##VIDEO ID:k81HryNC7PY## okay uh welcome to the October 7th 2024 meeting of the arth Board of Health it's nice to see that we're all present this for this meeting which is great uh just one piece of inform information that uh this is a hybrid meeting so there are people at home zooming in uh there are instructions on the website for people to call in or to certainly zoom in uh as for attendance is usually the first thing we do Charlie are you present uh do that's a yes Larry yes okay I'm here I'm Hillard yes present okay we're good public comment first item as us ual anyone here like to speak ask questions or anyone calling in I'm not sure I'm not sure if Christina do have someone in I'm not sure if that's public comment or not Christina hello can you hear me absolutely very clearly yeah good um yes my name is Christina DWI I'm with stop and top supermarkets I'm calling um to speak on behalf of the Plastics uh ban ordinance I believe that's later in discussions though yes it is um that's couple items down but uh hopefully you can stay on and uh join and join us absolutely thank you sure okay anyone else are there two names up there or not and Leah is the epidemiologist with the Bartel County she'll be giving a presentation later and uh probably more toward 6:00 so uh lee if you can just bear with us we have a few items that we need to get to first okay great uh so the second item is sign amended nitrogen loading restriction and easement release and Grant how's that that's a it's a mouthful and to the if the board remembers at the last meeting um you you heard from attorney Andrew singer and it was an amendment to uh for some credit land Co Enterprises on Station Avenue and they had purchased a piece of property to offset some of the nitrogen loading and you approved that unanimously at the last meeting Mr chairman what you have in front of you is the paperwork to facilitate that vote and if I could ask that the board could pass that along and there are two places there are two tabs that the Board needs to uh uh assign to execute that Amendment it's a one's a deed restriction and one is for credit land okay that get making that pretty easy tab you got two okay uh let's assume people can uh do two things at the same time I don't know but we'll give it a shot okay uh let's go to number three here it's a deed restriction and that's at 17 Church Street for a vote and what's listed here is attorney Paul tardiff I don't know if he would be here of course he would be um have a seat always nice to see you um Barry Lewis this is again another fairly fairly straightforward quick issue and it's uh it was regarding a deed a former deed restriction and it it revolves around a garbage disposal that was there Barry uh Lewis has gone out looked at this and uh Barry if you could just kind of walk the board through this uh yes sir thank you uh Jay um so it looks like they placed a deed restriction in 1997 on the home as being restricted to two bedrooms uh due to a garbage disposal uh they have uh removed the garbage disposal I did go out and witness that uh there was a tile 5 inspection recently done which failed and I went out to do a percolation test with Ecotech environmental um septic on last Thursday and they are putting in a whole new brand new system into the property a full three-bedroom system so they're just asking if they could get the uh restriction waved or uh un unrestricted so it has to come in front of us since we voted on it originally so is it to make it a three-bedroom restriction that's correct it's limited to three yes okay that is correct once the disposal was removed the capacity is there for a three-bedroom upon the if if the board were to approve there is a a waiver attorney uh tardiff has prepared a waiver for the deed restriction and that would then move through that I would sign and then submit that for uh execution sounds pretty simple you're on I have nothing to add actually you had to get dressed up for this you know I mean it's the Board of Health I always get dressed up for you so okay no we're all set I mean I that is in in a nutshell is that the the garbage grinder really was the the issue it's going to be remove it's gone it's completely 100% gone and just going to three uh three bedrooms in that property so questions thoughts about it it's kind of very unusual place it's kind of neat yeah really yeah Eric Mary Larry Charlie nothing okay any question yeah thank you um so we need to vote on this please come on someone go for for a motion anyone Grant the change the deed restriction move that we remove the two-bedroom deed restri restriction at 17 Church Street um and replace it with a three-bedroom deed restriction for title five at 17 Church Street clear as usual thank you is there second the motion second okay any further discussion see there's none all in favor raise your hand say I thank you very much and the only question I had what happened with BC uh last game did you see it the football yeah it's the uh what happened opened up really well yeah it's the it's travel it's uh something we'll just say that all right it's going to be all right okay so you may present it to us next week then okay well that's a great coach hang on to them be all said that you're bringing some quarterbacks another one yeah thank you very take care I'll get this apologize to the board that wasn't agenda but appr anyway right um okay number four here is a plastic reduction bylaw discussion uh just to bring everyone up to date a little bit last month um Health Department Jay was contacted by Mary bbon who's the presid CEO of the chamber here to discuss uh one of our bylaws and that's the plastic reduction one um and so we we met as well as one of the uh Executives from the DP really um trust and what the request was was for us to not enforce the uh bylaw and this goes back to April 2023 so I'm sure most people zooming in don't recall exactly what that is is anyone the on the board would want to read uh the bylaw that passed or just summarize it so people at home know what we're talking about I'd be happy to I'd be happy to do that Mr CH I'm I'm gonna ask the board to do that if that's okay Eric that would be the um check page because there were some edits made I'm sure you remember at the meeting so the yes start with the purpose and intent would that be or okay so bear with I mean it's it's bit lengthy but I think it be helpful because um I don't think everyone's going to know much about this so maybe start here with this bylaw okay it was Article 34 at the town meeting that uh was presented and then voted on so sure so uh this bylaw is enacted pursuant to the general polish power in order to protect the health safety and Welfare of the inhabitants of the town the Spy law shall take effect on January 1st 2025 the purpose and intent plastic food containers and single use utensils form a significant portion of the solid waste stream going into landfills local landfills are running out of room are future Solid Waste may have to be transported hundreds of miles to a landfill at considerable cost plastic food containers are not recyclable nor are they biodegradable once buried in our landfills they will persist for centuries if incinerated the toxins in plastic are linked to cancer and threaten our air quality appropriate alternative and sustainable products are readily available from the vendors used by local food establishments Cooperative bulk buying arrangements are possible thus elimination of plastic food containers and utensils is the best is in the best interest of the Health and Welfare of town inhabitants and uh under the definitions um a disposable food service container means single use disposable products for serving or transporting prepared ready to consume food this includes plates bowls trays hinged or lied containers and food utensils um food establishment means an operation that stores prepares packages serves vends or otherwise provides food for human consumption as further defined in 105 CMR 59.2 and establishment requiring a permit to operate in accordance with the state food code um shall be considered a food establishment for purposes of this bylaw they're defining plastic uh should I continue yeah um I'm tell you what you can do why don't we um skip the uh definitions one's plastic one's prepared food one's Town facility one's Town facility users so if someone's listening at home or wherever they are they can ask the question of what exactly that is that that should move it along a little bit sure so pick up at prohibition let's so the prohibition uh uh except as provided here in food establishments are prohibited from dispensing prepared food to customers in disposable food service containers and utensils made from plastic then we have a Amendment here in bold I believe public and private schools educational institutions summer camps child care facilities and other child care programs approved to participate in the USDA Child Nutrition programs are exempt and then we also have um under the prohibition Town facility users are prohibited from dispensing prepared food to customers in disposable food service containers made from plastic and providing utensils made from plastic okay so you and why don't you keep going you just finish it up so uh Administration and enforcement this bylaw is enforced by the Town Administrator or any committee appointed by them any food establishment or town facility user which violates any provision of this bylaw shall be subject to the following penalties first offense uh they would receive a written warning second offense they would be issued a $150 fine then third offense and subsequent offenses they would be issued a $300 fine any such fines collected shall be payable to the town of Yarmouth each day the violation continues constitutes a separate violation after detection of an initial violation the designated inspection Authority will be required to verify subsequent compliance until compliance with this bylaw is established all businesses will be routinely inspected until the Town Administrator deems the inspection to be no longer required keep going just finish it up sure so the uh bord selectman recommends one in favor four against and the finance committee recommended three in favor and two against um sure so um action on the standing count there was a vote held 199 in favor 67 opposed and the moderator declared the motion carried at 10:19 p.m. okay uh the reason this is involving us uh well we as a board or committee we have not been notified by the Town Administrator that we would be the one enforcing this bylaw it's I mean we would expect it would be us in that we're inspecting restaurants so uh but I haven't heard that but I would assume that would take place um so let's get some information uh just introduce yourself for the record and thanks for coming in sure um for those of you who don't know me my name is Mary vban I'm the president of the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce I appreciate that your willingness to hear from us tonight I am here with Jamie Vieira who not only is with the Davenport companies but a member of the chamber but he is also the chair of the Yarmouth Community Partnership which is a subcommittee of the board of directors so they meet monthly and they uh discuss uh things that affect positively and negatively things to our business community so um I'm going to hand the floor over to Jamie as the chairman of the Yarmouth Community Partnership thank you good evening members of the board Jamie Vieira um as you just heard back in 2023 at the town meeting this petitioned article passed as read by Mr Weston this past summer as the effective date of this bylaw approaches on January 1 2025 the chamber began an Outreach to members to get some feedback and information from Members about implementation of the bylaw and how it would impact them and how they were looking to comply and we found a couple of things of note one there were businesses that had already voluntarily begun to make what we'll call sustainable practices the reduction of plastics for Food Service containers and other aspects of their business operations in the course of just doing what is the right thing which is the reduction of the use of plastics but even those businesses were uncertain as to what was going to be allowed and what would be prohibited under the terms of the bylaw as it's drafted so there was some measure of confusion as to whether what they were doing now was even enough to comply with that bylaw and then secondly we found businesses that had done considerable looking into of Alternatives from the prohibited items and they found some problematic issues in terms of significant increased cost as as relates to Alternative products as well as some unworkable and unfeasible alternatives for some of the products that they dispense so some examples a local bagel shop operator has been struggling with the idea of while reducing Plastics across the board in some aspects of the business certain items that they dispense in small plastic containers there was no alternative plastic nonplastic container that could be utilized that didn't cost a lot of money and caused the product to spoil within a day or two where in the plastic it could last a week to 10 days they was just feared that that was going to have ramifications on the impression people had of the business that they bought something and it didn't last very long I was one small business owner take that all the way up to stoping shop that we've learned through their representatives that they have been on a systematic approach to producing Plastics throughout their store but looking at this bylaw they found that there would be significant impacts in the produce Bakery and Deli departments if they were not allowed to utilize some Plastics and it's not just using plastics for the sake of using the plastic but there's some marketing and Merchandising benefits to it that is somebody may not buy something if they can't see what it looks like but importantly some of the items that they dispense plastic it helps keep bacteria down and it helps the product last longer and if confronted with having to comply with the bylaw they will tell you there will be some items they will discontinue selling to the public because they have found no other alternative packaging Arrangement which would be a shame because not only does that impact a business but it impacts all of us as consumers who want to buy products at the grocery store so faced with these information we contemplated what could be done and ironically as we were contemplating this the petitioner the young woman who was there at town meeting that night that presented that article approached the chamber and came to us and said there was a belief that this should be Revisited that is there should be a different type of bylaw put in effect other than the one that had been ad at and Advance back in 2023 and that is the existing what I'll call all Oro plastic band should be replaced with a regulation that continues the important objective of reducing Plastics nobody's advocating for Plastics but while we look to reduce the Plastics there should be an allowance in particular circumstances to the continued use of certain items based on a demonstrated need or on due hardship and that would be following some type of demonstration of due diligence that is look I've exhausted every effort and here's why I can't do it and here's what the impact would be and that currently doesn't exist in this bylaw there is no mechanism in this bylaw for this board or a citizen who operates a business to come to this board or go to the Town Administrator and ask for some type of dispensation from it if that mechanism doesn't exist and we know there are other mechanisms that this board and other boards deal with by granting of variances and of granting of different discretionary relief which the bylaw presently doesn't allow to take place and not only were we approached by the petitioner but we've been working with the care for the Cape of the islands who is a plastic reductions advocacy group amongst other things and they informed us that they have been working with other towns on the cape to come up with a bylaw and regulatory approach that reduces