##VIDEO ID:BdWB6AQtyg0## I pled aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay and we're going to start the meeting today with a presentation by Animal control officer Nick vidmar on coyotes and I'll turn it over to you Nick thank you um my name is Nick vidmar I'm the Animal control officer for the town of Westport um tonight I'm going to talk to you about the eastern coyote uh I've been receiving a lot of calls about coyotes out during the day and what to do so I thought I would present of what you should do and um just basic um things about them so today I'm going to talk to you about background and identification of them their diet their habitat their meeting season conflict with people rabies detering coyotes uh hazing keeping your pet safe the role of myself animal control and what residents can do about them background and identification they're found in all US states except Hawaii I haven't made them their way yet there um they've been adapting with people for more than 100 years um they're known as also the prairie wolf or the brush wolf uh identification of them they're roughly 25 to 35 lbs Eastern coyote stands about 23 to 26 in uh tall um they have a 12 to 15 in bushy tail um they vary from gray brown to uh yellow gray um they have a 2 to 3 in black tip at the end of their tail so that's a really strong um identification of them um their eyes are yellow SL Amber sometimes um their prints are identical to the dogs however their prints are more of a straight line rather than um a a domestic dogs um they howl and have other vocalizations such as howls barks wines and Yips so as you can see on top you have your Eastern coyote and then this is a uh that's a German Shepherd dog so a lot of people say you know there's a deceased German Shepherd on the side of the road I'm like okay I'll go out and come to find out it's actually an Eastern coyote so sometimes people mess it up but it's okay I'll go on anyway all right let's talk about their diet diet consists of small mammals such as your mice rats vs rabbits out west uh prairie dogs are a good thing for them here woodchucks um they are also good Berry and fruit eaters um and sometimes roadkill um they've been seen uh picking up road kill r as they're um killed out on the roadway and they're scavengers in that way as well um in urban areas they're known to eat dog and cat food so if you go to work during the day and you leave your dog outside with food and water chances are the coyote will come and eat out of the food bowl and drink out of the water bowl um food from your garbage can if you leave your uh garbage open they'll come out and literally go in and eat it and jump out and take off um unfortunately the possibility of small dogs and cats are a food source for them um there have been several cases where small dogs and cats have been taken by Coyotes unfortunately um they're efficient they're extremely efficient Hunters um they use all their senses to figure out where their prey is um a big reminder is coyotes do not hunt in packs only wolves do so when you hear a lot of them how at night they're signaling to each other that you know something is going on but they're not actually hunting in packs it's only wolves habitat um they like Open Spaces um Ral forests Fields tickets marshes Woodlands as well as populated suburbs around here of course um they're mostly dial um they're most active Dawn and dusk so um seeing them early in the morning is okay seeing them at dusk is okay seeing them during the day is okay you just got to watch their behavior um so those photos is a great example you know there's a car right there um this Coy is out during the day just going around this guy is in a sh area and then of course they're definitely around homes uh mating season so um they mate once a year their Mating Season uh time frame is January through March uh the males especially become more aggressive um you'll likely see more activity from them um they're also more vocal because they're communicating to one another um they have uh home range of 2 to 5 square miles so males will typically stay in that area um they give birth the pups in April or May um that's when they find dens and figure out a place to live and that's where they start their family pretty much um once pumps are born dens are made in steep Banks under your shed under your uh your screen and porch um so once that happens um that's when Hazen comes in but we'll talk about that later in the presentation uh conflicts with people yes there's a lot of conflicts with people but not so much in Massachusetts uh conflicts do or don't usually happen um it's very rare um they see humans as threats I'll tell you about that more as we go um sick coyotes so they're not acting right may go after kids or your pets um human attacks can be provoked or unprovoked um during mating season that could possibly happen um there're also common nuisances getting into your uh garbage cans not leaving your property um following you on uh walks um they can also kill livestock too so when they're um when Cals are born and uh baby goats and sheep are born um they are very um they can get killed by Coyotes because they're so small and they're pretty um defenseless in that matter um you should never ever run away from a coyote um I actually had one follow me uh several months ago um that was a pretty unique experience it followed me all the way down a street I crossed across the street followed me down another Street and then I went my house and it went down the road so it was definitely making its way down but um I wasn't running I was you know walking away of it trying to uh see what was doing and if I had to Haze it I would Haze it let's talk about rabies um coyotes are Raby carrying animals um once a vector species such as a coyote gets rabies it's pretty much um done for um they get very agitated angry they start to freak out they get very aggressive um rabies is transferred through saliva so the only way it can transfer answer to you is if it bites you or if it licks an open wound on your hands um rabies is not treatable is fatal so once it has those symptoms chances are it's just going to decline after that um they can go after your large dog if they feel feel a threat from them um if your Peet comes into contact with a coyote they must be quarantined um because of the rabies protocol in the state in other places um we had a dog last year get attacked by a coyote 5T away from its home right outside the front door so that dog had to be quarantined for 45 days it attacked the dog then left and then I had to go out and quarantine the dog um and of course contact your local animal control if you see one acting aggressive than normal or acting sick um there was one on rude 88 a couple months ago that was kept going in and out of traffic I went out I evaluated it um it was just disoriented it wasn't actually sex so I chased it out and police had to come and shoot it with me so um you never know with them but um he wasn't rabbit he was just disoriented but that behavior May constitute a Raby um thing but it wasn't all right detering coyotes big thing is hazing um hazing is an activity of ser or series of activities conducted in an attempt to change change the behavior of a habituated intruder so we want to reverse what they're acting like so the goals is to reverse the habitation discourage coyotes from the area so the more you do it the less they'll say hey I'm not going in that area anymore um you want to discourage coyotes from people and of course you want to increase awareness about coyote Behavior so the more we deter them from us the more they'll be likely not to be in contact with with us and interact with us um as you can see this car is here he's on the roadway he's not doing anything this guy could start hazing him trying to get him off the roadway so basic hazing um making loud nois or making loud noises while facing the coyote you don't want to be turning away from it you want to face it head on yelling at the coyote waving your hands while approaching it uh I tell people to get a med lid and a stick and start whacking it as hard as they can and run at it it gets their attention and they start moving um like I just said making a lot of noises with objects whistles air horns megaphones soda cans filtered rocks um throwing things in the direction at