okay everyone welcome to the city of Riv Board of Health public meeting for June please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance so hello everyone so my name is Dr Drew bunker I am the chairperson for the rever Board of Health and with me tonight is Kathleen Savage also um to my left who's a board member and invited Municipal staff we have Lauren Buck who's director of Public Health Michael Wells who's Health agent director of inspectional Services Paula SUV who's the Board of Health Clerk and also in attendance we have NADA Abu hadba community outreach leaz on and yavon Vu who's a data analyst also in attendance um we have director of six City tobacco initiative Bonnie Carroll first topic we're going to do is we're going to approve the minutes from the May 23rd 2024 meeting so I'm going to ask Kathleen she approves those minutes yes I approve the minutes I do as well thank you next um part of the meeting is we're going to discuss the smoking violation so we had a second offense uh smoking violation uh at 65 Shirley Avenue um so I'll Bonnie come up and speak if you don't mind hi okay um this is the second violation for Shirley a variety um the first one was on Sunday March 27th 2022 at 9:10 a.m. when a a clerk sold malor red cigarettes to an underage Youth and the second violation was this Sunday June 9th at 10:50 a.m. when the clerk sold a tin of Zen nicotine pouches to a youth under the age of 21 and so I recommend or the the board would take under consideration that this is a second offense it's a $2,000 fine and a 7-Day suspension yes is uh anyone here from the the variety store or this business okay um do feel free to say anything if you would like to um it's okay we understand uh yeah and my name is MD hen 65 sh reier so I know we get a validation is very hard to you know we don't want like sell to minor uh intentionally but by mistake so I don't know uh give me some advice we try we don't want like cigarette or tobacco you know very hard even me when I work it's unmindful when it's I can sell unmindful is no grantee is is I don't know how to protect this uh so intentionally we don't want sell any product or cigarette we like to sell like food item we don't want like to sell like cigarette you know but is happen is happen is violation is violation I I can uh pay no problem but I is too much for us you know 5 2,000 5,000 is too much I know it's I I'm going to ask you a question are you checking everyone's IDs every single time when I see like you know sometimes most of them people are like uh 27 30 40 look like this sometimes com in like we check we check ID younger but you know it's very hard uh because you asked for a suggestion that's the answer you have to check everyone's ID no matter how old they look no matter how young they look that's how you avoid this in the future this is the second time yeah I know second time I know this very hard to yeah we have you know you're not alone there's been other businesses who struggled with this so um but yeah I think the best the best measure is just having a policy having a sign up um when people check out saying that you know we have to check your ID yeah you know if per the rever Board of Health or whatever you want to say so that people see it um per state law and so that you know there's no questions and say hey I don't like checking your ID but no no no no they're going to even I my computer has every time you scan to product they going to ask ask ID yeah every time every single times yeah so just you know and I know every single times yeah every single cigarette and cig toac item every time wean show check ID every time and yeah so education to employees cuz I know one of the things that came up in past was new new employees not knowing the policy new so yeah so in some circumstances it was someone who had just been hired they didn't know so yeah just education yeah very hard I know yeah understand it's what can I do yeah no thank you and just keep trying oh sorry Michael okay thank you MD you um you are an owner of multiple convenience stores uh in our city and have multiple tobacco licenses in your name which is a is a privilege these days because we don't hand out any tobacco licenses anymore um as a board of health so what what's out there is out there and as businesses close those those licenses dissolve unless the business is purchased um so with that being said you know you're in a unique situation where you you own um two I forget how many businesses you own but at least three or four businesses that you own in the city convenience stor so um it starts with training your staff number one right as as Lauren said um and checking every ID you say it's hard but it's harder to get a $2,000 fine and a 7-Day suspension okay that that's hotter than than anything so it's you know to to get some um operating procedures in place I know you're not in your stores as much as you know you're not there a lot in in every store so not lot important it's important for you to be there to see what's going on um and you know take responsibility as an owner of uh three or four four tobacco licenses in our city um the mass tobacco cessation program that funds uh people like me doing this work offers free training to owners of businesses to train their employees it's online it's very easy and you would have got a notice of that at one point because we sent them out to every store owner so you can Avail yourself of that and train them to make sure they know what they're doing okay so uh we'll just have to vote here to uphold the um the suspension and the fine cath Kathleen do you mind yes I agree too agree okay I agree as well it's up to hold that suspension fine um based on the the laws that and bylaws that we've created here in the city R oh um I just need to say on record we have not received your payment of the violation we need we need to get that as soon as possible and Mike will talk about when you're going to be serving your suspension right so suspension will be um starting Monday July 8th and we'll carry through um Sunday July 14th and you can start selling again on Monday the 15th um we will come out with uh hand deliver signage to you um all product must be removed from the counters