[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Okay, can everyone hear me okay? Yep. Okay, good. Can you all hear Dr. Platowicz okay? Yes. Great, okay. All right, so today is April 25th, meeting of the Medford Board of Health for April. Dr. Platowicz, would you like to open the meeting, please?
[MCM00001423_SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, we'll open the meeting. And the first thing on the agenda is approval of the minutes, which we mailed out to everyone from March 21, 2023.
[Unidentified]: Can I have a motion to approve the minutes? Motion to approve. Thank you, Dr. Slatowicz. Second. Second by Kathleen Shelton.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Thank you, Kathleen. You're welcome. Motion passes. Okay. All right. So on the agenda today, we have just a couple of items and one of them, the first one, It's a quick review of the housing code recently was updated, hadn't been updated in quite a few years. And as of April, the new housing code is in effect. And there's a few changes. Some of it, they just updated some language and made it more, you know, with the time, so to speak. But one of the changes to the new housing code is around the heating season. In the old housing code, the heating season went till June 15th. The new housing code moves it back to May 31st. In the past, if a building landlord wanted to push back the heating season even further, they would all have to come to the board and ask for an individual variance for each of them. Per request, we would have to vote on and approve individual variances. Housing Code allows that a Board of Health may alter the heating season as defined in 105 CMR 410-180A by ending it no earlier than May 15th or delaying the start date to no later than September 30th. in a particular year for all residences within its jurisdiction, just by posting the notice of such alteration on the municipality's website. The Board of Health's decision to alter the heating season shall not be required to conform to the provisions for the granting of individual variances required by 105 CMR 410-700. So we do have with us today both Mystic Place and 99 Riverside, Avenue, who had already inquired, especially when we had that little bit of a heat wave a while ago, a couple, a week or so ago, about seeking a variance to move the heating season back. And I believe both places were interested in the May 15th date. I know we have folks representing both 99 Riverside and Mystic Place on the meeting today. I'm not sure if David or Teresa or Noel would like to speak on their interest in moving the heating season back and or the start date of the heating season, moving that forward as well. Anybody?
[Roberta Cameron]: Last year, we actually were granted a variance for the heating season to end on May 15th. And that did give us a couple of weeks of flexibility. As we explained last year, we're on a type of system where we can't just flip a switch. We need about a week. We need to secure a vendor. We need to cool down the water temperature. It's a long process before we can actually get air conditioning into the building. And then because of the number of floors that we have, it takes a while to get to the top. So we found that extra two week wiggle room to be very helpful.
[Unidentified]: And we'd like to request that again. Anyone from Mystic Place?
[SPEAKER_03]: Hi, this is Andrea Wallace, manager of Mystic Place. Yes, we would like to request the same thing for it to start on May 15th. We have a chiller cooling tower system and we can do heat or AC. And with our high rise buildings, we do need to have the ability to cool off those units on the upper floors, as well as we have a lot of elderly and some disabled and affordable families here that it's just too hot when we don't offer the AC and because of the windows. So we would also like to request May 15th, please.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: So the option right now here for the board for both Kathy and Dr. Plattowitz's information is that you can make a motion to end the heating season at May 15th. And it would just be a blanket motion for all residences within Medford. And we just need to post that on our website to make that an official ending. So. Any discussion from Dr. Platowicz or Kathy regarding that?
[Unidentified]: Yeah, sounds good to me.
[SPEAKER_07]: I think we did that last year, right?
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Yeah, we did individual variances last year, so this is kind of giving them a blanket. So all residences of Medford, the heating season then will end on May 15th. Do I have a motion to approve? Thank you, Dr. Platowicz. Do I have a second, Kathy?
[SPEAKER_07]: Kathy seconds.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Thank you, Kathy. Kathy Chabonet. Yes. Okay, motion passes. So the heating season in the city of Medford will be ending on May 15th.
[Roberta Cameron]: Thank you very much.
[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you so much.
[Roberta Cameron]: That helps very much.
[SPEAKER_03]: And it will save a lot of calls to your office, so we're happy. Thank you. Nice to meet everybody. Bye.