the coyote you don't want to hit them you just want to toss it in their Direction so rocks sticks cans rubber balls uh tennis balls anything to get their attention to to make a move out of that area is a good idea um water from a hose or water gun um I tell people to do that or um get if they're going in and out of your y a lot um automatic sprinklers are't a good idea cuz when the sprinkler senses motion they're going to come and um get sprayed by the water and the more it happens the more they'll say hey I want to get wet from here this you know and it will also spook them too so the more times they get spooked the more they're going to Skid out um lethal control should only be an absolute necessary thing contact your local animal control or police if you encounter an aggressive coyote so if nothing's working and he's still coming at you that's when you need to call animal control because something may be wrong with that animal um you should also continue the haze don't just do it once and and be done you know continue with that hazing to get that coyote out of um the area and the more you do that the more they're going to say hey I shouldn't go around that that area because that guy comes out and you know slams pots and pans together and I don't really like that so it's what I tell people you know they don't want to see you know Joe Schmo coming out with pots and pans all the time I don't like him he makes a lot of no let's see here uh keeping your pet safe A lot of people ask me what can I do to keep my pet safe um always walk your dogs on leash um if you walk your dogs off leash chances are of them running away away um and then getting into a contact with um coyote is always um a possibility um don't leave your pets outside unattend it especially during the inating season a lot of people just let their dogs out and then something will come into the yard they'll get into a tussle and leave um that's what happened with that dog I told you guys about um they let the dog out coyote came up they got into a tussle the coyote took a a trunk out of the ear and left um and by the time she got out the coyote was already making his way into the woods um don't PE don't feed your pets outside they're attracted to the food source so if you feed your pets outside make sure you remove the dishes as soon as you're done um keep your cats inside to avoid being eaten during mating season um yes like I said before they do eat cats they do eat small dogs but that's very rare that's only if they're desperate but it can happen a lot of people ask me about fences can I keep them out if I have a 6ft fence um question or the answer to that is no they can jump 6ft fences um so so what do I do as animal control to help the public out um I try to educate the public you know I tell them what to do hazing um I tell them you know if if the animal comes back let me know I'll go out and assess the animal um by the time I get there sometimes he's gone um so that's good education of course tell them you know what's going on you know if the animal comes back just watch him if he has a good healthy coat if he goes from one side of your yard to the other he's not sick he's just finding his way to another location um I issu quarantines to animal involved with coyote encounters um so like that dog from last year I had to go out quarantine that dog for 45 days in the home and then go back and release it so that's what I deal with um if the coyote is there when I get there uh it will be humanely euthanized and then tested for radies that way um and it gets dent out to the state and then it will get either a positive or negative test and that's how it's played out um I also monitor coyote Behavior so if there's like a den or um an area where coyote frequence I'll go out and I'll monitor that location to see if he's still there and that's pretty much all I do for that um so these are pictures of course coyotes involved with animal control you can see a catch pole with this this guy looks kind of sick Le this guy's trying to bite the pole he doesn't look too good then this one's just there just hanging out so what can residents do about coyotes um of course don't leave your pets unattended even in fence and yards like I said they can jump over and grab your dogs um don't eat food or water out again they're scavengers sometimes so they'll jump over see if they can get some food because it's a free meal um don't feed them don't feel don't feed wildlife of course um cover your garbage can lid I ask I tell people if your lid is open put a rock on it or get a bungee cord to tie it up so it doesn't um cuz sometimes sometimes wind will blow it open and leave it open and then animals can get in and then they sometimes bring their trash out and then a freefor all for any animal actually um rake bird seed feeders so um earlier in the presentation I talked about seeds I believe um they'll they'll eat anything they can get their their paws on um cover openings under your house and shed that's a good way for them to make Nest or not nests dens under your um your decks and that's not a good idea to have a family of coyotes living under your or your deck um keep dogs on a leash at all times especially during Ming season um also never ever ever ever ever corner a coyote it's it's bad um they'll will they'll want to attack you they don't like being cornered and they'll last out um and of course trapping does not work not only does it Network it's also illegal um so if there's a coyote not leaving your property um we can certainly go out but if it's a constant nuisance we just refer them to a wildlife removal company and I think that's it yes that's it and if there's any questions I can answer any questions great thank you very much Nick yes can you just remind us when mating season is again January through March um let's go way down here January through March once a year so and then in April or May they'll give birth okay thank you right great thank you very much Nick appreciate it okay moving on um we are turning over to the director of Public Health report any questions otherwise we go right into your verbal report all right so um what let everybody know that uh we had some covid tests come in we have them at the Board of Health office and the nurses office so anybody needs any please come up to those offices to uh get your free covid test kits uh mosquito and tick um they're out and about in force this year it seems we have uh quite a big problem this year around the area um they carry they both mosquitoes and SS can carry diseases which can make you very sick about 3,000 different species of mosquitoes have been identified worldwide 51 of which have been found in Massachusetts most mosquito bites only cause itching or skin irritation but some species in Massachusetts can carry westn virus and eastn equin analitis mosquito born illnesses can be very severe so taking steps to avoid mosquito bites is very important you can protect yourself by reducing mosquito breeding in your home and using mosquito repellent the US Environmental Protection Agency has a helpful tool to help you find a repellent that is right for you and that's at at you can find that at www.epa.gov insect-repellent SL find- repellent - white-u um there has been a total of 145 positive mosquito samples so far this year detected from bille berair Bristol Dukes Essex hamton middlex Norfolk Plymouth suffk and Worcester counties the risk of human infection with West Nile Virus is moderate in the Greater Boston area and in parts of bond Bristol Essex hen Plymouth and Worcester counties ticks are are tiny bugs mostly found in Shady damp rushy wooded or grassy areas infected ticks are found throughout Massachusetts and New England not just Cape Cod ticks do not fly or jump they attach to animals or people that come into direct contact with them deer ticks and dog ticks are found throughout Massachusetts the most common tickborne diseases in Massachusetts are lme disease babsiosis and anop plasmosis other diseases that are rare but still occur are to tmia Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever barila um forgive me on this one mayamot and P pwason virus tick born illnesses can be very severe so taking steps to avoid tick bites is important one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself is check yourself for ticks once a