display racks um and put in a in the back room until the following week uh we will deliver the signage that is to be posted in three conspicuous places okay great thank you thank you all right uh next uh topic we're going to discuss is the public health communicable monthly report with Lauren thanks Dr Dr bunker um so our communicable disease uh numbers are looking good over the last month our influen and Co numbers are significantly decreased as we would expect in the summer months um and I and I finally just want to give some updates about um some seasonal things that I thought were interesting and important for the residents to remember so some summer heat reminders heat related deaths and illnesses are preventable despite this facts approximately 1,220 people in the United States are killed by extreme heat every year so some quick remind for the r Community many medications including over-the-counter medications can impair heat tolerance and the body's ability to regulate its temperature which can predispose people to heat illness during hot days so we want to make sure you pay attention to warning labels on your medications or visit the cdc's Heat and medication page to learn more secondly there are certain populations at greater risk for heat sensitivity these populations include adults over 65 infants children people with chronic medical conditions athletes who exercise and in the heat outdoor workers and pregnant women for these populations it's especially important to take extra precautions and then finally um a quick reminder about leaving pets and infants in cars during hot days you should never leave anyone or any pets in a car even in cool temperatures cars can heat up to a dangerous temperature very quickly leaving a window window open is not enough temperatures inside the car can rise almost 20° F within the first 10 minutes and even this is even with a window cracked so just some reminders about the summer um that's we're in summer months already so just a reminder about the the heat preparedness that you need all we would like you to all take another quick plug is that the um the public health department is running a summer Heat Program every Monday through Thursday on the American Legion lawn which is right next door uh from 12: to 3 we are having a partnering with the summer eats program so if you need free uh free lunch uh during the if your kids need a free lunch during the the week you can come out to the American Legion we'll also have misters water sunscreen uh so it can be a good cooling station for you if you need it secondly I wanted to remind everyone about the Rivier Beach water quality so a reminder to Rivier residents that re that Riv beaches have water samples taken every Tuesday during the summer months if you are interested in what the water sampling test results are you can visit the interactive dashboard by searching Massachusetts Beach water quality in Google this is where you will find the most updated information however the city of R's web page will also post a red banner alert on the main page whenever there is a beach closure so you can look to our website as well but if you want real-time information I would recommend going to the Massachusetts State website which is the Massachusetts Beach water quality dashboard finally um as reported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on June 12th 2024 opioid related overdose deaths in Massachusetts decreased by 10% in 2023 this is the largest single year decline since 2019 2010 preliminary data from the first 3 months of 2024 indicated a continued decline in opioid related overdose deaths in Massachusetts as well the decline in in opioid related overdosed death last year was significant among white non-hispanic men however black non-hispanic residents continue to be disproportionately impacted by fatal opioid overdoses among black non-hispanic men the rate of opioid related overdose deaths increased from 80 per 100,000 in 2022 to 84.6 per 100,000 in 20 in 2023 American Indian non-hispanics along with black non-hispanic men and women had the highest opioid related overdose death rates last year among all ethnic and racial groups the decline in opioid related overdo death in Massachusetts occurred uh despite a drug Supply that continues to be heavily contaminated with fenyl I also want to point out that rever specific data shows that we are consistent with Massachusetts and that in 2023 our opioid related overdose death decreased by 10% this is also just another opportunity for us to talk about the city's new initiative which is their seven I believe we're up to seven now Naran boxes throughout the city you can visit the website r.org and look at the locations where they are they're they're in strategic locations associated with a significant amount of overdoses or syringe pickups uh that we get calls for so just a good plug to know that Narcan is the way to reduce a fatal an overdose related to opioids and it can prevent death and we have strategic free low access um low barrier Naran all throughout the city and we want to make sure people know and use it that's it thank [Music] you thank you Lauren next is the inspectional services monthly report with Michael Wells thanks Dr bunker inspection numbers for um Municipal inspections for the month of June are for the interior housing division We performed 45 certificate of fitnesses 39 reinspection on Certificate of Fitness nine interior complaints two interior complaint reinspection two pool and Spar inspections and seven pool Spar reinspection on the food Inspection Division We performed 42 routine inspections 10 reinspection four complaint inspections three pre-opening inspections on the uh extera sanitation division we issued 80 violations for the accumulation of litter trash and debris on the property one violation or warning for C uh one violation for carts out at improper times 64 violations for improper bulky item violations 304 um improper placement of garbage and trash violations three warnings issued for improper signage on public property one violation for rodents and 161 uh violations for unclean unsanitary land as I touched upon last meeting on clean unsanitary land which includes overgrowth