 being recorded. Okay, so we're being recorded now. We're opening the October 14th Board of Health meeting and pursuant to chapter 20 of the acts of 2021, this meeting will be conducted via remote means. Members of the public who wish to access the meeting may do so. They can find the link on the Amherst Board of Health website, and it is included in today's agenda, which is called the most recent agenda. No in-person attendance will be permitted, but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access proceedings in real time via technological means. In the event we are unable to do so for reasons of economic hardship and despite best efforts, we will post on the Amherst Board of Health website in audio recording as soon as possible after this meeting. Okay, so today's meeting is open and the first item on the agenda is the two minutes, the first minutes from our September 9th meeting, and I read them. I didn't see any errors or typos that I saw. Anybody else? I looked at them too. I read them. They seemed fine. Thank you, Steve. I need a motion to accept the minutes. I'll make a motion to accept the minutes of both the September 9th and September 20th. I was going to do them one at a time. All right, we'll start with September 9th meeting. September 9th, okay. So it's been moved. I need a second. I can second it. Thank you. Any further discussion? Okay, so it's been moved and seconded to accept September 9th meeting minutes for the Board of Health. All in favor, Maureen? Yes. Tim? Aye. Steve? Aye. Nancy? Yes. Okay. Nancy, did we miss a roll call? Yes. Sorry. Roll call. Okay. Back up. Roll call. In attendance. Tim? Here. Maureen? Here. Steve? Here. Nancy, here. Lauren is not here and she has not signed the papers for being accepted as a Board of Health member. I did send her some emails last week, but never heard from her. I'll follow up tomorrow. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Now back. Sorry for that little hiccup. September 27th draft minutes for our special virtual meeting on the COVID vaccine. They look fine to me. Does someone want to make a motion to accept them? Does anyone have any changes? I'll move to accept them by minutes. Okay. You make a motion to accept them. We need a second. I can second that. Okay. Any discussion? All in favor, Steve? Aye. Maureen? Yes. Tim? Aye. And Nancy? Aye. Okay. Okay. So, next on our agenda is welcoming Lauren, but she's not here. So, and then... Wait. You know what? I see her. And I'm saying Lauren is in the attendees. I'm going to move her promoted to a panelist. Lauren, if you can hear me, there's something on your end to acknowledge that you want to enter as a panelist. Yay. Yay. Yes. Hi. Sorry. It's only a minute. Okay. Did you hear what we were saying, Lauren? No, I just know you did the minutes. Okay. You did not go to town hall to sign the papers that got your letter. So, you're not approved. Be on the board. You can be a guest today until you sign them. This has happened many times in the past. So, we're welcoming you. There's a lot of emails. We're welcoming you. Okay. Thank you. There was way more homework this time than the other time. So, don't get too nervous about that. Reach out to us. And I sent you some information that might help you if you look over it about boards of health in Massachusetts. There were three emails to help you understand the board and some of its work. And then we can all help you whatever way you need. Okay. Thank you. Okay. So, the next thing that I'm going to keep briefly under all business is the, I keep losing things here, the review and update on regulations. So, I went through, we have 13 regulations, many of them are outdated. And the three that are most relevant right now to our work is the recombinant DNA, which Maureen did a whole lot of work looking on. The refuse, which is coming up today because of zero waste. And at our last meeting, I brought up the toxic chemical, which is from 2001 because of House Bill 926, improving pesticide protection for Massachusetts school children. So, we should review that. We have reviewed it in the past when the issue of Roundup came up. And we got from the DPW at that point, Roundup was used, I believe it was in Groff Park on Poison Ivy after it was handpicked and they couldn't eradicate it. So, it was used a little bit. But those are the three I think we should look at and update in the next six months to a year. And Maureen, you've taken the lead on recombinant DNA. Well, I really just googled around basically. But I did notice that a lot of towns in Massachusetts have regulations of the same era, 2008-ish actually. Several towns don't have regulations at all, including North Hampton and South Hadley, which also have two of the five colleges. So, I was curious about that. Some of the towns in the eastern part of the state have more recent updates of their regulations. And some have added, these regulations basically ban the higher risk labs in many towns, level four. They regulate, they have permits for some of the lower risk labs. And they have registration for some of the labs that fall at the bottom of the risk level or some that are even not part of this NIH guideline that everybody refers to. So, that's sort of what they're doing. But some of the towns have also not just with the Board of Health, but have added a biosafety committee to their town, in which generally includes one or two members from the Board of Health, plus some people who have some expertise in biosafety and in hazard generally not a deal with their hazards. Watertown has the most recent update from 2020. And I think that kind of came about because they're getting this big gene therapy research and manufacturing facility that's a Harvard MIT joint venture that's opening next year. So, I think there's a lot of, I think where I saw this was a lot of the biotech towns in the eastern part of the state that have some more vigorous activity in their town. I don't know what we need. I guess that was the question thing I came down to is what's changed. I did not read all 174 pages of some of the NIH guidelines, etc. I kind of looked at them to see if I could digest them. And I kind of got the gist, but I didn't really have a good feel for what the levels actually mean. In terms of if I'm looking at this organism and this genetic manipulation, what is that risky? I don't know. Anyway, so I thought we might need some expert help to sort that out. I can send an email to Cheryl Sibola and ask her, I should say Sibora. Cheryl Sibola is at UMass and Cheryl Sibora is the public health. So I can send her an email and ask her. The other thing as we're talking, what's happening up at UMass? They have lots of labs up there. They're not under our... But they're not under our... But the Amherst College one is. Right. And Hampshire. I don't know if there's anything that meets the need for that kind of regulation. And like I said, you know, you neither South Hadley or North Hampton that I could find have as similar regulations. So I would assume the level of research would be similar amongst the five colleges, but maybe I'm not right about that. Anyway, it just... It really did seem like the one, it was banning the highest level risk labs. And then knowing what's going on, maybe in case something happens. And three was making sure that the colleges are following or the labs are following the NIH guidelines around we come in a DNA and the CDC guidelines about bio... Sort of microbiological research. And the only Massachusetts was referred to as Massachusetts law was the law that allows towns and cities to hire experts if needed. There's not a Massachusetts law that I could find that has any kind of regulation or guidance on this. So I think we need to ask some questions. Steve, do you have a sense of this? Yeah, thanks pretty much. You know, he was the former chair of the Amherst safety committee that dealt with all that. And what I would say is that, you know, a lot of the... In the 1970s, even the lowest levels of genetic manipulations generated legitimate concern that there might be, you know, created worldwide pandemic or something from these manipulations. But those concerns are really allayed by 40 years or 50 years, frankly, of work in that area. But it's definitely... So I would say, you know, if we wanted to consider something new, I would not want to be in charge of it because I'm not an expert. But it's really a lot of the stuff that goes on, even at Amherst College, there's much more worry, I would say, about pathogens because they're, you know, like what Alex Burney is working on, she's very, very safe and everything. But that is way more dangerous than any genetic manipulations that are going on there. Those are, you know, cholera toxins and everything else are in the labs. And so if we wanted to be concerned about what could happen in the worst possible case, we maybe should have more of a general biosafety regulation that covers not just recombinant DNA, which is old hat now, and except for like level four, like you say, Marine, Fort Detrick, Maryland is the only place in the country, I think it does level four. So of course, we shouldn't have level four, even level three, but the other levels are not much of a problem. So we can, you know, kind of review that and make sure, like you say, people are following NIH guidelines. But I would say, you know, considering that pathogens are now very much used in some of that research, the Board of Health has a legitimate reason to make sure that the colleges are following good procedures. Yeah, I think that the regulation as written does include microbiological agents and toxins. So it's broader than just recombinant DNA. And that falls under those, I forget the letters, but the biosafety guidelines of the CDC, which is another whole set of guidelines. So, but yeah, you know, and I think what UMass had the anthrax research going on in the past, I don't think they do any more, but it also, it says that they're not under the town's jurisdiction. And I don't know exactly why. So I think we need some guidance about where to start and maybe somebody to point us in the direction of someone who could help us assess what's needed. I'll send an email to Cheryl and CC everybody. Steve, would you like to work with Maureen on coming up with where we should be going with this regulation, given it's 2021, and the world is much different than it was when these originally came out. And you know, our process, it doesn't happen that overnight would take our time making sure everything's done correctly. Does that sound like a good plan? Sure, I'll be happy to do that. Yeah. Yeah, that would be great. Okay. And I'll get that email out tomorrow. The refuse one is going to come up today with the zero waste. The other one is toxic chemical, which, as I said, was 2001. And given the