[Unidentified]: Thank you.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Bye-bye. Thank you. Next on the agenda, I don't know if Danetza wants to speak to this. We have Alvaro. Oh, he was here. Where did he go?
[Unidentified]: Did he leave? Lost Alvaro. He was here.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: We had Alvaro from Tacuba here and he dropped off. I don't know why, but anyways. Danetza, do you want to speak to the issue at hand?
[MCM00001437_SPEAKER_05]: My name is and it's one of the Senate Terrence here in the Board of Health's department in the city of Medford. So the reason why I don't send a lot was included in this meeting is because he applied for a review for food establishment that he's trying to open back in 2018. in which back in 2019, the city of Medford passed this regulation where their food establishments, new food establishments who's trying to come into the city, if they want to get a food permit, they have to go through a plan review, which their plan review has to be signed, stamped, and received by a food consultant that either holds a RS certificate, registered sanitarium, or a CPFS certificate. But because Mr. Alvaro Sandoval did provide his plan review back in 2018, and his plan review, it looks like it was approved by a senatorian who was working in this department back then, which she is no longer working here. For some reason, we cannot find his plan review application. We have found his blueprints for the food establishment that he's trying to open on Salem Street, but we cannot find the plan review itself. So the reason for this meeting is because we need the Board of Health members to approve Mr. Alvaro Sandoval to provide us a new plan review, but without the food consultant signature.
[Unidentified]: Alvaro, do you have anything you'd like to add?
[Alvaro Sandoval]: Not really. I mean, what can I say? Just for instance, the way the place is set up, even just with the floor plan, everything is based on, I cannot get a building permit, as you know. anything without the approval of the board of health. So as being say that back then when I when I apply everything has to go through the board of health before we get any any any approval for anything that we're going to do put even a screw inside of the place. So until now that I actually contact them just to uh or contact I'm sorry to ask for a possible uh inspection that's when I found out that the plan review has been lost. I mean can be fine can be found. So A little bit of disappointment, but just want to know how we can get this thing squared and then just move on in the best way possible.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: And we'd like to move forward for you, Alvaro, as well. We know you did submit the plan review. Unfortunately, a lot of things, I guess, have occurred in the last five years that we did find your floor plans cannot locate. So what we're asking is that you just submit another plan review application, but that we are asking the board to grant you a variance to waive the need for a certified food consultant to sign off on that plan review. Because we know you'd already done that. And that's a good, you know, an expense and also a delay for you. So that's the motion in front of the Board of Health, Dr. Plattowitz and Kathy, I don't know if you have any comments. If you just want to move forward with granting the variance for an exception to the requirement for certified food consultant to sign off on the new plan review.
[MCM00001423_SPEAKER_06]: Words on us I agree.
[Unidentified]: And it was approved before, right. Correct. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I'm good. Can I have a motion to approve.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Thank you, Dr. Bladowitz. Kathy, can I have a second?
[SPEAKER_07]: Kathy Chabonier, second.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Thank you very much. Okay, Alvaro, you're all set. If you could just fill out the plan review yourself, it shouldn't be too difficult, and just submit that to us, and we'll be able to move forward. We're sorry for the inconvenience.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's okay, things happen. Thank you all, and you have a good day. You too.
[MCM00001437_SPEAKER_05]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Okay, I believe that's it. I don't have really any other business at this point. Unless Kathy or Dr. Platowicz does, you can have a motion to adjourn?
[MCM00001423_SPEAKER_06]: Motion to adjourn.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Thank you. I'm glad you were able to join us, Dr. Platowicz.
[MCM00001423_SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, I got in the back doorway. If we go through EPIC through our EMR, that's where the problem connect was. I'm in my office. You can get around the back way.
[SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, that happened to me before too.
[MCM00001423_SPEAKER_06]: Yeah. Yeah, it just takes longer.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Yeah. All right, I need a second from you Kathy.
[SPEAKER_07]: Kathy shall be a seconds.
[MaryAnn O'Connor]: Thank you. Okay. Meeting adjourned. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Bye bye.