Minutes of the Island County Board of Health

Special Session Monday, February 9, 2004

 

Members Present:  Commissioners:  William J. Byrd; Mac McDowell, Mike Shelton; Barbara Saugen, WGH Commissioner; Mayor Patty Cohen, Oak Harbor and Captain Susan B. Herrold, NC USN (Naval Hospital Oak Harbor Roger S. Case, M.D., Executive Secretary to the Board

 

Call to Order:  Commissioner William J. Byrd called this advertised special session of the Island County Board of Health to order at 1:15 p.m.

 

This being a special meeting no changes or additions were made to the agenda.

 

 Minutes:  Mayor Patty Cohen moved that the minutes for both January 12 & January 21, 2004 meetings be approved as written.  Commissioner Mike Shelton seconded.  The motion passed and the Chair will sign on behalf of the Board.

 

Advisory Board presentations were presented:

·         Community Health Advisory Board:  Mr. Dave Macys presented a review of CHAB Activities December 2003-February 2004. (See Attachment)  He stipulated that after an extensive review of the four priority health issues for Island County (Early childhood intervention and Parent Support; Chronic Disease and Physical Activity; Health screening and Disease Prevention; and Mental Health), the CHAB selected Early Childhood Intervention and Parent Support/Education as the issue on which to focus their primary efforts.  He gave a brief summation of CHAB’s Public Awareness, Education and Outreach Efforts.  The process of soliciting nominees for the 2004 Linda Lee Martens Health Hero of Island County has begun.  According to the By-Laws six CHAB members’ term of office will be expiring in March. Five have expressed a willingness to serve another term, but the sixth has not decided.

 

·         The Opportunity Council:  Ms Lisa Clark presented the report for the Opportunity Council.  Funds for the Transitional Housing have been awarded to the Housing Authority and the building site selected will be located behind the Whidbey News Times.  This housing will shelter 16 families, eight of which will be for emergency shelter (stay for 30-90 days), and eight will be for transitional housing (up to two years, with progress evaluations each 6 months). Energy Programs are booked until the end of April.  This is a complex program that assists many people, and the demand for support has not let up since starting in November of 2003.  The Opportunity Council hopes to get funds to address the Camano Island residents’ energy needs. Funds would go to anything that would make houses more energy efficient.  Opportunity Council personnel will meet with the County Health Department staff on April 14, 2004 for a workshop regarding Lead Base Paint.

 

·         Ms Jackie Henderson presented the reports for the Substance Abuse Advisory Board, Mental Health Advisory Board, and Developmental Disability Advisory Board.  All agencies are suffering with cuts in funding:

Substance Abuse:  She stated that the Substance Abuse Treatment facility on South Whidbey has closed due to the limited demand at that facility. She also commented that it now takes two weeks to get an appointment for an assessment of substance abuse, an additional six weeks wait to enter a treatment facility, and by that time the person may have changed his/her mind regarding treatment.  Ms Henderson continued by noting that of the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse grant for $570,000, only $40,000 goes to prevention services… sharply limiting the ability for support personnel to meet the local need.

 

DD--Family Respite Program/Family support (children with serious disabilities) Families are now applying for out of home placement for their children.  Case Managers caseloads have skyrocketed.  They have to get county approved placement forms before getting funds and these forms have not been sent out in a timely manner.  Toddler Learning Center  (Toni Kotschwar) may lose thousands of dollars because lack of proper paper work.  On another issue, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) will not pay an agency until the person has been employed for 90 days.  Island Employment cannot take people because of this new rule, since they do not have the funds to train the person for a job and support them financially for the first 90 days.

 

Mental Health:  Compass Health has been laying off people since more of those in need for support are being hospitalized, and with more and more funding being shifted by the state to the institutional hospitals, Compass Health has less funding locally. People continue to fall into the cracks where Mental Health care is concerned because of inadequate funding.  There are an increasing number of seniors with mental illness.  Many call 911 — sometimes several times a day, and with the cut back of outpatient services they will go to the more expensive services centers.

 

·         Laurie Mosolino and Jim Patton presented the Environmental Health Assessment Team (EHAT) Quarterly Report to the BOH            (see attachment)

 

Dr. Mosolino gave a brief update on EHAT Progress.  She invited the BOH to attend their next meeting February 19, 2004 at 5:30pm at the Heller Road Fire Station #25, Oak Harbor. Presentation of four Issue Papers will be the agenda for the meeting.

 

One of the EHAT issues is arsenic levels in drinking water. Mr. Jim Patton said that the EPA is working hard to gather additional evidence regarding the effects of arsenic in water.  The recent change for acceptable standards for drinking water significantly reduces the maximum contaminate level (MCL) for arsenic. Meeting the new standard will prove to be a costly undertaking for many Island County residents who are dependent upon wells for their drinking water.

 

 

Public Hearing Date Discussion:

After much discussion concerning the proposed changes to the Island County Code 8.08A, Solid Waste Regulations (see attachment), Commissioner Mike Shelton moved to have a Public Hearing set for March 15th, 2004 at 2:30 p.m. to take public comment on the proposed revisions to current Code which will result in adopting a code change (8.08B), bringing current code into alignment with rules recently adopted by the State of Washington.   Mayor Patty Cohen seconded.   At this time Rufus Rose, citizen of Island County, was recognized and commented on regulations requiring that wells be set back 1000 feet from property lines of any property containing a landfill, and encouraged the BOH to get more involved in addressing the impact this requirement has on availability of water to the surrounding parcels. This comment was determined to be not relevant to the present discussion. With no further discussion regarding the motion to set time and date for the proposed public hearing, the motion on the floor passed unanimously.

           

Commissioner Mike Shelton moved that Consolidated Contract-Department of Health, Contract No.: C08679 Amendment 7, Contract Amount: $957,798, Amendment Amount $112,521 be approved.  Commissioner Barbara Saugen seconded.  The motion passed and the Chair will sign on behalf of the Board.

 

Commissioner Mike Shelton moved that Shared Receptionist/Camano-Compass Health, Contract No.: HD-01-04, Contract Amount: $5,500 be approved.  Commissioner Barbara Saugen seconded.  The motion passed and the Chair will sign on behalf of the Board.

 

Commissioner Mike Shelton moved that Consolidated Contract-Department of Health, Contract No.: C08679 Amendment 8, Contract Amount: $967,433, Amendment Amount $9,635 be approved.  Commissioner Barbara Saugen Seconded.  The motion passed and the Chair will sign on behalf of the Board.

 

Commissioner Mike Shelton moved that Grant Writing-Whidbey General Hospital, Contract No.: HD-02-04, Contract Amount: $19,807 be approved, Commissioner Barbara Saugen seconded. (She questioned whether this would be a conflict of interest for her to vote and it was determined that it would not.)  The motion passed and the Chair will sign on behalf of the Board.

 

Commissioner Mike Shelton moved that Foster Care Passport Program-DSHS, Contract No.: 0463-41968, Contract Amount: $9,068 be approved.  Commissioner Barbara Saugen seconded.  The motion passed and the Chair will sign on behalf of the Board.

 

Health Department Report:

Health Services Director Tim McDonald said the report for the Health Department has just been given.

 

Adjourn:  There being no further business, Commissioner Byrd adjourned the meeting at 3:10 p.m. The next regularly scheduled Board of Health meeting is March 15, 2004 at 1:15 p.m. in the Commissioner’s Hearing room.

 

Submitted:  Roger S. Case, MD, Executive Secretary to the Board

 

Minutes approved this 15th day March 2004.

ISLAND COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH

William J. Byrd, Chairman