house bill, we should look at that and review it. Hello, Tim, do you feel like looking at that with maybe Lauren, looking at because that goes into the schools, Lauren, it's improving pesticide protection for Massachusetts school children. That's the house bill. But we want to look at our own toxic chemical regulation, given that bill that's in front of the house, too. Can you take that on Tim? Sure. Okay. With Lauren, after you sign your papers, how does that sound, Lauren, looking at that, given you're the mother of school children? Are you there, Lauren? She's muted, so maybe she. The sound is going in and out. Nancy, we have somebody with their hand up and a question, and I think it's John. Okay, it's Darcy. I think it's maybe John Root. Can I allow him to ask a question? Yes. Is it John or is it Darcy? Yeah, I had an email that that may be John Root on that. Darcy or John, can you unmute and ask a question? Can you hear me? Yes. Okay, yes. This is John Root. I'm on Darcy's computer. So I was just ready to do my presentation if you're ready. Okay. Yeah, no, I'm just saying. The topic is we're reviewing all of our 13 regulations to make a plan to go forward. So you're going to come up under new business. So the three regulations we're going to be working on in the next year are the recombinant DNA, bio-safety, toxic chemicals, and then refuse thanks to your presentation. But we'll get to that in a few minutes, okay? Okay. All right. Yeah, John, I lowered your hand. I have new Zoom skills. Okay, and I'm going to mute you until the time. Okay, thanks. Okay, so how does that sound for a plan for our regulations? I looked them all up and I have all the dates and I was going to type it all up and send it to you. But then I thought, well, we already have three according to what's going on and how does that sound as a plan for board members? Sounds fine. Okay, great. So Nancy, I'm going to say, and you can tell me what the protocol is. There is someone with their hand up. If it's a question regarding these two things, do we continue to ask a question? Is that appropriate? Okay. Yes, it's Samuel Gladstone. Yeah, if he has a question related to the three regulations we're looking at. Okay, so I'm going to allow you to talk. Thank you. I just want, so I'm Dr. Samuel Gladstone. I actually was on the board of health in the 1990s. I know Maureen. And I question is about the next issue or when people like John Root, is there a way to allow people who talk to be seen like the seven of you? Yeah, so when we get to that, I can allow people privileges to do that. So when we get to that subject, I can let you enter and enable your video. Okay. Thank you. All right, thank you. Okay, so that takes care of the other old One thing got put under new business, which is really all business, and that is our racist statement that Steve sent out. We voted on at our last meeting and we accepted the latest version with Tim's edits. And we just have to make a plan for signing it. And I said I can go up to town. I can go up to the health department next. We can sign it. But Jen had an idea for getting it out. Oh, yeah. Right. I can expedite that. We have someone that can actually come to your home if that's helpful. And with the document, you can sign it. I can come to town hall next week. I think I have a plan to do that already. So I'd be happy to just not town hall, but the bank center, the health department. Where is it, actually? It's at the health department? Yes, in the bank center. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Lauren, did you want to say something? Lauren, do you have a question? Yeah, just a mute and speak on it. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Well, is that sent to me as well or sent to everyone? That document to be sent. I think when you're sworn in and ready to go, is that it was done at our last meeting, which you were not a part of. So it'll just be the four of us because it was done in the September meeting. But did you get a copy of the statement to see? If it was recently sent, I will look again. Okay. I was a little behind. Okay. Yeah. It's a bit overwhelming. But yeah, we had voted it in our last meeting, but we haven't signed it yet. And everybody saw Tim's last edits that were already accepted, correct? Did you want to say something, Steve? That's fine. Yeah, I can come to the banks no problem if it's easier. I've got a problem for me to come at all. If the door is open and the front door open these days. The side doors open at 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Okay. That's good. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So we'll get that signed. But does everybody, do we know how it's going to get signed then? So I'm going to come in sometime and even during lunchtime, any restrictions on when that can be done? There's no restrictions. If you want to contact me directly, I can be prepared with a special pen to sign. But it's 10 to 2. And I'll tell you why we'll get to it, but we have the new community COVID PCR testing. So our doors are open during that time. Okay. Great. Thank you. Okay. Now, new business, Ed Smith. I saw you there, Ed. We have the well application. Yes. Hello. Hey, Ed. So I think this is the latest in a series of new wells out on Leverett Road. These are parcels out of the old Ketridge estate. So I believe you would have gotten the materials that were shared from the applicant. Everything seemed in order to me, except one thing on my letter. There's an illustration on the back of the letter of support that I wrote. It indicates that there's an orange cone in the picture at the northwest corner. It's really the northeast corner. Okay. The northwest corner is the corner, or the southwest corner, excuse me, is the corner that the septic system be off. So there's a great deal of separation. And I really didn't see any issues with the site. I had a question, but I don't know the geology there. If they're going to be putting a future paddock and barn in, the well as uphill from it, that the manure and all won't get into the well. Yeah, there's a slight drainage down across the driveway presently. I imagine that they'll grade that out a little bit more than already was, but there shouldn't be any interference between the two. Okay. And what stage are we at? This is just a drilling permit, or like we're going to still see the toxicology from the water sample data later? That's right. This is just the drilling permit. There'll be a submission of a water supply application to you to certify that it's an approved drinking water source. Okay. So there's been problems only in aesthetic quality, I believe, to the water wells in that area. So they probably will have to deal with magnesium, I think. But at any rate, it's not a toxic. I think there's maybe manganese or iron or something. Manganese, I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. I'm trying to pretend I'm John Tobiasen, but I'm not getting out. Oh, thank you. Yeah, so am I. Okay. I see that there's this paddock going in, but I'm hoping it's downhill from the well. Oh, good point. No, it's well separated. And there are no aquifers up there. Are there? Not feet. No. No, no-town wells that are an issue there. There's a wetland that was marked out. It's well away from the area. It really was just open fields at one point and maintained that way for years by the cartridge family. Now, if they do put this horse barn in and a paddock, is there going to be problem with manure and water there? No, I wouldn't anticipate so. Okay. Because it just says future, but I would be concerned about manure and water. Yeah, they have a fair bit of land downhill and away from the site. So I think that any pasturing of horses will be downhill for sure. Okay. Anybody else have questions? So do we just need to give you approval or what do we have to do? We have to have a motion for a drilling permit, I think. Okay. Also, I'll move that we accept the drilling permit or approve the drilling permit for 200 Leopold Road. Need a second? I can second that. Any further discussion? Okay. So all in favor of the drilling for the whale application? Steve? Aye. Tim? Aye. Nancy? Aye. Okay. I wait. Me. I'm sorry, Maureen. I'm seeing all these faces here. Sorry, Maureen. That's okay. Okay. Great. Thank you. I can take the paperwork from here and we'll be back when the well is ready with the water supply request. Okay. Great. And I'm going to say goodbye for tonight. Thank you. Thank you very much. And anything further on the tobacco violation order? Yeah. So let me update you with that. Spirit House is next on the new business. They had a compliance check through the Pioneer Valley Tobacco Coalition, the PVTC, on Thursday, September 23rd, and there was a sales to a miner. So this is the second sale to a miner within a 36 month period. So three things. This is at least how I've organized it in my brain. Three things with them. And then if there's anyone from Spirit House, if you can raise your hand and we can hear from you in a minute, there's a fine, a $2,000 fine that they'll need to pay. They paid a $1,000 on September 29th. This is a $2,000 fine. The second thing is a suspension for seven days. And they have started that suspension of sales of tobacco. Thank you very much, Susan Malone. She went in person to serve them the cease and desist letter on October 4th. The suspension for tobacco is Tuesday, October 5th through the 11th. They're cleared to sell it on the 12th. And then the third part of this, you know, in how I'm organizing this, is there needs to be some kind of retail training for the staff. And so I think that's something that we've all talked about. And if it's okay with everybody, I'll take that on unless someone wants to do it. And if anyone wants to join me, but I have the tobacco products handler quiz and I'll take a look at it. It looks really comprehensive, but you know, just I have a fresh set of eyes, I can sort of take a look at that. And then with your support and your help, I'll figure out how to start working with the sellers. Right now, I look they're 19 people with tobacco license. So that's a big number. So let me sort of take over if that's a good plan. And I can continue on with that, because I think there needs to be some some kind of, you know, training. And then just as an FYI, just because I'm new to this, I put a call into Steven McCarthy. Just he's, you know, with licensing, and I just want to report this to him. So he has an email, but I just haven't spoken to him. Is there anyone from Spirit House? I don't see any hands up. So that's what I have to report. And that's taking a lot on if you consider the fact that there's likely to be multiple sellers at each of the 19 places. Are you aware of that? Well, you know, I can tell you, I know the number, but maybe maybe I'll need some guidance with that. Or, you know, how I can do it with inspections. But it seems like we just need to reboot that a little bit. Jen, I'm willing to help you in any way I can. I develop that quiz with the hope that we would not be where we are today with this, the second violation. The regulations went into effect last January 1st. There's been a lot of change and transition in the department and you're dealing with COVID and everything. So it slipped a little behind, but anyway, I can help you. Okay. And you had talked about getting materials together to bring, and I can help you bring them to the establishments to help them with a process to do this. Okay. Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that. So let me just take a real, you know, a real deep look at this and see if it can be incorporated into other things that are going on or how it needs to be done. But I appreciate that. Thank you. I remember poking around about education for this and found that the DPH had a new video, I think, for employees that might be worth just taking a look. If that's helpful. Oh, absolutely. I think it was a video. I think it wasn't just slides. I know they have some new, a new program, you know, get outranged. So maybe they have some and other states have educational videos that they use to help prevent this too. Okay, so now we will go on to Waste Hall or Zero Waste Committee. And I want to thank Darcy and John before you start. They have done a tremendous amount of work on this and they're going to do a 15 minute presentation and then open it up to questions and answers and how we go forward. And this is then also looking at one of our regulations. So Darcy and John. Okay, so you can hear me. Yeah. Let's see how to, yeah. Oh, I'm now going to share the slideshow that we have. Can we make John visible? I don't think it's necessary. Let's see. There you are. There we go. Hello. Okay, so we're sharing screen. Okay, so thank you very much for allowing us to introduce this amendment to the Board of Health Regulations to include curbside compostable materials pick up in basic hauler service. And my name, by the way, is John Root. I used to be the Chair of the Town of Amherst Recycling and Refuge Management Committee. Zero Waste Amherst is a volunteer organization that formed recently. They're committed to achieving zero waste. And one of their first priorities was to examine whether we could change our hauler system to reduce trash on our waste stream. And so the proposal that Zero Waste Amherst is offering is to review the Board of Health Regulations and add a hauling program that will move the town towards achieving these zero waste and climate action goals, develop a list of questions and suggestions within a month, work with ZWA to finalize the amended regulations and vote to adopt those regulations within 90 days. The background is that I mentioned I was Chair of the Refuge and Recycling Committee. We submitted a solid waste master plan for adoption. It was accepted for consideration with enthusiasm, but nothing was done about it, in part because of the timing, the transition from the town meeting to our present government. And the committee was dissolved because we were going to be part of the environmental ECAC, Environmental Climate Action Committee. So this year there was a DEP technical assistance grant survey that demonstrated the best hauling practices of nine cutting-edge communities. And also there was a Smith College capstone project survey that focused on Amherst and made recommendations for hauling practices, which are substantially what we're offering now. Also, the Environmental Climate Action Committee recommended zero waste infrastructure changes as part of what they're doing and one of their priorities. So the Board of Health has the opportunity and the responsibility to address this waste reduction as a public health issue. There is no a way, of course, when we throw things away, it's either going to go to a landfill or to an incinerator and landfills and they both are cause serious public health outcomes. The state of Massachusetts has its own zero waste plan, but they don't essentially have not done anything about it and I don't think they're even close to achieving their goals. Reducing waste can't be the sole responsibility of individual residents, as we'll see. The Board of Health has the jurisdiction over this issue, as you might be aware, and you have opportunity to make significant impact by taking the lead on this proposal. So we need to reduce the amount of trash we dispose of and for environmental justice reasons in particular. I'm going to skip over some of these slides because I really want to make sure we have time for plenty of discussion, but environmental justice really is an important issue for me and for all of us who are concerned about the impact of solid waste and communities that are disadvantaged low income don't have power, they don't have a seat at the table. So we can say not in my backyard, but they are not able to make that decision for themselves, and so they are often the victims disproportionately of public health impacts of these both incinerators and landfills. So the state again is not really following through, and so we think that the Board of Health is doing a lot of good stuff, so here are the goals of the proposed amendment to reduce waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, add transparency, and save residents money, and here these are the town bylaws and the relevant Board of Health regulations, and so here are the primary elements of the proposed amendment. To change from an individual subscription service, currently it's USA hauler that's to a system where the hauler has to contract with the town, and the town would be putting out bids for hauling firms and the town's specifying services that would be provided. So the timing, we're looking at a pilot program that would apply to residences with four or fewer families in those residences to add a third dumpster. Currently there's the recycling, there's the refuse, we want a third dumpster that would have organics, and so and eventually we hope, in fact even immediately, we hope to be helping apartment dwellers where there are dumpsters to also be recycling their organics and helping them to examine how that can be done and looking at how it's done elsewhere, but the current proposed amendment focuses on these four or fewer families per residence. So there are 12 ways that this proposed amendment will help, and the first is the most important because it refers to that third toter that I mentioned, at least 40, perhaps even 50% of what's in a dump truck is organic and could and should be composted. It's, and the fact that it's not being composted, the fact that it's being thrown away and either burned or buried, adds tremendously to our pollution, to our carbon footprint, and is also a waste of course of a good, a valuable fertilizer. So number two, requiring local compost processing, as I mentioned, produces a valuable fertilizer. Three, a standard fee is charged for recycling and compostable materials, pick up in this proposed amendment, pay per bag. This is very important, so minimizing waste will be incentivized if you pay less simply by putting less stuff in your refuse. If you recycle more, you pay less, and a preference for dual stream recycling is available. Five, bulky waste pickup items, they'll be picked up, curbside several times a year, including student move out and move in times. More frequent hazardous waste collection, we're asking, and maintenance of the transportation option. Transportation is a wonderful institution in Amherst, and people can save money, and they can also recycle and divert a lot of things from the from the waste stream by being members of the transportation and paying that annual fee. Transparent pricing of services and pickup schedule should be posted by the hauler. We want them to have an efficient pattern of pickup, and split body trucks are also a good idea for that efficiency, that one half being for the recyclables, the other half being for the organics. Long-term planning by the hauler for the emissions reduction from hauler vehicles and operations is advisable. We need to have a baseline, and currently we have no idea how much waste is being taken away from Amherst on a daily, weekly or annual basis. So we're asking that that be part of the request for a proposal, that the hauler be able to give us those figures so that we have a baseline, and we can measure our progress towards zero waste. And also public education should be provided by the hauler about how to recycle everything that can be recycled. So here's a Smith College capstone project offers this bar graph that you can see on the pink bars. This is what happens in communities like Amherst. We pay a lot more if you don't contract out. Right now USA is essentially a monopoly, but here on the right you can see South Hadley, Pittsfield, Longmeadow and Shootsbury. They're all paying a lot less because the town is putting out an RFP and hires the hauler. And again, about a double average Amherst individual contract compared to the average surveyed town contract, we're paying about double what the other pounds are paying. So the phases of the pilot program, first evaluation of that phase one, extension to multifamily residences would follow hopefully, and homeowners' locations, extension to business and institutions as well. Transition to direct services by the town is a distinct possibility and might be advisable. And this is being supported by the DPW as perhaps a desirable outcome. And so there's been a lot of support moving to this contract model. The solid waste master plan was very much focused on recycling of organics. It was our top priority. And also moving to a pay per bag, pay as you throw hauler system. There's also the DEP technical assistance study that I mentioned earlier, and the mass DEP promotes transition from subscription haulers, service haulers as well. The Smith College study is in agreement with this and residents. The recycling committee did a survey as part of our townwide public education campaign. And there was a lot of enthusiasm for diversion of organics and pay as you throw. So the ECAC zero waste goal is consistent with this contract model. And also, as I mentioned, DPW staff members are behind it. So in summary, we're requesting that the board of health review the ZWA's proposal to end the BOH regulations to add a waste hauling program that will move the town towards zero waste and climate action goals, increase transparency and reduce fees to residents, cost to residents, and then develop a list of questions and suggestions within a month, work with ZWA to finalize the amended regulations and vote to adopt the amended regulations within 90 days. And thank you very much for giving