day after being outside using tick repellent is another important prevention measure and again you can find what the right repellent is for you at the same um uh link as I read off earlier Wood Drives have been scheduled for the summer uh they will be held at Whit of Westport from 2: p.m. to 7: p.m. and we have one scheduled on August 29th and another one on September 19th August 31st is international overdose Awareness Day for nearby events please visit www. overdose day.com USA Massachusetts SL lot three at the transfer station has been prepped and ready for the scouts and bike recycling to move in the scouts are in the process of moving in and hope to be fully moved in this coming weekend the weekend of the 24th and 25th on August 12th the bike recycling officially move their operation um down to lot three um so in the in the coming weeks I'll um extend an invitation to rep representative Paul Schmid Mike Rodricks and um the Town Administrator select board to come down and view the site if they um so choose board of health Co welcome to come visit the site and um yeah it's a nice area um and I think it's going to be good for uh those entities to um do their Redemption um have the Redemption areas and recycling area I just um also wanted to mention that a um there was a triple positive mosquito found in Westport specifically it was found in the Southeast region of the town uh the sample was taken on uh August 12th but our risk level remains at moderate um for Westport at the moment so um and I just want to mention I just got notice from Olive that the town received a bike recycling microgr for um $5,000 so that will help them with um site improvements there in so that's great uh let's move on to director approved plans so I have a um this is a repair on a Dr dry storage facility on 1180 American Legion Highway lot size 23,800 16 square ft for Mady LLC um we have a three-bedroom repair on 772 gford Road for Joel sundelin um on 7 8,48 ft lot three bedrooms this one is replacing a Cess pool and we have a three-bedroom new construction on 21 Courtney Drive for a cherry Rock LLC this one's U utilizing a quick four and a singular 960 DN and that's it for director approv plans any questions on those no if not I move that we endorse the director approved plans um as written second all in favor I that's unanimous thank you okay uh we have a couple minutes before Oh no our first appointment at 4:40 so we have some time to keep on going um okay next we'll review minutes um July 22nd this is a regular meeting any questions concerns about that one none we're going to do them individually since there were two that one was pH wasn't at and then I wasn't at okay so all right so um I move that we approve the minutes for July 22nd 2024 second all in favor um I that's unanimous thank you um the next one was July 24th this is a working meeting um actually that one was Phill wasn't there for that one uh oh okay well I will second that motion and it'll be you and I and okay you live the same because you were there okay sorry about that um July 24th we were all there um so this was um a working meeting as I said talking about couple of proposed regulations so I move that we endorse the plan the excuse me I move that we approve the July 24th 2024 minutes second all in favor I that's unanimous thank you okay next is August 5th this is a regular meeting and that's the one I was not at okay um so um you had some yeah um so this is on the August 5th meeting on the uh second page uh the top uh last paragraph on the discussion of the um South Coast Public Health collaborative um where I gave appreciation uh to the chair and it was to miss kki anyway to Olive because of their active roles in developing programs and not miss Amaral although she does an exceeding amount of work for the board as well so that's one correction and then um on page three or four um the line second line Bob that developing um Phil was talking about uh potential changes in well regulations as developing possible draft regulation for Wells not for TI tanks so um so I'll move to approve the uh minutes of August 4th with those minor Corrections second all in favor I stains okay thank you um last one is a special meeting of August 9th we took care of a bunch of business on that day any questions or concerns on that one I don't have any so I move that we approve the minutes for August 9th 2024 second all in favor that's unanimous thank you okay we can move on to um other business uh first up was 29 Cornell Road system repair issue with a failed cess pool um we have an email from a Mr dinardo um and I don't know if he's coming no I don't I don't see him um can you give us the background on this one so we had um a box of plans that has building been building over the years of people submitted plans with nothing ever was done on them a lot of them were for um failed systems so we were finally able to find some time and get through that box and send out some letters to the these people and this was one of them asking you know when is basically what is your intention here you know you had a failed system um you have a plan that was submitted and approved in in this case 20121 are you going to replace the system you know or what's the timeline here um so Mr Donado came in um you know um cited a bunch of reasons why it didn't get done and said they'll have it done in the first quarter of next year so I said that I'd have to bring this by the board they would have to make the decision on that and it's about all the the background I have on this so far okay so this was a failed cess pool correct yes and it's been I had in the notes from the um database um that was been since 2020 but you were saying 21 well I looked at the stamp on the plan here okay and it was stamped 12921 as approv okay so but it could so it's from date of known failure and it could have very well failed per the title five you know the year so it's been in failure for four years um he has um four properties in town he's got plenty of land in town um obviously he's got a lot on his plate but um I'm concerned that this is been four years already um so um uh I would say that if he wants an extension he needs to come and plead his case cuz this email is uh flight on details um but I'm open to what other board members would like to do I agree with that I don't I don't I don't feel strongly about it one way or the other actually so I'll um I don't know if what if what Matt her was you know convincing in any way way for getting the it's more I think it's it's somewhat less the previous four years as why he needs um you know another nine months may not quite in order to in order to to do it was there any reasons why he he he couldn't start earlier I guess I would just say first quarter takes him through March really right I just uh he just cited there was some um uh personal yeah yeah so uh um I think we need at least a like a a stronger commitment than this sort of big planned plan for next year seems a little too vague to me given that it's already been four years so um yeah well and you know in other in other situations you could you know kind of basically get an agreement that okay we'll extend it but um you know then if you don't meet whatever timeline we come to agreement on you know then there'll be agreement to assessment of fines yeah so we could do that too um it's easier you know so that he understands and he agrees so so maybe that's an advantage of coming forward and say you know a patients has run out so therefore we need to do this or there needs to be an economic consequence okay so that's one possible outcome that we could use I don't want to put the gentleman on the spot of revealing things he doesn't want to reveal that would be public right but I just think we have to maybe communicate that we're serious about it so um are you you're suggesting that we send a letter saying um we give you give him a specific time frame in which it must be done or fines will start occurring want to say he needs to come into the next meeting yeah I mean we could do either of those things I think okay well and so uh you know so yeah so I just I I think we um well uh so there's so I think what we're um saying is that he has to complete the he has to complete um and maybe that also means kind of get a certificate of compliance for the uh upgrade of the facility