Public Health, Safety & Environment Subcommittee - Regular Meeting

evening calling the Bloomfield Public Health safety and environment committee subcommittee to order it is 6:04 p.m. and doing a roll call we have counselor Cooper Mahan myself and we will see if anyone else joins online moving thank you all for being here I'd like to say thank you for the viewing public thank you for tuning in we appreciate you being here we appreciate your continued support to all of the people on the agenda thank you so much all right so as we move into the agenda I believe there was a presentation but we are going to defer that to a later meeting as more due diligence is being done around that item am I right Chief to manager Colonel yes thank you okay so we really look forward to more information being um pulled together regarding that traffic enforcement um tool and we will certainly um hear more about it later thank you so much moving into the police department update Chief hammock let's see uh can everybody see my screen yes sir yes thank you yes okay um having a little difficult hearing myself uh so crime stats for the month um I don't know why it's showing like this I apologize here we go uh crime F stats for the month uh they continue in a downward Trend uh we're down 22% for the Year this is the end of 2024 um so we continue that progression in a uh in a positive direction um we had zero assaults during

the month of December um we had two robes one on Elizabeth Avenue that's assigned to detective Albright uh he is working that case uh has some leads in it believes that he'll be successful um in wrapping that case up uh the second was an arrest on scene uh I believe it was officer chesworth um that was a shoplifting uh that turned into a robbery um I know Madam that you know what that is but for the general public watching uh anytime you're engaged in a shoplifting or any type of a theft where you use course uh it turns from Al larsy to a robbery so that turned into robbery third degree um so both those cases uh should have a positive income or positive outcome from an enforcement perspective uh we did have one burglary uh it's been relatively well publicized L lately that was at pastaeria Bakery um back on the 31st in the early morning hours the case is assigned to detective Collins uh he does have um a few substantive leads in that case uh I don't want to get into too much detail um but we're uh we're happy with the pace of that case uh and he reached out to the owner again today uh just to fill him in on where we are uh and how we're working um we did have 27 lares in town uh 13 of those were shoplifting again they're all uh congregated uh or focused the pattern is right around the capaco plaza area we had three auto theft uh both two of the vehicles I couldn't find the third one I'm going to meet with my supervisors tomorrow to find it on the stat sheet unless Steve wants to add to me after um both these cars uh one was stolen from a gas station parking lot uh the other was stolen from a residential uh home on Booth Bay both were recovered uh the next day by Harford police we have four police officer

vacancies at the police department right now we continue with our recruitment efforts we just did interviews over the last few weeks um I do have one candidate on my desk uh that I'm going to be interviewing um and hope to move forward in that direction uh in the next few weeks uh we have two recruits who are in the academy uh their graduation date is projected at March right now which after field training would put them on the road sometime in June um officer uh feldblum is in field training right now uh I've discussed that with the town manager recently um Sergeant Barrett's promotional ceremony was in December he's doing very well uh we do anticipate another retirement uh in the next few weeks uh and I'll be able to give a full report on that uh next month that's not a resignation but a retirement um someone moving on in their career uh traffic statistics we had 58 motor vehicle accidents on our public roads in during the month of December conducted 108 motor vehicle stops that trend is down a little bit uh we're going to talk to the supervisors tomorrow um I believe that that's primarily uh weather related right now um but uh I'll get a better answer for you uh very soon on that uh DUI is pretty consistent between three and five a month um and that number lies right in uh kind of where we have been over the past year did 81 traffic details over the month of December um Maple Avenue bur Road uh continues to be a focus uh Patrol is only able to do eight motor vehicle details this month um due to another number of other concerns in town um Philly Street uh we did get a speeding complaint last month we've had the Speed Shield deployed uh for the past few weeks it did indicate that there is a need for enforcement um areas