us this opportunity to make this presentation. Well, you're way under your 15 minutes. I'm happy to hear it. You all have the slides, so I don't think you need me to read everything verbatim. Okay, do people have questions? I have some bits, I think very fundamentalist before we get into any of the details. So the Board of Health is five unelected people who have the responsibility that is very clearly defined by our charge. I'm going to minute, and I'm going to read it's one sentence. And that responsibility for unelected people making rules that bind everyone with penalty of law has to be used very carefully because it's undemocratic. That's basic, but it is necessary because of public health. And let me just read the charge to the Board of Health. The Board of Health, this is right from the town website on the Board of Health page. The Board of Health is responsible for protection and promotion of public health, the control of disease and the promotion of sanitary living conditions for the town of Amherst. Health, disease, sanitation, Amherst. If we go beyond that charge, we have places where we really do need to do this. If you were listening, you heard that a hardworking local business owner had to pay $2,000 for a single violation of the regulation. That is a state law, but there are other ones like the mask mandate that we put in. It had very difficult effect, made business difficult for some people, but it was done for an absolutely clear purpose that was within that charge. And if we go beyond that, and if we do things, I agree 100% with what you're saying, I would vote for it. I actually already do compost everything except paper for recycling. I totally agree with it. For all the reasons you said, but who has ever gotten sick from putting compostable materials in a landfill? Unless you can answer that, this is just not our job. It's very tempting. You have a town council, they're hard to convince, Darcy's on it. Why aren't they doing it? You think, well, we can find five people, really just three of the five as a quorum, as a majority. And you can have something that binds people with a force of law to do something they may not want to do. So it's very important to me, at least, that this have a direct health impact, not just in the landfill as a whole. I understand toxic leachate. Leachate does not come from the compostable materials, as far as I can see. The methane is terrible. It's ridiculous that that's coming out of the landfill. Methane is absolutely inert when it comes in contact with living organisms. There is no biochemical process where methane has any effect. So this is your job, for me at least. What is the health implication? Why is there a health problem with putting compostable material in a landfill? Yeah, I think, are you able to speak? Are you asking me? Yes, I did have my hand up. I would like to respond. There are no borders, of course, when it comes to either pollution or climate change. Pollution and climate change are both existential health issues. We live in small, ozone levels. I mean, we get an F in terms of the Piney Valley, in terms of our climate, in terms of our air quality. So every municipality, every state shares equally in the responsibility of minimizing our waste. And yes, when compostable materials, which again constitute about 50% of whether it's thrown away or whether its destination is an incinerator or a landfill. When I was on the committee, the town asked us to make a determination, which of those two was a preferable option to burn or bury our waste? We were not able to make a determination. We came back with a statement, they're both terrible. They both had terrible consequences. We really can't say which is worse. So they are a public health issue in the ways that I described. They significantly contribute to a carbon footprint, which we don't have a plan to be. Everyone is recognizing this to be an existential health crisis. And I underline the word health in that sentence. And it's also part of the extinction crisis because pollution is affecting and climate change is also affecting animals. And pollution affects, I don't have the figures, but there are a distressing number of deaths every year worldwide that are caused by air pollution. And again, there's that environmental justice responsibility that we have. Again, we're all affected, but especially the environmental justice neighborhoods that are more likely to have those facilities in their neighborhoods. Now, we just want to see one thing here. So there's a lot of things that affect health. Warfare affects health. The Board of Health of the Town of Amherst does not do foreign policy. Poverty affects health. The Board of Health of the Town of Amherst does not have a way to redistribute income and wealth within the town. We have a charge that charges very specific. And I still have not heard why putting compostable material in a landfill is, has any health consequences per se? And so that's my barrier that I still have against our doing it. By the way, I would add another thing that I looked at the many of the of the municipalities that have many of the municipalities in even one state that has composting mandates. And in no case was that done by unelected health authorities or boards of health. For example, Boulder, Colorado, you mentioned in the materials we got, the city council voted that the state of Vermont has a widespread composting mandate. The state legislator voted it Seattle was one of the first 2012 the city council voted it and very relevant Hamilton Massachusetts community not that different in size from ours. Recently, but a few months ago, put in something that is very much very similar to what you are advocating. And that was done by their select board. They have a set of a council not, you know, they have a Board of Health just like we do. The Board of Health isn't even mentioned in their materials. It was done. And the more the way you say it is that it's very broad as all these implications global this and global that that is all the more reason why it should be done with widespread public buy-in either by the public as a whole or their elected representatives Town Council, not by unelected individuals who have a really specific narrow charge that they have to stick to or else if we don't stick to it, then everybody's going to say, Oh, you guys are into that that's not really your charge. Why should they believe the mandates and rules that we do put in that really are within our charge. Lauren, you have anything else, Steve? You have a response to that? Darcy, I just have a question. Darcy, do you have a response to that? Oh, Darcy, I'm sorry. And then I'll ask Lauren and then I'm going to ask Darcy for a response to Steve. And then Lauren had her hand raised before we open it up to attendees. So I'm going to have the Board of Health members ask their questions first and get responses from Darcy or John. And then I'll open it up to attendees. Yeah, I just I would just say that I have, I guess I have a lot of respect for resident committees that have been appointed by the Town Manager. We did bring this to the Town Council Town Services and Outreach Committee and made a couple of presentations and one of the reactions that we had from the Town Councilors was that they felt like it was more appropriately in the Board of Health. And so that actually is the reason why we then brought it to the Board of Health. And also because we looked at the regulations and clearly the regulations go into great detail about Paula responsibilities. And so that's basically why we're here. And also, you know, John's explanation of how this is, we definitely do see this as a public health issue. And that was, you know, we had, I don't know, maybe 12 slides about why we're in front of the Board of Health. We skipped over those slides, because that's something that when you were spend that much time on. But those are those are the basic reasons why we think that our Board of Health could could take this opportunity to to take some bold action on on both zero waste and climate action. Climate justice and amend your regulations. I mean, because you have regulations that are specifically focused on on haulers. So questions that Steve, do you have any other question for Darcy? Okay, Lauren, I have a question. Okay, Lauren, I had her hand up next and then Tim. Okay, Lauren. Are you there, Lauren? Thank you. I hope my things come here. Can you hear me? Yes. Can you hear me? Okay. Yes. I hope my thing doesn't cut off. But I wanted just to ask a few basic questions. Like, are you asking the Board of Health just to write up a mandate from your presentation? I wasn't sure if I understood if the pilot program is going to be just for homeowner residents. You said something about like colleges like Smith College. Are you looking to to work with the colleges on their zero waste on on an approach to zero waste? Or is it and what about the residents who live in apartment complexes? The dumpsters, it is a public health issue or a health issue when, you know, the trash smells, you know, bad. And if there was a way to separate the disposable food from, you know, regular trash, maybe that could cut down on that. But I basically was not clear on what you were actually asking the Board of Health to do. And would that actually bring, how would that then bring in the project to the different residents or the different colleges that you wanted to work with? And also the last thing I want to do, there's a lot of things going on my head. But the last thing I wanted to ask is like, I like to compare things like the the guest that was talking about the well application. And we asked if, you know, was the horse manure going to affect the water? And so I think it could be like the same argument that, you know, even though, you know, food is contained in a in a place where it might not get into different get into soil or get into water. It's still, you know, a quality issue. And that's just what's on my mind. I don't know if that is helpful at all. But yeah, I can respond to that. And it's a really good question. Basically, we we are asking the Board of Health to amend their hauler regulations and that to create this pilot program, the first phase of which would just apply to one to four family residences. The reason why we decided to focus on that first is because it's much easier to get it started with that because, you know, the single family residences have toters. And toters are easier to to start, you know, start an immediate program. Whereas the apartment complexes and businesses have dumpsters or some variation of dumpsters, and that is going to take more time to figure out how that will work. Although I think that that apartment dwellers are going to immediately want to be part of this. And so I think that there should be an effort to