you know on before March 1st 2025 where we will commence uh you know assessing fines consistent with our regulations so so I'm making that as a motion if it's if that's what we want to do okay well I question if you're going to make a motion about the specific language of the agreement then I would also suggest that we add into that agreement that the system be pumped I don't know weekly or monthly or I have to look and see how many bedrooms exactly there I think it's three but so the system doesn't go any um any further threat to Public Health yeah well I think it's I guess we were leading to just issuing it I don't mind the agreement part but agreement requires exchange you know that he would he would give us something in writing whereas if we did it this way we could just say we're issuing an order this is I guess that's just issue an order with these conditions this is what the order conditions and then you yeah and and you know so we could you know so agreement so we're issuing an order that says it must be completed with a certificate by certificate of compliance by March 1st 2025 um and in system by the end of September huh how how how how soon do you want to how often do you want I would say the system needs to be pumped immediately because I don't know when the last time it was pumped I'll have to take a look at that if if I look I find it was pump you should give a you know right by the end of the month um yeah by the end of the month okay and thereafter monthly until yeah until then month okay okay okay I second it so motion made and seconded to issue an order to Mr dinardo to um complete his repair by March first and um with a regular pumping schedule otherwise fines will be assessed all in favor thank you yes too okay that's unanimous okay that's first we have oh it's 440 so I'm going to um postpone the other business and we'll take that up after the appointments um in between uh so I will call for the 4:40 p.m. um local upgrade approval hearing for Mark Rodricks representing Paul kadu at 69a Hill Crest Acres with a three bedroom repair on a with a bottomless sand filter and advantex on a 10,39 foot L Mr RS your is the floor good afternoon nice to see you Mark Roberts analysis of design engineering I'm here regarding a septic repair plan upgrade at 69a Hill Crest acres for Paul cadra what we've got here is as mentioned it's a 10,300 ft lock a small lock structure on it three bedrooms the intent is to uh raise and reconstruct that somewhat dilapidated three bedroom uh which would have a slightly smaller footprint maintain the three-bedroom design we had two Wells that we uh well we had numerous Wells but we had two Wells that were within 100 ft uh of any proposed area uh for the leaching system I proposed the bottomless sand filter here as I've done several of lately uh here in Westport that's got a minimum footprint for a compliant psf design in accordance with with the regulations the only uh waivers that we're looking for other than we did do a S test for sizing up the BSF as we should uh is we've got two Wells the well serving this facility over here to the South and also the ab butter well to the West uh uh I've arranged to uh place the bottomless sand filter 10 ft off property line equ distance from both of those Wells at approximately 64 F feet uh to get us a setback of 64 versus 100 and that's what I'm here with the requested waiver it's really not a better spot to put it in considering all the wells so this is what we've got it's a nitrogen reduction system of cost in terms of wellwater testing I did submit with the package the Baseline wellwater test for the lot and I do know that the applicant and the butter do have GRE records uh there's a scheduling is underway right now to get that Baseline well water test taken care of as well it'll probably be biotch that does that water sampling as they did for the site well here okay okay all set yes thank you um we'll turn it to Matt any comments uh no best you can do on this very small lot so I didn't see anything that could be done differently okay questions or comments from the board I'm really reluctant to make this comment but maybe you will educate me about it which is um the situation of of how we treat is this an issue around new construction based on the fact that it that the house is now being demolished it's being demolished uh intentionally and rebuilt so we have I think it qualif his new construction under our EG okay so then we wouldn't be treating the setbacks maybe he isn't as local upgrade approvement right You' have be getting a variant well so that's why I'm reluctant to raise it because the outcome I think will be the same yeah but just to because I thought maybe I was reading something into to regulations as to how we've interpreted them in other circumstances which we the regulations the regulations are oblique about this very because it says uh that that the building has been demolished which suggests historically there used to be a property on the site of buing on the there is no no no property there when the building is I I can comment Phil you good yeah and and uh I don't want to be bureaucratic about it but I this topic has come up before in fact you raised the question before and and I don't want to raise the question but I because we we we put people through some some you know Loops or Loops about it or two so go ahead you you try first if you will yes for your Town's regulation the fact that we're raising and reconstructing a structure puts us in a new construction requirement so that says we shall have denitrification for the system however title five oh that's right we did go through this that's right okay that's right that's the answer right an existing system with no increase in design flow therefore it should be addressed for a Title 5 regulation as a repair y so what we've done here is we sort of went down the middle yes we will and shall have denitrification right but we can address the uh compliance with code and regulation as a repair right exactly and that's what we did and that was that topic came up which is why I knew I call I should and we should be good refreshing of my recollection and as I'm looking at my notes I realized I wrote new construction and then crossed through it and I couldn't remember why I did that so that's helpful thank you um this will under our local regulation require the two times per year total nitrogen testing that would not necessarily be required under the D approval yes oh yes it would be because it's such a small lot anyways if if it was considered a nitrogen sensitive area it is by your regulation yes but by D as well because if it's a if it's um uh when it's an on-site well and septic we just this earlier today for something else so uh that is correct any area where use of both on-site and Wells that are not regulated is uh oh in yeah you are correct it does say that and I dealt with that in the town of Swansea but there was no structure no existing system and compliance with that regulation that you were just referring to says think more like 10 10 parts per million not I know we're not going there ugly if you yeah we're not going there okay but just the total nitrogen testing will be one of the requirements as expected yeah okay uh any other questions no I'm fine okay uh somebody prepare to make a motion this will require a deed restriction obviously the well testing and other need all right so I will U move to appr approve the plan for Paul T kadu at 69a Hillcrest Avenue three-bedroom repair on a plan dated 812 4 uh subject to a three-bedroom deed restriction uh a local uplate approval uh for the sight lck um for the well um at 64 ft rather than 100 ft and for 75 Hill Crest and a butter setback of the same 64 ft rather than 100 ft uh approval of the uh approval of the uh C analysis of two years of well testing and hold harmless agreement do we need Water Analysis as well well that that's the well testing no because it's already dite so we don't need to wait for that um and then two years total nitrogen test two years of total nitrogen test yeah okay and you did say the three-bedroom DED restriction correct yeah I did say that all right so I second that motion made and seconded to approve the project is 69a H Acres all in favor thanks it is exactly 4:50 p.m. so we are right on time we're going to go next to um