Plastics but allows for the types of exemptions on a Case by case as needed demonstrated ability and they have found in other towns a willingness to proceed in that form rather than absolute ban provinc down Falmouth are two towns that are undertaking this type of approach excuse me a minute what was that organization it's called care for cape in the islands never heard of it yeah I haven't either one of their representatives is here um they can speak for what they're doing but they're basically what I'll call you know an advocacy group for the environment here on Cape Cod and they're not Advocates of plastic by any stretch but they see the benefits and the balance between curtailing Plastics but yet businesses having to have the ability to operate um and so why are we here we're here as a precursor to our next step which is to go to the select board and ask them if they would vote to consider pausing the enforcement on January 1 2025 of the existing bylaw so that in the interim a regulation can be developed in consultation with the business Community food establishments plastic reduction Advocates like care for the cape in the islands Health Department other Municipal folks to put together a bylaw that provides the protection against Plastics but the protection of a business who can demonstrate a need to continue the use in certain circumstances so what we're asking tonight is not an opinion about the bylaw but merely your ability to say yes you're in favor of that process to see it play out so we can then go to the select board and say we've come to you we've asked you to at least support the process because then you'd be an integral player in ultimately adopting a health regulation beyond what we've got here and then ultimately substitute the new one for the one that's in place so I'll stop at that point and ask any questions that anyone wants but again I want to be clear we're not plastic Advocates and we're not asking anybody to roll it back we're simply asking for your consent to try a process to take something and I'll say make it better um I have a couple of questions um how many members are in the Chamber of Commerce uh 385 and how many of them are involved with food service I would say probably over 90 and of those 90 that you surveyed how many of them had done anything at all toward looking at this bylaw and trying to so if I can say we didn't do a a survey per se it was just talking to establishments that are engaged with the chamber so I would say that we could say 25% of them we have a good um understanding of the challenge before them with this bylaw and the impact it will have on them and the others um did they know about it or did they not do any just didn't do anything about it or some are aware and I believe some have an understanding of it but they're not sure of the full extent of it I have to say in the last two weeks I've really been able to educate myself on what this bylaw will have an impact on and I'm amazed more as a consumer um when I went shopping this weekend I just when you go in the produce in the deli department I'm amazed what will not be allowed in the town of Yarmouth and if I can't see what I'm trying to purchase it's a little I'm not sure how the store would even present it to a consumer so the challenge before the business Community is um you know I think it's they're trying to figure it out how they could even meet the regulation the way it's written right now and all we're asking for is to talk to the businesses more get more educ I mean just in the last week like I said how I've educated myself and I have a lot more to learn from these businesses and to be able to really look at what this bylaw entails and then again look at what province toown and Falmouth are doing to see if there's anything we can learn from what they're doing and I think there really is my second question thank you um what kind of timeline do you propose this would take I think it would take a few months a couple of public sessions I mean we would do some of the work behind the scenes but then I think a few Board of Health meetings where you could get public input like any bylaw that you want to put together an initial review publication take public comment make amendments take feedback I'm envisioning at least two public meetings but we'll get started as soon as we get the blessing as it were from the select board to move forward with this approach they have found and got an opinion from Town Council that they have the power to withhold and suspend enforcement who day the border of selectman um because it's a discretionary function enforcement and Town Council has said that if you want to proceed in this fashion you can so we're hoping that we could get something started before the end of this year and again that's why we're here in October and not here at the end of December to make it look like it's a knee-jerk reaction to something we are actually hopeful that we can get something put in place pretty quickly and tell me again the the group that you're thinking of convening to work on this who would be represented well I think some of that what we would suggest I think ultimately it's either the Board of Health itself or a compilation of some food establishments the health director one or two members of your board um interested parties like folks from care for the Cape of the islands to put a collaborative effort together which apparently is what's happened in other towns that we've talked about fou and Province down they've convened groups they've put things together and they've got workable product for the board to then consider for adoption so you're getting input from all sources which really didn't happen as I understand it when article 34 passed in April of 23 so we have a um policy from fman there's a draft policy it's not in place yet no it's under consideration but yes it's saying that that was a result of the process that you were proposing that's correct they created I'll forget the name of it us uh the board of selectman created a committee they put members on that committee and that committee has worked through a draft of what you have before you and that's the type of process that we would like to propose to select board adopt and that's why we're here just letting you know in advance what we're going to ask them then we can get on their agenda so you're going to go to the select board and asked them to consider not enforcing the bylaw that was passed at town meeting by a majority of the people who were there and instead appoint a committee to take a look at the intent of the bylaw and how how the business community in Yarmouth can reasonably um comply with the reduction in plastic I'm not questioning the intent the intent of the bylaw is clear to reduce plastic that's what I said yeah what I'm looking to do is what I'm not looking to do what the chamber is looking to do is come up with a regulation that has as I've said before some other mechanisms in it to permit exemptions when warranted which don't currently exists now so that we can beat the goals of reducing plastic but have a fair balance for businesses and consumers who there are some things that it may not be possible to serve or dispense in an item other than something in plastic and and that's all it's an option and an availability to work and the balance so did felma draft policy come about as a result of a town meeting warrant article that was passed or how how did that I I don't know how that came about I did talk to them this is still under consideration and review and fouth this is a draft that they're still considering it's a working document and so who's going to give final approval of that it would my guess will be be the Board of Health will probably put this together this will be a Board of Health I I spoke to the Board of Health office they said it's still being reviewed so there is no implementation date it's still in a draft form nothing has been implemented so is do you know how it came about believe there was a town meeting article that empowered the board of the select board to create the committee that I talked about to move forward and this is what the committee has put together in the first instance which would then be adopted as a health regulation which you have the same power to do and so you did say that um the select board can choose not to enforce this bylaw so this question was brought to Town Council and Town Council enforcement is discretionary so that it could be held in abeyance or in any and actually quite frankly in in building and and health there's a number of different things you can you can hold you know it's discretionary to enforce and this is one of them so that it doesn't have to trigger January 1 doesn't have to trigger immediate enforcement there is a there is an Avenue in a process that this could be Revisited and as Jamie said to make it achievable and some of this is on our end as well making sure the whole goal here everyone in the conversation is to reduce plastic but it has to be achievable as well and that's what we're trying that's that's the hope and and and Falmouth and Provincetown they're struggling with this as well but making sure there is something that works in the business and but in the final goal is to making sure the environment is is protected with the reduction in plastic ultimately the town meeting by law would be replaced by a health department policy and and the and I talked to the Town Administrator on this and said if this move forward he's aware that they're they're meeting tonight if it moves forward to with your vote to the selectman with your blessing to go forward to the selectman there would probably be a repeal of that bylaw and replace it with whatever can be done so that this doesn't still sit in on as a bylaw there would be something to replace it so the select board can repeal anything that town meeting votes on I don't know that that but uh Bob written hour said that in fact we wouldn't have this still on the books you wouldn't have to what we wouldn't have this bylaw still on the books as it is written because they going to have two competing bylaws in place I do want to make you aware Stop and Shop is also that may be a voice if as long as you're aware okay I'll stop with yeah would you me that that surprises me only that these are elected officials the town votes for something that these five people board can just say no to the town even though you want to we don't want it sounds like that's what you're describing yeah I think I think it's a a replacement is it obviously would have to be but it would be what potentially what fouth and what Provincetown is struggling with as well but it would be a a a replacement of that but what he had said to me that that that wouldn't stay on the that wouldn't stay that bylaw wouldn't stay on the book so they have a competing bylaw for sure struggling understand I me it's a major change for businesses I mean an enormous one U I'm just talking about logistically that's how government works to say no to the people of the town and given the board of the the select board's recommendation one in favor four against what's to say that it won't go to the and they'll say well fine let's just not do it at all why even bother with coming up with something to replace this I I I I don't want to presuppose their vote in any way hope it could happen it could the hope for ourselves because then there's the operational piece right the the health inspector has to go out to make sure this is being done is is to come together to something that is achievable and and as Jamie had mentioned and Mary have said to reduce plastic and in alignment with the business Community protecting the consumer it is enforcable and get to get to a policy that that that we can that we can enforce and and achieves the goal that that's really that's really to to put a proc then nothing has been written yet for Yarmouth nothing has been it's just to say is there a chance we could have a process to look at this might we want to might we want to take a take a look at this because as is as it is written it will be extremely difficult as it is a a bylaw on January 1st it goes although we have the discretion of enforcement that's the the opinion of the council but to say is there something that is that more achievable and in compliance and achieves the goal so who's going to present this proposal to the select board It's Our intention to get on the agenda of the select board and present exactly what I've just presented to you with the ask of them to suspend enforcement while we were and suspended to a date certain don't leave it un open-ended but give us enough ample time to work out the process of a new regulation as I've talked about that will be the request to the select board and again if that process of putting something together fails and clock strikes midnight then the BW goes into effect by way of enforcement we're not asking for this to be open-ended forever like I said I don't think it's going to take very long think there would be a way to do this in a stepbystep way rather than across the board um approach being that it's such a drastic change in what's being done now well some of that L that's a very good question incrementally could this be done is there room for as Jamie and Mary said variances if if there are obstacles that and difficulty and they're not just Financial quite frankly they're some of them are public health and and consumer safety issues if if that can be presented in as it's written now there is no room room for variances it's either it's all or nothing right now and and that that's difficult and who originally designed this bylaw who put it together it was a petitioned article um I mean was it an advoc advocacy group that we could listen to that have have good supportive evidence to this we we did we did actually have the the um director of that agency at the town meeting no come to the Board of Health she she came to the board of health because Haley the young woman who presented the article did come to the Board of Health and talked to us about it and we did ask what you're asking now you know because she was you know she she was knowledgeable but she didn't have the depth and the background and the expertise that the director had um who has a a PhD this wasn't aside from the presentation on the plastic bottles that we heard no this is this was a separate yeah so we did hear from her um and did she present that to the select do you know I don't know Haley is here pardon Haley is here maybe you want to come up H would it be worthwhile her that okay offering her maybe you can do it right there you mind hi I was the petitioner of the original um bylaw and I've been working with the Chamber of Commerce um I believe that it would be a good idea to make this change to cuse the enforcement of the bylaw and change it to rules and regulations what we've been talking about tonight um at the time when we drafted the bylaw I think we had really good intentions and I think everyone agreed we want to get less plastic single-use plastic products in the restaurant industry but right now I don't think if this bylaw was to go into effect um I don't think the restaurant industry is quite ready I think it would hurt businesses which is why I think um this new approach would be best I I would love to see that um um the director of the agency to be able to give that presentation to the select board because I think it is very compelling very persuasive but I can't make that decis yeah sorry I I was in the group um when we petitioned this article and through that whole process but I'm no longer in the group sustainable practices and I don't think that they're currently uh the plan was to try to get this byla to pass in every single town it's a big goal but I don't think that they're currently doing anything with the B anymore so I don't know but I'm happy to reach out to her and see yeah thank you Haley may I say something course know you're talking about reducing plastic there's something you want to keep in the back of your mind how many people in this room have a car okay how many people in this room change their oil you know not your own oil but you have it done okay all right oil comes in plastic bottles one