[0:00] Thanks.

[0:03] >> Okay, I'd like to call the meeting to

[0:04] order for August 10th, 2026 for the

[0:07] Situate uh board of health. Um uh we'll

[0:10] take roll call first. So Karen Connley

[0:13] present. Allison,

[0:17] » you're muted. Allison

[0:23] Pierce, we're

[0:28] just ask her to unmute. M

[0:30] >> I'm sorry about that. I um I'm here. I'm

[0:33] present.

[0:33] >> Okay. Alison, can I get a motion to

[0:35] accept the agenda for today's meeting?

[0:38] >> You have a motion to accept the agenda

[0:40] for today.

[0:41] >> I'll second and say yes. And Allison,

[0:43] how do you vote?

[0:44] >> Yes.

[0:45] >> Okay. All right. Well, let's start with

[0:47] the first uh item on the agenda, and

[0:50] that is seven Garfield Street. So, Morse

[0:52] Engineering. So, Greg, we'll send it

[0:56] over to you to present.

[0:58] >> Great. Thank you. Um, for the record,

[1:00] Gregory Morse, registered engineer,

[1:02] Morse Engineering, representing the

[1:04] property owners, John and Joanne, uh,

[1:06] Connley at 7 Garfield Street. This is in

[1:09] the Hummer section of town. I'm going to

[1:12] do a share screen and put a copy of the

[1:14] plan up for you to take a look at. Um,

[1:18] bear with me one second.

[1:21] See

[1:22] there, you should see a copy of the

[1:24] plan.

[1:25] >> Yep, got it.

[1:26] >> Perfect. So down here where my cursor

[1:28] is, this is Garfield Street here. The

[1:31] property line itself is the black bold

[1:33] line. Uh it's a relatively small lot,

[1:36] approximately 3,200 square ft. Has an

[1:39] existing house on it. This is a

[1:41] three-bedroom

[1:42] uh house. It has a cesspool located in

[1:46] the backyard right here. That cesspool

[1:49] has failed. It's actually physically

[1:51] caved in at this point. So, it's in

[1:54] desperate need of a septic system

[1:56] upgrade. What we've proposed here is

[1:59] we've proposed a new septic tank, a

[2:01] 1500-gallon tank in the backyard, and

[2:04] then a crush stone leeching field again

[2:06] in the backyard. This is an area that's

[2:09] um pretty open uh and it's open sand.

[2:12] It's not lawn surface. There are no

[2:14] utilities in the way. So, that's where

[2:17] we've put the system. and we did two

[2:18] test pits to verify soils um with

[2:21] Barbara Rear and Barbara Thel uh on

[2:24] behalf of the board of health.

[2:26] What puts us in front of the board is

[2:28] we're seeking three local upgrade

[2:30] approvals as part of this. Um the first

[2:34] one is a reduction in the property line

[2:36] setback. You'll see that the soil

[2:38] absorption system to the rear lot line

[2:41] is 8 ft and to the side lot line is 6

[2:44] 1/2 ft. 10 feet is what's required per

[2:47] title five. Um the second reduction that

[2:52] we're asking for the local upgrade is

[2:54] for the soil absorption system to the

[2:57] seller wall. We'll see that we have a

[3:00] setback of 11.1 ft proposed. Um 20 ft is

[3:05] typically the requirement for title 5.

[3:09] And then the third one is a reduction in

[3:11] the separation from the soil absorption

[3:14] system to the groundwater table.

[3:16] Typically a 4ft separation is required

[3:19] from the groundwater to the bottom of

[3:21] the SAS. We've asked for a reduction to

[3:24] 3 ft from the groundwater to the SAS.

[3:27] Um, in regards to the first two

[3:29] requests, the setback to the lot lines

[3:31] and the setback to the foundation, um,

[3:34] there's nowhere on this lot where you

[3:36] could comply with foundation and

[3:39] property line setbacks due to the

[3:42] location of the existing structure, the

[3:44] location of utilities um, in the small

[3:47] size of this lot. So, where the existing

[3:50] system is in the backyard, that's where

[3:52] the plumbing is. We figured the new

[3:53] system would be best suited in the

[3:55] backyard. Um and we tried to kind of

[3:57] split the difference on those setbacks.