uh a continuation um for um Sally Bron um current owner um the future owners or fing owners um being represented by Bill Smith at s engineering um this is a property on Mac umber Lane Lot map 89 lot 113 three-bedroom new construction with cul Chambers and I believe [Applause] yes the treatment systems the other adjustments we made to the SE system um we move the well a little B further to the east in order to maintain 100 ft to detention Basin we raise the great over tanks because I a concern withs as we could so we are above the base blood elevation the over the tanks did relocate the construction entrance off of I guess River Road Co Road for one of the neighbors requests um speaking of em who have the proper notification at the last meeting that's an email from him to Mr Humphrey stating that he wasn't um in favor of the project that had no No Reservations okay yep great the other thing that we've done um we added the d uh references to the advanced treatment on the plan that you requested uh and we put together a fairly extensive storm water uh analysis um for for the property um basically storm water from the site from the from the structure will go into a uh storm sector for our PSS removal uh when ioke with the so such their folks will get up to 99% PSS removal which is well in excess of the 44 required from the storm scepter it will discharge to a bension basin um water that's going to flow over the driveway will be pervious pavers um so that we get infiltration there we meet the recharge water quality storage volume TSS removal um all of the that are set for for the storm water be happy to answer any questions I haven't met uh briefly talked about it IED I you had a chance to I did excellent stol water plan you know well put together um has a good on andm plan so I didn't have any issues with the stol and water plan great thank you very much I think we've addressed certainly all my concerns any other questions really appreciate your respons appreci that sorry there someone who has hand sure we did not receive ctif could excuse me could you come to the mic and um state your name for the record thank you um River Road my name is charl Cony okay the address is 832 River Road okay so we did not receive a certified letter it was at our address where we pay the taxes from um for that piece of property um we have one well that is owned by two families ourselves and the SE family that is located in the rear of the seagull's house um it's a dug well um if the dug well should go for any reason South we not good um we would then place the well in the rear of our property which is close to the property that wants to be purchased um so my concern is that it might not be 100t from um I'm going to let let the engineer speak to that because they would only be um addressing existing Wells they can't plan for Wells that don't exist water is a very big issue in our area as as you are well aware so what would be the ruling then if we had to be within 100 ft in order to hit water for us if we if our dug well in for um I don't I don't have your site plan you know for your property in front of us so it's hard for me to evaluate but I'm going toed on show and so it's way very far away it's well more than 100 ft your property the Yellow House LLC no we the barn okay and and and again Charlene yes so the curve where's the yellow house is this the yell uh no I think it would be over here yes I'm sorry it's over here so so you would you would be putting your wells very close to River Road on this corner right in here all right so so our our septic system is up off of momber Lane so the pollutant for that any impact to that would would certainly not is right here so it's it's a distance from that so it sort of leaves us with no alternative but to to drill a well here you understand what I'm saying sure and and I don't see any issue with you drilling a well well doesn't have to be 100 ft away from an adjacent well we want to make sure it's 100 ft away from a leing field which has is more of a pollutant Source um but there there's looks like what you described certainly plenty of room for you to Dr wealth that won't impact um the proposed wealth or would still allow you to have a source of water okay so it what he's saying is it it would not under Title Five your well being proposed would be more than 100 ft from the septic the leeching field from the leeching which is up here right okay so so that should not impact your well that's what title fiber PR is the 100 foot setback so from what he's describing you would have enough room to put a new Well I obviously have to being that two owners to you know we share it well right yeah that's it happens um we're we're thinking about developing well regulations to try and address some of these issues but we don't have them yet you want me to go ask another question sure so um we knew very well um Kendrick Snider which I'm sure that you probably knew kri his daughter's right here AR and yeah exactly and so um Kendrick had had told us that he had um attempted to perk that property um we know at least two times and I was wondering in this process um it would it would appear to me that he would know not to put the close to River Road so where it would be perk and I just was wondering if anywhere in this process that you investigated in your back files that this property was perked in the past so we as part of the the process for this evening uh and the subsequent approval in 2017 that had expired um per testing and soil evaluations were conducted on the property there were four test calls du up in that southwest corner of the property up towards M Lane are you saying that's what kendri did this this was this was done for you know I'm not talking about Sal I'm talking about it was properly perked in the past so perhaps we been perking the same spots I don't know how does that work I I honestly am not sure where that other testing was done I do know that we we had done testing in the spot that we've designed the septic system that testing was witnessed by the Board of Health oh yes yeah absolutely I I totally get that yeah okay I just wanted to mention the history on that property which sometimes can be important yeah thank you it can be eliminating yes all right thank you very much any other questions or comments from the audience okay um so um and we all set board members no further questions anybody else we clear the deck um then um I think we are ready for a motion so I will move to approve the plan for Sally at um I guess I had plat 89 lot 13 on Ma home berane new construction and plan dated 5624 was 8624 8624 I think that's what I wrote I miss my head 8624 um subject to concom approval a three bedroom deed restriction a Grant a variance from the board to um the Board of Health SE system location regulation section 6B a whole harmless agreement okay and then um oh for the ad um this because this is a um you're using it for um nitrogen credit um it will meet the need to do the D four times per year testing rate so it's in accordance with the uh approval letter that's restricter than our requirement so that would Prevail so we don't need to mention that and so that's it and can I second that you ready did you okay so motion made and seconded to approve the project at um plat 89 lot 113 known as mcom um all in favor that's un thank you very much thank you appreciations thank and we'll just keep this for um this email for the file thank you very much you thank you thank you and your clients for thanks Bill thank you okay um I'm going to call the the 5:00 pm hearing I'm going to ask folks to move out to the hallway um uh this is for uh 1954 Main Road John Clemy U Len Potter representing uh this is for a four bedom repair with a Qui infiltrator quick four um system on a 14534 foot L even here4 main road we have a small lot 14534 ft a to located at the side of and located with Wells surrounding the only well I have an issue with 12 which is shown on the plan and the new system will be 76 ft the um it'll be just a little bit further than the S is now water test and water table was good the rate was good this is not a bad area for Soil and Water Table that's what we go okay um Matt no I agree with Lon this is an MFC um submitted a maximum feasible compliance waiver it should be in there for the board to review so okay questions or comments