quart one gallon antifreezer the same an amazing amount of plastic in the automotive industry trying to figure out what we can do with that that's next just something to keep in the back of your mind because you know just these little food containers when you see some of the Plastics five gallon buckets of gear oil plastic buckets you know I've got probably five or six of them in the garage stuff like this I've been in an automotive business for 59 years all right so I've seen the change some of these companies I've talked to not that I'm really working that hard lately but I come up with gear oil and cardboard boxes some of these guys are trying to switch to cardboard you know so you know I don't know how much of a change it's going to be in how soon but you know just keeping the back you think of you think the food department has plastic it's amazing what's in the automotive and then how many people own a new car how much of that car is plastic you know you you think about that sometime you go see a scrapyard and you know how much of that plastic is you know it's an amazing amount of plastic that this country uses and if you really want to get fired up about it you got to start up there with these people that build the cars the people that support the cars you know all that stuff you know filters down here we are you talk about little food containers I'm talking about some big stuff I mean big stuff so you know I've been working on trucks all my life so anyway just something to think about you know it's just it's amazing so I don't know if I interrupted the program or not but anyway apologize thank you what we here for St does she want I don't know any questions what I don't know yeah it's chrisen isn't it Christina Christina Christina yeah I thought so was there there you are there she yeah there she is okay you're back can you hear us or hopefully you're listening he's muted yeah it looks that waya we can you hear me now yes great sorry it took me a second to get off a mute um yeah just just to introduce myself quickly um my name's Christina DWI um I've been with Stop and Shop for about 28 years now I actually started my profession with them in the Environmental Compliance Arena um so I grew up with a lot of this um I helped pilot Organics recycling at our first store in Mash Massachusetts um so I I can tell you that Stop and Shop um as part of our sustainability platform is definitely going for recycling right we want to reduce Plastics we want to reduce food waste all of these things um but when when we when we did took a take a look at this bylaw as it um bands Plastics one through seven we did see that there would be a tremendous impact to our business and not just to our business but to our customers um and some of this was already brought up but just for an example um in our prepared foods Department in Delhi if we had had to be compliant as of January 1 we would probably have to not sell 25% of our package Goods in prepared foods because we don't have alternative containers we can't get them um um additionally obviously some of the packaging that we carry whether it's you know cut fruit think of all the cut fruit options we offer um platters deli platters um a lot of the reasons we have the packaging the way it is is for the quality of the food which you heard about at the bagel shop as well as food safety so there are some safety reasons and then the Integrity of the product some products you can't put into say a cardboard container it won't work um um for that particular product so um we are for just a pause right um obviously we want to reduce Plastics I think like everyone else does um and I've offered my time um to help be a part of that committee from the business standpoint um if we do pause and create a committee to help support that uh because again we have lofty sustainability goals and and and this is part of it we also work um a lot with our suppliers we go back to the suppliers and say hey how can you give this to us in a better a better package whether it's no plastic at all or say it's um increased percent recyclable plastic so we're always trying to look for different and better ways to support the environment um but again I think this is this is going to impact a lot of businesses and I think quite honestly it's going to impact the smaller businesses probably even more than um say someone like us um a larger business that we have stores in multiple towns so thank you oh thanks for go thanks than you yeah thank you it's interesting the number of votes here um there's fewer there's fewer votes here than there are numbers of folks in the Chamber of Commerce um I just thought that was interesting so need to go to town meeting people need to go to town meeting I understand I agree that's what happens that was a unusual set of circumstances that night um I think part of I don't want to speak for everybody here but part of my concern I guess as a board member is with regard to predent right I think that's been a discussion here here choosing what to enforce and not enforce this wasn't our petition um it was voted on by people in the town I certainly understand the need for some plastic food containers that bought lettuce this week lettuce will not stay fresh in a in a cardboard container you know it needs to build up humidity around the leaves of lettuce in order to keep them fresh there's probably not a viable alternative that exists um I think a an approach that requires a board to look at variances is problematic to say the least and not um conducive to running a business at all in other words if we pick and choose what items are acceptable and what items are not I just think that could be very confusing I mean think about think about the sale of flavored tobacco and all the issues we've had with non-compliance because of the Ever Changing market and the the product offerings so I think it it seems to me like a a targeted approach that maybe increases incrementally maybe more feasible than a than a straight ban but you know I think my my concern was just with regard to to precedent picking and choosing what we feel is um what we feel we want to enforce that was my concern is what precedent would that set that sounds on target the um f draft um is is very compr to me it reads very comprehensive so it's also very complicated yeah very very doesn't seem easy to follow for for it also leaves um as Eric alluded to the um open option for variances and that's I think could get pretty complicated so I felt like that's a long way from uh being completed yeah certainly listing variances is generally that's not what our regulations have I mean there a lot of variances if you're starting off with that my opinion is that won't work of the way that's written just a long list of variances and why would the business all apply for variances Health Department certainly doesn't have the time to to deal with that so I'm just the point is about how that was written and found um it seems to make more sense to write something that really um it would reduce the number of requests for variances that's what happens for this board of what we see it's an unusual thing but people do come forward and need a variance whether it's you know could be a swimming pool it could be a septic system but generally Things are Written people follow them they don't need variances um and that adds the complexity of what was written there in that draft Mr chairman to be clear we're not asking this board tonight to weigh in on that bylaw that's their draft we just put it as an example of a community looking to do something that has some Alternatives in it whereas what we've now in Yarmouth doesn't the work in progress so no one's advocating for the wholesale adoption carbon copy of what you have there it's a pretty good start gives you an opportunity to find what might work find out might might might not work and that's what this group that would help put it together would Endeavor to accomplish but we can't do that without the select boards blessing as it were and we thought it was appropriate to come here first and let you know what we were thinking thinking of and see if we could get your support for this process as well so we can put this together in a way that benefits environment and the community and if if that that all happens I mean is the health department the Board of Health prepared to shepher this process create a group sure well I would I certainly thank you for the question I I think I would talk to the Town Administrator making sure that we are going to we're going to write points on this we would I certainly would hope I would be able to participate for the from the enforcement piece of that but also uh I think we would be an active participant my my guess is logically we would be the enforcement agency the arm that would although it's to the Town Administrator but he would he would ask that he would require that the health department be the enforcement arm of this and to your question as far as how we would put the policy together sure I we would I think we would be a play a critical role keeping the board involved maybe Jamie had several presentations here getting uh best thinking from other municipalities from the business Community perhaps some consumers might weigh in um a thoughtful process deliberative process that nothing against it but we didn't weigh in at all on this bylaw this public this this petition we had no input whatsoever um it's it would be problematic on our side to enforce I think we still can achieve the goal without compromising the intent that would be my hope to your question I I'd gladly participate certainly this is not going to take a couple of months I we know from experience of changes tobacco which uh restrictions age or flavored um we spent months just on that in wanting to listen to the uh businesses the community there something as narrow as that um so I can tell you this would and that was just us that was just the Board of Health and the public and the store owners so just to be aware of that this is going to take a long time to put it together it's essential it's important I'm not I'm just to let you know that um think my mainly my issue this is enormous thing that for businesses to take on absolutely the issue for the Board of Health from my standpoint of view is what's our mission and that is protect and to improve the health of the residents and people visiting here uh and the environment so it's more of a technical thing in that um to not enforce a bulaw that's reducing plastic isn't consistent with that the and so that's really more how government works I mean we're here we're volunteering and that's about all we're doing you know it's what we start with um when you know my concern is when I bump into someone stoping shop and they asking well I voted for this the town voted for this who are you to not enforce it much try would have an answer other than saying um this wasn't put together particularly well um we didn't as a board we didn't um the town happened to vote for it was just how this thing was handled this goes back to was either April or May whenever the town meeting was of uh 2023 um and I would understand if the select board certainly would put a hold on it you know um that should be a problem I mean if you're telling me you know Town Council could said well they could do that well that's pretty straightforward so my issue is not enforcing it really doesn't align with what our mission is our mission is to reduce plastic as simple as this sounds that's really what it comes down to um things would have turned out very differently if this board um had started this campaign and had written it and had time to educate businesses about it um so we didn't know much about it either and I'm mindful of that seems like predicament enforcement health and all that we're not asking for you to be the board that stops the enforcement of it that sits with the select board all we're asking for is a support of a process to take something and make it better that's the objective here and and I don't think that that runs in conflict with what your board is entrusted to do because ultimately we're striving for health and safety of the community and the folks that are in it which includes the businesses I I would think that what we're asking would be consistent with that not a direct assault on it because we're not asking for that tonight before I ever put any of this into action if I was going to vote on this I would have to go out or have to talk to somebody who's gone out talk to some of these businesses all right to find out how much of an inconvenience or maybe an impossibility it's going to be before I decide well you can't do this and you can't do that and we say this and it's a that's I want to find out how much damage we're going to do to the to stopping shop or it's the guy that owns the restaurant you know I don't want to I don't want to vote on a law that I have no clue how the action is going to be on other people well Mary said she spoken to that's that's going to be damaging as hell somehow we got to go out and find out like the lady said you know you we talk to 90 people you know I want to you do that come back I want to talk to you before I vote on this you bet your butt you know because if we're going if we're going after plastic okay I understand that that is an article it's has to change it has to change but before I'm going to change it before I'm going to say this is what's going to happen I got to know I got to know what to what to damage is going to be if there's going out there when I do it I don't want to invent a law that all of a sudden turns you know he sh shuts down five restaurants and stopage Shop just because I don't like the way they're doing business you know that's that don't work for me this is this we're talking about something big here and once it stops you know it's like a lot of laws once it starts it don't there's no stopping you know so maybe we do a little this time and maybe next year a little bit more but I don't want to see somebody go out of business or some big reaction because of something I decided that I Don't Know Jack about I just want to understand the the process again if you could walk me through it you're you're looking for essentially us to voice support of non enforcement or the temporary suspens suspension of enforcement is that correct correct with the the additional request that support would include working in this collaborative fashion as I talked about to come up with a bylaw as we've talked about a substitute so it would be not just a vote of support for suspension period and stop but a vote of support to suspend while an effort is undertaken to come up with a bylaw that has more workable and fair parameters while meeting the objective of reducing Plastics so that's what I'm asking right the current bylaw cannot be Rewritten because it's already been voted upon that that's correct correct but the select board can just do away with it right but yeah or they could choose to pick out one major item to act upon and said no we tell the Board of Health we'd like you to enforce X and that's it or whatever something that would have some effect perhaps to not be a problem that's that's the sort of approach that I was thinking would make more sense right and if the if we all have the same goal of reducing single-use plastic in mind can it start and be implemented incrementally a targeted approach what's the what's the number one single-use plastic container that ends up that's most widely used that has I realize it's not up to us at this point to to come up with this right but if the if the research is done a targeted approach seems to me like it would be much more effective yeah this certainly has been done I mean I don't let me ask you a question I'm not sure you know the answer I'm going to put you on the spot um for an article to be present at a town meeting I mean does the select Board review anything in other words of what an article would be in other words this has been done at other time we're talking about a big country here we talk about it out of this country where uh this action has been taken they have regulations that assume some of them must work they may be much more restrictive than how it's