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Public Health & Welfare
Committee Actions
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TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2003
ATTENDANCE: Judith Rivas, Chair; Barbara Hudgins,
Peter Wien, Jeanette Olmstead-Sawyer
STAFF: Tim Callahan, Director of Health
CALL TO ORDER
Ms. Rivas called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
MAY 20, 2003
**MS. RIVAS MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF MAY 20, 2003
**MOTION TO APPROVE PASSED WITH ONE ABSTENTION
(MS. OLMSTEAD-SAWYER)
HEALTH DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Mr. Callahan greeted the committee and passed out the Board of Health Monthly Meeting minutes to them. He stated that Mayor Knopp has agreed to allow the Nurse Practioner position to be filled. He said that in regards to the Relocation Officer, negotiations with the Redevelopment Agency administrators has resulted in their reconsideration of this position for one additional year. He also said that the agency has identified, $30,000 for FY04 and that the balance of funds is approximately $20,000 which is included in the City funded portion of the Health Department budget.
In regards to clinic fees, Mr. Callahan stated that they would begin to charge for some services that were previously free. He said that the "well child non-resident" would be $30 per visit, "childhood immunizations non-resident," $15, sexually transmitted disease clinic," $10 per visit, and "school entry physical assessments $50 maximum/sliding scale applied for uninsured residents, and $75 dollars for all others. Mr. Wien asked what would happen if someone in need of service was just completely broke. Mr. Callahan stated that it would just be free. He also stated that the well child physical assessment is for children up to school age and that the child vaccine is provided to them at no cost by the state. He said that the state allows an administrative charge to be implemented. Mr. Callahan said that out-of-towners would have to pay. Ms. Olmstead-Sawyer questioned why exactly people would be coming from out of the city. Mr. Callahan said that these people can perhaps be new to the area or that families may be coming with children who need to get vaccinated and immunized before going to school. He said that others might have lost their insurance coverage. He said that patients are seen by pediatricians, nurses, and nurse practitioners. He stated that most of the people that are seen at the clinic are either just coming to town or are out-of-town residents. Ms. Olmstead-Sawyer questioned whether there are other times that have these similar types of services to offer. Mr. Callahan said that they are pretty limited in other areas. He said that the fee to get tested for a sexually transmitted disease is only $10 and that this is not a large fee. He said that there are only nine other clinics in this stated operated by the health department. Ms. Olmstead-Sawyer said that she was still amazed at the AIDS record and questioned whether the disease has stabilized. Mr. Callahan stated that the record is pretty good in Norwalk perhaps due to good education.
Mr. Callahan stated that with school entry there is a mad rush during school time to get physicals. He said that late August and early September are usually when the pediatricians’ offices are booked solid. He said that he talked about the issue at the Board of Health. He stated that if kids do not have these vaccinations done they have to stay home from school as a result, thereby missing valuable school time. He stated that the maximum amount is $50 and the fee for all others is $75. He said that they provide receipts that families can submit to their insurance companies for reimbursement.
Mr. Callahan then started to talk about the "Norwalker Kickoff." He stated that The Health Department Lifestyle Improvement Project is focused on increasing physical activity by walking. He said that the three-year project that is funded by the Connecticut Department of Public Health will establish 10 walking routes in various city neighborhoods. He stated that the walking project kickoff is scheduled for June 28, 2003 a.m. at Marvin School. He added that Mayor Knopp would be issuing a fitness challenge to residents of Norwalk as a part of the Governor’s Fitness Program. Mr. Callahan stated that Norwalkers are healthy for the most part. He said that if people are more active, they will be healthier. He added that a 3-year granted was obtained for this project and that the Historic Commission has gotten involved. He stated that one of the goals of this project is to reduce obesity in underage children. Mr. Callahan also said that the Mayor has gotten interested in the Physical Fitness Challenge, where for six weeks participants will keep a log of their physical activity. He said that the Mayor had to challenge some community leaders.