from the board I'm good I'm okay as well okay I would then entertain a motion I move that we approve the plans for 1954 Main Road owned by John Clemy dated 61824 for F four bedroom repair um um with the variance of the SAS uh to the wellbeing being 76 ft rather than 100 in the following conditions hold harmless agreement four bedroom deed restriction do we need the water testing as well yes yep three years of water testing I'll second that motion motion made and seconded to approve the project at 1954 main road with those conditions all in favor I I that's in thank you thank you Mr short and sweet [Music] thanks okay all righty um so we are turning back to other topics other business we address the 25 29.0 Road one um home burial policy I had hope to have the final um policy um for review and approval today however um a wrinkle came up uh that I'm sort of chasing down with d with regard to um home plot sort of um private plots um so it doesn't become a semetary issue per se so there's a little nuances to try and clarify um I've had so I've also had further discussions with uh dph around some of the um pathogenic disease these concerns and they um the three that they raised concerns about are so rare and would be sort of intercepted by either CDC or dph um and they would be given instructions on um uh final disposition public cremation would be required so um I I think it doesn't need to be in the policy because it's going to be addressed before um before it ever gets to that stage so um um and then all the other comments I've Incorporated so I think there's just this one outstanding issue that I'm waiting for clarification from d on um so I hope to bring it back on September our next meeting on September 9th okay um the item number three part-time Animal control officer um Matt and I attended the select board meeting and I'm going to turn over to Matt for an update sure we attended the SEL board meeting at their last meeting which was a week ago on Monday um with our proposal to um hire a part-time Animal control officer at 20 hours a week we went in with um we wanted the position to be benefited because we believe based on past experience we couldn't attract anybody because people wanted benefits they wanted sick vacation um um so we went in requested in that the select cour however um for various reasons didn't want the position or you know didn't authorize the position to be benefited so we're going to go in at 19 and 3/4 hours I believe that was what the the the ruling was um to try you know try to attract somebody at the $25 an hour rate which is the exact same rate we went on at last time but the difference is four and 3/4 hours we went out last time at 15 hours this time we're at 19 and 3/4 we we'll see I put the ad out and we'll see if um we get anybody we did get approval from the Personnel Board at the time and they were saying to us um you know for want of you know 50 cents uh you know they would be happy to increase the rate if that's what it took to hire somebody because the whole point was to fill the position um and they were agnostic ultimately on uh whether it should be benefited or not that that was up to the Town Administrator and the S board and they ruled not in our favor on that so um we'll as that said we'll just try our best and if not um and we may try to propose a higher rate um to compensate for lack of benefits um um you know if we can't fill the position it's no point having the money in our budget um then we either have to do something you know we have to think of something else so so that's where we are free access to the town nurse just uh we have one animal control officer we can do the best we can to cover the town but it's not feasible to have 24/7 coverage with one animal control officer so we'll cover as much as we can when we can and um you know just do the best we can and he is off for the next few weekends because of vacation and so on yeah so there'll be no coverage for a while on weekends so that's the update there okay board member updates um time sure um so I've had to I had a telephone meeting with olive um she services coordinator about the um opioid um settlement funds and um how we might want to proceed um to approach the select board about the board of Health's role in helping uh determine the best possible use for those funds and um I just wanted to read one um part of the um the abatement terms they have very detailed abatement terms how this money should be utilized um the state the Attorney General's office right so uh the Commonwealth and its municipalities have a shared commitment to use abatement funds recovered from the Statewide opioid settlements to supplement and strengthen resources available to Massachusetts communities and families for substance use disorder prevention harm reduction treat M and Recovery in a manner that that and they have all these bullets and I just put the first one out um reflects the input of our communities of people who have personal experiences with the opu crisis of experts in treatment and prevention and of staff and organizations that are carrying out the abatement work that hasn't happened and um and so what my proposal is and I wanted to bring it before the board anyway to discuss whether or not this is something that the board feels comfortable taking the leadership role in because it would be myself and um Olive who would be taking the bulk of the responsibility for facilitating discussions facilitating recommendations uh we don't have access to the funds we don't have um the Board of Health does not have any say as far as I'm aware of of how these funds are dispersed so part of what we want to do is take some leadership um and want the Board of Health is willing to do to make sure that these funds are used appropriately and also so we can continue to receive them because there are some things that have to be done in order to continue to receive the funds and that's not been done thus far as far as I know part of it was that they had to have a report ready um to say how we've been spending the money and to my knowledge um I don't know if that report was done tell could you just say something about the letter or the email that we received don't we who did we receive an email from about the the deadline for the report so from the state um it didn't come to me it went to the town accountant and um Linda basically we got a second notice because Linda had forwarded it to me you know saying we still haven't received you the report and they went through the whole thing and basically the town's at risk for not getting any further funds from the opioid settlement if they do not start you know the mandatory reporting requirements as outlined in in that uh in the program and I can um forward um the outline to both of you to take a look at but I mean it's pretty detailed about where they are supporting funding being used and but the first thing was reflects the input of our communities and there's been no input right um so that's one of the things that I and Olive want to do is at least do a focus group um contacting people we know that have been impacted by opioid addiction and have them come in and say what do you think where do you think this money should be utilized how would it be best utilized in the town to help people in the town um so um so anyway so that's you know uh Olive already has a five um EXC five slide um PowerPoint presentation to do to the select board which basically outlines some of this pieces of this um with the idea that we were be we want it to be public knowledge so that we want it to be presented to the select board so that anybody watching knows that this funding is available we need to make decisions about this funding so we don't lose the funding um and um say that we are willing to take some leadership around that and it's around where that money is going so I but I wanted to hear input from the two of you about what you think um I think there's been some informal discussion with the select board or some members you know um trying to move this forward and there hasn't been any action um um I don't know um whether we should pursue that one more time um to kind of say you know we're ready to help um you mean in an informal way rather than go before the select board yeah CU it you know um I don't know I'm trying to figure out strategically what