immediately, you know, have focus groups at apartment complexes to try to figure out what the problems are, you know, do they need to be, you know, toters or dumpsters? Do they need to be in a cage? Do they need to be, you know, a lot of different issues, which I think the people who live at the apartment complexes would want to weigh in on. And so that's what we're hoping for that, you know, that we could get started with the first phase. And at the same time, we could work with apartment dwellers on the second phase to see how that works. And colleges, same thing, that's a later phase, the, you know, institutions in town and the businesses. And because they are going to be more complicated, and they might be a year or two down the road to do that, please. Does that answer your question, Lauren? Yes, it does. Thank you. Tim, you had questions? Yes. I'm also not convinced if it has direct relevance to public health, unless you can provide evidence. You know, one is, I know that holler regulations are essentially meant to avoid trash accumulations having a direct impact on public health, right on spot, on site. Sorting trash into compostable papers and everything looks like it's a solid waste management issue, which should not be some sort of a under the jurisdiction or regulation of the public board of health. I think you listed some few impacts like methane emissions, leachates from the landfill, those are usually regulated by the DEP through their monitoring services and everything. So, if there is any type of violations, usually the landfill operators are usually managed through that regulations. So, I'm just, I just, again, reiterating Stephen's question on why it is a board of health jurisdiction rather than a town council or even DPWs DPW manages the water, drinking water quality, wastewater treatment, everything and we don't do much regulations on how much they should treat wastewater. You see what I mean? So, I think that there is, there should be a very clarity on few things and then also climate issues, that's a global phenomenon and we are very less powerful people only having a jurisdiction with Amherstown of Amherstown. So, going beyond this boundaries is a much more broader issue. We would like to reduce methane emissions, we would like to reduce leachates and I think if we can find some specific disease impact, direct type of a health impact, which is actually if you can find this many people are sick because of this, I think that will be a direct motivation for the board of health to be intervened. So, just asking that question. I believe that it would be possible to come up with figures about illnesses and deaths that are attributable to pollution in general and that and the extent that incinerators and landfills contribute to that pollution is considerable. So, and as I mentioned there are no boundaries when it comes to air pollution. So, we are the town of Amherstown, it would be very difficult of course to come up with figures to demonstrate how Amherst residents in particular are impacted and it would be impossible after all, I mean to come up with those figures. However, the larger picture, there's no question, absolutely no question that pollution is a public health issue and that we are being affected. There's certainly no questions in the town of Springfield, which is the asthma capital, you know, where the pollution is terrible, but Amherst is not that far behind. My understanding is that the air quality can be pretty abysmal here as well. So, I appreciate your concern and I appreciate it. I mean, it'd be great to have those statistics, wouldn't it? It would be great to say, well, this is how Amherst residents are being affected, but there's no question that we are being affected. And it's also, I think, the responsibility of the Board of Health to anticipate what those impacts will be in the future. And if, as is the case, the more we go down this path and the less responsibility municipalities take in limiting refuse disposal, which with the impacts that it has on pollution and climate and everything else, the more these problems will intensify and become even more severe. Can I have a follow up question? I agree. I think air pollution has a huge impact. Water quality has a big impact. I'm trying to look for some link between air pollution and composting. So, the relevant question is here is, is it possible to divert 50% of what's in those dump trucks that's destined to either be burned or buried? The answer simply is yes. So, diversion of organics is number one. And then making that into compost is another side benefit. But the primary responsibility is getting it, keeping it out. That's why I joined the recycling reference management committee. It's like, this doesn't make sense. People throwing away so much that should be diverted from the waste stream. And the fact that it's not diverted from the waste stream, the fact that it's included, that it goes to those that it's incinerated, that means that we've got a roughly double the amount of pollution that we should be having if that amount of refuse was not being diverted. Maureen, do you have any questions? I don't have a question, but I guess I was thinking, we already have regulations that mandate recycling in mixed containers and paper. And I don't know how those evolve to become Board of Health regulations, but we do have them and we've been enforcing them for years. Perhaps that came from the era when we actually had landfills in town and had more pressure to reduce the amount of materials going into that landfill. I don't really know. Although I agree, it feels a little funny that here we are with Board of Health making these bigger recommendations. It feels more like an extension of the regulation that we already have to me than kind of de novo. I don't know. That's just what I see. I don't know where that authority came from, to be honest. But it seems like we do have that authority. Did you have another question, Tim? And then I have some comments. Did you have another question, Tim? I think Lauren has a question, I think. Maureen, do you have another question? Yeah, I have a brief one. I'm just trying to understand better in my mind, but isn't pollution and trash two different things? Just because it's in a trash heap and you want to separate the compostable material from the non-composable, that's not necessarily, it's not a pollution problem yet. It's just a trash issue. So the way we see it is that pollution happens because we're throwing away so much. And if we can reduce by half the amount of stuff that we're throwing away, whether it's being incinerated or going to a landfill, we have these pollution issues coming. So just imagine if we were throwing away half as much as currently is the case, that should cut the pollution in half. Of course there are different sources of pollution. There are other exhaust from vehicles and all that. And incidentally that could also be reduced in terms of the number of trucks carrying away that refuse, which is often trucked hundreds of miles away. It all depends on what the contract is that the hauler decides that they want to make, where they want to take their trash and who's giving them the best deal. So the less we can send away to be burned or buried, the better off we are. That's the bottom line in terms of that. That's the pollution consequence of throwing away too much trash. I'd also want to point out that there are two major parts of this proposal. The first being diversion of organics, but the second being pay per bag pays you throw, which is an incentive to throw away less. If you're being charged less because you have a smaller totter or your totter is you know they only have to come every month instead of every week, that's an incentive for people to throw away less. And often it's that results in a 30 to 40 percent reduction typically and it's immediate. It's dramatic. Municipalities across the state have experienced this. An immediate dramatic effect as soon as pay per bag pays you throw is instituted. So that's the other main part of this proposal. And both parts are all about reducing waste. Of course, reducing consumption in the first place, you might be familiar with three Rs or actually they're four. Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle. And then by far the most important are the first to refuse, reduce. So and it's been found that consumers actually people actually consume less and therefore generate less trash and less pollution, which happens every step along the way when you can, when you produce an item and then consume it and throw it away or recycle it for that matter. People actually consume less in the first place surprisingly when they're motivated to and they can save money by doing so. So this is a part of society wide move in the direction of living more simply and living more responsibly. Okay, so I'm going to say a few things now. From a public health point of view, the Institute of Medicine had several very important reports out in 1988 and 2003, talking about how bad the US is doing with public health. And they put the ecological model as a model and the state uses this and we use this as the model to promote public health. And I see this as an environmental justice issue. Where is our trash going? Okay, do we want to look at NIMBYism? Okay, we don't have to deal with enamors because it's going someplace. But it used to go to Partica in Chickpea, which then has repercussions for us. I don't know where it's going, but it has repercussions for other people. How we work on this, I don't know, but I see it as an important piece in public health now. And I think, and I know what's happening in town, we used to have it, you could bring it to the dump, then you had, okay, you have to have it picked up and you got the little stickers, you know, those little pieces of cardboard, remember that? You could bring six things to town. Well, now you have to pay $125 to get in that gate, I think. And I know people who now that were switched to this say, oh, if you use black bags, you can put all your yard waste because there's no place else to put it. And people are throwing that stuff out. And people are dumping things other places. I know a lot of my yard waste goes to my daughter's house because she has lots of woods, but there's no place. So we don't have something and it's hidden in town. I have friends in California, I've been very aware and can't figure out for the past seven years. Every time I go to Martinez or Los Gatos, California, this is what they're doing. Point blank, why aren't we doing it? What towns in Massachusetts are doing it and how did they get it in place? And I do look at it as an overall public health issue when you look at the ecological model. And whether we have to work with the town council to come up with this, whether we have