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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994/11/23 - Board of Health i �5 •mow r ` MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH November 23, 1994 The Board of Health was called to order at 1:30 p.m. by Chairperson William O. Hunter with Board Member Faughender in attendance. (Board Member Porter present after approval of minutes) ATTENDANCE: William O. Hunter, Chairperson Mary L. Faughender, Board Member Laura E. Porter, Board Member Brad Banner, Health Services Director Steve Kutz, Director of Nursing Mike Tokos, Environmental Specialist Will Satak, Mason County Staff Betty Wing, Mason County Staff Gary Yando, Mason County Staff Representative of G &_ S Enterprises Stephanie Arend, Attorney Roger Hickey, Bio Recycling Corporation Bill Wallace, C/P Septic -- _ Mary Jo Cady Darrell Steele, D &-E Septic Service James A. Kneeland Joseph W. Bourgault, Joe's Septic Tank Service Representative from AAA Septic Gene Winebremer MINUTES APPROVED Board Member Faughender moved that the minutes of the September 29th meeting be approved as corrected. Seconded by Chairperson Hunter and carried. Board Member Faughender moved that the minutes of October 17 and October 31, 1994, be approved as circulated. Seconded by Chairperson Hunter and carried. PUBLIC HEARING - SOLID WASTE HANDLING AND FACILITIES REGULATION Chairperson Hunter called to order a public hearing to consider amendments to the Mason County Board of Health Solid Waste Handling and Facilities Regulation. Mike Tokos, Environmental Health Specialist, reported that revisions were being recommended for the section pertaining to appeal procedures so that the regulation had continuity with State law. He stated that the definition of "Health Officer" should also be 'added to the regulation. Board Member Porter moved, noting that there was no one from the public present to testify on the proposed revisions, that the Board of Health adopt the amendments to the _ Solid Waste Handling and Facilities Regulation as presented, and that the Board be f MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH '* 1 November 23, 1994 - Page 2 of 7 authorized to sign the appropriate document enacting the revisions. Motion.seconded by Board Member Faughender and carried unanimously. Board Member Porter asked that procedure be established which would initiate the submission of Board of Health regulation revisions to the consultant revising the Mason County Code. HEALTH UPDATE Steve Kutz, Director of Personal Health, reported that the Nursing Division was receiving a number of calls regarding the Hepatitis A vaccination due to a baker employed by the Lynnwood Costco who was diagnosed with the illness. He stated the Nursing Division was administering the vaccine to those who needed it. Board Member Faughender asked for information regarding the whooping cough outbreak. Mr. Kutz replied that his office was submitting an alert to local physicians to be aware that this illness has occurred in Washington State. Brad Banner, Health Services Director, updated the Board on circumstances surrounding the Hoodsport Water System owned by Mr. Petty. A meeting between his department, officials from the Department of Health and Mr. Petty has been planned to discuss the establishment of L procedure to ensure that the water was safe to drink. RECESS Recess from 1:45 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. PUBLIC HEARING - HEALTH DEPARTMENT FEE SCHEDULE Chairperson Hunter, at 2:30 p.m., called to order a public hearing to consider revisions to the Health Department fee schedule. Liquid Waste Fees Brad Banner reported that the Department's fee schedule needed to be revised for three reasons. The fees had not been increased in the last five years even though the costs to provide the services had, all departmental fees needed to be adopted and ratified in a single, unified manner, and because a commitment was made to review the environmental health's food program fees after the program had been fully staffed for one year. The process he used in determining a reasonable fee was the utilization of time sheet data to calculate the cost of each program activity. The number of fee-related activities was calculated using historical data. Actual costs for each fee-related activity was calculated by dividing the activity cost by the number of activities projected. The revised fees were proposed based on these actual costs. Expenditure totals were calculated for each environmental health program when the 1995 budget was being developed as part of the county's annual budget process. MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH ' November 23, 1994 - Page 3 of 7 These revised fees were compared with what other counties were charging, and then they were reviewed and debated by several advisory committees. The fees were revised based on input received by the advisory committees. At that time the public hearing being held today was scheduled. The main changes in the fee schedule are 1) Charging for repairs based on the cost of the service. In the past, the fee had been kept low to encourage repair. However, the on-site committee believed it was inappropriate. The cost of repairs are so much, the fee was not thought of as being significant. 2) Building permit review fees, presently, were charged only when the application was incomplete. The proposed fee would be $10 for complete applications, and $50 for non-complete applications. 