2026-09-15 - Board of Health Meeting

0:07Today is September 15, 2026. It is 6

0:11o'clock or thereabouts. Uh we're going

0:14to go into session for the board of

0:16health. We have Matt Gagna on the phone

0:19and Jim Philbrook and Steve Zveesca

0:21here. Also,

0:23um, first order of business is

0:25acceptance of prior meeting minutes for

0:27July 21st, 2026. I don't know if you've

0:30had a chance to read them. No. Uh, Matt,

0:33you have probably not read them either,

0:35correct?

0:36>> Uh, I actually do believe I read them.

0:39Yes.

0:39>> Okay.

0:40>> Just now?

0:41>> Yes.

0:42So, do you want to make a motion, Matt?

0:45>> I make a motion that we accept the

0:47minutes.

0:48>> Do I have a second?

0:49>> I'll second it. All in favor? I

0:52>> I

0:53>> very good. Thank you very much. Uh on

0:56the agenda for tonight, we do have um

0:58new business which is deferred that it

1:01was uh for well variance uh at 45 New

1:05Spencer Road. There were some um some

1:08things holding that up. So that will be

1:10on an agenda maybe in the future. It

1:13depends on what happens with the well.

1:15And is that all we need to say, Jim, or

1:17>> Yeah. Um to you, Mr. Chairman. uh he's

1:20having the well tested and uh plan drawn

1:23up uh tomorrow. So, he'll ask to be put

1:26on the um the next meeting's agenda.

1:29I don't think it's a it's a drastic

1:31hurry because he's got to find a well

1:32driller and he's got a lot of stuff to

1:34do, but he wants to uh um have a plan

1:37drawn up and decide what kind of well it

1:39is, whether it's viable, and and do some

1:41He also has to send it out for testing.

1:43He wants to get it tested.

1:44>> And this is a a a new a new buy. Yeah.

1:50He's I think

1:50>> So he's not moved in there.

1:51>> No, he's he bought it to flip.

1:53>> Okay. So it's not critical anywhere from

1:56moving in.

1:56>> No. So if the ball is in the the owner's

1:59court and we'll um we'll work with him

2:01to make sure that whatever needs to be

2:04done is um to to regulations.

2:07Very good. Thank you, Jim. Um old

2:09business Flint Road Landfill. Do we have

2:12anything from Gary Magnus or anything

2:15else?

2:15>> No updates. Uh they if I may chairman uh

2:19vice chairman um they have um did all

2:22the work to the road. They pulled all

2:25that um trash back next to the poles

2:28because they couldn't wait for national

2:29grid anymore and they put all the liner

2:32in there and filled that up. So they've

2:34been working on this week. I I stopped

2:36there every morning. They did they do

2:38have another agreement for some more

2:39soils that should be approved very

2:41shortly, but they're they're trying to

2:43um get everything done by the roadside.

2:45um for the winter and secure that back

2:48edge. They did find a big uh portion of

2:50ledge that will not need the liner on

2:52top and they won't need to cover it. So,

2:54it's going to save a little bit of money

2:56and not as much um area to um cap. So,

3:00there are some good news. We do have a

3:01meeting tomorrow uh with Bruce Haskell

3:03and Gary Magnus and Emarl at 9:30. I was

3:07just reading this um

3:11we were talking um we did evaluate the

3:14wells that we put in place at 15 old

3:16town road to investigate other possible

3:19sources. We're talking about PA they are

3:21perfectly clean. Great news for DPW and

3:23how they are operating up there. It is

3:26unlikely that the main it is unlikely

3:29that the main source of the PAS is the

3:32landfill as the detections have been so

3:34low at the landfill. It doesn't explain

3:36the higher level so far from the

3:38landfill. The D mandates phase one and

3:42phase two testing of the landfill and

3:43surrounding area, but they have been

3:45discussing this fact.

3:47>> What are you reading from, John?

3:48>> Huh? Oh, what are you reading from?

3:50>> I'm reading from last week's last

3:52month's last the last meeting's minutes.