to work with the DPW, but I think it is a public health issue. And it is a complete environmental justice issue, especially if you looked in the 60s and 70s what had happened down south. And where is our trash going? Where are we polluting? Okay, you know, we won't even put solar panels on our old dump. But I think whether we take the action or we work with other people in town to take the action, I think it is a public health issue. There are two people with hands up. Now I'm going to open it to public. Okay, do you want me to do that? Yes, please. Okay, so Elaine, I'm going to allow you to talk. Thank you. Thank you. I think you should be hearing me now. Yeah. So good evening and I appreciate the time. I'll try to keep it brief. I volunteered to report back to the legal women voters about what's going on with zero waste. I started to join the group back in 2020, but I didn't think they were well organized. And Darcy has sent me some emails, and I think they've gotten along the way a little bit better. So basically listening to all your concerns, it's nice to actually see who the Board of Health is and to hear some of your comments. And as Mr. George first pointed out, he was trying to figure out how exactly this has to do with you. Well, you know, once again, it's there, section one of the regulations. And as Nancy, as you pointed out, the other issues involved, it's very much in the eges of the Board of Health to take this up. Zero Waste has done a lot of work in two years trying to get this together. And see, I don't know if possibly you can champion this and lob it over to the Town Council when the new one is elected and carry on with this. Now, I mean, you're you're concerned with what does this have to do with health? Well, all those questions have been answered and will be answered again. They're in the presentation, you all know what we know it to. And I guess the real issue is, you know, when can we begin doing this? It's very important. And okay, I don't want to take any more of your time. But thank you. That's what I had to say. Thank you. And Sam Gladstone has his hand up. Okay, so Sam, are you able to speak if you unmute? Samuel? Can you hear me now? Okay, so I just want to summarize a couple of things for me. So there seems to be questions. Are you hearing me or if there are problems? You are. So I'm just getting some strange feedback. Are you hearing that? Yes, we hear a little bit feedback, but we're getting you. It's hard to talk with that. So just the pollution, if you put it in a landfill, our stuff goes somewhere. Methane is created. It's 80 times worse than carbon dioxide. We can't say somebody else is going to deal with climate change. Everybody's going to deal with climate change. It affects all our health. And if you burn it, just like John said, we have a huge asthma problem in Amherst. And we already have problems. Wherever that goes, we have to take responsibility. It's our waste. And there's a history on the Board of Health in Amherst of being out front. When I was on the co-chair, we were the first town in Massachusetts to stop allowing smoking in bars. People were outraged. It was a huge fight. You can't smoke in any bar anywhere now. There's no reason for you not to take the lead. It sounds like you have been asked to take the lead by the town council. And I would really encourage you to be brave and move forward. This does have to do with everybody's health. And I think it's really important to take this on. And it's not going to happen. There's a lot of work that's going to have to be done. But you have people to work with who will help you in this process. And so I just want to really thank you all. I know it's like to be on a Board of Health. It's a lot of work. And I thank you for doing it and for listening, letting me talk. Thank you. Any other comments from attendees? That's it. Or hands up. Whose hands up? That's it. No more. That's it. Yeah. Can I ask a question from the presenters? A month ago, before the last meeting, I did some preparation for this issue and I can't remember. But I thought I saw at least a few examples where the Board of Health took the lead on this. And I just wondered if you have examples of the Board of Health of a town or city taking the lead on this issue. I don't have any examples. But as people have been observing, the Board of Health definitely has responsibility for managing refuse and recycling. And you already have regulations. So we're talking about whether the regulations are adequate and whether they can be improved. And that's our proposal. It's definitely specified to be a Board of Health responsibility. But I don't have an answer to that question of which other Board of Health boards of health have done this. You Darcy or? Well, we know that in Massachusetts, this would be taking the lead and that Hamilton was the first town in Massachusetts to ban organics in the waste stream. And that was just, you know, a few months ago. We have talked to the people in Hamilton and gotten a lot of good information from them. But that was through their select board. That's the only town in Massachusetts that I know of that has curbside compost collection in basic service. Another comment I could make about the responsibility of the BOH is that the regulations, as has been commented, there are actually supposed to be consequences for violation of contamination of refuse with the recycling recyclables. And it's called contamination for good reason because it does have those public health and pollution results. Unfortunately, it's an unenforced mandate. I think that the responsibilities for enforcement are supposed to be shared by the police and by the Board of Health. And the Board of Health just doesn't have the resources and the police doesn't have it. So it's an unenforced mandate. But the fact that these penalties are part of the regulations indicate how important someone at some point decided that they were. Well, I would like to make a comment about that. I mean, I think a regulation that just shows the difficulty here. If we make a regulation, it has to be not only enforceable, but actually enforced or else it's a joke. It's just a gesture. Oh, we're saying it's legally required to pretend that it's important. So that if we're going to go ahead with it as a Board of Health, at least if the town can do what it wants, and I would support the town doing this, but if the Board of Health does it, there better be a way. We have, you know, one and a half health inspectors, maybe two, some of that. It's a very small number of inspectors who would be available to do this. And I don't know if the trash haulers could be held to that. But that is a very important thing. It has to be enforceable and actually enforced. Okay. Could I comment on that, please? Yes. So our proposal does not suggest that we should focus right now on enforcement. The only reason I brought up enforcement was to point out that some, you know, at initially when these regulations were promulgated, they were viewed as being important enough to have penalties. But our proposal is not proposing, you know, our proposal has nothing to do with the stick. It's all about carrots right now. It's all about setting up a system where people have the opportunity to throw away organics. We're not proposing that they be charged or penalized. We are incentivizing though, because if they do, if they use their compost bins, then they will throw away less and they'll spend less money. Why do you need a regulation? I love that. Why do you need a regulation? You're saying you want to do it voluntarily. Let them do it, make it possible. Because currently there is no option of compost organics recycling. Currently there is actually through USA, but it costs $15 extra per month, which makes it like, you know, a 650 or $700 for a trash. So it's not very practical and it's very hard to find out about it too. You know, I actually was curious about it and I tried to look at the USA website. There's nothing on it about any rates or anything and I contacted them and they told me, yes, I could do it, but it would cost an extra $15 a month and my neighbor does that. If you want to recycle your organics, you can do so by becoming a transfer station member and paying that fee, annual fee. You can also have a compost bin in your backyard if you have the wherewithal to do that. But realistically, I think it's a safe assumption that if we offer that third bin and if there is that incentive to use it, because people will realize that by using it they will spend less, then we should dramatically and also, you know, the combination of those two things should dramatically reduce the amount of stuff that goes in that refuse, whether it's recyclables or organics, either one. I don't think that's what the proposal says. I mean, that's what it says, that you're going to require the hauler to provide an opportunity. Right. That to me is certainly whether the Board of Health should still, well, then the Board of Health, you're just not requiring anything. The Board of Health needs to make a regulation. I don't know. There might be a misunderstanding there. No, we are proposing that the RFP would require three toters for residences. And then, you know, residents would immediately get that if they put their organics in the organics bin, that would reduce the other bin, the trash bin that they're paying for by up to half. And so that, we have heard, I know, that in Boulder and Louisville, Colorado, they do this and that residents who get started in the program, you know, they immediately figure out, even if they had no idea about anything about compost, they figured out very quickly what goes in each bin and that if they're charged according to what's in the trash bin, then they reduce it. They put it in the other bins. Lauren, did you have your hand up again? Yes, sorry. I just have one other question. For clarification, would, from my understanding, whether it's a mandate or RFP, do, as you said, have a third bin for people to use for food compost? Without that, people can still compost their food if they so choose to on a small scale. Like, for example, I have, you know, I have, we have a garden here at where we live at apartment complex where we live. And I've been doing a compost bin, but it does attract flies, it does attract, you know, smell, if you don't cover it, you know, all that stuff. So I still don't, I still don't have the answer as to where is this going to be dumped? How is it, where is it going to go? So that would, that would be figured out. Ideally, it'll go someplace locally. There is a place in Greenfield. Hopefully, we could have something even more local, even, even closer to Amherst. But we do know that there's a compost facility in Greenfield where it can go. And I guess I have a question is, who's doing all the work