what would be the most productive way to right I did forward this the uh Statewide commitment to abatement um to uh the chair of the select board um and S and mention that that there was a deadline um so we don't lose funding so I don't know what's the de what's the deadline do you know is it this it was Friday right I think so is it this Friday or was it last Friday I think it might be this Friday I'm I'm not sure because we're not involved I I don't know I mean I'm not in active communication with the Town Administrator or anybody about this because we're not involved so I don't know if it it's possible they've done something but I but if they did I wouldn't know so just just to clarify is the primary deliverable a report that lays out um you know a plan or is itos to be a report that says this is what we have spent money on I think it's both because we haven't spent any money as far as you know as far as I know but because we don't have any access but we know that there's money in an account and it's over hundred something thousand there is a the office has a has a dashboard and you can look it up um and when scheduled dispersements are for um every town um cuz I looked at a I want to say year ago was a long time ago um and it was already more than what we put in town meeting account that account um which the town voted on to move into an account right so you know we have it we has a designated account and there's money there and that's it's not to be utilized for supplementing the budget it's to be looking at these particular issues and how we can um uh how we can you know distribute the funds to benefit residents in Westport well who was the um person at town meeting who uh advocated for the um article that um created the you know the the syncing fund for this because there was someone at who spoke on behalf of it and I don't think it was someone from the treasur office was it no I think it was B I think so a town resent yeah it's a town resident and I have information about her there's when we did so back in back in May um uh Olive and I put together a presentation on the impact of opioid Addiction on individuals families and communities it was at the high school um and there were a few people there I suggested at the um presentation that they if any was was interested in helping steer the funds use that they um could sign up and so I have two names on that list and they were people who I believe work in the field um but also there were two there was one woman who spoke who had who's from Westport who worked in the Westport school system who lost her son to opiate addiction um who would be a wonderful resource to to talk about impacts on families and where that funding could go to help families um there are also a number of grandparents and I don't think people appreciate this that are taking care of their grandkids because of addiction um because they're their par the children's parents cannot take care of them because they have they're struggling with addiction so you know there are many places where um as part of in the Board of Health and looking at mental health issues that we could have an influence or an impact to steer the this money to places where people can truly benefit um and as it stands now we don't have any right well seems like we need to move this forward somehow well and so I'm I'm I I spoke um informally to Jim the Town manag Administrator um and talked about getting input from the community um and informally I mentioned it to Shauna the chair of the select board I don't think I've spoken to anyone else about it but I have and I know that you have inform formally as well so I don't know if we need to formalize it in order to get something going well I'm wondering if if um maybe we we start with a letter with an offer of a presentation about what we can do um just a letter with you know putting it on record basically formally that you know these we're concerned that the you know we want to help the town um utilize this fun these funds in a way that's helpful for the impact to members of the community um and here's our proposal rather than go before the select board well uh start there here's our proposal and we'll be happy to present it you know publicly because that the the presentation part is the is also way to get the word out there um but in terms of requesting to be on the agenda um I don't know when their next meeting is and when's an appropriate time um I what are your thoughts well yeah I mean I think that that makes sense and if we want to request you know um to be placed on the agenda to talk about it I think the worrisome thing is that we don't know or to understand what the risk is that you know we would either lose funding or um and so there's a sense of urgency from that part of it um that's all so I mean um I'm sure you write a good letter about it um is just kind of an odd situation where you kind of can't find out what's going on having talk to these you know the people who should know what's going on so um but maybe doing the letter and asking to get um to be considered to be put on the agenda you know make sense okay to me it does but it would be good to know in advance the meeting we reach out to the Attorney General's office and find out you know what's what is the what are the timelines what's the consequence um I'll look at the dashboard have you looked at the dashboard no I I'll I'll find the link the deadline was the 16th yeah so that's I just want to look it up yeah because I know that I had received that um email from you about that and um and that when I forwarded the um the commitment for the abatement to use the funds I sent it to um Sean I also said there's a deadline at at the end of this week it was last week to have to what's happening with this money so and the fear of losing it I mean just to say that I you know totally agree with you about you know the the relevance of getting Community input um and also just to say that on the other hand they given the deadline there may be things that are obvious first steps that could be implemented or should be implemented to secure the funding while you put together the process to get community input I think the the first place that we could secure it is within the school department um because part of it is they talk about mental health mental health issues that impact students that would lead them to substance use yeah and there is a captive audience there are needs within the school department and that we could initially start some funding there and get some funding going there so but um again it requires bringing bringing the entities in town together to say this is what we need yeah police and fire is an another one and and um but also people in the community that have been impacted people have lost lost their family members because of addiction because of overdoses so you know I I I just think there's a better way to handle this and I I want to take a leadership role on trying to figure out how what that is so I appreciate the suggestion of writing a letter I can talk with um Olive about writing a brief letter to the select board about what we think we can do and to meet these requirements with this attached to it so they can look at it um and certainly at looking at the dashboard at the attorney generals to see um you know what else is um um and get more guidance from them about the you know performance requirements for the town right and that's I mean that that was the one of the big things is that the you know it says Municipal reporting and it talks about receive annual abatement distributions of 35,000 or more and that the expectation is that they have to provide um reporting regular reporting and it talks about the reporting in here so so anyway I I just we're going to I don't want to lose this funding you know for the town if there's something we can do and and to push this along I don't think that I don't really think losing the funding is a real threat but I mean um because I think there' be a lot of pressure put on if it was just well you late for the report so you don't get any money anymore but I do also think so we should take be aggressive in getting it on the right people's agenda to do whatever the next logical step is so let me suggest first that why don't we I'll make a motion that we um designate Donna Emeral and Olive werki