3:55>> That must be from Gary.

3:56>> Yeah, but I don't I don't recall him

3:58saying that in the meeting.

4:00>> I don't either because that kind of

4:03Well, the problem Yeah. Read it

4:05yourself. The problem is is um must be

4:08up top near the top

4:11in the back.

4:15Best possible source

4:20>> and he's talking about highway. Is it

4:22the highway that's there?

4:24>> They put a couple down down of the

4:27highway and he said,

4:30>> right? I don't believe this is correct.

4:33I don't know

4:33>> because the sources of uh PAS and info

4:36are higher and any detections outside

4:39within the 500 foot range whether any

4:42detections of PAS 6 would indicate that

4:46we provide bar water because we just got

4:47another hit. Well, it's there but he's

4:50saying obviously in the

4:52>> I don't remember saying that it was

4:53unlikely.

4:54>> I don't remember him saying that either,

4:55but it's it's there in print.

4:58>> Um which is let's question that. Well,

5:02uh, we'll look into that. Matt, I don't

5:03know if you're listening, but there

5:05there is a question as to how this was

5:07written up for Oldtown Road.

5:09>> I remember Gary saying that. Is that

5:11right here?

5:11>> I I I I do remember Gary discussing that

5:15a little bit and he was trying he was

5:18trying to get a reduction in sampling

5:21and that was his argument for D. Um, he

5:24touched on it a little bit, but it

5:26wasn't he didn't go into super depth

5:28with it. But what I said, let's go ahead

5:30and look into it and just get a better

5:32understanding of what he

5:33>> I thought he was talking about a couple

5:35of the houses that were being tested

5:37that the

5:39the uh the levels had gone down or

5:41whatever and and he was questioning, you

5:43know, can we change the um

5:48the frequency of the testing on those

5:50particular properties? But I I don't

5:53remember that conversation.

5:54>> Unfortunately, he tested 114 Dresser

5:57Hill Road, which never had a hit and uh

6:00but he's mandated and it got a hit. So

6:01now we got to test three more houses,

6:03which includes Willie Stevens Jr. So now

6:05I had to provide them water. So one day,

6:08how can you have none and all of a

6:10sudden test

6:13it? It's

6:15>> But I will check into this. There's no

6:17Let's make sure it's uh correct. That's

6:19all.

6:19>> It's accurate. Yeah. Yeah, I agree.

6:21>> I'm just

6:22>> No, good. Thank you.

6:24>> I thought he was talking about the

6:25downflow into the landfill he thought

6:27was a likely suspect of that area.

6:30>> Not the way I

6:30>> It wasn't.

6:34>> I'll look into it um and get um make

6:37sure we send it back out to you, Matt.

6:39Okay,

6:41>> that's fine. Thank you.

6:42>> Yeah.

6:43>> Uh anything else on Flint Road Landfill?

6:46It's

6:46>> just moving along nicely. They're doing

6:48a good job. Um,

6:49>> we get a signing.

6:51>> I would hold off until

6:52>> Yeah, hold off.

6:54I should probably cross mine. [laughter]

6:56>> Yeah. And uh, but like I said, there is

6:59a meeting tomorrow.

7:01Discuss some more COPD 97 materials that

7:03they've uh, secured. Um, but um, they're

7:07keeping it clean. They're doing a good

7:08job there. There's a lot happening

7:09because they're taking that, like you

7:11said, by the poles. They're drawing that

7:13all back. A lot of tires in there. They

7:15pulling out and it's

7:16>> when you try and pack it down, tires

7:18don't pack, so they get to fold.

7:20>> So, they're trying to get that covered

7:21as quick as possible. They just keep

7:23popping up.

7:24>> Yep. Keep popping up every time. But

7:26like I said, tomorrow at 9:30, we'll

7:28have an update and I'll forward whatever

7:30we have.

7:31>> What's the u approximate time frame for

7:33getting the comm material all in? Do

7:36they?