of Philly are 25 mph Zone uh I believe the speed was in excess the average 85th percentile was about 12 or 13 mph over that that um so we're going to do some enforcement out there over the month of January and February and see what our results are uh Ellsworth Drive for speeding concerns during commuting time uh the speed Shield is deployed there currently and uh Kenwood Circle in Westbrook Drive area for stop sign violations again during commuting hours um so we've notified Patrol officers um we'll talk tomorrow during our monthly meeting about how our progress is going uh we continue a very positive trend of no citizen complaints no formal citizen complaints um for the month of December and no use of force incidents uh by officers um total Mental Health crisis calls for service were 38 uh police request emergency evaluations uh was 13 uh we had no referrals to the clinician we had one juvenile referral and 15 cases that were unfounded that program continues to be very successful I'll be talking about that during budget deliberations again uh this year to advocate for a continuation of that program going forward into 2025 and Beyond um by annual mandatory Department of Public Health inspections were conducted for the ambulances and fly car no deficiencies noted the local EMS plan was submitted and approved by Department of Public Health um so that gets uh good for another six years uh bva's nity book was completed and submitted to the town manager uh the monthly training was the annual practical skills verification uh ex police lieutenant and uh one of our uh Belle weathers over at bva Dan Rosenthal also prepared a holiday meal for everyone bva donated expired

supplies to the University of St Joseph's PA program it's the fourth time that they've done so um and continue very positive trend there calls for service for the month of December were 106 4 and total revenue was approximately $109,000 that continues a very positive trend for revenue for BV uh which I know we'll be talking about during budget deliberations as well so I'm excited to do that and that's the end of the police department report thank you very much for that report Chief are there any questions in the room I believe my boss has a question what did he say I believe Mr schwap has a question okay thank you you know the little toggles record and live are over your hand Mr Town manager sorry I didn't see that thank you sir no worries and thank you thank you councelor Lloyd and thank you Chief hammock Chief hammock I was just a little curious sir uh do we still have um those Federal grant opportunities uh for enforcement action during the holidays um that we once had um decades ago is is that still being opportunities that the town can pursue to to focus on DUI and and and and those types of events during the holidays State doot traffic enforcement like uh click it and ticket uh Etc yeah just before the holidays pretty much right around November area um Steve I'm not aware of any federal uh grant opportunities for that are you most of those are equipment Rel on the federal side uh the federal grants for mostly equipment and um I think minimal um overtime opportunities but most of the traffic stuff comes from the state DOT and uh we do take

advantage of of those when we can yeah I I I just remember we used to have details that were available for um you know New Year's Eve and and all that type of stuff that that uh that stuff that used to you know had a lot of pockets and and produce a lot of stats but um but I'm not surprised Chief by your your your your um your numbers uh impacted by um in December uh because we we all know what it's like to be in that Cruiser right uh to include councelor Lloyd and and and Santa Claus is found within us as well and uh so we're very mindful of making those stops and and taking that money away from people so you know that that just tells me that um that that good-hearted nature of the department uh continues and uh and and and I thank uh the officers for for that discretion and judgment uh particularly during the holidays um but but to the public you know Christmas is over all right so uh be mindful of your your your police or your driving conduct because uh you know Santa Claus is gone and we'll be back out there enforcing again always with good judgment in heart but uh primarily focused on the safety of our moring public thank you Chief great great report thank you okay Council Mahan counselor Mahan sorry about that that's the first I've made that mistake of being on mute oh getting older um I at first I I want to thank you uh thank you also Lord for giving me the opportunity to uh speak and thank you uh chief for that report um I uh I was happy to see BPD uh in in December at um a couple of

events but uh the one that comes to mind first is the uh Blue Hills fire department um Commissioners uh Christmas party the fact that they were there along with um a few other um Town departments uh just sharing in that Christmas uh or I should say holiday Spirit rather um that was that was very nice to see and to to celebrate the holidays with them so thank you guys for being uh so present in the community um uh I I greatly appreciated that um the question that I had is I I've been seeing the um monitoring the speed monitoring device I'm forgetting what it's called um on uh Crest viw Drive do you have any statistics uh regarding that or um will we see that next month I do not have them with me right now but I can certainly report on those um we do deploy them out uh if we've done typically we'll we'll put the it's called the we call it the speed Shield we'll put the device out there measure what the traffic is uh for a week or two if we notice a problem um then we'll get out we'll do enforcement and then we'll put the device out again to see if the en enforcement was successful um the other time that we put the speed Shield out is when we get a complaint to the traffic cing committee uh uh regarding a particular Street um let's say Maple Avenue is a very good example we've explored that quite a bit over the past uh six or eight months um we'll put the speed Shield out there uh collect some baseline data so that we can look at it with the town traffic engineer uh come up with a plan uh to impact it that goes beyond just um police enforcement to environmental concerns uh traffic