Mr. Callahan told the committee that they probably saw in the paper that there is a treatment plant and sewage problem that they were made aware of probably Friday afternoon. He said that he had received a call from the Department of Agriculture. He said that the flow of water is so great. He also stated that there has been an increase of flow into the tank. He said that consequently, it does not get fully treated. He stated that the beaches had been closed for 24 hours. He said that as a part of the normal summer beach sampling program, they took readings and got results this afternoon. He said that if one were to look at the distribution on the map, it would be hard to say what happened. Mr. Callahan said that all the matter from the birds tend to get washed off into the water. He said that the water has been re-sampled today at high-tide, and that they should have a full reading tomorrow. Mr. Wien asked who does the sampling. Mr. Callahan said that their lab does the sampling. He said that whenever they have closure, there will be a time period attached to that. He stated that he is still unsure of how much bacteria has gone into the harbor and that they will not re-open the water until after they are sure that the water has been cleaned long enough for the shellfish to filter themselves.
HATCH & BAILEY NEIGHBORS
Ms. Rivas said that "signing off" does not mean that the applicants are signing off on their rights. She said that doing this would be just to make it possible for the trees to be built.
Ms. Delia Paulk introduced greeted the committee and stated that she has a memo briefly outlining a couple of items that have yet to be addressed. She said that the slated fence has been put up but is not high enough. She said that dust still comes over the slated fence and it does not serve its purpose. She said that in regards to the sprinklers, she did see that the water was going over the top. Ms. Paulk said that on those days that have been dry and sunny, she has not seen the sprinkler being utilized. She also stated that there are no tarp coverings.
Ms. Rivas said that it was her understanding that the purpose of the trees were to help filter some of the problems, and that Hatch & Bailey did not argue to put the tarps down. She also said that they are not required to because it would be too much taking off and putting on.
Ms. Paulk stated that there is still a noise issue in the neighborhood with trucks coming two or three times a week, twice a day. She stated that this usually takes place between 7-8:00 a.m. She said that these trucks make so much noise that they wake her and her family up in the mornings. Ms. Rivas said that Chief Harry Rilling took a noise reading on the meter. Ms. Paulk said that there has not been any noise meter brought to her house to take any readings. Ms. Rivas said that she would try to have Chief Rilling step up the noise issue as soon as possible.
Mr. Wien said that there are trucks that pass by at 7 and 8 in the morning in his neighborhood and that he could definitely relate with Ms. Paulk and her concerns. He stated that these companies are technically operating within legal hours and that they are within their own zone to do their business. Ms. Paulk said that her neighbor had recently had heart surgery and that this kind of noise is very traumatic for him to have to deal with. She said that she is very much aware that she cannot ask Hatch & Bailey to stop their business. Ms. Rivas told Ms. Paulk that it is her understanding that she has opened this issue up with Zoning. Ms. Paulk said that she is still in the process of that.
Ms. Diane Lauricella introduced herself to the committee as a reporter and supporter for Ms. Paulk and her issue. She stated that she has been advising Ms. Paulk and doing research of her own as well. She stressed that the issues being presented here are very much real. She stated that Ms. Paulk and her husband are very well aware of what is going on here. Ms. Lauricella said that she respectfully disagrees with Ms. Rivas’ comment that "this is done." She said that she believes there is a solution that can be created with Hatch & Bailey. Ms. Rivas stated that there was a letter from Hatch & Bailey stating that they will not do anything more. Ms. Lauricella said that it is in her belief that anyone can convince anyone of just about anything. She stated that there needs to be improvement in the response to complaints by the people of the community. She said that the noise issue is a health issue. She stated that she is in total agreement with Mr. Wien and that she would help him too if he wanted it. She said that she looked at the zoning issue as it relates to health and talked to Jack Burritt. She said that in an effort to move Hatch & Bailey , there were some bypasses of normal public hearing procedure. She stated that there was never a real public hearing before Hatch & Bailey moved to their current location. She said that she learned when you have a heavy industrial use next to a residential area, there will always be problems. She said that when they are conducting their business during the day there can be steps taken to ensure that there is less dust. She stated that there are unfortunately a lot of items from the August 23, 2002 letter that still have yet to be properly addressed.