3) Septic fee permit slight increase from $185 to $195. These revisions had been reviewed by the Mason County Home Builder's Association, and they have submitted a letter stating their association unanimously supported the new fee schedule. Board Member Faughender questioned the waiver/variance fees. Mr. Banner replied that the fees were based on the amount of time spent by staff. The department felt there should be a fee charged, although it should be kept low. The waiver/variances are time consuming but the fees should not be cost prohibitive. Board Member Porter asked how the anticipated shortfall of $93,164 would be recovered. Mr. Banner replied that the shortfall would be divided based on the population base between the city and county in the current expense fund. Public Comment Gene Winebremer asked how the $409,000 figure for expected expenditures by the department in 1995 was justified. He noted it was almost double the amount of the rest of the budget. Mr. Banner replied that Environmental Health used to do little else than liquid waste. The majority of staff provide these types of services, which are essentially septic-related. Land Use, Living Environment, Water Fees Mr. Banner stated he had followed the same basic format in determining the fees for these services. Chairperson Hunter questioned the well drilling permit fee and the well site inspection fee. Mr. Banner replied that the drilling permit was required, but the site inspection was not. During the inspection, wells are checked for sealing and tagging, and decommissioning. The Drinking Water Advisory Committee which has well drillers as members, recommended this new program. Public Comment None - MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH November 23, 1994 - Page 4 of 7 Food Program Fees Mr. Banner reported that the June, 1994, Washington Department of Health audit of the county's food sanitation program verified outstanding improvement in all areas of food safety in Mason County. The program has turned around from one of the poorest in the state to one of the best. Will Satak presented the Board with a report pertaining to the Food Program. The fees had been increased last year, and at that time a commitment was made to revisit the fee schedule the next year. An advisory committee had been established and steps to coordinate requirements for establishments to perform self-inspections was started. Billing for the upcoming year was being proposed to be delayed for a couple of months so that participants had a chance to participate in the self-inspection program. The Food Advisory Committee had reviewed the proposed fee schedule and recommended that the proposed fees be adopted as written. Mr. Satak explained that the food manager certification course was a training session for food service managers developed by the Educational Foundation of the National Restaurant Association to ensure safe food handling, consumer safety, and to boost consumer confidence in Mason County food establishments. 'The course would be 5 hours of intensive instruction for a period of 3 days. If the manager passed the certification course, the advisory committee would recommend a self-inspection program. To ensure that reports were accurate, the establishment would be inspected at least once a year. The classes were planned to begin mid-January, 1995. Mr. Banner reported that if an establishment was on the self-inspection program, their fee would be set at 50% of the activity cost. If not, the fee would be 85% of the activity cost. Board Member Faughender asked how long the certification would last and what the cost of training would be. Mr. Satak replied that the certification was being proposed for a 3 to 5 year period. Mr. Banner replied that the training would be approximately $200. Board Member Faughender noted that a small market might as well have the Department inspect, however, a larger establishment would being able to recoup the training cost. Mr. Satak commented that most problems occur in the larger establishments. Public Comment None Solid Waste Fees Mr. Banner stated that the same procedure utilized in the other fee schedules had been used to determine solid waste fees. The addition of a septic utilization tipping fee had been included. There are two ways health departments pay for solid waste programs. One was to have large permit fees for landfills and transfer stations, with the cost of the fee being passed on to the users of the facility. The other was to have a tipping fee. �% The second proposal was the septage fee and charging a different fee for inside and outside s MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH i November 23, 1994 - Page 5 of 7 county septage. The department was proposing that fees collected would be divided between the water sheds in the county and used for water quality activities related to septics and sewage. Board Member Porter questioned the amount of shortfall. Mr. Banner replied that it had been calculated that there would be no shortfall in tipping fees. Board Member Porter stated that last year the Board had agreed that any tipping fee would not be 100%. Public Comment Roger Hickey submitted written and verbal testimony. In his comments, he opposed the proposed increase in annual permit fees for his business Bio Recycling Corporation from approximately $3,000 to $150,000. He questioned the legality in charging a higher fee for out-of-county septage than for local septage. He stated this proposal would have an adverse impact on the environment and an adverse impact on Mason County citizens, and could very well drive his business from Mason County. He asked that the Board take a careful look at what has been proposed and its long-term implications. Stephanie Arend, of the law offices of Gordon, Thomas, Honeywell, Malanca, Peterson & Daheim of Tacoma and Seattle testified as_legal representative of Bio Recycling Corporation. She also submitted