Wednesday, October 15, 2025, 5:00 pm until 6:00 pm
Town Hall Office Meeting Space
A meeting of the Board of Health
Meeting opened: 5:00 PM
Meeting closed: 6:05 PM
Meeting Opened / Attendance Taken (see above).
Minutes Approved: Mon, Aug 25 - Board of Health Meeting
General Discussion...
Sludge transport tickets, two Title V inspections, annual invoice for MHOA membership
General Discussion...
Temporary food permits for FOH vendors, two well permits, one disposal works system permit
General Discussion...
Kat - Vaccine clinic, CPHS Oversight Board meeting, Maphco meeting
Gina - DPH monthly meeting
General Discussion...
Recap of major MA public health news in the past month
MA joined Connecticut, Maine,, New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and New York City in the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, a voluntary coalition “to ensure trust in public health, respond to public health threats, advance community health and strengthen confidence in vaccines and science-based medicine. The group’s shared goal is to protect the health, safety and well-being of all residents by providing information based on science, data, and evidence, while working to ensure equitable access to vaccines, medications and services.” Press release 9/18/2025
Healy administration came out with evidence-based COVID-19 vax guidance to ensure access for all MA residents
Viral illnesses
Data are more limited as the government shutdown is stalling federal data updates, including national flu, Covid-19, and RSV surveillance. So we now are working with a fragmented picture.
New sources of data are springing up, like PopHIVE, which pulls from Google Trends and healthcare records. Epidemiologist Dr. Caitlin Rivers is reporting on state-level data she is compiling manually. has been Caitlin Rivers, review of state-level data.
In MA, acute respiratory illnesses remain low, but flu and cold season is coming.
Flu activity is starting to increase in Texas, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
RSV is rising in southern states, especially in Louisiana, South Carolina, Virginia, and Texas.
Covid surged later than the usual summer surge, with a peak in the 2nd or 3rd week of September.
Now is an excellent time to get flu and Covid vaccines!
Westfield is dealing with a chickenpox outbreak, with at least five confirmed cases across four schools. The school district sent a letter to parents urging families to ensure they are vaccinated.
Avian flu
Was relatively quiet spring and summer but is now increasing again, particularly in backyard flocks, rising from 1/month to 9 in the past month.
Norovirus activity - federally sources, with no data since July, when activity was low.
Arboviruses
In MA this year:
EEE - 23 positive mosquitoes, but no human cases
WNV - 451 positive mosquitoes, with 8 human cases
Risk level for both is currently low. We’ve had a frost, which lowers mosquito levels, though some still survive.
Tick-borne illnesses
Lyme and Babesiosis disease activity through Oct 2 has been similar to prior years.
Anaplasma activity is higher, with annual cases up from around 750 to around 1100 this year.
Measles
New cases continue to emerge - Utah/Arizona, South Carolina and Minnesota
General Discussion...
Nursing update - 1 HepB, 9 Lyme, 13 COVID, 2 Norovirus. Greenfield elevated but stable. Arorvirus - Ten towns of CPHS have reported cases. Assuming WNV here, most do not get very sick.
Opioid Settlement update - Table of data caused much confusion. Much back and forth. Would it be more helpful to have more pages with more 'white space?'
Opioid - October 16 zoom Listening Session feedback and votes
Metrik - being redefined
Health Inspector position being advertised
General Discussion...
Xander will present directly to the BOH, with invitations to EMD, Police, and Fire to join. Hanna and Kat will choose date.
General Discussion...
Thanks to the Board members for their dedication.
We need to corral that drive to some group work ahead - the Foundation course needs to be completed by those who have not yet done so, and possible reviewed by those who have.
Board members are welcome to put in some administration time in the office to assist the Clerk in catching up with and organizing files.
EMD is still working on a town Emergency Management manual. There is one available from FEMA that Kat has printed and can make available. Until the Conway EM manual is available, we should review the FEMA resource.
Public meetings to reduce social isolation and to share information that may be of interest to the community. Let's brainstorm some ideas and then choose a few to be advertised in the Conway Currents.
Something for the Grammar School - we could work with the school nurse and other faculty to have a fun and informative presentation for the students
Being a presence in the community dispels the idea that the BOH has nothing to do now that FRCIG does everything for us. We are so much more diverse than what people expect of us.
The Town of Conway is fortunate to have a dedicated BOH and members contributing their talents.
At our net meeting, we will set aside time to discuss these things. Think about what you would like to propose the Board work on. Do you have additional projects you hope the Board can pursue? Let's add our individual ideas and work together to make things happen. This is an exciting time to be on the Board of Health!
General Discussion...
None
General Discussion...
None
Minutes prepared by Laurie Lucier
Minutes approved on Tuesday, Oct 28, 2025
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