remedies Etc um so I'll look into Crestview I can certainly bring that uh to the next uh meeting thank you very much chiefa and the reason why it uh stck out to me so much because of course that's that's uh the route that I take to work but also I I note that there are a lot of folks that are walking in the morning for exercise sometimes you'll see students as well traveling on that uh on that road as uh pedestrians unfortunately we don't have um sidewalks that go all the way through and hopefully that's something that we can um look into but uh you know I I've noted folks that have been driving a bit um faster than they should especially with pedestrians that don't have a sidewalk that they can uh walk on right so I'm happy to see that speed Shield out there thank you and thank you for mentioning the uh the Christmas event put on by the Blue Hills fire uh and I'd be remiss if I didn't thank Chief Jones and and those at Blue Hills fire for uh for the award that they recognized us for our community outreach efforts uh you know greatly appreciated and we shared it with the men and women of the department and uh you know really look forward to continuing our long and uh positive relationship with both Blue Hills fire and Central fire thank you okay if there's any other questions okay Council Cooper hi Chief good evening how you doing good evening good thank you madam chair uh I've just had a question and you have to forgive me let me about the statistics you had for the mental health um

uh numbers that came up I think you said you said 38 correct 38 is that that for the month right that's for the month that's for the month is that is that higher or lower I and I don't know if you have that off hand but it's the same as last month actually so uh the the trend is is pretty consistent we're we're right in that uh you know 38 to 45 referrals uh per month um it is you know the one Trend that I've seen is you know we talked about this about 18 months ago was that most of the use of force cases that we were seeing at the police department involved people suffering from uh mental or emotional health emergency um and since we've had the clinician we've seen a steady decline in the use of force during emergency committal Etc uh with people with mental health problems or suffering from emotional or Mental Health crisis um so that correlation is very positive um and our mental health clinician you know we we pay for uh part-time status 20 hours a week um that the council has funded I think we're probably on our fourth year of funding for that program um and there was a period for about two years that we had her fulltime uh and that's because CHR was able to to marry a a grant to our hours and give us full-time status we did not see um a significant uh impact to the community positive impact going full-time uh that we were that we were seeing part-time so the part-time status has really worked well for us thank you very much I mean that's I

think just want to say that you know that boats well with the community I think um where you know it has I would gather if if it hasn't reduced but at least kept use of force um numbers down right and folks are able to get the assistance that they need that is you know that's that's strategic thinking and and certainly uh for the community it it's good and you know having been in this line of work for 35 years now I can't believe I'm saying that uh I think the town manager can agree with me from his previous experience years ago trying to get police officers and mental health clins to work together would have been challenging um but this generation of police officers uh one of their very positive attributes is their willingness to reach out and work with other agencies uh to really uh find Creative Solutions to problems so it's really been a positive relationship they've uh embraced it more than I uh ever anticipated they would so that's been a very very positive uh development right thank you sir very good news love it thank you any more questions councelor Harington Deputy Mayor okay um well I'll say it now I'm just going to wait and to picky back off of councilor mahan's comments thanks to all of our town departments particularly those represented here but as well as public works and the other agency Social Services senior services that did show up during the holidays in a number of events including the parade also so we do thank you guys for your continued support and involvement in the community it's what makes Bloomfield so very special so I'll put that up front instead of at the end moving on to the fire department updates Center Fire District Chief

Bernard good evening everyone good even thank you um okay so for a month of December uh we responded to 39 calls for service we had three SE calls which were all minor in nature we had two gasf flammable liquid spills which were also minor in nature we had four outside fires which were all minor fires or fires in fire pits on December 14th the Bloomfield Center fire department's Tower one which is our 100t ladder truck responded to the town of Simsbury on hot meow Street for a significant commercial building fire which our members assisted on scene for approximately five 5 and a half hours in the overnight hours in barly cold conditions on December 16th we responded to 30 vist away for a car versus structure upon the fire department's arrival the police department and the ambulance Personnel were already on scene attending to the two victims in the vehicle our members proceeded to check the damage to the vehicle and the structure to make sure there were no hazards present we then notified the building inspector due to the structural damage inside the garage and concluding the Bloomfield Center fire department uh we concluded 2024 with a total of 612 calls for service whereas in 2023 we only had 500 calls for service so we um our number of calls has certainly gone up uh as far as projects goes we have a an ongoing HVAC project at company 1 located at 18 wberry Avenue which is updating our older outof dat HVAC system and the new Firehouse project at 360 tungus Avenue is in the final phases of completion and we actually just got word the other day that the floors have been completed and we we are going to start moving into that Firehouse um far as Community