written here but does anyone screen that because the the homework was done somewhere else we've done that we when we've made decisions to look at towns just here in Massachusetts done all the homework yeah I'm not familiar with the process for a for Citizens petition Haley what what did it take to do the haly to do the citizens position um well there aren't there isn't any bylaw quite like this in other towns not that I've seen when we were drafting this at least there's food ordinances to ban single use plastic um for indoor dining out in California that have been really success uccessful we kind of modeled this a little bit after the bottle ban uh that we did the single use plastic water bottle band that's in nine towns throughout Cape Cod but also if the select board chose just going back to what Eric Weston was saying about like is there something we could enforce from this number five plastic is like one of the most common plastic takeout containers from the research I've done it's not recyclable so maybe we could consider keeping that band I don't know but yeah I don't I can do more research on it I don't currently know of any bands exactly like this one anywhere else in the country but the process that you went through to get the article on the warrant I met with the select board committee and presented it to them and I got signatures you know from town people but we just kind of did independent research you know it was like two years ago three years ago now so I'm I'm um you know I don't want an All or Nothing decision here me I'm I'm certainly open to the idea of um presenting having um the cham present to the select board um the idea that um the article as written is not realistic at this point in time entirely entirely real realistic um and that you know the group is the chamber is proposing um a an effort to get together a group of people representative people um likeminded in terms of the reduction of plastic in our environment and come up with um a policy if you will that would be enforcable that could be incremental I mean that's certainly an option could be incremental it could be in incremental and also um it could be in time wise as well as in terms of product wise um and not not being able to foresee in the future what what is going to be developed that might might come around that you take the place of some of these things that right now we can't replace um I just you know again it's just going to I think like Hillard said it's it's going to take time it's going to be a big undertaking and I I really still am concerned about the communication to the community that that article that they voted on or bylaw rather that they voted on is not going to be enforced as voted on I personally think the people that voted for the bylaw will understand that if the intent is the reduction of plastic it needs to be realistic and reasonable for the people that are being asked to adhere to it I mean I I don't I don't think people the care about the environment are unrealistic in terms of you know what it's going to take and how long it might take as long as they see the effort being made and the progress and the intent is there so um I would not be averse to recommending to the select board that they entertain the proposal as long as it is suspending the the enforcement of the article only until replacement um a viable replacement that has community and business um involvement can be put into place yeah I agree 100% with you I just think there needs to be some time limits on this I mean you're talking about educating the public all the businesses need to know about this and there simple as the tobacco was it it really was a major deal um and so the public probably was wasn't educated the businesses were not um I'm not sure all the experts were tapped into of how how to write this how to write a bylaw like this uh there's a plenty of knowledge out there all this country is trying to do something about it um so it's an immense undertaking um I agree with what you say but somehow needs to be some time this could take five years well it can something's got to be done long before that June 2025 okay enforcement of whatever policy comes up it's agreeable and I I assume that I I don't I would assume the select board would want to see whatever policy is being proposed no question that they would be an intergral part the of what we're doing as well and I agree with you we need a we need a a time limit it cannot be an open-ended process maybe it gets extended if we're working diligently I'm hoping it doesn't take that long but I see your point that it could but I think it's worth the effort to try to get it done for all the reasons we've explained one way is yeah one step at a time pick some things that are easier that a lot of people use I think it's really important to get the the Insight from the the business owners the restaurant industry the the grocery stores I mean they know their products much better than we do right I mean some of them have been working on looking for Alternatives and reducing yeah Mr chair there is a hand up on the oh oh great okay yes Christina we can hear you I hope soon no she's muted again yeah I think I see red there with she got her hand up it always takes me longer than I think to un M myself um yeah I was just going to say Obviously Stop and Shop operates in in probably over 90 towns within you know the state of Massachusetts so I certainly would love to work with the Chamber of Commerce and and other constituents in the town we could even look at some of those other regulations that other towns have enacted and obviously we have familiarity with them from a packaging standpoint and how it impacts us um and potentially how it would impact smaller businesses so I mean I totally agree this should be a phase in um we can start with the lwh hanging fruit that obviously I can tell you you know our our packaging people can tell you this container we have a replacement for this one we don't so anything we we would have a a replacement for why wouldn't we try to do that right um so I'd certainly love to help um you know kind of produce or you know put together something that would work for for everyone in town it' be nice if the low hanging fruit doesn't wait until June that's all so it's something that's very easy I I don't think it would have to especially if we have other examples that we can refer to um I I don't think it would have to that's great uh well Mary and I express ourselves U I think in in the uh we're all in agreement that of the spirit of this bylaw right I think at a minimum though we should list the items that that are involved and have an alternative I think it's incumbent on all of us to come up with an alternative to the Plastics that we're Banning so that it isn't as Charlie alluded to it's not a major hardship for these businesses I think it's important that we make that effort that's what this group would do there people right there that are going to do that if I'm not mistaken so each item we just have an alternative and it's spelled out and it's clear and it would make enforcement much simpler and there will be articles for or products for which there are not acceptable Alternatives right now and if we don't have an acceptable alternative then we can't make an incumbent on these businesses to right implement the the law the BW how long would it take you to basically get together with whoever find out how much this is going to be of a change to some of these people we've started some of that Intel now as I indicated before and I mean like I said before there's a lot of businesses that are already voluntarily moving towards these types of practices it's just they've come up to this hard stop of where an absolute ban with no way to maneuver around it is going to be problematic so we've we've started the Outreach over the summer we're going to continue that Outreach and we're going to continue to just try to work on something that beats two goals at the same could you get a list of Articles like and show up at a meeting and tell us I'm sure in the course of putting something together we're going to learn a lot about what products there are feasible Al and which products there aren't feasible Alternatives and again we're happy to compile as much information as we can yeah that would that would help a lot one simple thing I mean I was at a meeting in Boston today where uh taking food out uh you had to ask for something in other words utensils aren't all out there thrown in bags you know all plastic you had to ask for something uh this place had alternative straws actually which was kind of neat straws are a good example look at McDonald's straws they went to the paper straws you've all seen them and they worked fine as an alternative to the plastic St okay so that's something simple I don't know how you know that gets implemented I don't know um just simple concept of having to ask for something that you may not need whether it's a stir for the coffee that maybe you don't need it um I think think Stop and Shop came up with a novel idea of charging a nickel or a dime for a bag dime for bag makes us remember our bags that we have in a vehicle bring them in that 10 cents just helps us remind us to do that it's a simple situation now way other countries did that 40 years ago that's how far behind we are but we need to start it's true don't bother talking about 40 years ago because it's 40 years ago it ain't going so have we accomplish something that will help you I believe so I just we will ask to get on the select board's agenda I think it would be a fair representation to come and say to them that we came to you this evening we presented this and I will characterize it if you agree that it was received favorably provided that there is a time limit on any enforcement delay and there's due diligence in putting something together with a collaborative effort that includes all the folks that I talked about earlier which include the health department Etc uh you know the same way you came with some notes I mean it' be nice if the board receive something that what you're presenting you know what the points you're making that may be relevant they'll never be able to read my handwriting trust me I mean the issue of time limits for instance I I certainly want to make sure by chance if I'm at a meeting and not listening in or whatever it would be nice to know what's being presented I mean it's going to involve us in a in a significant way as a board and more so even for for you as the health department it's a I mean you don't have a lot of Staff this is an enormous undertaking most likely it is the heart health department the length of the ask in some respects going to be governed by their decision making process of how long they're comfortable with that and then I will have a conversation with Jay between now and then as to a realistic timetable to put something together I still think months is attainable but that's just me um but we'll work on something that's realistic I advice you someone's going to lead it okay you're going to need someone who's uh has the time to to do that it's an immense undertaking and so think about how to get this done you need someone to lead it so it's my that's why we're here that's all understood uh just as as an aside um when I looked into this um issue I was totally unaware of the biodegradable utensils and I just Googled it and came up with six pages of alternative disposable utensils so it's very duable yeah there are compostable ones there's bamboo ones I mean they're ones that are being used already I was unaware of them but but they could also be very expensive and that's a consideration you have I'm sure some of are more expensive than others but I bet you there's an alternative that would be acceptable anything else no I think thank you for taking the time thank you very much for hearing us tonight we really appreciate it and hopefully we'll have h a better product to present to you in the near future thank you I it's great you come in I mean it's a big big issue I think there might have been a hand up in in the back have somebody hi my name is Adam I'm with care for the cap and Islands uh the group that's helping Steward this the microphone please thank you thank you sir um quick a summary we've been around for 13 years we preserve and protect our historical cultural and environmental Treasures of the community so it's not just an environmental focus and when it comes to bands our position on bands is we have no position we're here to facilitate this conversation in support the various constituents that are impacted by whatever the issue this issue being single use PL plastic and then take a collaborative approach to finding pragmatic solutions that meet the intent of the citizenship in these regulations while ensuring that they are practical and they can be implemented so to your question about um you know Finding information and data subject matter experts we've received a three-year Grant we're on year one and a half through uh Noah and C Grant National and we have been working with whoie Grant to implement the reduction of single use plastic in Hospitality so identifying the barriers identifying uh Alternatives providing access to resources such as meeting with vendors to say this is your supplier or oh there is a cost issue this is a nonprofit that subsidizes this is a Federal Grant or state grant that can help a business make those changes so to that point it's not all on the chamber it's not on all the health department it's not on the board it's this National and community-driven focus that is leveraging all of these expertise to then become hyper local and find out what works for us in the briefest of histories the found withth plastic advisory committee was put together when a similar um petition came forth did not move through town for approval approval but then was decided that this is something we need to address and that uh committee was made up of a representative from the Board of Health she chaired that committee the health agent was involved the original petitioner of that um that initial band was involved owner of seafood Sams owner of grab Ando marketplaces all the constituents that are impacted or involved in that conversation to then say how can we work together to find something that works so um this isn't on Yarmouth alone there is a coalition and this part is part of a National Coalition program so we're learning from people who have been doing this for decades um and bringing those resources and that expertise to become accessible to the business owner in the community because you can't spend time on Google figuring everything out you can't have every conversation with every business owner that is Care's role that's what I've been doing for the last year and a half reaching out to businesses conducting surveys having one-on ones uh we're really fortunate uh that have just offered Haley a position with our organization so she can take a full-time role in advocating for this with the Professional Resources behind that um but just wanted to make our ourselves known and a little bit more aware of our role we are uh we don't know how to do everything we simply try to know everyone and then work together to put the people in the room to have positive changes for our community thank you thank you thank you good work great okay Move Along on the agenda then excellent thank you very much thank you for your time Mr chairman if I could there there's two very brief uh there individuals that are on the the um school nurse Christian dwire and Leah Hammer if um the other the next issue is going to be a little bit lengthy they have some brief Christian dwire if we could bring her up and she's going to go school vaccinations she'd like to inform the board on what that is absolutely do you mind sure so that's number seven everyone that's where we're going right now Christian you with us do they bring up yeah sure could could we let in uh Christian dwire into the meeting yeah I'm I'm still on I I was just representing Plastics Kristen another Kristen no Kristen oh okay hi there you go you don't you don't want to talk about vaccines do you okay no that's not my area thank you all I appreciate your time thank you