[4:00] Um you'll also note on the plan between

[4:03] the foundation and the SAS, this bold

[4:07] dotted line represents a barrier, a 40

[4:10] mil um breakout liner, if you will,

[4:14] between the foundation and the SAS as

[4:16] extra protection. Um, with regards to

[4:19] the groundwater separation setback, this

[4:22] property is not in a zone 2 or an

[4:25] aquifer protection area. Um, the

[4:28] reduction allows this to be a

[4:29] gravity-fed septic system versus

[4:32] necessitating a pumped septic system.

[4:34] So, we think this is maximum local

[4:37] upgrade approval. And, uh, I'm going to

[4:40] turn it over to you.

[4:42] >> Great. All right. Thanks for that. That

[4:43] was very helpful, Greg. The description.

[4:45] Um Joan, any concerns from a board of

[4:47] health perspective?

[4:48] >> Um nope. I just want to make a note that

[4:50] we did get the buttercards.

[4:53] >> And secondly, this is currently a two

[4:56] twobedroom house, but Title 5 says they

[4:59] have to have a three-bedroom septic. So

[5:02] that's why they're designing a

[5:03] three-bedroom. I just want to make that

[5:05] point.

[5:05] >> Got it. Okay. And

[5:07] >> if I could add one more thing, I

[5:09] apologize I didn't say this earlier. Uh,

[5:12] the Conservation Commission did approve

[5:13] this at their last meeting.

[5:15] >> Okay, great. So, that's taken care of,

[5:17] too. Great. Um, Allison, do you have any

[5:20] questions?

[5:22] >> I do not. No.

[5:23] >> All right. Are you in a position to make

[5:25] a motion or would you like me to do

[5:26] that?

[5:28] >> Um, I'd like for you to make the motion.

[5:31] Uh, I don't have it everything right in

[5:34] front of me. It's on my

[5:35] >> Yeah, I know you're at work that No, no

[5:36] worries. Okay. Um so let me make a

[5:39] motion to approve uh the local upgrades.

[5:42] And so that is um number one uh the

[5:45] request from required 10 foot setback to

[5:47] 6.5 ft from the SAS to the property

[5:50] line. The second is the request for a

[5:53] required 20ft setback to 11.1 ft from

[5:56] the foundation wall to the SAS. And the

[5:58] third is the request to allow for

[6:00] reduction in groundwater separation from

[6:02] 4T to 3 feet. Um Alison um how do you

[6:06] vote? I vote to approve

[6:09] >> and I do too. So, um, we're all set,

[6:12] Greg. So, it passes.

[6:14] >> Thank you very much. Have a good night.

[6:15] >> Okay. Thank you. Have a good night.

[6:17] >> Good night.

[6:19] >> Okay. Um, so our next um item is 102

[6:24] Hummer Beach Road and that's Grady

[6:26] Consulting.

[6:32] » I do believe Mr. Brady here. Mr. Brady,

[6:35] you two different ways. Just go. You

[6:37] should be able to uh speak.

[6:39] >> Yes. Thank you. I was forgetting how to

[6:41] unmute. Can everyone hear me? All right.

[6:42] >> Yep, we can.

[6:43] >> Yes.

[6:44] >> Great. Uh for the record, Dylan Brady

[6:46] with Grady Consulting here to present

[6:48] the applicant and owner Scott Peterson

[6:49] at 102 Hunter Rock Beach. Um I'm going

[6:52] to share my screen so you can see the

[6:54] plan.

[6:59] And can everyone see that? All right.

[7:01] >> Uh it's still loading.

[7:04] There we go. Got it.

[7:06] >> Great.

[7:07] Um so this is a very similar project to

[7:09] the one that was just heard. Um we are

[7:10] in the Hummer Rock area. Um the access

[7:13] to 102 Hummer Beach is actually off this

[7:16] um thing, this public area called a

[7:18] public green on the uh plan of record.