Ms. Lauricella said that on Item A in regards to the materials on the site, she does not know what problems are to come in the future. She told the committee that she does appreciate their time and commitment. She asked the committee to consider having a public hearing on this matter. Ms. Rivas said that there has been a letter form the Mayor saying to sign off on the trees. Ms. Lauricella stated that she hopes there is some validity to continuing this issue. Ms. Rivas told Ms. Lauricella that she has access to all council people on this commitment. She said that she has personally gone to Hatch & Bailey and that the committee will support Ms. Lauricella and the Paulk family if they go to other council people.
Mr. Wien said that he thinks Ms. Lauricella is right and that the next step would be to contact the Mayor and ask for his advice. He suggested to perhaps write the Mayor so the committee could then take guidance from him.
Ms. Hudgins stated that she just wants to get a step-by-step picture of what is being done tonight. Reading a letter from December, Ms. Hudgins stated that it said that the work was done on the wall, the fence, the sprinkler system, and the roadways. She went on to read that the city’s intent is to plant the trees, though the Mayor and the common council want to sign off, meaning that the improvements are indeed acceptable. She asked if they sign off that the four things are acceptable, if it would mean that they would be getting the trees. Ms. Rivas replied yes.
Ms. Hudgins asked if the community is saying that all items are acceptable or just some. She stated that the only thing not mentioned is the wall and asked whether the wall was acceptable or not. She said that they could decide whether they want to deal with this or refer to someone else. Ms. Rivas stated that she had just assumed that the Paulks were saying no to all items. Ms. Hudgins stated that she understood the issue about the sprinkler and that she was just trying to simplify everything to a "yes or no" basis. She asked if anything was acceptable. Ms. Paulk replied no. Mr. Wien said that the best thing would be to start with the Mayor. Ms. Rivas said that it is important to start with the Mayor since he is the one who created all of the stipulation because the committee cannot force Hatch & Bailey to do anymore.
Ms. Lauricella said that she is asking the committee to go to the mayor. She questioned whether the committee would be willing to take this up as an agenda item and sit with Hatch & Bailey since that never occurred in the first place. Ms. Rivas told Ms. Lauricella that one cannot force another party to meet with them unless they have a supine. Ms. Lauricella said that she feels that there is commitment with good intent, but that the issue still is not resolved. Ms. Rivas stated that she agrees that the issues has not been resolved yet and that she believes that she has tried to the fullest extent. She said that she apologizes if anyone feels as though she has let them down. Ms. Lauricella stressed that some issues take years to resolve and suggested going through the list again to see if they can explore some other possible options. Ms. Rivas stated that this was exactly what Ms. Hudgins was trying to do, look at the issues.
Ms. Hudgins stated that she would like to focus on the noise issue. Ms. Rivas stated that she never said that the community should fend for themselves. She suggested speaking to the mayor and getting him involved. She said that this is an election year and that this is a good time to approach him on this issue.
Ms. Hudgins said that the noise tests done bothered her and questioned whether this meant that the citizen’s needs cannot be handled between 7 and 8 in the morning. She says that this issue has to do with management and that she really believes they should be able to do tests and do them at a reasonable time frame.
Mr. Wien stated that it is his feeling that the committee has pretty much done all that they can. He said that they need to look at Public Safety and look at what other committees can do to help. He said that some of the issues look like they belong in other committees. He said that the committee cannot solve certain things that they do not really have control over. He suggested to take steps to approach the Mayor and find out what other directions can be taken, such as to Zoning or Public Safety. He said that perhaps they can schedule a committee meeting for all of the committees. Mr. Wien stated that there are so many complexities and other committees need to be involved. He said that he totally understands the issues that have been presented tonight because the same things occur on his street as well. He said that perhaps they can eventually approach Hatch & Bailey after everyone has approached a full universal effort. Ms. Rivas stressed that this issue definitely needs to go beyond this committee.