written documentation. Ms. Arend stated that the Board was considering charging disparate tipping fees based on whether the sludge or septage had been created inside the county or outside of the county. The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held that charging a different fee based exclusively on place of origin was unconstitutional. Secondly, she questioned the authority to impose a tipping fee at all. She had been unable to locate' any authority by the state legislature to Mason County to charge sludge or septage utilization tipping fees. If there was statutory authority, she encouraged the Prosecuting Attorney to show it to her. Thirdly, the Solid Waste Management Act lists the state's priorities in dealing with current waste problems. The number one priority listed was waste reduction and the second was waste recycling. The Bio Recycling Corporation was one way to recycle this waste. Bio Recycling helps Mason County in its regional solution to achieve state-mandated goals. The county should look for ways to encourage Bio Recycling to continue: In Mason County's Solid Waste Management Plan dated May, 1992, the county recognized the importance of land application of sludge. If all the waste was taken to the sewage treatment plant it would be over capacity. She encouraged the Board not to adopt a tipping fee schedule, and suggested that the Prosecutor review their proposal regarding the authority to have it established. Joe Bourgault, Joe's Septic Tank Service, questioned where the $146,000 generated from the proposed tipping fees would be spent. Mr. Banner replied that the funds raised would be proportioned out to each watershed on a population basis to be used for water quality. Mr. Bourgault asked why people in another county should pay for a Mason County watershed. Mr. Banner replied that it was because they were depositing septage here. Chairperson Hunter remarked that if there were long-term problems found, it would be up to the citizens of Mason �._� County to address the problems. Mr. Bourgault stated he had met with pumpers throughout the MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH November 23, 1994 -.Page 6 of 7 United States as well as in Asia and Europe who have been using septage on-ground with no problems. Bio Recycling was the top-notch organization. in Washington. In the mid-west, farmers are buying this type of waste because its beneficial. It takes time for people to get educated. There was a need for programs to teach people what was going on and the benefits received. Small operators cannot afford these proposed increases. He would like to see the fees stay the same. If Bio Recycling was closed in Mason County, he could not afford to haul to another location. He volunteered to get the film showing how septage waste was being utilized in an effort to educate the community. The Board discussed the increased cost per truck tank based on its size. Gene Winemeyer commented that if the Board adopts this proposal, his company would be out of business because they could not afford to carry sludge from out-of-county. He questioned the proposal to have tipping fee money going toward clean water districts and asked why septic tank owners should be penalized and other tax payers not. He believed it should be a tax to everyone . not just septic tank owners. Chairperson Hunter commented that most everyone has a septic tank. Mr. Winemeyer stated it should be called a tax and everyone should be charged. The amount of gallonage of their trucks doesn't have anything to do with it. Darrell Steele, D & E Septic Service, questioned how charging more for out-of-county sludge could be monitored and enforced. Mike Tokos responded that it would be done on-site by asking the truckers the location percentage of the sludge. Chairperson Hunter commented that records are kept on the location of the sludge currently. Mr. Steele wondered if honest reporting would take place. In Thurston County, an additional form was required to be filled out each month. Mr. Tokos replied that the department did not feel that would be necessary, but if it appeared that a good representation was not being reported, they may have to look at instituting something. Board Member Porter asked that the hearing get back on testimony, noting she- was uncomfortable debating these items when the proposal had not been adopted. Mr. Steele commented that these things need to be considered. Board Member Porter replied that the Board would consider such items. Mr. Steele stated that a local place to dump was necessary. The increased cost would also be passed'on to home owners. Personal Health Fees Steve Kutz, Director of Nursing, reported there were only two proposed changes. Two classes for HIV/AIDS certification with two different fees have been initiated. A shorter class at the rate of$20 and a longer class for a $35 fee. The shorter class was proposed because the longer class presented an economic hardship for some. Board Member Faughender asked when the personal health fees were last updated. Mr. Kutz replied that it had been within the last two years. MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH November 23, 1994 - Page 7 of 7 Public Testimony None Board Members Porter/Faughender moved/seconded that the public hearing be closed. Motion carried unanimously. Board Members Faughender/Porter moved/seconded that the meeting be adjourned at 3:50 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. MASON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH William O. Hunter, Chairperson (Unavailable for Signature, No Longer in Offic Laura E. Porter, Board Member M. L. Faughender, and Member Respectfully Submitted, A UL a, (� Lorraine Coots