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Board of Health Meeting

Monday, November 24, 2025, 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: Daniel Sheff, Member, at 5:00 PM
  • Present: Hanna Sherman, Member, at 5:00 PM
  • Present: Hazel Goleman, at 5:00 PM
  • Remote: Regina McNeely, Member, at 5:00 PM

See original Agenda Final Minutes

Meeting opened: 5:03 PM

Meeting closed: 5:50 PM

  1. Meeting Preliminaries

  2. Mail and invoices

    • General Discussion...
      The usual sludge transport tickets, NACCHO news monthly mailing, and one invoice from WB Mason for office supplies

  3. FRCOG inspections / report

    • General Discussion...
      D-box replacement - 14 River Street
      Final Inspection - 104 Academy Hill Rd.
      4 Title V Inspections, more scheduled to come

  4. Meetings / Trainings attended by board members

    • General Discussion...
      Hanna and Daniel TRAIN
      Hanna - attended Foundations of Public Health webinar
      Rural Realities - Advancing Public Health in Rural Communities webinar
      Kat - CPHS co-chair meeting
      Hazel - tried to get on, couldn’t find - we reviewed with her how to find trainings online.
      Gina - Local Public Health Institute - Housing and Homelessness; Started Foundations

  5. Health and wellness report

    • General Discussion...
      MDPH News and Announcements

      On Wednesday night, a directive from HHS forced CDC to publish scientifically false claims, saying that the statement “vaccines do not cause autism” is not evidence-based. This wasn’t a debate and there are no new data reports. Epidemiologists across the country are now advising us to avoid the CDC website. Fortunately trustworthy sources outside the federal government are stepping in with accurate information.

      MDPH sent an announcement that started, 'Vaccines do not cause autism, and there is no link between childhood vaccines and autism. This has been proven repeatedly through decades of rigorous, high-quality research involving millions of children worldwide. The evidence is clear, consistent, and overwhelming.”

      Viral illnesses
      COVID, flu and RSV remain very low across the state.
      COVID vaccinations are running below last year - currently 9% vaccinated, was 15% at this time last year.
      Max last year was 21% vaccinated.
      Flu vaccinations: currently 27%, last year this time 30%, max last year 40%

      CDC reporting: across the country, pockets of increased COVID activity
      ME, NY, CT minor bump from “very low” to “ low”
      Arizona and Nebraska - low, not very low
      Arkansas and Indiana - moderate

      PopHIVE, which pulls from Google Trends and healthcare records, shows similarly low activity in most of the US, with pockets of increased activity. Increase is still quite low, rising from 0.2% of ED visits to 0.6%.

      Caitlin Rivers, review of state-level data:
      The flu curve is clear - early start of a rise:

      COVID wastewater testing remains low:

      Norovirus
      Norovirus activity - CDC reports monthly data haven’t been updated since the federal shutdown ended.
      Activity levels vary across the US from low to high.
      Thanksgiving - time to be careful not to prepare food if you’ve had GI symptoms.

      Arboviruses
      WNV and EEE risks are low across much of the state - though not gone

      Tick-borne illnesses
      State data lag - latest now is September.
      Historically there are two peaks during the year;
      the first begins in March/April and lasts through August,
      and the second occurs in October-November.
      So this is still a time of increased risk.

  6. Chairperson update

    • General Discussion...
      No significant items to report

  7. Unanticipated items of concern that arises after posting

    • General Discussion...
      Email request re: receivership program for housing, applications due 12/31/2025.
      Randy will arrange an informational session for us to decide about Conway joining the program.
      Amanda - no response. Kat will reach out again.
      Infant formula recall - what is our responsibility?
      FRCOG handles this for us.
      Apparently this does not include a process for advising the public.
      Consider message board, posting on our website, message to school.
      The manufacturer is responsible for advising the public. BOH is not legally responsible.
      Morally and ethically, we may choose to help disseminate news.

  8. Public comments

    • General Discussion...
      None

  9. Meeting Wrap-up

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 prepared by Daniel Sheff

Minutes approved on Wednesday, Jan 21, 2026