thanks thanks for sticking with us here I appreciate it Christian um so I I spoke with Jay earlier I'm Christen DWI I'm the director of he services for Den sh Regional School District um and I was asked to just present a little bit about what we do um in denn charmouth for um vaccine compliance um so basically I know last year Dr Smith the superintendent also gave J an update um So currently the 23 24 school year is the numbers that I have and those are available on the princi um Department of Public Health Website I'm not going to go over every single percentage for like daap polio MMR um vericella those are all our vaccines that we are required to for entering school um but I can speak to the fact and and obviously this is a new school year it's 2024 2025 and our vaccination rates evolve throughout the um year as we pick up students who come in and students that unenroll so it's constantly changing Ean flow currently on average we probably run around anywhere from 91 to 98% dep of vaccine compliance that also includes students that are exempt that for medical or religious so we require a lot of for um religious exemption and medical exemption from The Physician and then students that are either not vaccinated or undervaccinated does it mean that they don't have undervaccinated means they could be missing one of a series um we do work with families and refer them out so our process in the beginning of the year is um when our students enroll we kind of go through our we scrub our list we go through we establish who has what vaccines and who doesn't we are part of misis which is the Massachusetts immunization um reporting system which is great um unfortunately it doesn't capture any students that are have received vaccines outside of Massachusetts um once we go through that list then we send out letters to families um let and give them resources um uh such as brille County um Health Department um VNA runs clinics for vaccines um and then then make it dizzy um and then um we also try and hook um our uh students and families up with primary care um Physicians to get them supported that way as well for continuing ongoing vaccines um our vaccine immunization report we report on kindergarten which is our three schools because Ezra Baker Mees and SAE all have kindergarten then we report again in seventh grade and then we capture again in 12th grade even though we report on those we we still go through our entire K through 12 students um and try and capture all of their vaccines and what they're missing or what they're under IM immunized on and that's an ongoing process even throughout the year so even though we've called given a letter called we still continue to follow that up throughout the year I'm not sure if anyone has any questions board members thank you um yeah I I have a couple I think the um I mean certainly there's a you know a large movement uh of I guess vaccination hesitancy I mean that's come about from covid so you're up against a lot more I think than you used to um what do you do with the student who who doesn't have an exemption is just refusing to get vaccinated or the parent is refusing or the caraker is refusing the student from getting a vaccination well we continue to work with them educate them on the importance of vaccinations and and continue to refer them to either their primary care position or um bille County house or BNA if they have any questions or concerns they need like a vaccine information SE sheet a v which helps support or answer any questions that we may not be able to answer um you know there is vaccine hesitancy that did come about from the covid-19 um pandemic um it is not a covid-19 vaccine is not a required vaccine um neither is the flu vaccine um so we just continue to work with our families so that they understand and recognize um and say if we were to have say a Barella outbreak chickenpox then we would have to um you know we would have to look at everyone in that classroom contact trace and determine who was vaccinated not vaccinated and we would have to go from there so it does benefit everyone um her immunity um usually reached around 95% somewhere around there to kind of prevent something like that happening um not onone wood we have not had any or experienced any problems um with polio um MMR Barella or any of the vaccines um we continue to work with our families in education and ultimately you know most families do um support um the vaccine movement and the majority of our kiddos are vaccinated um percentage wise what are the options for families that don't have the money uh you know for the student get a vaccination or for I guess the work we we financially we do not um but you know barille County Health Department um runs programs and we are also going to be collaborating with um Baro County Health Department um later on in the year we're trying to work and set up for students that don't have vaccines or are missing or under immunized then we will provide that at the school level um that way not younger kids probably around fifth grade so that the parents don't have to be there but we provide it in school that way if there was a lack of trans ation um or financial hardship then it would be available to them but that's something we're working on so how do you handle the religious exemptions I mean I'm not aware of any religions that prohibit uh vaccinations so how do you handle that yeah under Massachusetts um Department of Public Health Mass law for our department of education and secondary education um it is that you can have a religious exemption um whether you know you or I believe whether or not a vaccine should be religiously exempt that's not for me to say but as long as they have the documentation and they write a letter saying that they disagree with vaccination um due to their religious beliefs then they submit it and we accept it our religious exempt we're really it's very low our medical and religious exemptions are you know anywhere from 1 to 3% it's not overall you know population we have almost 3,200 kids so what's 1% of 300 kids it's very small amount who are met the justly exempt and most medical professionals um usually do not exempt unless they absolutely have to because the benefits of a vaccine um especially if you um are sick or have imun compromis can be um beneficial okay thank you that's really informative I appre appreciate that Jay you going to say something no I just make sure the other person we have are we all set with yeah yeah thank you thank you that was great I so appreciate it thank you bye yeah Leah Leah Hammer is the epidemiologist and and she has an update and I so appreciate Leah you you staying with us since the beginning of the meeting oh my goodness thank you H we'll send you something I don't know why J take care that yeah no le there can you'all hear me Leah thanks thanks a million for your patience um but I think the board is going to be impressed I heard this at a uh I was at a barnable County meeting uh end of last week and Leah gave a presentation and I I was profoundly impressed and I thought it's something that the board should hear so Le I'm just going to turn it over to you and uh you've been a great addition and a great hire for uh barille County so I'll let you give the presentation thank you kindly for the kind words um is it possible to screen share so that I can Orient you to this website that I've [Music] created awesome so is that it there hello again hopefully y'all can hear me we can hear you all right let's it says host disabled participants screen sharing is there a way to I know I don't you know what we have up we have your September 26th epidemiology summary what you walked through at the meeting uh last week covid-19 it was a respiratory acute respiratory update I I don't have and I believe you just went live today with that yeah just I believe you can see my screen now which is wonderful thank you so much to tech support I appreciate apprciate you um so yes this is our County web page at the Department of Health and environment you'll see actually right here in featured Pages acute respiratory illness update and this is a page that I maintain and it does an overarching summary of the covid-19 influenza and RSV Trends in the cap and Islands so looking at Barnesville County Dukes County and ncka County so I'm looking at the whole region as well as the Statewide transmission Trends so I have bolded a couple of the key points but you can of course read more information about how as of this past week's data we have stable moderate levels of transmission in the state and cap and Islands region it does look like it might be coming down after a summer Surge and as we wait to basically Gear Up for the winter respiratory season uh also distinguishing kind of transmission versus severity because one of the goals of uh Public Health response to a pandemic is to reduce if we can't altogether stop transmission is to reduce the severity of disease and thankfully that has been the series of years that we've had in the past few years is that covid severity has been mitigated in a lot of ways um from vaccination but also repeat infections has created uh immune response in populations so severity is at low and Baseline levels and nationally Wastewater levels uh as well as activity levels are moderate but nationally infections look like they're declining and then I have a couple key links here um influenza I also pull out specifically there is a situation we are all paying very close attention to when it comes to influenza which is h5n1 bird flu this is highly pathogenic Aven influenza um it doesn't readily infect humans uh and there have only been 17 human cases in the United States since 2022 um this is a strain of bird flu that's actually been around since the 90s um so it's not a novel flu the concern is though is that whether it could mutate to be more transmissible between humans that has not happened to date however what has been new is that there have been dairy cows sick dairy cows infected with H5 And1 bird flu these wild birds will gather around feeding bins where dairy cows are held and the dairy cows are getting infected and then those dairy cows are infecting Dairy Farm Workers so this is just an overview of what is happening with those Trends I pay CL close attention to it but overall the risk to the general public Still Remains low at this point in time however if you want to follow along I keep this updated RSV is a pretty negligible threat right now uh levels are showing actually 0% detections in emergency department visits or hospitalizations which is great and then some links to our respiratory guidance well the state's respiratory guidance and the cdc's and then I actually have called out a couple other Trends just for you to follow along if you ever want to know kind of what it's looking like in the state um yes this has been updated this morning I pulled the data together and kind of compare week to week what's happening so we've got some decreasing activity in covid-19 cases in Wastewater which is great and then pretty much stay able low levels for the other respiratory conditions Co severity as well as influenza activity and then if you scroll even further down these are actually the state dashboards directly embedded into our website so cannot take credit for this work this is fabulous work and this is actually the second iteration of this dashboard from the state um and this is really tracking week to week disease Trends uh and so this is syndromic surveillance data which is actually taking data from emergency departments it's the closest thing we have to actually real time Public Health Data and so emergency department visits when you go to the emergency department that data is reported at the state to the state within 24 to 72 hours um deidentified and so that information though might not be fully complete at the time that it is first sent to the state so it can backfill because a lot of healthare agencies have like a whole separate billing department or coding department where they assign extra um tags to each record and so that's what this green bar is doing it's taking past data knowing that this is the data we have from the freshest most recently available data so this is through September 28th and it is using past data completeness Trends to fill in where we think that that is going to lie when we have fully complete data later on so the green bar is called the nowcast it's not forecasting into the future it's actually now casting what we think the data will look like when it is fully complete scrolling down um this is another dashboard from the state that is set to show geography which we all um want to know kind of what's happening in our backyard but this has several places that you can toggle to see what you want to see so first of all you can choose to see General acute respiratory disease and this is a pretty big category this is including pneumonias and any sort of acute respiratory infection you can present to the emergency department for so much bigger numbers you're going to see 99.3% 14% And 20% from barns to dukes and Nantucket counties but when I change this to a specific virus that I want to look for say it's co that percentage drops precipitously and so you can see kind of different diseases and how they're impacting our emergency departments so here barille County's two hospitals 1.2% of those emergency departments were covid related or had covid components um they might have been incidentally tested for covid or they might have had some sort of um they might have been seen specifically for their covid infection and then Martha's Vineyard Dukes County and Nantucket County you can also toggle between emergency department visits and Hospital admissions and so if you wanted to see see the more severe illness this is how you would do that um Nantucket has a higher burden of Hospital admissions with covid-19 um in the hospital admission record than the other counties the other counties this is still low Baseline levels this would be a more moderate level and and you can go back in time if you would like to if you would like to see how these disease Trends have changed so that shows this is a week back from the last picture I showed you so 5.9% before and 12% now is showing something of a difference but know that these are preliminary data and so these are very helpful but I follow these closely week to week to week to week to see how things are changing before communicating trends that I then summarize further up the page there's also other pieces of this dashboard you can click around depending on your interest and level of Engagement these kind of Mark where the thresholds are um and also feel free to point and drag and move your cursor around you're going to get popups that actually provide additional information as you do that um Trends the season versus patient demographic characteristics you can see how different age groups have been impacted uh as well as and so this is for covid so the highest group that's impacted has been residents age 80 or older and that is pretty consistent throughout covid for emergency departments and so we can also switch to just general acute respiratory illness and then it's not only just our oldest but also our young EST and so those are all good pieces of information infectious diseases do usually impact our youngest in oldest citizens the most so these are resources that are on our website if you want to take a deeper dive we can go even deeper this is the state um and this is all of their dashboards they have seven different dashboards that you can access at any time they're updated weekly Thursday afternoons evenings so this is that same dashboard that is embedded on our website that we then took from the state which is fabulous and this is the small version of the other dashboard we embedded but you can also click to see the full dashboard download the data lots of options here is covid-19 reporting so these are cases and deaths the classic kind of way we used to count cases obviously a lot of folks are testing at home these days and so those are not necessarily getting reported into these databases however um you can see pretty clearly how cases went up in the summertime um the summertime covid surge is