as the lead um reps from the Board of Health for addressing um this um opioid abatement program um and that we you know support or encourage the select board to um uh you know engage with the Board of Health to assist in developing a outreach program and recommended um strateg ways to um utilize the funding to best support the needs of the community second all in favor I that's unanimous and then um you know I think we you and all have can figured out what's the best way to communicate with the S board but um you know I think we're endorsing and appreciating that you're wanting to take an active role and are willing to put the time and energy and effort into um and know the context know the people who are affect or at least some um and the Professionals in the field have a lot of expertise to bring to the table which was is invaluable and the town should take advantage of it all right so that I will work on um composing a letter with olive um and including the um the abatement terms um and how we would like to help facilitate um management or or facilitate the requirements in the meeting the requirements um and you know would like to give a presentation to the select board about it as well so you know that way we can get more um information out there to the public about it okay we'll do okay and then just you know maybe run it by that or and I will I will before I before I'd send anything I would um have it um checked by the board for approval so okay um great thank you very much for um taking a leadership role in that um that hopefully will lead to um more work for you well but but in a in a field that you're passionate about and that is helpful to the town yeah and and I think that it's also a very uh it's a passionate area of concern and focus for Olive as well who has a lot of expertise in this area so AB yeah okay great thank you um anything else Donna just um is there clean up coming up day there's not going to be one in the fall okay you I think our our leader is getting we didn't I don't know that we had a big turnout for last fall but um he he was not wanting to do one this fall so but we'll have one in the spring all righty thank you um just that uh um so I reached out to was on the well RS reached out to my former colleagues at De and U on you know the question of should we pause um in you know kind of revamping our water well RS Town's water well RS and U or or just proceed and the message I got back from uh the um chief of the public water supply uh division that uh was that we should proceed that it's it's kind of new money they don't really know what they're going to do with it um and so and you know that as you know we should move ahead to protect our our private Wells so um and then you know kind of last week um Matt had given me a draft of where he was and I took the draft and kind of worked it over with a bunch of comments and additions and um I just s that back to him uh you know to look at um you know kind of focused um on the permitting process but um you know which uh has um there are just a lot of um the basic framework is there I think there is just a lot of choices that um that need to be made along you know along the way and basically I have like a half a dozen other Town regulations and the uh D guidance and I've been kind of charry picking and making some preliminary choices of you know what to do and then you know um saying in annotations you know to Matt well here's one way to go we could go this way or this is what I think about this but other people have done that and so that we can at least Matt and I can maybe get a consensus or bring back to the board if that was you know what we wanted you know the process to do or you know we could go after some informal feedback among well drillers for example who work in other communities because sometimes I look at what they say and I say how are they really making that how they how does that really work you know um so many anyway um yeah so all right so it sounds like you're yeah making progress we're focused on uh sort of we talked about the sort of some of the key things we wanted to at least get going now which was the permitting process essentially um and maybe some other areas right um so um it sounds like it's premature to trans schedule another working meeting maybe at our next meeting yeah I mean I think yeah I mean I think you know uh you know sometime you know even the latter part of September you know is probably really realistic if we really getting down to you know you know you know a discussion draft or we might come back and say here are three things that we would like to get feedback on you know should it be 500 feet or 200 feet you know kind of thing okay sounds good thank you should we do water quantity or not bother to do water quality or how do you know that kind of things some big picture things yeah okay well thank you than you for your um yeah diligence on working through that anything else that's it okay um just a couple quick things from me um I just submitted the a shorelines column I was to ask you about that morning huh I was going to ask you yeah about the um transfer station updates with the move to lot three for the bike Recycling and the um Scouts program moving down there as well um so just to alert people because there's this period of adjustment that people will have um and just reminding them about the various you know recycling stuff um so so that's taken care of for this month um um I think I didn't mentioned the last time we had talked once before about the total nitrogen testing policy about you know after the two years um Matt and I and actually Gabby sat in with um folks from um the Bonville County Septic uh database management Reporting System um to get some feedback from them and kind of guidance um and clarified a few things which was helpful um uh about when D and restrictor requirements Prevail versus ours and so on and sort of how to um track it and that they thought it was reasonable um you know if we have something along the lines if you the first two years of testing um the results on average are below 19 and could reduce it um and just by notifying the homeowner we can send a copy of that letter to bonable and they could update their records easily enough that way um we talked a little bit about a few other things they they're starting the um uh pilot of the um management entity to take care of omm you know all of that stuff for home not take care of it for but just help manage that process for homeowners because it's it's sort of a bit of a thony Thicket these days um so that was really helpful um I haven't had a chance to put penda paper on drafting that but you know for either if it's simple enough we could address it at a regular meeting um uh sometime in the future maybe by the 9th I can get something together um so that so that is still on the Horizon I have not gone back to look at the tight tank Rags I think we had a good discussion at the meeting um so I'll have to go back and tweak I know there were a couple of areas that we were going to right I made someand yeah um so we'll we'll get moving on that but I have not uh I don't have an update on that so and the whole burial I hope to have as I said um um little this little pickup will get clarified hopefully from Jonathan and um be able to finalize that um I did notify the um person who's interested in getting that established um that we're not quite there yet but he was okay um he's just trying to plan ahead so okay um that's all that I've got we don't have any and I just wanted to say um I know that um I agreed to follow up with the um the composting at the transfer station so I will also begin to work on that I know that we're doing several things down at the transfer station so so it may not happen um it may not happen this year but it's certainly something that we'll continue to look at and come up with a plan okay great thank you um do we have any topics for the next regular meeting other than our usual updates um um we will our next meeting will be September 9th we will not be meeting on Labor Day not that anybody was expecting to meet on Labor Day um so we'll just postpone that meeting a week um otherwise I think there's hearing no other business uh so I move that we adjourn this meeting at 5:37 p.m. second all in favor that's anous thank you very much everyone