The South Coast Public Health Collaborative met virtually on Monday morning and announced three hires, including Gabrielle Almeida as the full-time PHE Shared Services Health Specialist (inspector), Shallyn Rodriguez as the part-time PHE Shared Services Health Specialist (inspector) and Olive Wicherski as PHE Shared Services coordinator.
Almeida, who is scheduled to start her new full-time job on Monday, August 21, left her post as Mattapoisett’s administrative assistant to the Board of Health, but as an employee of the collaborative, could spend time in her new role serving Mattapoisett.
Rodrigues’ new part-time role with the collaborative calls for up to 15 hours per week on top of the 30 hours she works as Marion’s Health agent.
As coordinator, Wicherski plans to meet with representatives from each member town to learn local regulations and get a feel for what towns are looking for in the collaborative.
Presiding over Monday morning’s meeting, Westport Director of Public Health Matt Armendo reported that all member towns have signed the Inter-Municipal Agreement (IMA.)
In a meeting last week with the Rochester Board of Health, Armendo explained the pact, stating that the grant funding will last until at least 2033. The initial grant last year was $300,000, he said, and another $300,000 was received this year. A total of $132,000 will be added to that amount for 2024.
On Monday, he explained that each member community has a primary representative who can vote and alternate members who can vote in the primary member’s absence.
Representing Mattapoisett, Public Health Nurse Emily Field is the primary member, and Board of Health Chairman Carmelo Nicolosi is the alternate.
Representing Marion, Health Director Lori Desmarais is the primary member; the Board of Health will discuss its official representative going forward, Albin Johnson, Dr. Ed Hoffer or Dr. John Howard.
Representing Rochester, Board of Health Chairperson Sarah Tisdale Eby is the primary member, and Public Health Nurse Connie Dolan is the alternate.
Lakeville will be represented primarily by Board of Health Chairman Chris Spratt, and Armendo represents Westport, the host town.
“The next meeting is going to be interesting,” said Armendo, who invited members to request topics for the agenda as all the new hires will be officially on board and available to take questions.
The collaborative is looking into holding a health fair in the fall, and there could be training sessions with guest speakers on particular subjects.
Armendo asked member-community representatives if, like Westport (the host town of the collaborative), other member towns have regulations requiring the phasing out of cesspools. More to the point, he asked how towns are approaching homeowners dealing with financial hardships related to septic requirements.
According to Armendo, the state Department of Environmental Protection now allows a 0% loan. No other member town has applied for such, but Marion Health Director Lori Desmarais noted that Marion is exploring opportunities to support betterments in town.
Spratt said Lakeville is “pretty active with betterments” but noted that while the 5% loan is available to everyone, the 0% loan sponsored by MassDEP is based on income.
Armendo also told member-town representatives that he will send out information on a grant-type program for homeowners.
It was noted that Rochester was not represented on Monday morning’s Google Meet.
The next meeting of the South Coast Public Health Collaborative is scheduled for Thursday, September 21, at 9:00 am in person in Westport.
South Coast Public Health Collaborative
By Mick Colageo