involvement um for the month of December we participated in the townwide holiday parade on December 7th um I don't know how many people are aware of of what actually went down that night um but the model a truck that I was transporting Santa in had a mechanical issue and was left in Opera B in front of the Congregational Church fortunately there was an antique fire department pickup truck ahead of us which actually belongs to one of our members uh they were radioed to come back and pick up Santa so that he wouldn't be late to the town hall and at the same time while that was going on our members came down the Street and pushed our the model a back to our Center fire headquarters um so with that being said I I want to thank everyone involved with the planning and execution of the holiday parade and and the Bloomfield Senor fire department and myself we would like to thank the parade judges for the trophies that we received that evening very much appreciated uh and then on December 13th we held a uh holiday gathering at our Center Firehouse which we do every year and and it was well attended we had approximately 5050 members dispatchers and pass members who attended as far as training we recently had a member complete firefighter one so that member will now become an Interior firefighter we have another member that will be completing firefighter 2 soon um on December 9th we were invited to a training section session with the Blue Hills fire department at pepp farms located at 1414 Blue Hills Avenue um which is a it's a basically an annual Gathering now uh due to the ammonia on site which included a discussion on the hazards the evacuations of the employees and the fire department involvement on the site and our Training Division will continue to hold ourselves to the highest training standards in

2025 and before I conclude the report I want to add in a um there's a a big concern for uh the fire department members and myself which is becoming more and more obvious and wanted to bring that up tonight and um I wanted to uh I'm going to send an email to Chief hammock and to the uh to uh the uh Town manager as well we've noticed there's been a uh an upkick in the fir Lane violations recently um it's really been getting out of control and I and I appreciate everything the police department does I know you guys are busy um but we were wondering if there's a way that that the officers could start paying more attention to that um we've called in a violation at one business in in the winberry mall several times um and then also on Tuesday December 24th at 8:35 in the morning we got called for a smell of something burning in the building um when the FD arrived there was a vehicle blocking the fire lane which is impeding our operations um and it ended up being uh it had the you know the potential to be an actual fire it was a uh a potted plant inside that was actually smoldering and they had to take the plant outside and water it down but there was a vehicle in the fir Lane so we're just wanted to point that out that we've noticed that it's it's um it's getting considerably worse and that uh concludes my report we'd be happy to help so we just posted it on Facebook uh my community service officers uh but certainly we're going to get out there and and uh we'll talk to the supervisor tomorrow about taking up the enforcement on it thank you thank you Chief I appreciate that no problem and and chief barard I can tell you that um I've been to some businesses in town and um and seen um cars in the

fire lane and and as I walk into those businesses I ask who's interested in getting their car tow because I'm about to make that happen right now and um and people respond to that so for our officials on on Council and and everyone in the Le leadership position uh within the sound of my voice uh your voice matters and uh and we have a lot more ability to impact and be Force multipliers for our police officers who cannot be everywhere but as we're here in town and and that includes you and all your fire folks too uh Chief uh Bernard and and chief Jones even though you're not I don't see on the line um your voice matters so when you when you walk into these places or you see these things happening um be that Force multiplier to our Police Department and and people will respond to you uh because uh I there was a business on the north side of Winterberry mall that that I caught with uh a car out there and I made it very clear as to what was going to happen if that car didn't move quickly and um and it did so uh assert your power you have it you have legitimate authority to do so and and if you need backup our Police Department is a call away thank you I appreciate that very good any questions in the room any additional questions or comments online okay and chief Bernard I want to say congratulations on the trophy you redeemed yourself from Halloween because Blue Hills headed at Halloween trunk or treat everybody was wonderful but I was that was a hot competition okay I just saw a hand go up by councelor Mahan yes yeah sorry about that um yeah Chief Bernard congratulations I was uh one of the folks myself and uh and uh Deputy Mayor Harrington were uh the counselors that were on that voting um that voting committee there I mean you uh in your