something that we've seen for a few years running now and going to decrease around this time of year influenza reporting is handled a bit differently and so this is a separate dashboard but very helpful um and influenza like illness activity is low across Massachusetts which is wonderful we'd love to see it stay that way but it probably will increase Wastewater surveillance reporting this has shown this immense Spike and when I dug into the data it looked like it came from a couple um Wastewater test sites that are not on Cape and I actually inquired to see if that was potentially erroneous reporting and so they're still looking into that Wastewater surveillance data I'll just preface by saying that this is new and emerging science it's very promising science um to be able to do surveillance without having to individually test people uh and having to burden them with perhaps they might not seek health care they're not that sick um and so Wastewater has a lot of potential but it's new and so figuring out how to interpret this data and make use of this data is still an emerging science so I'm learning as well as Folks at State as well as Folks at CDC to how best leverage this information for impact there's only two places in the region by the way that do Wastewater surveillance so weham is the closest one probably to Yarmouth not on Cape obviously but still um I do monitor what their Wastewater is doing and then the other one is on N Tucket obviously not that close but still kind of useful to track what's going on with those um Trends and then the last one is immunizations this is going to start filling in more um this is really for last season overall obviously we're just kicking off the new season for immunizations and so this dashboard's going to probably look different in a month and this is old data from last year so with that said I can take any questions those a great education I didn't know this existed I'm embarrassed to say yeah this is fabulous Mr chairman just so the the board understands um and the community understands this is all available on the ble County website I was I was I was taken back I was blown away by the amount of data and information that's available so Le I can't thank you enough for for for your patience and then uh and then your presentation to this it is really it's very very helpful I hope the community I know the board will uh to visit this to gain a stronger understanding of uh some of the disease or what's what's going on in the community and what's affecting the community so appreciate it wonderful thank you so much for having me I'm very grateful for the opportunity to share this data with folks and I am always taking feedback on how to make it more digestible usable actionable that's my whole goal as your Regional epidemiologist is to make data actionable and useful so let me know at any time and yes this is on the Barnesville County website so thank you and I appreciate your time stay healthy thank you thanks didn't get to have her all we got was her voice was wasn't that it's a lot of information there yeah yeah okay so we're going back up here the list in agenda this is number five this is a green burial discussion um okay I think it' be y if don't if you want to come up so be helpful for you to take this over a bit Yeah I will thank you Mr chairman so two weeks ago at the last meeting um Ross mccordi came forward with a request something we never heard before very unique about a green burial for his dad Mr ger if you want to come up and we'll make this a discussion but I do have some information that we've re that Barry and I have researched over the past two weeks but the request before you was to have a green burial um on their property here in Yarmouth and it was new to me and and it took some time and I what I pledged to you was I'll get let me get some research and I'll get back to you well there are a couple things we've met with the state we've met with municipalities we've met with the funeral director um here's some of the things some of the highlights and I I do have a PowerPoint we're going to we can walk through um a couple things a funeral director can only bury a body in a cemetery okay in Massachusetts so doesn't mean that a a a property owner can't have a bury on their own property but just they have to designate it as a cemetery now a uh an individual can't own a cemetery it can be a religious organization a charitable organization or a cemetery Association there's a ways to come up with a to to make a cemetery on your property additionally um it requires a hydrogeological study a site plan a survey approval from dep approval from the state from the I'm sorry select board and then it's back to the Board of Health so there is a process and it was done in Yarmouth it's it's Yarmouth I apologize it was done in Ho we saw that it was a a large piece of property of 17 Acres um but there is a process to it and we're going to step you through what this is I in no way do I want to discourage you Mr G but there is a process but it isn't just the board saying sure go ahead there is there is a state process to this D it's fairly extensive D gets involved in talking to them because of the drinking water they want to make sure that there is no impact on the public drinking water supply um but if we can just roll through before we do that Jay uh thank you for all those points and this is certainly an interesting area and there seems to be some gray areas and also overlap in some of the requirements um and also Barry shared with me the town of Orleans uh Health Department for home burials they got that checklist like you mentioned having Eric at the last meeting uh but something that Barry and I both found this is on the information for local Boards of Health on home burials and green burials this is found on mass.gov and I'm just going to read a couple sentences here in recent years there's been increased interest expressed in home and green burials in Massachusetts a home burial means burying a person on private L owned residential property that is not an approved Cemetery so as I read this it's saying that this is an approved type cemetery and so does it need to be designated a SE Cemetery that's exactly right so you have to establish a cemetery on your property and now but you personally can't an individual can't own a cemetery the ch the religious organization the charitable organization or or a cemetery Association has to be established an entity has to be established so perhaps but it could be on your property they all have to have a board also a five member board right say that again Barry they have to have a five member board the association the okay so a board that would be the board for the cemetery that would be on the property it would be on on your property so there would be a site plan with a surveyor a soil I believe a soil test has already been done yes hydrological study hydrogeological study is what they called it and it's all on the on the PowerPoint that I believe the the board has was sent um and it'll step you through the process and there's clearly a process to it but that yes you can have it on that on your property but you have to delineate a cemetery on your your property yeah let's take a look at that okay thank you Jay yeah sure okay my daughter's going to fire up the back Ro B the hole you'll never know about it we'll miss you at the meetings no you won't well is home burial just so you know that um the cemetery that Yarmouth control the town of Yarmouth administers they don't allow green burials uh Woodside Cemetery it's a private Cemetery up in uh yth Port they do do green burials it's a private Cemetery okay so let's keep moving oh regulations say this is what the regulations say I don't know if the people at home all burials need to follow Mass General law The Remains as well right existing regulations and Jay what is this from this PowerPoint so this actually I'm going to credit it's this is I did not create this this is the town of Orleans this was presented the Town Administrator the town Health agent from Orleans presented this just recently at the uh mhoa U Mass health Officers Association okay but it's going to yeah but it's going to site it's going to site regulations in here and I can actually email you a copy of this that'll be most help it's been very helpful but there are some there there are some slides that are going to step you through the process here and I I I won't go on I know it's been a long night but it's going to tell you through the process um so this is just talking about cemeteries and the use and how permanent dis position of bodies and remains go ahead they must be so here is is that Mass General law states the bodies remains must be buried in a cemetery or ined in a mausoleum or a crypt so the big piece being is you you have to delineate a piece of property as a cemetery it it can't be just part of well your your yard or your side yard or out Outland that you have um there there so now the Board of Health does play a role so the use of land for burial new cemeteries or extensions approval for the Board of Health uh for description of the land that would be a site plan would be given to the Board of Health a soil evaluation the hydr High hydrogeological study would be given to the board which we did at the last meeting a site plan uh that's a surve map on it it's a a survey yeah we had a map we had hydrological information soil test all that was from Cape Cod engineering okay Perry I didn't have it's the uh Cape cot engineering done April 23rd um for Bob Perry and then he did the site plan for it so they have that in their packet too I don't know if it meets the requirements that's just it point of information on it okay I don't know I I don't know so but there is a that's terrific that we have that some of the requirements are there um this one here next I do want to get to slides because it's going to be helpful to Mr mccordi being able to what the process is if you can just go through and I'm going to send this to you Mr mordi so you can you can kind of digest this and we can talk about it the maintenance and operations certainly and when you are on this you can click on the the red things that are highlight and that'll take you to another sub category to to view excellent what is this here what does this handle where did come from doesn't say anything about having to become a I think that's what I was looking at Mary and it seems we're seeing one thing over here and then as we read you know the Massachusetts State website there's other information that seems contradictory just doesn't show so here here it is it says here as far as it's a charitable organization Association it's Incorporated it doesn't list here that a religious organization can also have oh there it is there a church a religious organization it's just not highlighted if you back up before the Highlight a church or religious organization a charitable or a cemetery Association can create a cemetery and in speaking with the funeral director they have to bury a body in a cemetery yeah we can we can visit that that you must have spoken with Chapman perhaps and I think they're somewhat unfamiliar with this they had mentioned transporting a body required a funeral director which seems contradictory to some of the information I found and I'm sure like anytime a body needs to be driven they not getting the you know high ranking funeral director here tossing the keys and drive them so it's some more gray area information well it's not it really C that because because of that he said they talked about they need the burial certificate and they're the ones that can transport a body they're they're the only ones that can that can actually do that so a permit for the burial certificate they have to they're the ones that they pull permit and declare the body and stuff like that so actually reading in Massachusetts law I don't have the specific one here but it is permissible for a family member to transport the body as long as they're not getting paid that I I can say that's contradictory to what the funeral director said this is the exciting part of this we're seeing like one thing and seeing another thing and I'm certainly not making this stuff up no I wouldn't I wouldn't think for a second I wouldn't think for a second we're going to work our way through this trust me Barry and I for two weeks have have studied we be we have more information about green burials and cemeteries than I ever imagined but it's it's it's all helpful I hope this is at least making your meetings a little more interesting than they otherwise would be much more interesting than septic yes yeah no no question than you Mary we this is the first I maybe for the board have I don't know if you've had this request before we have go ahead if you could just went through I want um not land for burial surface this is talking about hydrological water sources Public Water Supplies this is where D gets involved they play a role here they actually will take a look at this and that it's sent to DP I don't know if in your research Mr Gordy talked about that but D plays a role in the approval of this of of yep okay and Barry you were in touch with DP also prior to uh the meeting a couple weeks ago I think you had spoken to DP and gotten some of your information from them yes I don't recall what it was I have to there was an email back and forth okay I would have to look that up again well we're going to go to the okay okay let's go back so let's go take one step at a time so so the the home one this is the this is I think is going to be helpful to you and we can help you and guide you in this process some may already have been achieved some may still needs to get done but homeowner here it is decides a location hires a so evaluator right so that gets done did that hires an engineer creates a hydrogeological site plan okay homeowner submits a site plan burial description Board of Health for hearing yeah Board of Health approves a letter sent to D along with a site plan and the burial description theep approves the letter along with the previous documents are submitted okay all documents now in this process what what hasn't talked about is you creating or not you the homeowner creating a cemetery itself a cemetery has to be created yeah that's something that I haven't found in my research um and it mentions that it is not an approved Cemetery in the mass.gov information that I think all of you have it say that it's not an approved Cemetery yeah um basically residential property that is not an approved Cemetery home burials are not prohibited by law but the decedent family must first obtain written approval from the bo Board of Health which we're doing uh and the local governing body which would be uh the board of Selectmen I believe this will go to the board of selectman before from D it goes to the board of Selectmen right yeah this one doesn't mention de but that's mentioned in the Orleans but it does say it does submitted to the select board for approval which that's Orleans isn't it but that's that's that's built on law that's not just specific to Orleans local governing body board of Select exactly right whether it's Orleans or Yarmouth yeah yep so then they're talking about the process of how do you go about this there's here we are town of Orleans and I take no author no author credit for this they were they when I talked to the county on this I talked to the state because they had an individual very similar in Orleans who was working through this process um and and because they were trying to make to to make it a cemetery became problematic on their property but it was achieved in hoage how which an individual a homeowner with 17 Acres so you you probably know who I'm talking about um he created a cemetery on his property and the individual was buried on their property but in in a cemetery so where is that where is the law that says you have to create a cemetery what is the citation for that law so that may go further back if we if we go further back want to talk to about Char here we go no Cemetery established after hold on no I was on it I think you were on it okay okay so no Cemetery established on or after July 1st 1936 shall be owned maintained operated except