold on no human cases a triple on the cape um so it's a very low risk right now and I'm going to scroll down there were three cases um one in Worcester County one in Plymouth County and one in Middle sex County this is the West Nile Virus Barn um Barnstable is this darker color they're in a moderate risk area we are in a lowrisk area there have been um some mosquito found on the cape what happens is the state goes out and tests um Wetland areas they take mosquito samples from all over the state Cape Cod mosquito control does that here on the cape and um let me see if I can find we've had um don't want to give you the whole state I'm going to see if I can mosquitoes now when they do a sample of mosquitoes there could be hundreds or thousands of mosquitoes in that sample true do they take like a mosquito um I don't know the process like a trap a whole Trap full and they and they analyze they grind those up and analyze it and they look for any positives right so they've had 302 positive mosquitoes and N uh for West Nile and 91 or Triple E um is that 91 samples were positive not 91 individual mosquitoes is my understanding oh thousands see this it I mean it is kind of like finding a you know needle there was there was one in barnable a positive mosquito but how how what's the Baseline what's the context of this in previous Summers I mean is this complet completely new that we haven't had before something that comes from my understanding is from the epidemiologist this thing this West now virus um these Arbor viruses they kind of cycle we have high years and then like every five or seven years they get they drop down um this we happen to be in a cycle of higher levels of them um and right now we are at the time of year where you get the most activity um so that's why you know we we're seeing it and we're we do have the concern um John I'm not sure the actual process for identifying the individual mosquitoes but they always say we found a a mosquito with virus all right that's different out it says it says number of mosquito samples tested 7,185 that's in the whole state yeah 286 positive West Nile 80 positive Tri right if you look yeah if you look on the second page of the hand out for Cape Cod um they've they've tested [Music] um well it says specimen so it's 661 613 well that's so that's right 1% this is different from 80 of 7185 it would K so um but based on these epidemiological studies and reports they they're putting us at very low risk okay that's important take that's the the Takeaway on this um they do still you know recommend um the usual precautions um avoiding DAW and dusk outside activities yes wearing insect repellent Dawn and dusk wear um remove standing water from your yards small buckets bird baths Etc um just the common sense things to keep them from breeding um some of these I I'm not sure if it's the westnile um species or the tripol particularly like small puddles as opposed to large bodies of water so I remember getting a report years ago that that they they found larv in bottle bottle caps yeah laying yeah so a little bit of water rain water you get in a bottle cap upside down bottle cap laying on the ground could support yeah that's why we you know we get crazy when we see you know tires and you you can't you can't take a tire and and tip it to get rid of water in it there's nothing you can do once that tire gets water in it do only thing that drill holes in it maybe well drill holes in it or or have have a drought you know when all the water dries up but yeah so little containers orious they they were they the the work the dormitories they put potted plants outside the dormitories and watered them every day and that and mosquitoes bread there and and remember who tried the first the French French the French retreated that pro project they they gave up on it because it was so dangerous from a communic disease perspective you're talking about the Panama Canal now yes the French fled they was little flower pots people wanted to brighten up there well what you that come from your experience in your jersey or from prior on the board here no I comes from my New Jersey experience hearing people lecture right hearing M lecture I if you're if it's something you're interested in the um our our mosquito control person uh Gabby s Sakowski is excellent and loves to talk about this so I'd be happy to bring her in some point maybe next spring or it's really interesting and it does cycle and she can she can talk to you about the program and what the issues are and such we buy these little tablet things that that that lar side they throw and and you throw it in your because we have a we have a dry well you know a a well like a catch Basin in our driveway and there's always standing water and you throw one of these in like once a month it's called a donut yeah it's like a little dut and any place you have standing way you throw one of them in it and it it lar prevents the and that's part of this mosquito control program is to actually do that in um the wetlands across the cape to go and through and they used to they used to dip down into um um storm sewers MH and and see if there was standing water like in the street you know you have a storm sewer if you could if you look down there sometimes it holds water yep and the mosquito control people would love low down a ladle and they would bring it up and they would look to see whether there was any larvey so so over the course of years they build their surveillance system and then they can identify on a big map all of the locations that they have previously established as supporting reproduction of mosquitoes MH and then that guides them every year and strategically where to go yep and I'm sure it's similar here know Massachusetts these viruses they build over the course of the summer y so if you're going to get human cases you're going to get them late in the summer yes because that's when the greatest risk the of a virus viral infections occur well that brings up a question what happens in the winter here when these mosquitoes die off and go away does this whole thing go away um do it come back again next summer you you had had mentioned that there are other things that can carry the virus besides mosquitoes so it can stay around I think there's a whole you know a life cycle with the the the birds and the mosquitoes and um there's plenty for the people that work in the program to do off because they've got a so the Lara side is part of it and they got to redo all their equipment they got to calibrate they have to do mapping they have to write reports I mean it's a whole lot of work that they catch up on over the winter well I think the spraying in Plymouth is what brought it into the news and to a lot of people's attention so this they don't like the spray yeah so we can decide or think about um whether we have someone come back who who actually does it to talk more or we can wait and see how this goes and then if it comes up again we can we can get them back we pull that out as an option okay um anything from the public on Triple E and if not um we can move on to any old business uh I know that the shortterm Karen Shima who was here I think at the next meeting is going to give a follow up on the short-term rental implementation over the summer and what happened and where we're at and you know problems what went well what didn't go well and it's a time for board members to ask her about all that because it's an ongoing uh regulation I think any other old business or corresponding Judy for us to know about just minutes and we have minutes so we have minutes from uh August 19th um any additions or Corrections and if not can I get a motion to approve I'll make a motion we approve the draft minutes of August 19th 2024 I'll second the motion and all in favor say I I I and opposed okay so those minutes are approved and then um if there's nothing else we can go ahead and adjourn the meeting I think can I get a motion to adjourn the meeting so move I'll second that okay and all in favor say I I I opposed all right we areour turn off your mics [Music] for