Mr. Wien stated that he is very much aware that this issue is not simple. He again stated that he suggests talking to the mayor and approaching other committees for help. Ms. Hudgins suggested getting a copy of the DEP era of unit inspection report as well as asking the mayor to go ahead and have the trees planted and omit the requirements of signing off. She said that it would just be easy to omit the sign-off.
Mr. Wien stated that it is almost to late for the trees to be planted because it has to do with the shock value of the trees. He said that they do not have time to work towards resolutions and that the trees would have had to have been planted in early Spring or Fall if the trees were expected to survive. He said that they cannot resolve this whole issue until DPW deals with the issues first.
Ms. Lauricella passed around the August 23, 2003 letter written by Ms. Paulk. Ms. Rivas stated that they would probably see this letter again in Public Safety and Public Works.
OTHER BUSINESS
Mr. Callahan stated that the people on North Taylor Avenue’s drainage system in the backyard has malfunctioned. He said that they have basically lost their backyard as a result of this problem. He said that the went to Zoning, the Health Department, and Public Works in order to plan to repair this pipe. He said that the first step is to notify the property owners whose land would have to be crossed in order to do the work. He said that before they can go to the commission, the city must get the approval from the property owners to enter on to the property. He said they would then get an engineer to design the remediation plan. He stated that this can take two years to do, aside from the issue of funding. Mr. Wien asked who owns the pipe. Mr. Callahan said that he was not sure and that the main focus has been on the mosquitoes. He said that they took a sample of the water to see if the larva is growing there. He said that if it is larvacide will have to be put in.
Ms. Olmstead-Sawyer stated that this problem is similar to what the committee had just heard. She said that this is a health issue. She said both issues are dealing with health: noise, dust, mosquitoes, etc. She said that it was funny how the North Taylor was getting such prompt attention to their issues. Mr. Wien stated that this is a more clear-cut issue of their being mosquitoes and that some dust gets blown around as a matter of course. Ms. Olmstead-Sawyer stated that this was almost a brush-off and that the committee does not have to be the ones to live and breath that air that the Hatch & Bailey neighbors have to breathe everyday. She said no one knows just how much dust is being consumed by these small children and that she has yet to hear about the Mayor calling a meeting to address this particular issue. She said that there is much more going on here. She said that these are two health issues that are being treated differently. She said that perhaps the people involved in making the decisions need to go to these two separate areas. She said that most of the people living in the Hatch & Bailey area are minorities. She said that the mayor needs to be told that these issues are affecting the elderly and children. She stressed that she is appalled at what is going on. Ms. Hudgins said that it is indeed embarrassing.
Ms. Olmstead-Sawyer said that they need to go further by perhaps going to Hatch & Bailey and doing some boycotting. She said that the mayor needs to call a meeting to discuss these matters.
Mr. Callahan went back to the North Taylor issue and said that they did dipping and found a lot of larvacide and that they will continue to monitor the situation.
Ms. Lauricella said that North Taylor is also another community that has attempted to encourage staff to act in a more expeditious manner. She said that there are critters and snakes etc. going into homes and playgrounds. She said that this project has actually been going on for four years. She stated that there have been numerous attempts to have meeting scheduled. She said that there was a meeting with the Mayor that eventually got interrupted and boycotted by Acorn Housing. She said that the issue was never re-addressed after that had occurred. She stated that no true written enforcements have been done for a "cease and desist." She said that this is a health issue because they are not enforcing their regulations. She stated that lack of enforcement is a cause of health problems and that the meeting that was interrupted by boycotting needs to be continued by the mayor. She said that she can be called if anyone has any further questions.
As there was no further business to be discussed, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michelle Joseph
Telesco Secretarial Services
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