Board of Health Meeting

Monday, March 24, 5:00 pm until 6:00 pm
Town Hall Office Meeting Space
A meeting of the Board of Health

Meeting of Board of Health

Members: (Quorum)

• Present: Kathy Llamas, Chair, at 5:00 PM
• Present: Emily Sweet, Member, at 5:00 PM
• Present: Daniel Sheff, Member, at 5:00 PM
• Present: Hanna Sherman, Member, at 5:00 PM
• Present: Regina McNeely, Member, at 5:00 PM

Also Present:

• Hazel Goleman
• Laurie Lucier

See original Agenda Final Minutes

Meeting opened: 5:00 PM

Meeting closed: 6:37 PM

0. Meeting Preliminaries

   • Meeting Opened / Attendance Taken (see above).

   • Minutes Approved: Mon, Mar 10 - Board of Health Meeting

1. Mail and invoices

   • General Discussion...
     - Public Health Management & Practice - 6 issues - members agreed we will continue to access on-line
     - Johns Hopkins Annual Graduate Summer Institute informational catalog of classes
     - DEP; three locations have had their public water systems declassified (Conway Sportsman’s Club, Roaring Brook Camp, and Pages Coffee Bar)
     - Letter from Stantec re repairs to the Bardwells Ferry Bridge
     - Two sludge transport tickets

2. FRCOG inspections / report

   • General Discussion...
     No report

3. Meetings / Trainings attended by board members

   • General Discussion...
     Kathy - CPHS co-chair meeting
     Gina - Maphco meeting / MHOA training / Reviewed FRCOG’s draft of the “Conway Local Septic Regs”
     Hanna - DPH webinar on “know your rights” - Hanna will forward links for the slides, Q&A, and resource to all / Reading NACHO’s “understanding the needs of rural communities: principals and practices for overdose prevention and response”
     Daniel - Further research on the tobacco regs
     

4. Health and wellness report

   • General Discussion...
     Respiratory illnesses
     MA-DPH says:
     COVID cases are now down to the low levels we saw after the summer surge and
     before the winter surge
     Flu is finally down to baseline as well
     RSV has been and remains low
     Other reports (Katelyn Jetalina) say flu levels are declining but not gone.
     
     Vaccination uptake state-wide this season:
     COVID 20%, Flu 40%
     By the maps, most of that has been in the greater Boston area and here in the Valley
     
     Norovirus - national pooled data
     Via CDC -
     No update since Feb 5, 2025
     peaked in mid Jan, at 19x baseline levels
     Was falling then, but still well above the highest levels of recent years
     
     EEE risk - still Remote in our county, but
     already Low in Greenfield, Buckland and Ashfield,
     and Low or Moderate in parts of eastern MA
     
     Avian flu
     We’re seeing a slowdown in bird flu outbreaks - fewer cases among commercial flocks and backyard flocks.
     no recent public announcements from MA DPH
     FRCOG now has its own page - https://frcog.org/bird-flu/ - w advice for general public and
     for people who work with animals or have a backyard flock
     
     Measles
     Current status:
     407 measles cases across 19 states, 355 of which are associated with the outbreak in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The slope of the increase has not changed - still rising just as fast.
     
     No cases in MA to date.
     
     Concerning development at the CDC: a shadow CDC page on vaccines and autism was revealed. It looks exactly like an official CDC page—the same branding, fonts, and style. But it had false information about MMR vaccines causing autism.
     
     The site was hosted by Children’s Health Defense (CHD)— a non-profit, anti-vaxx organization started by Secretary Kennedy. Posting inaccurate information adds to the concern about organizations masking as legitimate sites who are spreading unreliable information.
     
     Put “sandwich board” out with reminder that it is now tick season and they are active - “take precautions”.
     
     This email has been scanned for spam and viruses by Proofpoint Essentials. Click here to report this email as spam.
     

5. Monthly article for the Conway Currents / website

   • General Discussion...
     Remove this item from the agenda as a recurring item. Any ideas can be sent to Daniel and/or Hanna prior to the 15th of each month.

6. Tobacco regulations

   • General Discussion...
     Picking up on page 13. Review complete. Summary finding to be reported at a to-be scheduled public hearing (tentatively 4/23 at 6pm)

7. Body Art regulations

   • General Discussion...
     - Hazel Goleman present to discuss what she has done so far with regards to research and communications with the building inspector and various contractors.
     - Copies of Mass “boilerplate” regulations copied for board members.
     - Plan to review Body Art regulations more thoroughly and follow-up with Hazel at the April 28th meeting.
     - Gina and Kat will take the lead on proposed draft regulations for Conway and report back to the board with their recommendations.

9. Opioid fund expenditures - current and future

   • General Discussion...
     We have bought into three regional services, further info to follow
     
     As a town, how can we address:
     Help prevent new addictions?
     Adequate support for addictions?
     Community cohesion/connectiveness?
     

10. Unanticipated items of concern that arises after posting

    • General Discussion...
      None

11. Public comments

    • General Discussion...
      None

12. Meeting Wrap-up

    • Next Meetings:
      1. Mon, Apr 14, at 5:00 PM "Board of Health Meeting" -- Town Hall Office Meeting Space
      2. Tue, Apr 22, at 1:00 PM "Board of Health" -- Town Hall Office Meeting Space
      3. Mon, Apr 28, at 5:00 PM "Board of Health Meeting" -- Town Hall Office Meeting Space

The listing of matters is those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law.

Minutes approved on Monday, Apr 14, 2025