and vegetation uh we've seen a big uptick in um violations for that for that particular violation so we you know ensuring that your grass is maintained and cut um we don't want to attract any Rodin through um tall vegetation also um I'll touch upon the violations for um improper signage on public property um anybody having a yard sale is required to have a yard sale permit through the Municipal inspections they are free you can apply for them on r.org however advertising of uh yard sales is prohibited on public property including stop signs telephone polls um or anything like that so um you can put an A-frame sent T uh signage out you can put a sign on your car uh but you cannot post on public property that is a violation of city ordinances and you will um get a warning in the mail other than that that concludes our U monthly report great thank you Michael next is going to be the erodent control program presentation we have NADA Abu Hada in Yan vu hello I'm Nat I'll be presenting about uh the roading control program with my cooworker yvon um so the city has hired professional exterminators to respond to complaints of rodents they've hired two companies that are each um assigned to one part of R property owners who contact 311 and have a signed waiver will have their property inspected within 14 days um so it must be Property Owners if tenants are having issues they would have to reach out to the property owner in order to sign the waiver so far as of June 1st we've had 327 waivers signed for 2024 a little bit more about the waiver it is signed once a year um so it does expire at the end of the calendar year not the fiscal year so it have to be resigned every January um it can be signed either online on the r.org website at the 311 office or sent in by mail and it is translated in all four major languages um it does Grant the Exterminator access to the exterior of the property it allows them to inspect treat Burrows and place space stations and it allows for a maximum of six visits per property annually as requested meaning that a resident has um up to six times to call 311 again and say that rodent activity is going up again and they need another visit a little bit about rodent prevention and the Outreach that we've been doing uh you can find this again at the r.org website um also in the liaison office and the 311 office and it's kind of educating residents on how to prevent rodents from starting to have rodent activity in the property also um to look for evidence before what to look for when signing the waiver and then a little bit about what the Exterminator does at each property if they if they find barrels they will treat them using state approved um products in order to exterminate those rodents they'll fill up the holes um leave a bait box with rodent bait um and then return whenever requested by the resident and then every visit they'll leave a door hanger letting the resident know of exactly what kind of work they did in their property so now I'll give it to yon for the data good afternoon everyone I'm Ivonne um so so far in 2024 um and also up to May 13th 2024 um we've had 64 rodent related calls and half of them a little bit more than half of them were calls requesting for an exterminator to visit their property and uh the rest of the requests were comments included comments containing the word rat or rodent and typically these requests are um sent to ISD or routed to DPW for say a property inspection that is regarding a radent or rat infestation or um often times they're also gpw requests um asking to pick up a dead animal in um public spaces um and so I will go to the next slide um so this chart only contains up to the end of 2020 uh 3 however uh so far um up through April of 2024 we've had 784 for exterminator visits um and that's the largest number of visits we had since the end of 2022 um and we saw that this number of exterminator visits have been a little bit more consistent with um 2021 and 2022 exterminator visits and um since January 2024 uh 20 277 waivers have been signed and then for the next topic uh I wanted to show you the types of uh reports for rodents uh in general the trend shows that more when there are more calls related to rodents so there would be more exterminator visits um with the exception of 2023 uh we had more calls than exterminator visits uh because we were promoting the rodent program uh through our community liaison and so more people were calling in to either fill out a waiver or to get more information on the rodent program um and the most common request types uh DPW sanitation related uh with the dead animals um ISD Health inspections um mostly regarding overgrowth and unsanitary conditions um and then we also have ISD related requests with private properties or unsanitary or improper trash disposal um and that concludes the data reports for the rodent program are there any questions for us I do have a question um okay okay with the rodents I mean I see the pictures that you showed of the Burrows um I've also seemed to be having loads of rabbits in my yard which seem to be borrowing also it's just can you please say that again I couldn't hear you I in my yet I've tended to have like several Burrows that have rabbits in them how would I distinguish I mean yes in a few days I see the little baby rabbits running around yeah um so I've gone on a couple trips with the exterminators um so you you you can sign the waiver either way whether if you know whether or not it is from rodents and then the exterminators will let you know um if it is eroded other question is when you do the treatment what about dogs okay so why have a dog that's in my yard will he have to be staying outside the yard for a while yeah or what is the uh for the Burrows because they do put a treatment inside the burrow um it is recommended that the dogs do not be in the yard during that time so that they don't dig up the burs again um for the bait boxes those are fine cuz they're very small and it's hard for the dog to get into okay I was concerned about the bait boxes especially yeah to be something any other questions thank you thank you guys so much you that's great that will conclude this month's Board of Health meeting thank you