department you guys did an absolute Stellar job um the theme how well it was put together I love the Star Wars uh theme that you had um the other thing I just want to uh was thank you very much for posting that information on uh Facebook regarding the calls that you've answered to and breaking it down all the statistics from the year and breaking it down by category um the way the residents responded to it that that information they absolutely loved um seeing all the work that you guys do I mean we know of course as residents of this town how hard you guys are how much time you dedicating the fact that you are an all volunteer uh department but when you put the numbers on the paper it the the impact was was way greater you actually get to you're able to conceptualize you know the full extent of the work that you all do so thank you very much for you know not only the work that you do but uh bringing to the table so that we can uh really give you your flowers thank you for that and uh yeah that we we thought that that information is very important to get out there to the public okay if no other comments I will be liking and sharing that information as I try to promote and post good news from Bloomfield important information helpful information for our residents and all things Bloomfield that would be positive and constructive so thank you for that Chief and moving on to Chief Willie Jones from Blue Hills fire welcome thank you sir good evening everyone uh the Blue Hills fire department responded to 38 calls for service for the month of December and there were no major idents uh during that time period most of the calls were unint

unintentional fire alarm activations motor vehicle accidents and incidents uh involving power lines and communication wires for the year uh Blue Hills responded to 522 calls for service a list of the yearly breakdown of calls were uh 185 fossil alarms 46 good intent calls 85 service calls 88 calls that were considered uh hazardous uh calls uh the EMS and rescue calls were 76 calls and actual fire calls were 41 uh with January being our busiest month with 56 calls uh the training our training is ongoing we conducted an airbag Evolution training and we've walked through several different businesses in the district uh to ensure that they are following safety regulations and to get familiar with the building Outlet uh the community outreach the fire department continues to help and support and connect with our community we held our annual holiday party and recognized several agencies for their outstanding support to us as well as to the community Public Works the police Department nagar bottling pppd Farms Bloomfield parks recreation and Leisure Services and Fresh Farms market we all uh all recognize uh the fire department also uh held our first senior Christmas lunch in with over 85 uh seniors in attendance it was a joy occasion uh we had food fund gifts for everyone and we would like to thank

misset and her staff for all her help in making this event a success we also held our firefighters parents and kids holiday Christmas party was also a huge success with over 30 families participating and all kids went home with gifts given out by Santa Claus and for an update on December 7th of annual holiday parade I think it was a great event the trophies were a big hit and also with they like to thank the town's Leisure Services and public works department for their continued support and that concludes my report for the blue fire department thank you Chief any questions in the room maybe just okay councelor Cooper Chief thank you so much for your report you said you had 185 false alarms uh yeah it and that it's kind of classified as say if someone's cooking and a um smoke detector is activated um you know it's it's kind of charted as a false alarm got um it's mainly incidents where they're unintentional alarms but it kind of falls into the classification of a false alarm for recording purposes if that makes any sense it does it does thanks yeah I'm thinking old school like when I was a kid you pull pull yeah that's not that's not really the case anymore thank you yeah okay in the room mayor Arington thank you uh just a followup um what is the definition of good intent a good intent call is say if um someone thinks they see smoke coming from house and we get there and it's like a drier vent like puffing out steam

mhm uh those sort of classifications if someone thinks they see something and they report it and when we get there it's it's not what they said it was but they had good intentions of reporting something that's that that they thought was an emergency okay thank you I'd also like to share our uh congratulations to uh both fire departments in particular uh Blue Hills for for all of the work put together to make our parade very special this year the uh thank you the awards were very significant there was one new um participant uh try Mike who is in the process of trying to put together uh a carnival in our town we'll have further discussion about that in some other committee meetings but uh the trophies were phenomenal thank you thank you you know I I really truly think that this year's event was what happens to be one of the best if not the best um we had great talent um you know we're we're trying to work out ways in which we can plan it better so that more people will stay when the entertainment comes on after the after the parade but uh certainly everybody had a great time and I thought it was it was great weather was rough but it was you know we were able to uh get through it so that was it was great and thank you very much thank you and online councelor Mahan thank you councelor Lloyd um Chief uh you know thank you very much for all the uh work that you're doing I I don't really have a question but just want to thank you for um all the community