7:36>> They increase it to 18 months. It was

7:38supposed to be the the year and now it's

7:4018 months

7:41>> because they had trouble getting it.

7:42>> They have trouble getting CO 97. They

7:44won't use clean fill in there. I have to

7:46use suitable materials. So, having

7:48trouble finding it.

7:50>> Interesting.

7:50>> And that benefits doesn't hurt the town

7:52at all. The only thing we we talk about

7:55is that there's going to be a period

7:56where in the winter it's not nothing's

7:58going to be happening there. So,

8:00>> but the end of the day, it doesn't

8:02>> it doesn't matter because there

8:04>> as long as the states go with it. I

8:05mean,

8:05>> the states good with it.

8:07>> Like Matt said, he's not too concerned

8:09about it because either way, it's going

8:11to get done and done correctly. So why

8:13rush it? You have to wait for the

8:14appropriate soils.

8:15>> Sure.

8:17>> Okay. Nothing else.

8:18>> That's it.

8:19>> Good. We'll move on to department head

8:21reports. Jim.

8:22>> All right. Um we um have E Bailey's road

8:26um

8:28almost cleaned up. We just have a back

8:30hole on McIntyre on the back side of the

8:32property and on B E Bailey's there's one

8:35more back hole that um Aries will be

8:36pulling out tomorrow or Thursday and

8:39we'll be totally cleaned of that

8:40property and then we'll apply the lean

8:44and let Aubrey White, the owner, know

8:46that it's finished and I'll have

8:47conversation with her. The the neighbors

8:50are quite happy with um that getting

8:52cleaned up. There's a lot of stuff

8:54there.

8:5540 yard dumpsters and two boats, a

8:58truck, a woodmago.

9:03Yeah, I got a video of that pulling

9:05away.

9:05>> Oh, really? No, you get sent.

9:07>> Those are the worst. Those are boats.

9:09>> Well, it was still drivable. Not It

9:11wasn't driving

9:12>> class. It was drivable.

9:13>> It was towed.

9:14>> It was towed though with him in the

9:15front seat.

9:17>> Anyway, it's it's um that's getting

9:19cleaned up. The Joel checker property. I

9:22went there today again. Uh we're going

9:23to have to work on um

9:24>> what's going on with that?

9:26>> Um he's not doing too good a job

9:28cleaning it up.

9:30>> Which property?

9:31>> The 28 was the road. Joel checker.

9:33>> Okay.

9:33>> I believe it's 28.

9:34>> What kind of action has been brought?

9:37>> We've sent him a letter um that he needs

9:39to clean up. He sat down with Andrew and

9:41I and agreed that he is going to get um

9:4440 odd dumpsters in there and get it

9:45cleaned up. Problem is he takes out um a

9:49dumpster and then brings another one in.

9:50>> Brings it too.

9:51>> Yeah. So

9:53he need he knows he needs to there's

9:55also a giant sink hole in the middle of

9:57that parking lot there from all the wash

9:59out coming down the hill from the misics

10:01in the back and it washed out and the

10:03parking lot sunk. So I got to get um

10:05Andy Wahhee the owner to fill that in.

10:08It's quite deep.

10:12>> But has there been any action brought

10:14against Joel now or?

10:16>> Yeah. Um we will be um he was part of

10:18the discussion of the two properties

10:20that we were going to and Andrew and I

10:22and the attorney when he was here

10:23discussed but um the D has asked us to

10:28strongly um start enforcing that he

10:30needs to clean it up because he's a

10:32generator of trash. does not have a

10:34permit and that should not be operated

10:36that way. So, um we got to get him to uh

10:39I went there today and it's he just took

10:41the stuff from the front and put it on

10:43the side, but it's not his property on

10:44the side.

10:45>> So, he needs to realize that if you get

10:48a dumpster and you clean a house out,

10:50just have the dumpster hauled away.

10:52Don't bring the stuff back because it's

10:54just starting to pile up.