[7:20] Um which has access to then to Central

[7:22] A. Um so this is a um a property that's

[7:25] set back um right next to Hrock Beach.

[7:28] um the existing house. It is a four

[7:30] bedroomedroom house um with the existing

[7:32] system being a cess poolool um in the

[7:35] front and we're proposing to uh pump and

[7:38] remove that cess pit and install a

[7:40] 1500galon septic tank um and then a

[7:43] concrete chamber leeching system. Um we

[7:46] in front of you today for similar

[7:48] reasons um as previous um this is a

[7:50] small lot um with the centered house. Um

[7:53] so we're looking at reduction in um soil

[7:55] absorption system setbacks from the

[7:57] property line from 10 feet to 5 feet

[8:00] which is in this area here. Uh we are

[8:03] looking for reduction in um to the

[8:05] seller wall from 20 ft to 11 ft from the

[8:08] dual soil absorption system here. Um

[8:11] we're looking a reduction from 10 feet

[8:13] to 5.5 ft for the septic tank um in

[8:16] front of the building here. Um we're

[8:18] looking at reduction um from setbacks

[8:20] from 50 to zero feet to a wetland

[8:22] considering this is all a coastal dune

[8:24] area. Um it is technically zero foot

[8:27] separation because we're installing it

[8:28] within the coastal dune. Um and then the

[8:31] lastly just the uh the one deep hole per

[8:33] disposal area as um the utilities in

[8:36] this area are also in the front yard.

[8:38] Um, so we just did the 1D pole here, um,

[8:41] in order not to risk, um, damaging or or

[8:43] rupturing any, uh, underground utilities

[8:45] that run through the, uh, front here.

[8:48] Um, and that's the overview of the

[8:51] project general. Let's turn it over to

[8:52] the board. Any questions you may have

[8:53] about it.

[8:55] >> Okay. Thank you. Um, Joan, anything from

[8:58] your perspective on this?

[8:59] >> Um, no. It's another tight space.

[9:04] » I mean, at this point, anything's better

[9:05] than a cesspool, I think. So

[9:07] >> exactly exactly.

[9:09] >> U Conservation Commission,

[9:12] >> we are being heard next week.

[9:13] >> Next week. Okay. Okay. Um Alison, any

[9:16] questions from you?

[9:18] >> No, no questions.

[9:20] >> Okay. All right. Well, let me let me

[9:23] make a motion then. Let me find it. Here

[9:25] we go. Okay. So, um I'm going to move to

[9:28] approve um and this is um pending

[9:30] conservation commission approval um but

[9:32] the following upgrades. So number one to

[9:35] the request to required 10T setback to

[9:37] 5T from the SAS to the property line.

[9:40] The request from the required 20ft

[9:42] setback to 11 ft from the seller wall to

[9:44] the SAS. Uh the request uh from the

[9:48] required 10T to 5.5 from the seller wall

[9:50] to the septic tank. The request from the

[9:53] required 50T setback to 0 feet from the

[9:55] wetland to the SAS. And the request for

[9:57] one deep hole per disposable disposal

[10:00] area. Um Allison, how do you vote?

[10:04] >> I approve um with the same stipulations.

[10:08] >> Great. And I do as well. So, we're all

[10:11] set with this, too. Totally approved.

[10:14] >> Thank you very much, everyone. Have a

[10:15] great night.

[10:15] >> Thank you.

[10:16] You, too.

[10:17] >> Thank you.

