Board of Health Minutes
September 26, 2011
AMENDED

Present:  Don Bodeau, Dana Wachs, John Prince, Michael Murray, Merey Price, John Paddock, Elizabeth Spencer, William Bethke

Staff:  Richard Thoune, Courtenay Johnson, Kitty Rahl, Cindy Birtzer

Bodeau called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m.

Program Presentation – Network of Care for Healthy Communities Webcast Demo
Bruce Bronzan, President, Trilogy Resources, Inc. conducted a tour of the Sonoma County, California, Network of Care website via a webcast. Bronzan navigated through this very comprehensive website that includes a service directory, library, links, community dashboard, etc. This website is in partnership with the federal government and 211. The information on the site is dependent on sources and updates can be made at any time. A contract would consist of a set-up fee and an annual fee. It would take 4-6 months to build a site for our county. At this time, Wisconsin doesn’t have any counties contracted with this service. A discussion followed the webcast and it was decided that Richard Thoune would continue to engage with community partners to explore the possibility of sharing the cost and services for a Network of Care website.

Business Items
Discussion to elect Board of Health President. Nominations taken. Written ballots tallied.
MOTION:   SPENCER/PRICE MOTIONED TO ELECT JOHN PADDOCK AS BOARD OF HEALTH PRESIDENT FOR REMAINDER OF 2011. MOTION CARRIED. Following the motion it was discussed that the president should review the draft agenda and minutes prior to distribution. This will be placed as an agenda item at the October meeting. Michael Murray will draft a list of duties and responsibilities for the position of Board of Health President for inclusion in the Board Member Resource Manual.

Adopt the flu shot fee for public clinics provided during the 2011-12 flu season.
MOTION:  PRINCE /PADDOCK MOTIONED TO ADOPT A CHARGE OF $25.00 FOR THE 2011-12 FLU SEASON.  MOTION CARRIED.

Approve acceptance of a $200 “Kids Eat Right” Mini-Grant from the American Dietetic Association Foundation.
MOTION:  PRICE/PADDOCK MOTIONED TO APPROVE ACCEPTANCE OF THE $200 KIDS EAT RIGHT MINI-GRANT FROM THE AMERICAN DIETETIC FOUNDATION ASSOCIATION TO PROVIDE HEALTHY BREAKFAST EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATIONS DURING 2011.  MOTION CARRIED.

Approve Employee Handbook Grievance Procedure.
MOTION:  PRINCE/BETHKE MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE DELETION AND RE-CREATION OF SECTION IV OF THE EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK NOW TITLED “EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE” WITH AN EFFECTIVE DATE OF OCTOBER 1, 2011.  MOTION CARRIED.
Dana Wachs and Michael Murray will form a committee to review the approved Employee Handbook Grievance Procedure and report back at the October meeting.

Approve Acceptance of Public Health Emergency Preparedness funds.
MOTION:  PRINCE/PRICE MOTIONED TO APPROVE A CONTRACT WITH THE STATE DIVISION OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE AMOUNT OF $52,816 FOR THE PERIOD AUGUST 1, 2011 THROUGH JULY 31, 2012 FOR PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS ACTIVITIES.  MOTION CARRIED.

Agent Contractual Fee-Setting Levels for 2012 Budget.
MOTION:  SPENCER/PADDOCK MOTIONED TO FOLLOW THE PROCESS OF INCREASING FEES TO 60-100% OF PROGRAM COST. MOTION PASSED BY VOTE OF 5-2, WITH ONE ABSTENTION.

Consent Agenda

Courtenay Johnson motioned to change the first paragraph in the Program Presentation – Environmental Health from August minutes. Revision language provided at meeting. John Paddock motioned to strike “discussion on whether” from third sentence under Director of Nursing Report. Several typographical errors were also noticed. Discussion concluded that the minutes will be adjusted and updated. Amended August minutes approved.

The Board received the directors’ reports.

Director/Health Officer Report:  Richard Thoune shared his report and noted that Shayna Schertz began work as the Community Health Educator on September 26.  Applications are currently being reviewed for the Administrative Services Manager position.

Director of Nursing Report:  Kitty Rahl shared her written report.

Director of Environmental Health Report:  Courtenay Johnson shared her written report. Price questioned the purchase of equipment for electronic inspections in budget year 2012. Johnson indicated that due to unknown variables and the viability of the program, the equipment could not be incorporated into the budget as a planned expense, but would require fund balance to purchase if necessary.

MOTION:  PRICE/MURRAY MOTIONED TO ADOPT THE CONSENT AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTION:  PRICE/MURRAY MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE AMENDED AUGUST MINUTES. MOTION CARRIED.

Other information items from staff for the Board.

Richard Thoune shared a fact sheet titled Summary of Joint Budget Review Team Meeting, September 6, 2011. Richard Thoune explained the possible revenue loss of a 0% tax levy for 2012 and the implications. A spreadsheet of the Eau Claire County Department Budget/Tax Levy Comparison for 2011 and 2012 was also shared. Richard Thoune also noted that the city is expecting more of a contribution by Health Department employees toward health insurance costs in future fiscal years. Don Bodeau and Michael Murray asked that Richard Thoune calculate the combined percent employees are now paying and report back at the October meeting. Elizabeth Spencer asked that the Board receive copies of the service modification requests. Richard Thoune reported it was also suggested that the Health Department consider a referendum to increase the tax levy.

Richard Thoune shared the correspondence/media for September. The three items shared were the September local health department news from the Division of Public Health, Eau Claire/Western Regional Office; the press release dated September 7, 2011, from Francie Peardon regarding Youth Alcohol Use = Reduced Athletic Performance and a media advisory from the Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention dated September 12, 2011.

Board member informational items.

Development of process to evaluate Department Director - Michael Murray may have access to a 360-type process evaluation tool to evaluate the Department Director.  John Prince attended a presentation regarding a weighted method tool for evaluation of directors at the NALBOH Annual Conference. He is trying to get access to that tool. Richard Thoune will e-mail the tool that was used in the past along with a description of the process. After a discussion, it was decided that all board members will receive the three tools electronically, evaluate them and make a decision at the October meeting on which to use. The board also asked that Richard Thoune do a self-evaluation that would include goals and objectives, strengths and weaknesses and present it at the October meeting.

This item was tabled until the December meeting:  Closed session - Motion to adjourn into closed session pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes 19.85(1)(c) for the purpose of considering compensation of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility.  To wit: wages and benefits of Department Director

NALBOH Conference – John Prince attended the National Association of Local Boards of Health annual meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho the first week of September. He shared a summary of a few of the many sessions he attended over the three days, along with a booklet from the educational bus tour he participated in, pamphlet obtained from the Bunker Hill Superfund Site, and another booklet from the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice titled “Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals.” He felt it was a very informative conference.

William Bethke reported he recently toured the Jackson County sand plant and is very interested in any information the Health Department receives regarding sand mining. Courtenay Johnson will report on any information she receives at a future meeting.

Future meeting items:
*Discuss the need for the Board President to review the agenda and minutes prior to distribution.
*Review the Employee Handbook Grievance Procedure and develop a grievance form.
*Establish an evaluation process for the Department Director.
*In December, hold a closed session for evaluation and consider compensation for the Department Director.
*Share any sand mining information obtained in regards to Eau Claire or surrounding counties.

MOTION:  BETHKE/PRICE MOTIONED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 7:55 P.M. MOTION CARRIED.

Cindy Birtzer
Recorder