by a municipality or other subdivision of the common a church religious or charitable organization or that's not saying it has to be a cemetery just say no Cemetery can be established and I would Envision that being far more Graves than a single grave on a property doesn't have to be the one in how is a one a one single they defining Cemetery no Cemetery I'm thinking that same thing Mary where does it say you have to so I'm going to go further back I I think it's I think I we went over yeah I I I think it's back so except in the case rection or a tomb on a private exclusively the use of family or on no land other than that so said appropriated shall be used for burial unless permissioned by the town the mayor the Alder men it it's it talks about I don't know what this says enough but it talks about creating creating creating a cemetery yeah it talks about getting permission from the Board of Health here it is right here here it is right here it states that bod's remains must be buried in a cemetery or inomed in a mausoleum or crypt so the first the first bullet point okay so I just so can we stay on that for a second bodies remains must be buried in Cemetery now that Cemetery could be on your property okay what's the definition of a cemetery yeah you wanted to click on that Mass General law yeah that'd be great yeah I mean I I'd rather read the from the actual law than the PowerPoint than a derivation of it right so this is increase the I need to zoom a little need a telescope I'm just going to get a little closer here thank you I don't need to so if we go down the permanent disposition of such bodies or remains shall be internment in the Earth or that's right thank you Vault of a cemetery owned maintained and operated in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth right by deposit in a cryp mum I guess we need to Define that okay yeah yeah thank you see you next time bye lawence starts off except as otherwise provided by law so is there some other law that governs green barri very good point and that's what we can find on the.gov but we might have to fish around in there because it specifically says that home burials are legal and and I I think I think they are as if you as long as you create a cemetery at your on your property so Mary the green burial is it's in two I don't know that the one in har is a green burial quite frankly there could be a vault and a Casket there but there is a cemetery in harch on a person's property you talk I believe that I just I just can't believe that they would require somebody that wanted to do a green burial on their own property to go through all of that rigar Ro establishing a cemetery creating a board but that doesn't make sense to me I'd like to see where it specifically says regarding green burials the person that wants to do this has to establish a cemetery on their property before this can happen I don't think it says I think it's green burial or or burial itself a a burial at whether it's green or more we'll call it traditional we'll call it that it's done inside of in in my from what talking to it's done it's done at a cemetery now that Cemetery may be in your side in your sidey yard a cemetery could do a green burial or it could be otherwise located like the home but I'm not entirely clear that it needs to be designated as a cemetery uh even going through Orleans their checklist doesn't say anything like that I think we're about halfway through meeeting all the requirements uh just the next one would be board approval then it would be kicked to D but with their approval it would go to the board of Selectmen and at that point that would be the final approval needed and then we would make sure it needs to be registered on the deed which all this is planed and that the property has to be within the family which we're doing y if we go back to what where this came from was what cites this law no it was a PowerPoint no it was a we were talking back to the PowerPoint but the but the PowerPoint is not this m states that b states that bod's remains must be buried in the cemetery and this is what actually the fenal director said we bury it in a we bury it in a cemetery now if Mary if it's green okay that's that's a way of actually what was interesting they said the Indians the wogs do green burials but actually they put a vault upside down on the body kind of picture that so the body is on the dirt but then there's a vault on top of them that's terrible that happened they they do it that way so they are still part of the earth so they go back to the part of I know but I mean that they have to do that but they that's what they do they have to put a vault over unless they want it's a decomposing it's a decomposing box the funeral director made the said that in fact and that's why there's a cemetery Association because if there isn't there's going to be depressions okay and then someone has to then maintain that okay the other part that there is in if you remember that in harch they had to have a access road so that in Generations from now you have to be able to if someone if this if your land were to sell part of the cemetery is you have to have an access road to be a road an access way so that in future someone wants to be able to visit that site they're able to do that it's not a problem already there no no I'm just I'm not I'm not trying to create obstacle I'm just saying that's one of the things that they talked about in creating a cemetery so is it true if I'm understanding this correctly then in lie of creating a cemetery it may be an option to in tume or use a maum or crypt if if you read mgl ER states that the body SL remains must be buried in a cemetery or inomed in a mausoleum or crypt so if if we're going to interpret the law such that Cemetery must be created such as shown there such as shown there so that it's also stating that instead of creating a cemetery the body could be in tuned in a Maz so to your point then so now we're not affecting the but now nothing is going into the ground right so you don't need the H because maum is C is above ground right so water supply isn't affected soil is not a sight plan may still need to be done that I haven't research what if we want to do a mausoleum well that's another we're going to have to do some more work on that but that's not what was presented to us it was to put a body in the ground and do a green burial now A melum and A CP would would say okay well it's not affecting the water supply right you're not digging down at all you know so now there's another set of I don't know those regulations to have a mausoleum on a private property now it's not I guess it technically is a cemetery in that but we think of a cemetery you're burying remains in the ground that Maza both both of those pictures nothing is in the ground that's not relevant to what you're attempting to do is it I'm trying to do something far simpler I'm trying to have a green burial on the property following the protocols in place and have it be far less of any disruption whatsoever than septic systems that are all over the place ubiquitous in the neighborhood one thing I mean need to be careful about is that not following Orleans and Orleans is is not correct right I mean St we're not looking at the original Source well this we did when you clicked on it but we haven't all sat down and looked at that and read it so this was okay I I believe no we we still can I I didn't copy this for you I I I actually emailed it to you right yeah this seems to be a very helpful I see document the uh the one that we got off of the mass.gov also very helpful seems to be the town of Orleans Health Department if something needs to be designated a cemetery I have no problem with that if it needs to be religious perhaps this is my lucky day as a minister of the Universal Life Church did my first wedding just a couple summers ago is really quite that may be an option I Eric I see that you have the the slide yeah well I arrived here early today okay I got a and you got printed copy but I I was simply trying to make the point that if I'm under it just it it just doesn't seem reasonable to expect somebody to to do all of that and I I certainly understand all the research you got that the Department's put into it but I'm I guess I'm just in disbelief honestly yeah it does seem a little bit over the top for something very simple and I'm not at the last meeting we were talking about what would be there would there be a big Tombstone like it's Halloween every day of the year which is not what we want to do it's something a flush marker that's just flush with the grass and you know respectful I guess I'm I'm trying to point out based on that article there section 114 excuse me chapter 114 section 43m if if we're reading this and understanding that a cemet must Cemetery must be created or that a body is to be in tuned in a mausoleum or CP those those are two different things obviously and in in one case since remains are going underground it's suggesting that a cemetery be created what is it to create a maalim or a cryp right I didn't look I didn't look at I didn't look at that at all that's not relevant in this case right I'm don't think you want to do that either yeah I mean if that's what I have to do that's what I have to do but I don't think it's what we have to do I I don't believe I can't believe D you're looking at something a lot more simple exactly try to do but this is really I think beyond what got trying damn us not to make a big deal out of this I'm trying to keep this as simple as we can and and honor the wishes of my father who had his 85th birthday yesterday happy birthday able to be there for that that was it was very nice no what you've heard so far what would be the most difficult thing to achieve listening to to all this you know uh I'm going through this checklist here yeah and we've pretty much I think we've met all the requirements up to Board of Health and so with your support and I'm hoping for an approval from you then it goes to the D I'm hoping to get an approval from them and then we would need approv approval from the Selectmen and get approval from them so I don't think according to Orleans right no that's according to what that you're looking at right now on your hand I'm looking at Orleans but some of these have been pulled from the Massachusetts state information so aren's just happened to make a checklist that's very usable here as I read from this one a home burial is only possible if the property is under control of the decedent's family check finally those who do a home burial will need to note the burial on the deed for that property the body is buried before the property can be transferred as a home burial is likely to be viewed as encumbrance on the land I've already been in contact with the estate attorney who's handling my father's Affairs and so that'll get done easily enough I'm not seeing you're reading obstacle yeah if I could I think you're reading you would still control that land but a portion of it would be a cemetery when you control when it's a cemetery done right and I think that's I think that's that's exactly right and again this was are you're saying well we're following orene's rule this was done successfully in harch and I looked at those rules Barry and I both to see that could be done it wasn't those rules were followed and it it all it takes some time it takes some time and it did go to D and they had all they had all the site plan and they did the study they did all that work he went to D came back again and the gentleman still controls the land but part of his land is designated as a cemetery sure that's that complicated then you need to create some kind of charitable organization and you need to find five people that sit on this board right I mean this is you know you're being creative I guess if that's that's what I need to do that's do that but I I'm not from I'm seeing some things up there that are derivatives like mentioned and when we go back to the original one it still gets into that weird gray area nothing on the Massachusetts website and like the you know home burials and green burials mentioned that it must be designated a cemetery it actually specifically States that is not an approved Cemetery so this that's where we're coming this gray area in contradictory information I'd prefer to keep it as simple as possible and I'm not seeing any requirement year for that I'm hoping we can just have a vote tonight Board of Health we get approval and then we move to the next step which is De then the next step which will be the uh Selectmen there still some uh speed bumps that I need to go over but no Strang to doing difficult things the other thing is too State doesn't make it a mandatory Cemetery no so something we've decided to do no no they he found out something from Orleans if he decides that there a cemetery then you've got all these rules and regulations about town of yarma cemeteries which aren't going to apply I mean doesn't I think I I want to go to the Mass general laws and read that section from let's do that let's go I don't want to do it now it's tiny I even and I don't think you I think we should table this unfortunately that's fine until we get to do some research exactly on for ourselves of what this is saying so we're reading it's it's law it's difficult for well you all of us to be able to understand it's going to take some time that so maybe we need to know let us know what to read what's relevant in state law sure and maybe we can make this simpler than what we're hearing tonight among ourselves well if this is what Orleans is saying justifies they requiring a cemetery then that's all we'd have to read well Orleans doesn't say anything like that on their checklist right which is so again we're saying or they're citing Master harch did the same we could we could substitute Orleans for harch because they're the other one whatever that is yeah but I think that um well number one 117 acres is a whole lot different from somebody 17 acres oh 17 Acres okay that's a he's a farm a farm and that's the other part we don't what size lot here's something else I've gone ahead and done although it was not a requirement at all I went and talked to the neighbors the abutters I wrote out in a Butter's letter and I got signatures from Neighbors on both sides of the property no problem doing it we get along with the neighbors there and everybody's on good terms and their respect his wishes so that was easily done so that's I try to do things with people in the neighborhood and I try to follow the correct procedures in a sensible manner so this can be done in a dignified way that's that's straightforward easy to do yeah and Brewster doesn't say anything about having to designate the land that's buried used for the burial as a cemetery yeah well Bruce I'm I'm actually that one's going on going on Mass General law and also the funeral director saying that you has to be I have to bury it in a I have to bury the body the remains in a in a cemetery I think you'd be really surprised at things that are traditionally done by funeral directors and they think might be laws but when you read up on the laws it doesn't say some of those things that they may say for example that a family member as long as they're not getting paid is able to transport a deceased person that's one of the examples I found yeah well maybe I can talk about I I I went to a funeral director who I you know who's been in town his dad actually owned the before him pretty well schooled in in this pretty well established so I went to the what I was considered to be the subject matter expert on this tell me this hey we have a presentation I'm not trying to create obstacles here I just want to make sure we're we're doing this right and making sure that it's following the law for yourself for the board for the town um because it sets a precedent and we want to make sure we're doing it right I didn't even know when we sat last time that D would be involved but they are they you just go to them and say you have to designate the land you're going to use for a green burial as a cemetery could we just ask de since they're kind of the final approval right they well they are a approval the the Selectmen will also and and you and this