to figure out the RFP and make these plans for the composting? And where does that fall on town government? Darcy, you should know these things. Yeah, well, zero waste, Amherst is, is willing to, you know, volunteer a lot of time helping to figure this out. And, you know, otherwise it would be, you know, probably the finance department would need to do some work on figuring out how to set up the fee system. And the procurement office would probably be helping with writing the RFP. So, but like I said, we, you know, we, we can do a lot of the work. The volunteers can do a lot of the work if we get the go ahead. Because, yeah, the RFP would, it will be a challenge. But we have examples, like we have examples from other towns that have contract systems, Agawam, South Hadley, and so on. So, you know, they have their RFPs. This would be different because we'd have different requirements, but it's doable. It's clearly the health department doesn't shut the abilities to put the wheels in motion. You know, they don't have the expertise or the personnel to do that. Yeah. I think that it would be, yeah, it would be, it would be a coordinated effort between department, definitely. Okay, so Darcy, who would be involved? Okay, so the Board of Health, you're looking to write a regulation, but this also involves the DPW, possibly the Town Council. Who, who should be involved in this process? I'm not, well, I think that probably the first thing that needs to be done is some kind of a financial analysis, and that could be done by staff. I think that that is the, the, we, we have not been able to do that because we don't have any baseline data. And to find out exactly how much it would cost residents would basically require the town to put out an RFQ and see what, what came out of the bids. And so, yeah, that would, that would be probably the peer procurement office and, you know, obviously zero waste ammers could help with that too. Different towns like Hamilton uses a, you know, they, they have put the cost of their program in the town taxes. We thought it would, the Colorado and Louisville, Boulder, and Louisville, Colorado have it set up in a fee that comes to the resident with a water bill. And that seemed preferable. But it would obviously be worked out, you know, that, that, that would require some, some working out. Is it, is it my understanding the thought was you could opt out of this by taking care of it yourself to take it to the transfer station? Yes, that would, that would continue to be the, to be the case. You can, you can pay your 125 a year and take out all of your refuse and your recycling and your compostables and anything else that you have that can be diverted from the waste stream. You know, you, you can do that. And that would be, that would continue to be the case. Warren, do you have a question? Yes. Do, that said, zero waste initiatives. Do they know how many residents in Amherst compost now, or like, I don't know what our FQ is, but do you have an idea like you, the numbers are kind of vague. And I just, I'm just wondering. Right. We don't have any data from USA, as far as how many customers they have that voluntarily get curbside compost pickup. They do offer it, but it's voluntary. It's just opt in. And we, we don't know, you know, we would have no way of knowing how many people do it in their backyards. Okay. Even Jordan, I do it. How do you find out who, who does it in their own yard? Right. Lauren, you asked what an RFP, it stands for request for proposal. So an RFP would be put out by the town and inviting haulers to submit their, you know, if indicate their interest and then RFQ is a request for quotes, you know, this is what we would charge for the services that you are saying that you want. Okay. We're at 638. So we need to figure out what our next steps are going to be. I'm willing to send an email to Cheryl Sabara again, Mass Association of Public Health and ask her what she knows is the trend statewide and find out what's happening that way. I'm already going to send her an email on something else. Board, where do you see us going? I really think this is something the town should do. And I just don't see it still as being something the Board of Health should do at all by itself. I mean, if we had total buy-in from the council and they said, this is from, we want this done, but since you have some kind of jurisdiction over trash, you will help, we're going to do the finance in part and so on. We agree to that. Then we'll put it in the proposal in the regulations that are, you know, ostensibly from the Board of Health, but it has to have town buy-in. And especially because of the staffing and so on. And I certainly would be willing to talk to the councillors or whatever I could do to try to facilitate that because this is definitely something we should do. I just still don't think the Board of Health should by itself, unelected people, put this in the regulation. I really like to know, by the way, where the mandate for the paper and container recycling came from. I'm kind of surprised that it could have come from the Board of Health if it did, but I'd like to, I wonder how we can find that out. When did that started? How did it arise? Because it would give a precedent, even though I think it's weird that the Board of Health would do it because it doesn't seem to have anything to do with health at all, though it's great that we do it. So where did it come from? I think it's consistent across the state that all municipalities give the Board of Health that authority and responsibility. Mandatory recycling, okay. Yeah, also back to the late 80s and then revised the last in 2014. And also, Steve, when you said not only the town council, but the DPW, I see it as the DPW Board of Health and the town council. So now, how do we, Darcy, you're on the town council, how do we go forward? And also, I wanted to tell the Board members, we had four emails today supporting this from town residents. So there has been support, and there are also other attendees, I don't know if they're supporting this or against this, but they're there. I could mention that we've had consistent support from Hitchcock Center for the Environment and League Women Voters for these initiatives. So Darcy, you brought this forward to the Board of Health. You are a town counselor. How do you advise us working clearly together with the town council and the DPW? Yeah, would it be possible for this Board to request the town manager or DPW, probably the town manager, to come up with some kind of financial analysis of how this could work, because regardless of where it goes, whether it goes here or whether it goes to the town council or wherever, people want to know how much will this cost. And the only way that we can find that out is by putting out an RFQ and having some two or three haulers come back to us and say, this is what we would charge you for this. This is what a contract would cost. And so that, I mean, I guess we can't really know what the numbers are until we do that, and we can't do that until someone comes up with that RFQ. And like I said, we would be able to help by providing some samples, but it would have to come out of the procurement office, I'm pretty sure. But if this Board could encourage the town manager say, we're interested in this, we're not sure what direction to take or whatever right now, but we think that this is something that would need to be done in order for anybody to decide to go forward, because we need the financials. I would be willing to work with you, Darcy, to come up with this that I can bring to the Board for our next meeting to discuss and go forward with asking for the, what do you think of that, Board members? And then I will also ask Cheryl Sabara what else is happening statewide. So, can I, I mean, whether it is taken by the town council or DBW, looks like an economic analysis should be done. And if so, I think it has to be initiated by those who have the money to invest in, right, which is the town council or, I mean, thing is this, this aspect of recycling is universally accepted as an important one. Everyone agrees that it's a really important one, waste is, you know, zero waste is a no-brainer. But thing is, if it has to be started by Board of Health, I think one of the thing is I still have a weak argument for health impacts. I know Nancy mentions the ecological model, but ecological model has some sort of boundaries, you know, if we can have a whole ecosystem of the earth system, then it becomes appropriate for us to make a decision. So, here we are given a mandate of a boundary limit of Amherst town. You see, that is the biggest limitation what we have. And so, I think since it is a behavioral change for every individual of a citizen of the town of Amherst, it has to be a democratic process which has to come from town council. So, Lauren. All right, I just have another comment. Yeah, I have a comment and a question. I just, I feel like why is it on the tax payers and even though I'm not a homeowner, I just want to understand why you're starting there. I mean, this is a college town. Many people have said that the universities and the colleges don't really contribute to the town budget. So, I don't understand why you don't start institutions and approach them instead of going individually. Because, right now, Lauren, right now, trash, every individual household has to pay for their trash, whether you have somebody come and pick it up or whether you take it to the town dump. It has nothing to do with the colleges. It's each individual residence. And so, that's where we have to start. I don't think you have to start there, but I'll end it there. I think the university has a pretty good program of compostable waste management where they, I used to get compost from them, but then they decided they needed it all for themselves. So, they use it for what they need on campus. I think they're pretty responsible in this area. Although, I don't know the details. I think I want to follow up on Lauren's questions. I think she has a point. Why there are big institutions relative to some individual contributions? Why are we not asking them to do it? I think that's probably what the question Lauren is asking. And I think UMass has a really good solid waste management. UMass College Asset. So, institutionally, they have a buy-in because there is a big incentive for showing as a campus as sustainable. There actually is currently a statewide mandate that businesses, whether they're grocery stores or restaurants or what have you, that have a significant amount of organic waste that they must divert that waste from the waste stream. And that was always understood to be the first step towards moving in the direction of making that available for everyone to divert organics. But that's already happening with large