[10:18] >> Okay. So, on to old business. So, on old

[10:21] business. Um and it really is like an

[10:23] ongoing discussion of the Kraton and

[10:25] Kraton derivative um products. I know

[10:27] I'm sure we have several folks on the on

[10:29] the call right now that um have interest

[10:32] in this and we appreciate you being

[10:33] here. We did hear quite a bit of

[10:35] testimony at our last meeting and have

[10:37] received a lot of written testimony as

[10:39] well. And just as a summary like from

[10:42] what uh we've heard and we've read um

[10:44] from concerned citizens was you know

[10:47] really concerned about the natural

[10:49] products being available and not banning

[10:51] Kraton overall um and but also you know

[10:54] I think you know concerned about

[10:56] regulation for those synthetic products

[10:57] or banning potentially of those

[10:59] synthetic products and age restrictions

[11:01] for purchasing and you know we've

[11:03] received a lot of information you know

[11:05] since that last meeting about you know

[11:07] the DEA is close to you scheduling

[11:10] Kraton and and really making some

[11:12] progress on that. And we also have um

[11:14] some state um a state bill that's in the

[11:17] House Ways and Means Committee now to

[11:19] really look at how the state overall is

[11:21] going to control this this product. So

[11:24] um so what we thought we'd do is just

[11:26] see, you know, from a board perspect

[11:28] perspective, um if we've missed anything

[11:30] there. Um, I I don't think that we're

[11:33] going to take any action tonight, but

[11:35] just wanted to kind of give Allison you know the opportunity to ask any

[11:39] other questions that you have or have

[11:40] any more discussion and and the board

[11:42] members as well. So Allison um thoughts

[11:46] from your end on this?

[11:48] >> Um you know I'd like to see what happens

[11:52] um at a state and a federal level. I

[11:55] know that it's a only a temporary um

[11:58] hold. Uh

[12:01] I'd like to see it also out of you know

[12:03] not I'd like to see it banned from

[12:05] Situit. That's just my opinion. But I

[12:08] did hear that there's very very few um

[12:11] places that it's available um in you

[12:15] know our town. So,

[12:18] um

[12:20] I'd like to take it I think under

[12:21] advisement and we can discuss it more.

[12:26] >> Yep. Thoughts?

[12:27] >> I think Nope. I think I think that's

[12:29] fair. Um I think the the um evaluation

[12:31] you did in town there are three

[12:33] locations that are selling it right now.

[12:35] So, um not as many as I think we thought

[12:38] uh were selling it. So, I think that's

[12:39] the good news. Um I'm with you as far as

[12:42] you know a ban as as far as the um you

[12:46] know the manufactured version of this

[12:49] and an age ban too. And I think it's

[12:51] just making that decision of do we go

[12:53] ahead and do something within the town

[12:55] >> while there's active legislation going

[12:57] on the state and the federal level right

[12:58] now. And I think you know I think I'm

[13:00] leaning towards let's hopefully see how

[13:03] this plays out and hopefully it's not

[13:04] going to take very long. But, you know,

[13:06] I'm I think I'm willing to wait to see

[13:08] how that plays out and just to go along

[13:09] with what the state and the federal

[13:11] legislation has to say about the

[13:14] substances. That's that's kind of where

[13:16] I'm leaning. So,

[13:18] >> I agree with you.

[13:20] >> Uh, Drew, any other comments from your

[13:23] perspective?

[13:24] >> No, I I mean, I do see a lot of people

[13:26] with their hands raised and I know we're

[13:29] not taking questions or comments

[13:31] tonight. We've already had a period of

[13:33] that way. Um, I kind of agree with you

[13:37] guys seeing what's going to happen with

[13:41] the state. I'd hate to do something and

[13:43] then six months all of a sudden it's

[13:47] something else.

[13:48] >> So, and I really like consistency.

[13:52] I'd love to see the state do something

[13:56] that way if we do something and two

[13:58] towns over doesn't,

[14:01] you know, they only have to go two towns

[14:03] over. I love, you know, consistency. Get

[14:07] it out of the entire state. So, I agree

[14:11] with you guys on it.

[14:12] >> I think, you know, my one concern would

[14:14] be is if this drags on for another year,

[14:16] I think that's a huge concern, you know.

[14:18] >> Yep. I I agree.

[14:19] >> Yeah. But I think that if um it sounds

[14:22] like these these um bills are moving

[14:24] along. So I'd like to at least give it a

[14:26] little more time to see if they play out

[14:28] because I agree with you Drew like we

[14:29] need to be consistent and I don't want

[14:31] to come up with something that's more

[14:32] stringent within Situit that the state

[14:34] maybe doesn't agree with or other towns

[14:36] don't agree with and you're right I mean

[14:37] people can easily drive other places and get it. So, um, so I think I'm I'm

[14:43] good in a holding pattern for now and,

[14:45] um, just to keep it on the agenda as we

[14:47] learn more about the how the

[14:48] legislaturator's doing.