board will but I'm just saying they're the final approval so they should know whether or not since they're the state whether or not EP would be the pen imate approval yes and so what penultimate oh yes it goes back to the bo I'm sorry sorry but I yes you you're correct the board the select board is the thank you I think that's it would be D and then it goes to the select board but in other words DP would know about a requirement that the land be designated as a cemetery they would know that because there's just signing off on the local Board of Health saying okay everything's been met I I didn't I I went to the funeral director yeah I know but they don't know everything and they don't all know a lot about green Bears well actually believe he he he talked about that and he knew the wicker baskets and he he he went on quite a bit we we sat for close to an hour with him just saying I don't think he's the The Authority that we should be listening to we we can listen to him but I think we need to go to the state law before we that that it has to be a c well if we've done quite a bit in the in the two weeks we got a lot of information I can certainly go to D um and we can pull up and I I believe you have in there I I if I stand corrected I didn't want a copy and I took your advice as far as not printing out too much information I I I think if you look in your inbox you're going to see that PowerPoint did you send it out the afternoon um I me I didn't see it you haven't seen it recently homor right right okay um something I would also like to get I'm hoping I can get all of your contact information that way we could if we find something we can send it forward in email um I'm to J and he can send it out to us yeah yeah just yeah I think that's but that's the easiest way to do this what way is that like Mary suggested the three of us on an email chain then we can you and I have never emailed back and forth but if you would send it to me I share things fairly cons fairly okay and sometimes Bo might have questions with me so I'll be glad to share my information with you it makes it challenging for me if I'm coming to a meeting and all of a sudden I'm getting like some pretty fat documents that I haven't had a chance to look over and people are bringing up questions that I'm hearing that night and I don't have a chance to research and otherwise I might be able to come up with things like oh yeah boom here here here and just really simplify things by doing a little bit of work on my own end before the meeting well the communication treat what Mary suggested I think if if you were to get it to myself I I I share things on a regular basis with the board so I'll make sure I get your contact information we can send it out and get get things done there I mean we need to read the the state um we need guidelines as a health department I have not reached out to D excuse me Mr chairman yeah I didn't reach out to D yet oh no I was saying that I'm just saying we somehow will have to if it has to be customized in some way for this town that it's not stated you know um in the state Rags um we need to have something that we know I mean Orleans looks like they did their thing um maybe it's all fine so we need to look at the state make some decisions here to simplify it here the 18 things that need to be done or whatever and Mr chairman and if it is and I'm confident it is but if I'm proven wrong that you have to create a cemetery and and you said well I'll just go ahead and do that because you have a religious organization but not a needless step if that's what you think Mary it's a needless step let's find out let's definitively say that the information I have it for what I've heard and read it it's supposed to be designated as a cemetery that's what that's what has been done I think that's the requirement it's not my requirement it's not a suggestion I'm making it's what I'm seeing that's all um and and you said well I'll just go ahead and then I'll go ahead and do that and and that may be a requirement but let's find definitively to say yes that's going to be a process that that would be something that you have to do get it back from D I can ask I didn't um how long does that process take from D do they take two months they take two weeks I don't I don't know I can ask them they're G to start from scratch they don't know anything about this I assume here but but but a phone call but what is that process if you would get an application for a a bear what does that take what's a turnaround time for that I don't know of course not I'd just like to point out that one of these pieces of literature that we were given in the packet has a whole section on burials at home or any other non Cemetery Land I I don't know what the source the source is up there it looks like it's some person who has put together some information sure this says where and how to get a green burial it says bio next to somebody sure well I don't yeah I don't know who M Gideon contributing writer is but it's an internet article is my guess from a Google search so okay so this is no this is not a credible potentionally Authority this would be built on Mass General law it's our interpretation of the law is the best we can do so we all need to read the right part yeah I'm sure there's some people to call up in Boston or somewhere to get some clarification on this where we can just get this figured out and refer to law so something's written down some written clarification along with verbal I I think what will we go in I think we have we going to go drill a little deeper on on some of this part I feel confident with that and then once the board understands that and I will I haven't yet but I'll I'll talk to D then they are a player in this process um and then it would go to the selectman and then it was then then to the Board of Health if you're contacting the state you need to I suggest CC us on it so we're on we're on it and we're getting the information it'll save a lot of time you're getting it and we get it at the same time so that would be Barry and Jay who could send it out to all of you yeah we do that right things yeah that makes sense sure be better prepared at you know the next meeting where does d meet Southeast regional office there's yeah they're they're across the state they have sections across Central Mass there's probably five six seven d regions across the Comm the place that if I had to go to a d hearing where would that most likely be I I I don't I Southeast it's um I hesitate the even given I don't know where they they're most of them work from home still yeah no's an office to call I mean there got to be something we can find we can find the EP they they have re they have regions across the Comm so obviously we'd have to send that information to once we get board approval it needs to get sent to D and we would send that how well that's another reason that they need to contact D send that what's the process for that I know I forwarded you that email that I got from them okay so that could be one contact there here we go Environmental Protection selectman is going to be right in this building I presume it was right in this room there we go yeah where we it's the selectman meet right here what nights do they meet so it's every other Tuesday Tuesdays okay is it this like a Tuesday following the Monday when you meet or is it alterating I I'd have to look I don't know I don't know that their schedule or calendar on that have one meeting tomorrow night don't they and I see I I don't I I I wouldn't want to misspeak I'm sure this still hybrid meetings you can zoom in I mean you're coming from Rhode Island so be on there's no substitute for being there I agree um so I guess we should get this on the agenda for two weeks from tonight it already is okay yes absolutely thank you Hillard that's the 20 21st is the next meeting okay you need to tell your dad he's a Pioneer here yes he's kind of like that you maybe it runs in the family we couldn't give them a birthday gift you're trying to yes and I do appreciate your help with this I know we there's a lot of information to go through here and we want to all want to make sure it gets done properly with all the boxes checked off well you need one person from this town who's starting to say whatever in a negative fashion about something that hopefully takes place that's the less thing you need so that's why we need some Rags for the town here and just be able to get you going here yeah nice and like Eric mentioned at the last meeting you know develop your own checklist probably modeled off of this but based on the research that we're finding out now and they've started one they we have a draft checklist but again it doesn't talk about the cemetery issue yeah that's kind of a started that and we have that in our packet but it's It's Complicated by are you able to share that with me Mary just come on the table here right you had no no I had it I had it in my packet right here Health Department home burial requirements that's that that's a it's a very rough working draft okay what I said draft yeah I mean can take a look at the draft Mary sure thank you that's it's it's it's based off Orleans we're just working off there that that's just my notes I was going to bring up at the meeting yeah that's that's orene's working draft get a love cut and paste well we don't I the board makes these decisions I I don't you know I know that was us I had no idea see what I wrote you know in teaching waste of time Reinventing the wheel you already somebody's already done it you don't need to do it again I mean basic basically we've met everything here this uh the cemetery thing is kind of this new pitch along the way but we'll we'll figure that out is this the health department one you're reading yes and again that's the rough TR there may the board lots a number of different things that the board would have to decide on that so I don't I don't know for a green burial I believe and bombing is prohibited for that it's what again I didn't see that anywhere that it was prohibited I just said that it nor usually is not done maybe that's better terminology then yeah I don't I mean that's the only thing I read about in bombing but we did talk about it last time in terms of I think Larry even had maybe brought it up in terms of the chemicals and all and leaching into the soil I don't want to keep going back but the funeral director said you cannot actually there were two gentlemen when I was at the when baring I at the funeral home said there's no there's no un bombing that's done at all and actually think so yeah and and uh so there was a shroud uh a bamboo basket there's a number he he was pretty well schooled he was pretty pretty well informed on green Barrel this was not a foreign concept will tell me about it he was telling us quite a bit of information on how that is done um so it it was not a new con green barrial was not a A New Concept to the to the funeral director it's good to see that some of these things are catching on as you were addressing the Plastics earlier Charles you made a really great point with a motor oil being in plastic jugs and different from the L plastic you're you're going to lose your car yeah hospitals hospitals use plastic every you want to start a big one you and oil jugs can't be recycled like milk jugs I think we've made some progress tonight we got a couple checklists got some homework for me to do go for it okay and I thank you again for having me here I look forward to seeing you in another couple weeks and maybe we can have some emailed correspondence well soone it's good you saved it for last this is this is it right you guys all get to go home got a couple really quick on couple couple things okay I'm uh I'm driving back to Rhode Island hopefully I won't run into any traffic yeah you you and I both have to teach tomorrow right drive safely thank you very much G I appreciate it you know I think with all of your help we'll get this done okay will yeah okay let me just sort out my papers and I'll get out of here and let you guys get to the next topic I say please thank you Hillard so number nine is new and old business anyone the board or J any new or old business we are having the flu clinic at the senior center on the 29th from 1 to 3 you can still um registration is up on our website you can go there we have Flyers at the senior center the VNA has it so you still have spots still have slot and we anything else because we just have the minutes to do anything else anything else I would just simply so the board and the community understands we're giving out probably between 25 and 40 covid kits a day wow at the time we have gone through hundreds of covid kits I'm GNA apologize I'm gonna say hundreds a day I mean I went up there earlier and I put out 200 this morning and it's the piles dwindled and it's we're giving out tons of Co kids sorry I didn't mean to no no I I just I check in the morning I put out 40 then then it's gone you know but we're now you can order them online I've already got mine online you can order them online we went ahead what I was hoping to do is that's fine I'm just saying that's an addition to what people can no question and we're hoping to have them at the influ at the clinic that we're going to have um like I say at the end of the month and we want to have we want to have kits available for people come we had it uh during early testing thanks um early voting we had them preliminaries we we anywhere with this we have it uh at the senior center we're trying to get these although we heard the numbers are going down people still come in and ask for covid kits on a regular basis was the information but it's only through 2021 um before we do the minutes anything else old and new business no just Mary's pointing out she had asked about the I get that from weac from the from the police department is the latest that they help out of I ask this came from the police department this didn't come from me this came from weac and the police department would the County medical examiner's office have that maybe that's the place to go I'm sorry hear what you said the County Medical examiner's Office maybe keeping stats yeah the police usually have pretty good data on that the other part Mary's absolutely correct because I asked back I said any numbers on this not percentages or just num well I mean but a very poor bar chart um the colors and but but unfortunately it shows that the overdose calls have increased since 2017 when they were at the highest here in Yarmouth they've gone up for the police department but that includes now that the fire department has overdose calls y so our overdose calls are pretty high doesn't say how many fire department desks there were no they don't let them die I guess they off to get there before the police do yeah I know yeah SES yeah so I don't know I mean it's just not I don't think it's a very informative chart the the numbers over to the left is that what you're saying no just the the whole chart the colors the yeah here's the colored version right here no I've seen it I mean I I got online call version I sent it to I didn't know that you going to be here in person no I I got it I I guess my biggest complaint is that it's O only only through 2021 and we're now in 2024 sure so it doesn't tell me you know we heard about National statistics and state statistics and I just wanted to know Ari how is it how are we doing in this town this doesn't tell me not compared to what I heard about the state and National yeah that's all and I'm not giving a government understand best you could get no no no I don't I'm not giving a government answer I'm just telling you that I don't I I don't tabulate these numbers these from the police department yeah I understand that I'm just disappointed that we couldn't get something more okay up to date okay uh the minutes hopefully everyone took a look at them any corrections edits anyone wants to make and these are the minutes from September 16 I move that we approve the minute Board of Health minute SE September 16th 202 second to that three of us are the only ones left here that were pres all in favor say I three okay the minutes are done okay anyone want to adjourn oh hey okay everyone agrees with that second