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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-12-06 BOH BOARD OF HEALTH PROCEEDINGS January 12, 2006 Attendance: Commissioner, Lynda Ring Erickson; Commissioner, Jayni Kamin; Commissioner, Tim Sheldon – Absent. 1. Chairperson Lynda Ring Erickson called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. 2. Election of Chairperson 2006 – Cmmr. Kamin/Ring Erickson moved and seconded to elect Commissioner Sheldon as Board of Health Chairperson for 2006. Motion carried unanimously. K- aye; S-absent; RE-aye. Cmmr. Ring Erickson noted that Commissioner Sheldon was not in attendance because he was scheduled to attend the Avain Flu Hearing in Olympia. Cmmr. Kamin thanked Commissioner Ring Erickson for doing a wonderful job as Board of Health Chairperson in 2005. 3. Cmmr. Kamin/Ring Erickson moved and seconded to adopt the agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously. K-aye; S-absent; RE-aye. 4. Correspondence - None 5. Approval of Minutes – None 6. Administrative Issues 6.1 Health Officer’s Report – Dr. Yu presented information about emergency preparedness and talked about how the staff in the health department is being trained for an emergency. An important piece of the training is for staff to have an emergency plan with their family. In order for a public employee to be expected to serve the public they need to make sure their immediate family is safe and has a plan. Cmmr. Kamin stated that it would be important for all of the county employees to be aware and prepared for any type of emergency because in the event of an emergency all employees may be called in to serve. Mr. Kutz stated that in the event of an emergency it would be expected that the responding department would need to depend on the other departments to provide backup support as needed. Dr. Yu stated the emergency preparedness would depend on the type of emergency. An earthquake may only be an emergency for a couple of days, but a pandemic may require weeks of service to resolve the emergency. 6.2 Cmmr. Kamin/Ring Erickson moved and seconded to hold the 2006 Board of Health Meetings on January 12, February 9, March 2, April 6, May 11, June 8, July 6, August 3, September 7, October 5, November 2, December 7, 2006 and amending the start time from 10: 00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Motion carried unanimously. K-aye; S-absent; RE-aye. 7. Personal Health Issues 7.1 Mason County Employee Health Challenge – Ben Johnson prepared a news release stating the Mason County employees are kicking off their New Year’s resolution for better health by participating in the Mason County Employee Health Challenge. The goal of the Health Challenge is to promote healthy living, increase activity, and to have fun! There are 12 teams, comprised of 163 employees, participating in this 3-month challenge that goes from January 3 to March 31, 2006. BOARD OF HEALTH PROCEEDINGS January 12, 2006 - PAGE 2 There was a discussion about the success and the enthusiasm that the challenge has brought to the employees. The Board would like to see Mason County aim to be the Healthiest County in the Nation. 7.2 Initiative 901 was voted on by Washington State citizens and passed. The responsibilities have been put on the local health departments. This is an un-funded mandate. Mr. Kutz has appointed Mr. Johnson as the primary point of contact to answer questions and to provide education to the community on the initiative. Mr. Johnson has been working with many people in the community on the rules and regulations that were imposed. If businesses don’t comply with Initiative 901 Mr. Johnson sends them a compliance letter in attempts to educate them. If the business continues to disregard the letters they are required to submit a compliance plan. Mr. Johnson has sent three letters requesting compliance plans. One compliance plan has been submitted out of the three. Waivers can be issued to businesses but there is not a waiver process that is set up. Mr. Kutz and Mr. Johnson need to define what a waiver process would be. He said he would not be issuing any waivers until he has completed what the waiver process would be. He is working with the State Department of Health on the waiver process. Mr. Johnson stated the citizens and establishments have done a very good job of complying with the new law. He has received complaints but they have slowed down considerably since the law took into effect. There was a discussion about various ways to help the businesses keep in compliance and educating the patrons on where they can smoke freely. Cmmr. Ring Erickson stated that the Initiative was not an un-funded mandate. The voters passed the law and the county will use tax dollars to support and educate the citizens of Mason County of the rules, regulations and enforcement. 