building efforts that youve uh put forward all the community building event um I was able to attend uh that uh senior uh the senior lunch and you know the just the community in that room how happy everyone was to be be around each other and how happy they were for uh the food in your uh and your department um it just the smiles that you put on folks face um was was absolutely phenomenal and then of course building into the holiday party um and our uh light up the town event which I agree with the deputy mayor that this I think that this was the best one so far it was uh had we had uh diverse entertainment I mean the addition of triny Mike like uh like the deputy mayor said was absolutely phenomenal um you know I I saw everyone dancing even India uh was dancing too and she was having a good time so it was just it was great to see all the uh just that the your community building efforts have meant a lot to me and I I see that it means a lot to the community as well so thank you very much uh to uh bluehill fire department and your leadership as well sir thank you thanks for those kind words any other questions or comments online for usual good job team Bloomfield okay as we continue down the agenda we'll be looking for the EMS report chair Lou blomfeld again okay okay so he is not available this evening but he has submitted a report councelor Mahan you have a question yeah I I wish he was here because I um I had the opportunity to go

over to bva um over the holiday season and I um closer to close to Christmas and I uh got to speak to a few of the volunteers and they were telling me about how much they need more volunteers um especially young people and that they're of course they have the training available and this this opportunity this volunteer opportunity can lead to real paid positions later on it can it gives a lot of folks a good foundation um for emergency uh response careers um so I I wish you was here to uh speak a bit more about that but if uh if anyone is listening um in our town if you know someone that has an interest in in the medical field or emergency response um please consider reaching out to bva to volunteer and at least um at least do a ride along to see if it's something that um that you would like to do I uh like I said when I spoke to the volunteers there they said you know right along is a good start um at least you'll be able to see if something that fits and you can always take it from there uh so please folks uh if you're interested take a look at bva for volunteer opportunities exactly and I don't believe that those count those uh Council Mahan comments have fallen upon de ears um the chief and the captain captain if you're still there um I'm sure we'll take that information back to um Ellen White the director of bva as well and share your experience and your comments um I will read off the EMS report very quickly as it is brief and the EMS committee report to the public health safety and environment sub subcommittee for 18 2025 meeting the EMS committee has not met since late November and we reported on that meeting that At Last At the last public health

safety and environment meeting that's a tongue twister um so there is nothing new to report the next EMS committee meeting is scheduled for January 13 2025 and thank you Lou for that report and they're doing a great job job in their fundraising efforts um for those that don't know if it's first time tuning in they raised the funds that allow us to um get new ambulances from time to time so that the town has not had to bear that expense in quite a while so we do thank um them for that effort that continued ongoing effort and we thank the residents as well who do contribute to that fund any questions any other comments okay moving on conservation energy and environment committee uh chair Paula Jones I believe I saw you can you hear me we have you now thank you so much thank you my apologies I'm um I'm zooming in from a different device that I'm not used to so it took me a moment to find the unmute button um so happy happy New Year and uh thank you very much good evening um the CC had a couple uh really one event in December um we had our trees for Bloomfield photo contest reception on December 17th um people enjoyed it thoroughly we had about 70 people attend um my appreciation to Mayor Wong and town manager schwap for attending and congratul ating the 13 winners and acknowledging the accomplishments um of trees for Bloomfield this year um my co-chair Sharon man reported that 38 more trees

were planted in the 202 2024 edition of trees for free and um just a stat in terms of the lifetime of the initiative uh we have planted 268 trees in Bloomfield since Inception in 2021 so we're quite happy about that um moving on to CC specific business um we worked with directors danan Carter and Dave molesco to compile the data needed for the tree City USA Community application uh that application was submitted on New Year's Eve and um we look forward to getting a successful result um in the spring um so stay tuned we'll be um probably in the better position to report next month on some of the activities we'll be planning for April related to trees um in particular you know Arbor Day activities and so forth um and finally in December at our meeting um Melissa Marquee who is the emergency response specialist from the health district attended uh we are um we will be tomorrow at our meeting tomorrow because that's our next CC meeting we will be reviewing um the priorities we established last year and you know making any revisions to to those priorities for the coming year but we really want to think about what we can do to better inform the public about um measures they could take to protect themselves um from extreme heat and poor air quality um so we will follow up with Miss Marquee in January um just to talk about what we might do in partnership with the health district to try to put