producers of organic waste. Yeah, that's mostly the food waste. So, food waste essentially goes to a big organic farm. On the other side of the river, it's a really nice idea. But the thing is, when we are asking families who are already paying very high amount for disposal, and then definitely I think our disposal cost is going to increase another $20 or $30. So, I'm just thinking, even if it's done by the town, it might be another issue in terms of economics. I think that's where I think if we could do the economic analysis and see if it's affordable, given the cost, and I think that's the first step to go. And definitely I think if this is a democratic process, it has to come from town council. Yeah, I think that we are hoping that it will cost less than what people are paying now, based on what we see with other towns, contracted services, and hoping that the additional services won't bring us up over that differential. That is the hope. But we won't know unless we get some bids from haulers. Probably Republic, Cassella, and USA are the most likely ones to bid. Okay, we're at 10 of 7. I'm sorry. A lot more to go on. Okay, Board, what do you want for our next step to be? Steve, Tim, Maureen? Well, I don't agree. Ask the town. We have to have some interaction with the town council and the town manager to say, I would say, this is not something that the Board of Health is ever going to mandate on our own, because like what Tim said, it has to be done with buying from elected representatives. And so we want, we're asking the council and I guess the town manager to help out with the first steps to get the economic analysis. Yeah, the town council, the town manager has the authority to do that on his own. And so, and we have had discussions with him about doing that and he seemed open to going ahead and doing it, you know, so we need to send a letter to the town manager. We'll end the council. Steve, see the council. Town manager, town council. And we need to get this letter written. I'm willing to draft it, Tim and Lauren, who anyone would like to Maureen, anybody want to do this or shall I send, draft something and send it to my colleagues on the council on the Board of Health and see what you think? Yes. Darcy, do you have any guidance for this letter? Just that, like I said, I already brought it to the town services and they send it to you. So I personally think that the main entity that we need to interact with right now is for that you need to interact with. Okay, so Steve, do you want to draft a letter asking for the economic analysis? Send it out to us and we will discuss it and vote on it at our next meeting to send to the town manager with the CC to the town council. Sounds good. Sounds like a start. We need a motion on this. Don't need it. We're all agreed. Okay, but we don't need to vote on it. Wait a minute. We better make a motion. Okay, I make a motion that we draft a letter to the town manager with the CC to the town council to begin an economic analysis of moving to the zero waste management. Any comments, discussions? Should that include some more information beyond economic analysis? Because about the questions about how many people are ill or you know some sort of a statistics behind it in the analysis or you just look at the economic analysis. I'm just saying you know right the economic analysis if they can provide some additional details you know if possible now because they're going to have a RFQs right with the waste haulers is that right? Tim, do you want to work with Steve on the letter? Two people can work. No, I just I'm not clear about what is the economic analysis involved. Is it only the hauling cost we are interested in that? You probably want you'd probably want to know you probably want an RFQ and you probably would want a some kind of analysis of staffing needed to to have the fee system put in place and maintained right staffing in the town right? Within the town there would need to be someone in charge of the fee system. So that and it's important that the RFQ goes out it specifies the elements of the proposal to include both the third toter for organics and the pay you know paying for the amount I mean there'll be a set fee that you that everyone will pay but those who throw out a lot less refuse will be will be charged less. John and Darcy why don't you write that paragraph just one succinct paragraph saying that okay just that part of it because that's some details what exactly is the economic analysis the RFQ aiming for? I mean I can try it but I think you should do it just a one paragraph. All right yeah. Email it to me I'll look you up Darcy don't send your email so you know my email okay and yeah we can do that definitely and it's all in the amendment to the regulations you know we put it all in there what's there okay we can send it to you okay so okay so Steve will get the draft letter written we'll get it before the meeting and in our next meeting we will go over it and then we will vote on sending it to the town manager with CC to the town council. Sounds good okay all right thanks so much thank you thank you so much of your time that was more than 15 minutes okay thank you very much for your work I may have muted them or they're they're back in as attendees okay okay directors report okay so I'm just going to quickly go over the review of the COVID data and how it pertains to our mask order I think everyone's been following along our dashboard on the town web page but right now we're at 26 active cases back in November let's see September 16th our last meeting we are at 357 so everything was pretty calm in June and July so September 1st it started going up so we're leveling off we're we're lowering our numbers are coming down our incidents 14-day incidence rate is down 17.4 I expect tomorrow when it's published by the state it'll be lower again back in September it was 97.5 so we're going the right direction I'd like to keep the mask order in place I know I've said this a few times but COVID isn't necessarily known as a seasonal respiratory virus but I think it's just with people coming together with colder weather I really like to keep the mask order in place and just sort of ride this out it's working well so that's my my quickie COVID data does anyone want anything more or I just wanted to comment that I was traveling to California I got home tested negative okay but out there in the whole Bay Area you have to show your immunization report even to eat outside and there's signs all over no mask no service yeah and when you flew in at in Burbank they had oh come to the TSA station number blah blah and get your vaccination so it's pretty well handled out there yeah thanks for sharing okay go on okay so that's a quick quick little report over other COVID topics our community COVID testing program went into action this past Tuesday thank you UMass for allowing us to be a satellite so what is going on is we're distributing PCR test kits here at the Banks Community Center you can walk in the south entrance which is the entrance closest to Johnny's we're open from 10 a.m to 2 p.m you can get a test kit they're also being distributed at the Jones Library so you can go and get some kits there and if you haven't done it they come in this little bag it's a tube and it's a nasal swab I submitted one this morning I put it in the drop box at the Banks Community Center at 9 a.m and I got my test results an hour ago so they really do a great turnover a great job very happy with that program so this is day four so we have things going on but we're talking about program evaluation and what can we do to distribute these out to the community a little bit more so we have some folks in the know coming in but how can we get these out to different people make sure everyone's aware some information is in Spanish but we really need to up our game into other languages and distribute them further COVID vaccine the clinics the times I was getting up during the meeting I was speaking to Lillian who works here our clinic was going on here at the Banks Center so we're doing walk-ins first and second you can sign up and register for first and second we're also doing that third dose to people who are moderately or severely immunocompromised and we're doing boosters if you're six months out so I think the final word I heard was about 75 so we did 13,000 shots this spring we're not going to be doing everybody we don't have that ability but the thing is that people can get them in other places and I do think that's what's happening so we didn't have everyone's you know a whole hundred spots signed up for our vaccine rate for at least one dose assuming the state percentage is at 77 percent more data comes out tomorrow we'll see if we nudge up to 78 but I'm very happy about that the schools I believe for the those who can be vaccinated are at 80 percent but they have the vaccine mandate that we all are aware of and we're starting those clinics up in October 29th and November 19th we'll go into the schools and vaccinate folks that haven't been vaccinated those 12 and up and we're ready to go with five and older I think they were saying that November 22nd or something they're voting on that age range now I was looking CDC today in Moderna come out that you need a booster for Moderna I was watching and I didn't hear the final yeah so it looked like that went ahead the FDA panel recommended it now it goes to the the CDC advisory committee for immunization practice they make a remand recommendation it gets voted then it goes to dph mass massachusetts and then it comes down to us so you know there's always a few more steps I was watching it as the day went on that's what I have to offer okay I only have anything else any questions for Jen from the board members I have one topic not anticipated by the chair I got an email late yesterday that the interview process for the director the health director is going to be on Monday I'm on the interview committee and it will start at three o'clock I was supposed to be at two and that's all the details I have right now I don't know if board members have any specific questions you would like me to ask during the interview process if you do please email them to me and I'll be home in an Amherst after this weekend for the unforeseeable future any other comments okay well thank you all for all your work Lauren welcome please do go get your work signed called the town town hall the town at the town clerk for swearing in and I don't have anything else anybody else have anything else can I have a motion to adjourn at seven oh three whoo a move a move any second not second it okay Steve hi Tim hi Maureen hi less faces and myself and hopefully you'll be voting um at our next meeting Lauren and thank you Jen for all your work yeah my pleasure okay all right take care you guys thank you bye bye