7.3 County Smoking Policy Proposal – Mr. Kutz thanked his staff, Dr. Yu and the other Department Heads that worked diligently on the policy proposed. Ms. Heidi Iyall presented the statistics of the Mason County residents smoking. Ms. Iyall presented options for a County Smoking Policy. Option 1: No smoking in County owned, leased or operated buildings, vehicles, and within 25 ft. of entrances, windows, and ventilation intakes (to come into compliance with RCW 70.160) Option 2: No smoking on County owned, leased, or operated property, buildings, and vehicles (County parks and fairgrounds are addressed separately). Ms Iyall presented the enforcement, implementation, financial and health impacts, and the advantages and disadvantages of both options. Mr. Rutter stated he has been working with the health department staff to develop the two options that were presented. Mr. Rutter supports a smoke free campus. Cmmr. Kamin asked if there have been any major concerns or complaints with the smoke free policy that Mason General recently adopted. BOARD OF HEALTH PROCEEDINGS January 12, 2006 - PAGE 3 Mr. Kutz stated he had spoke with the hospital administrator about the hospitals smoke free policy. The recommendation he gave was to have an education period for the employees and visitors to help make the transition easier. Mr. Kutz suggested a four-month education and transition period. He suggested adopting the policy and set an implementation date. Mr. Kutz suggested that the policy be a tobacco policy not a smoking policy. Cmmr. Ring Erickson stated she would rather take action on a smoking policy at this time. She asked Mr. Kutz if he had notified and/or spoke with the other Elected Officials. Mr. Kutz stated he had notified the Elected Officials and asked for input or concerns to be directed back to him. There were no replies. Cmmr. Ring Erickson stated she had a spoke with Commissioner Sheldon on the smoking policy. He stated he would not be interested in building smoking shelters for people to smoke in. Mr. Kutz said he would offer smoking cessation support group for county staff. The Board felt that would be a great benefit for the employees and would like to see them offered several times a year. Dr. Yu stated that when Thurston County went smoke free they paid for smoking cessation programs for the employees as an incentive for them to quit smoking. As of today out of 125 employees there are only two of them that currently smoke. Cmmr. Kamin/Ring Erickson moved and seconded to adopt Option 2: as the County Smoking Policy to state no smoking on County owned, leased, or operated property, buildings, and vehicles (County parks and fairgrounds are addressed separately) with a four- month educational period prior to the implementation date of May 15, 2006. Motion carried unanimously. K-aye; S-absent; RE-aye. Cmmr. Ring Erickson requested Mr. Kutz to develop a budget to support the no smoking policy and to support a public awareness campaign. She also requested Mr. Rutter to dismantle the smoking shelters on or about April 15, 2006. Mr. Rutter stated there were three on campus. He stated he would like to keep them for employees to be able to get fresh air and be able to read a book at a break or to use eat lunch at. He doesn’t want to encourage them as smoking shelters but would like to keep them for employee use. Cmmr. Kamin requested Mr. Kutz to work with Mason Transit to develop a campaign banner to be displayed on the buses. The Board would like to use public services pieces that support “not using tobacco” rather than “taking it outside” pieces. The stop using tobacco is more consistent with the message they would like to promote. Mr. Kutz would like to have a banner on the side of a bus as a goal for the county to be the “Healthist County in the state” and list the web site that you go to that lists all of the initiatives that support being healthy. The Board agreed that was a great idea. Ms. Iyall presented the options proposed for smoking in county parks. Option 1: Smoking will be prohibited in County Parks. BOARD OF HEALTH PROCEEDINGS January 12, 2006 - PAGE 4 Option 2: Smoking will be prohibited in County Parks except in designated smoking areas (50ft from playgrounds, shelter/picnic areas, ball fields, and skate ramps). Ms Iyall presented the enforcement, implementation, financial and health impacts, and the advantages and disadvantages of both options. The Board requested the signs that are posted have a place to call for smoking cessation on them. Cmmr. Ring Erickson said it would be best to implement the no smoking policy immediately for the County parks. That would give staff time to make changes to the contracts