materials and um you know do some educational Outreach um as a committee uh finally um I've mentioned this a couple times now so uh you know we do have a nature lecture series uh webinar in March about light pollution and its effects on pretty much everything you know us Birds um animals insects um it has big impacts um we have a tenative date for The Shred day so I wanted to just mention that and that should be more solidified next month but right now we're looking at May 17th uh from 9: to noon the location still needs to be determined um but I know that's an extremely popular event with the public um we're doing it a little bit later um this year uh basically uh April is a very packed month with all kinds of activities um and the Easter holiday as well so um we decided to push it out a little bit um so so as not to conflict with other activities uh that concludes my report I'm happy to take any questions any questions in the room any questions online okay thank you chair Jones and I appre appreciate you and the committee's continued work and dedication to Bloomfield as well as I wanted to mention that I'm really excited I'm I'm looking for a house so I hope that I can get a tree for free as well additionally be sure to let me know when you guys start planning because I can't do a lot but I can wield a good shovel all right thank you very much yeah definitely thank you so much for you guys continued work as we move along the agenda we have West Harford Bloomfield Health updates Amy Krauss director of the Health Department

Amy um good evening can you hear me okay I hear you good okay um so in the report in front of you you can see we are currently watching our cases of neuro virus um throughout the state of Connecticut but also obviously specific to West Harford and Bloomfield for those that um don't know what norovirus is neov virus is a very highly contagious um uh virus um You Can Shed this virus in your stool for up to 2 weeks after symptoms resolve it is a vomiting um diarrhea intense for 24 to 48 hours um it's currently the leading cause of foodborn illness in the US and and really responsible for about 58% of foodborn illness um so we're watching these cases as they surge across the US um really since early December um as you can see in the notes with more outbreaks reported so far um this year than the average for the same time frame over the last 12 years 91 outbreaks were reported across the us as of early December and this is up from 69 outbreaks reported throughout the last week of November um again much higher than the average of 65 for this time last year um we do pay very close attention to our older adult population as well as our children in schools um so we work very closely with our um School nurses if they see an uptick in cases whether it be vomiting and diarrhea or flu um they communicate and and have um with our Public Health nurses at the health district and we work on disinfecting classrooms um and really bleach um for those that don't know bleach in water a high concentration of bleach in water is really the only thing that will kill neuro virus so we again we watch that very closely um on the other side as we know it's flu season um and flu cases as

well have doubled since mid December with 552 cases for the last week of December the majority of flu cases have been influenza A um and it is also the H1N1 subtype um again watching hospitalizations due to respiratory illness we are still vaccinating for flu um so if you haven't gotten your flu shot please feel free to reach out and we can help schedule that the health district is also exploring offering um the RSV vaccine we haven't done that in the past um so we're currently um exploring offering that because we see people looking for that um in our communities um for upcoming events the health district is in the process of scheduling the following uh upcoming presentations we're working on bringing the Yukon School of Pharmacy students to the Bloomfield Senior Center um to really look at medication safety and evaluate medications that people are on um I as I mentioned before we have the fat attack and Sugar Rush program and we're looking to bring that um over to our senior center we are offering a level two muscle strengthening class with a certified physical therapist and uh a new program that we're working on is a community health center and a maror program and really what this is is helping people that do not have health insurance and um being able to navigate that and ask doctors write questions when they're at appointments um and so this is a free program um if if if you attend the hourlong session you get a free $20 gift card if you stay for the full hour um so that's an upcoming program that we're working on and as Paula mentioned we're working on um a collaboration um between the conservation energy and environment committee and with Melissa Marquee and really looking at what heat and air and how that can impact um the environment and those in our community I'm happy to