[14:51] >> Okay.

[14:52] >> Yeah, I I agree. I'm just wondering I

[14:55] just in my own mind like should we

[14:57] revisit this in another couple of

[14:59] months? H how much time should we you

[15:03] know

[15:03] >> I think I I I think we should revisit it

[15:07] after the first of the year when the new

[15:09] legislature is sworn in because those

[15:12] would be the ones that are going to be

[15:14] acting on it. I would imagine.

[15:16] >> Yeah. I think that uh July 31st um is

[15:20] the and then after the first of the

[15:22] year. So there's two two um I don't know

[15:26] if they went ahead um for the July 31st.

[15:29] I bet you it's already been in there. So

[15:31] >> I you know I think I would make a

[15:32] recommendation maybe keep an eye on his

[15:34] old business like for all future

[15:36] meetings just so in case there's an

[15:38] update in any of the legislature

[15:40] >> and if there is that we're making sure

[15:41] that we're talking about in the meetings

[15:43] if there's something happens before

[15:44] January 1st. I feel comfortable like not

[15:47] making a decision for Situit, you know,

[15:50] like I think that's long enough to wait

[15:51] to see if things happen in the

[15:53] legislature before we kind of, you know,

[15:55] write up our own um Sure.

[15:57] >> you know, bill around that.

[15:58] >> But let us Jonah, if we could just keep

[16:00] it on as like an old business and then

[16:03] if there's nothing to update around, you

[16:04] know, progress there isn't

[16:06] >> and if there is at least we we keep it

[16:08] in the front of front side.

[16:09] >> Okay. Okay. Leave it on there.

[16:12] >> Okay. All right. Okay.

[16:14] >> All right. Great. Thanks for that.

[16:17] >> Welcome.

[16:18] >> Okay. Um,

[16:21] any new business?

[16:23] >> No new business.

[16:24] >> Okay.

[16:25] >> But before I do the director's report, I

[16:28] do have um

[16:31] three purchase orders.

[16:33] >> Okay.

[16:34] >> That need to be approved. One is for

[16:39] uh septic betterment for $17,350.

[16:43] One is for a perk test for $490

[16:47] and one is for another perk test for

[16:50] $280.

[16:52] So I need a motion to approve the three

[16:55] invoices.

[16:56] >> Make a motion to approve.

[16:59] >> I'll sec I'll second that and uh vote

[17:01] yes. Allison, how do you vote?

[17:02] >> Yes.

[17:03] >> Okay. Thanks for that, Drew. All right.

[17:06] Director's report.

[17:07] >> The director's report.

[17:11] We have six septic plans under review

[17:15] right now. We have six waiting

[17:16] engineering revisions, 10 waiting concom

[17:21] uh comments. We have 16 asbuilts that

[17:25] we're waiting for, and we have 14 in

[17:28] failure right now.

[17:31] Plymouth County Mosquito Control is

[17:33] still spraying Situit. You can call

[17:36] 781-5855450.

[17:42] Currently, we have

[17:45] no positive mosquito pools in Situit. We

[17:49] have had one in a neighboring town. I

[17:53] believe it was Cohasset. I'm not 100%

[17:56] sure, but we have had many positive West

[18:01] Nile pools

[18:03] within uh Plymouth County. We haven't

[18:05] had any triple E in Plymouth County and

[18:09] we've had no human cases in Plymouth

[18:12] County. So, make sure that you get rid

[18:15] of any standing water. Not that we've

[18:17] had a lot with all the heat that we've

[18:19] had lately, but you know, get rid of any

[18:22] standing water and make sure you're when

[18:24] you're out at dusk or dawn that you have

[18:26] mosquito repellent on with DE.