10:57But that's um we've had done a lot of

10:59housing inspections. Um we're trying to

11:02get those cleared up this week um to get

11:04signed off on so we can um have those

11:06finished, but uh they've been quite uh

11:09lengthy and with attorneys involved and

11:11and a lot of issues. So um we'll get

11:14those cleared up tomorrow. We'll do a

11:16reinspection on them and send out some

11:18letters.

11:19>> Are camps um done for the season now?

11:22camps are done, but um Nature's

11:25Classroom still has um stuff going on

11:26and so does um um Camp Joslin, but it's

11:30the children's camps are done.

11:32>> Okay. When school started.

11:33>> And that that went well this summer,

11:35right?

11:35>> Went well. Knocking wood. We didn't have

11:36to close any of the beaches or anything.

11:38>> No, that's good. I of course I heard a

11:40lot of that. Um mostly, I'm sure

11:43probably around Boston, but

11:45>> yeah,

11:45>> it was nice. That was great. We had, you

11:48know, minor instance of injury, a couple

11:50um one of the instructors, but nothing

11:52major. So, it went it went well this

11:54year.

11:55>> Good.

11:56>> Good news. We like that.

11:57>> Very good.

11:58>> Anything else? Uh that's it.

12:02>> Um any other business unknown at the

12:04time of the posting from Matt or Steve?

12:08>> Uh I think we ought to amend our first

12:11vote where we accepted the minutes of

12:13the meeting.

12:14>> Let's have another vote and accept those

12:17until we do a little further review on

12:19that.

12:19>> Good idea. Thanks. Um, do I have a

12:21motion to unaccept the meeting minutes

12:23of July 21st?

12:25>> I make a motion to unaccept the the

12:28minutes of July 21st.

12:29>> Do I have a second?

12:31>> I second that.

12:32>> All in favor?

12:33>> I

12:33>> I

12:34>> I.

12:35>> Very good. Thank you.

12:36>> I'll check that in the morning and then

12:38we get back.

12:38>> We'll get to the bottom of that. Thank

12:40you.

12:42Um,

12:44if that's it, then all we have to do is

12:46determine the next board of health

12:47meeting.

12:50How's uh how's your schedule?

12:53>> You're good.

12:54>> I'm always available.

12:56>> Okay. Uh, Matt, you think about four or

12:59five weeks? What what uh what's good for

13:01you? Anything?

13:03>> Yeah, I I'm fine. Whatever Whatever you

13:05think, John, I'm good with it,

13:07>> Steve.

13:08>> Yeah.

13:08>> Okay. Um, what do you think as far as uh

13:12having Gary does Gary need to come in?

13:14>> Um, I'll speak to him tomorrow at our

13:16meeting and if uh if the chair or the

13:19board feels he should be here for an

13:20update or anything to provide right now.

13:22It's just standard what they're doing is

13:24just standard stuff. There's no uh

13:26change there. Like I said, there's one

13:28additional house that we have to provide

13:30bottled water for and there three other

13:32additional that need to be tested now.

13:34So once that done that's done, um we'll

13:37find out. So,

13:39>> so four weeks. Does that sound

13:41appropriate?

13:41>> Yeah. Unless stuff comes up, I'll let

13:43the chairman know that we we need a

13:44meeting. So,

13:45>> all right. We'll go four weeks. Uh I

13:47don't have a calendar with me. I got

13:52>> four weeks would be October.

13:55I'm just looking right now.

14:03>> 13th.

14:05>> October 13th. That sounds about right.

14:07>> Yeah.

14:10Okay. Uh

14:12we'll uh schedule the next one for

14:15Tuesday at 6 PM October

14:1813th.

14:19>> Yep.

14:21>> I'll write that down.

14:26>> Very good. Thank you. Um with that, I'll

14:29uh entertain a motion to close tonight's

14:32meeting.

14:34>> Make a motion to close tonight's

14:36meeting.

14:37>> Second. Second that. Yep.

14:39>> All in favor?

14:40>> I

14:40>> I

14:41>> I Thank you everyone.

14:44>> Six 615. Thanks, Matt.

14:47>> Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it. CM.