report in July we're going to be offering the third annual cancer cancer prevention Fair um we kicked this off obviously about 3 years ago with just bringing in the mobile van um we saw a great need for it so we kind of each year have added on a little bit more and so um Vivani our health educator is working with Miss Evette and coordinating another great successful um event for our our prevention Fair on May 14th again that partnership with americore and the community health center is coming back again and that's going to be held at the winberry Bloomfield Library at 2 p.m. we're continuing to also offer our free diabetes workshops um in both morning and afternoon sessions um and those have um started this month but if again if people are looking to join um they can still do so and the district is offering free radon test kits for Bloomfield and West Harford residents we usually test for Radon during the cold months when windows are closed doors are closed um so if you're looking for a rate on test kit please feel free to stop by our office and we're continuing to do the distribution of Naran and Fentanyl test strips and overdose kits and that concludes my report thank you thank you are there any questions in the room just wondering where the uh test kits are located in Bloomfield yep so the yep so um the Narcan test trips are located at our office which is 580 Cottage Grove Road um we also are still um handing those out through bva um and our First Responders um so they also have those as well to distribute thank you thank you I think that's a good segue um we had been

talking about the opioid settlement funds and correct me um director CR if I'm not correct um part of the opio settlement funds uh contributes to the funds that are able to make that Narcan available is that correct yes we're able to purchase Narcan um with those funds yes okay great and I think there were some other aspects of the settlement funds such as training um and different initiatives that the health department has been involved in in town so I know there was a a report that we were kind of looking to get um distributed so if you wouldn't mind sending that out at least to the committee that would be great cuz we're certainly interested in not only knowing the good work you do but then as well commending you as we are able to learn more about this awesome program and the funds that were provided any other questions in the room okay Deputy Mayor it's probably already known or understood but um I'm just wondering at our um school facilities where there are sporting events going on inside and outside do we have uh equipment uh on the ready for um unfortunate situations that may occur for some of our students um I can't really say what that equipment is because I don't know the name but in the event that a student um uh has a respiratory issue uh is there anything that is uh available for uh you know for someone to take care of it um so uh director crra was talking about the Naran are you referring to um defibrillator yes okay um I do think we

have a couple of folks on here that can answer that question but I do believe it a standard practice to have them in the schools as well as the police department has access to that um Chief and Colonel if you can correct correct me as far as their um okay all the town buildings okay perfect so yeah they they do have them all throughout Town even going back to the Fred Flintstone days when I was on on the forest we even had the defibs then so they're always on hand and then at the sporting events there's always bva on site so I thought you meant was there any um Nar can available in the event of that type of emergency so um in the schools uh Chief Naran or Amy I'd have to get you an answer on that I don't know if the schools have access you know bva of course has it all the Cruisers are equipped with it yeah but I'd have to I'd have to get together with alen and get you an accurate answer on that okay thank you well we we do respond very rapidly here in Bloomfield so if there was that type of unfortunate emergency I know that uh our Bloomfield Services would be on site very quickly uh Colonel thank you yeah thank you madam chair uh one thing that I had placed as um a point of emphasis for our staff uh to improve upon uh coming into this year and it's going to be uh something that will be reflected in in the budget is to have more qualified uh staff members who can um engage in the use of defibrillators as well as uh CPR rescue type efforts so U we're we're committed to making certain that uh we we can be once again Force multipliers to our our our EMS system by having more Town staff trained in these areas as well as uh to to help the public as well as staff God forbid

someone um uh needs that type of assistance so uh we're looking to uh make a tremendous impact on on that training capability and like I said it'll be it'll be reflected in in our budget this year that's awesome I can definitely appreciate that um whether it be a student or to your point a colleague who could be in duress or distress that's that's amazing if you can respond to someone in the midst of just the couple of minutes that it takes bva or the police department to arrive so that's great to hear thank you so much for that Colonel um any other questions or comments regarding the health department okay um any other public safety concerns online in the room no okay if we could um I'm looking for a motion to approve the minutes for December 3rd 2024 some move thank you it's been moved by Council Mahan second by councelor Cooper all in favor I all right Council Mahan my apologies I I was on mute still I thank you any Nays any obss motion carries um I do want to note before we adjourn that we are the first Wednesday of the month now second second Wednesday which if I'm not mistaken looking at the calendar for February that will be the 12th but if I'm not mistaken as well council is the second Monday correct so normally this meeting will proed the council meeting but as it relates to next month it will be after so just keep that in mind February 12 6: pm motion to

adjourn move no move thank you all so very much for coming tonight thank you for sharing your information and the good news with bonefield and continue the wonderful services that you