and have the signs posted for the upcoming sports season. Cmmr. Kamin/Ring Erickson moved and seconded to adopt Option 1: as the County Parks Smoking Policy to state Smoking will be prohibited effective immediately in all County Parks. Motion carried unanimously. K-aye; S-absent; RE-aye. Ms. Iyall presented the options proposed for the County Fairgrounds Smoking Policy. Option 1: Smoking will be prohibited on fairground property. Option 2: Smoking will be prohibited on fairground property except for in designated smoking areas. Ms Iyall presented the enforcement, implementation, financial and health impacts, and the advantages and disadvantages of both options. Ms. Jankauskas-Stewart, Fairgrounds Department Head was not at the meeting so Commissioner Ring Erickson asked Mr. Rutter what his concerns were in regards to the fairgrounds. Mr. Rutter stated the fair itself represents the values of our community. To allow smoking on the fairground property would send a mixed message to the children and adults. By not smoking on the fairground property it promotes the values and the leaderships goals to be the “Healthiest County in the state”. He believes that the change may be hard at first but people will get used to the fact that the leadership of Mason County promotes being healthy. Mr. Kutz stated he spoke with Ms. Jankauskas-Stewart yesterday and said that she does prefer no smoking on the grounds. She said it would be easy to add the language into the rental contracts and amend the existing contracts. Cmmr. Ring Erickson noted it may affect some of the existing contracts and they would need to be looked at on an individual basis. Cmmr. Ring Erickson would like the signs to say “Welcome to the Fairgrounds/Parks this is a no- smoking facility”. She also noted that the fairground is a leased piece of property and the county can only mandate the no smoking on the leased portion of property. Cmmr. Kamin stated to impose a civil fine and enforce it, an ordinance would need to be wrote and adopted by the Board of Commissioners. She asked Mr. Kutz what his recommendation was for the civil fine. She asked if it was necessary for a civil fine to be imposed if people are caught smoking. Mr. Kutz stated his recommendation was to wait on imposing a civil fine. If a civil fine were necessary he would like to have time to make a well thought out proposal. BOARD OF HEALTH PROCEEDINGS January 12, 2006 - PAGE 5 Cmmr. Ring Erickson stated it was the Boards hope that civil fines would not need to be imposed. They would like to educate people rather than penalize them. She also suggested that the Mr. Kutz prepare something to be sent out with Jury notices so that people can come prepared. Cmmr. Kamin asked if people are allowed to smoke in their vehicles on county grounds. Mr. Kutz stated it should not be a problem for people to smoke in their own vehicle. There will not be patrol enforcement looking for people smoking. Cmmr. Ring Erickson stated the goal was to create an environment for youth and adults who would like to avoid being around smoke. Cmmr. Kamin/Ring Erickson moved and seconded to adopt the Option 1: as the County Fairgrounds Smoking Policy that states Smoking will be prohibited effective immediately on the fairground property. Motion carried unanimously. K-aye; S-absent; RE-aye. Ms. Iyall presented the options proposed for Tobacco Sales, Sampling, Advertising, and Sponsorship. Option 1: Tobacco sales, sampling, advertising, and sponsorship will be prohibited on county owned or leased property or during county-sponsored events. Option 2: Tobacco sales and sampling will be prohibited on County owned or leased property or during county-sponsored events. Ms Iyall presented the enforcement, implementation, financial and health impacts, and the advantages and disadvantages of both options. Cmmr. Kamin/Ring Erickson moved and seconded to adopt the Option 1: as the County Policy on Tobacco Sales, Sampling, Advertising, and Sponsorship that states Tobacco sales, sampling, advertising, and sponsorship will be prohibited on county owned or leased property or during county-sponsored events. Motion carried unanimously. K-aye; S-absent; RE-aye. 8. Environmental Health Issues 8.1 Environmental Health Waivers/Variances were provided to the Board for information only. 9. Public Comment – None 10. The meeting adjourned at 11:58 a.m. due to no further business. BOARD OF HEALTH PROCEEDINGS January 12, 2006 - PAGE 6 HEALTH OFFICER _______________________________ Diana T. Yu, MD MSPH Mason County Health Officer BOARD OF HEALTH MASON COUNTY, WASHINGTON _______________________________ Lynda Ring Erickson, Chairperson _______________________________ Jayni Kamin, Commissioner _______________________________ Tim Sheldon, Commissioner