[18:29] and make sure all your screen doors and

[18:33] make sure you wear long sleeves and long

[18:36] pants during those early morning and

[18:38] late evening hours. We've also been

[18:41] testing our beaches. All of the beaches

[18:43] have been fine so far. We haven't had to

[18:46] close any. We did have one high test

[18:49] come in on Peggy and when it retested,

[18:52] it came back less than 10. So, because

[18:54] it was not two in a row, it did not

[18:56] require a closing. So, we were thrilled

[18:59] that all the beaches have been open,

[19:01] especially with this hot weather that

[19:02] we've had. I know they've all been

[19:04] mobbed, and I can't believe the number

[19:06] of people I've seen in the water this

[19:07] year.

[19:10] And uh also, we just finished up uh

[19:14] Heritage Day. Heritage Day went off very

[19:17] smoothly with all the food vendors. No

[19:20] issues at all, as did the KC Carnival,

[19:24] which was back on July 10th. They had a

[19:27] wonderful event. They had the big uh pig

[19:31] roast or the big uh roast that they have

[19:34] over there after their golf tournament

[19:36] last Friday. I drove by about 11 o'clock

[19:39] and you could still you see the smoke

[19:41] coming out of the two huge smokers they

[19:42] have, Joan. And it looked pretty

[19:44] impressive when they're down there doing

[19:46] it all. So, um, all of our swimming

[19:51] pools have been inspected that we

[19:54] inspect for the season, and they've all

[19:56] been submitting their water samples.

[20:00] Teresa is on vacation right now, but she

[20:04] will be scheduling flu clinics in the

[20:07] fall when she gets back. So, they'll get

[20:08] those underway. And that is all I have.

[20:13] >> I have one question for you. Have we had

[20:15] any reported cases of cycllo psoriasis?

[20:18] >> I imagine that we have.

[20:22] I have not heard directly from Teresa. I

[20:26] can't imagine that we haven't. And I was

[20:29] thinking the same, but the state's

[20:30] coming out with numbers. So I wasn't

[20:31] sure if you had to submit those or how

[20:33] that

[20:33] >> and those are those are numbers that

[20:36] just like any other those are from a

[20:38] doctor's office where they've actually

[20:41] how many haven't even gone to the doctor

[20:43] and

[20:44] >> have been

[20:46] >> you know come down with it. But um

[20:51] >> it's pretty scary how many you know

[20:55] >> how prevalent it is. Yeah, for sure.

[20:56] It's just unbelievable.

[20:58] >> Yeah.

[20:58] >> But then the jalapeno peppers they're

[21:00] talking about now,

[21:01] >> right? Right.

[21:02] >> That they're recalling and the

[21:05] >> It's just It's crazy time.

[21:08] >> It is. Yeah. Okay. All right. I wasn't

[21:10] sure how close we keep track of that,

[21:11] but

[21:11] >> when people ask me about the uh

[21:13] lettucees, I always say go to the local

[21:16] farmers market. They're all locally

[21:18] grown. You're not going to have to worry

[21:20] about any of the, you know, that's where

[21:22] you get the freshest stuff. It's right

[21:24] from here, right? So [laughter]

[21:27] that was my advice.

[21:29] >> Yeah, good, good advice. Okay. And so it

[21:32] looks like we also have one set of

[21:33] minutes to be approved and that's from

[21:35] May 18th. Um I have reviewed them. I

[21:38] don't I didn't have any suggested edits.

[21:40] Um Allison, um do you want to make a

[21:42] motion or do you have any edits for

[21:44] those minutes?

[21:44] >> I don't have any edits. I did read it

[21:46] and um u make a motion to approve.

[21:50] >> Okay. I'll second and say say yes. And

[21:52] Allison, how do you vote?

[21:54] >> Yes. Okay. All right. So, we're all set

[21:56] with the minutes.

[21:57] >> Thank you.

[21:59] >> Any other business that we're missing?

[22:01] >> No, we are good.

[22:03] >> Okay. I'll make a motion to adjurnn.

[22:07] >> Great.

[22:08] >> Can I have a second, Alison?

[22:09] >> Yeah. Second to adjurnn.

[22:11] >> Okay. And I vote yes. And I'm You vote?

[22:13] >> Yes. I vote yes.

Scituate Board of Health Meeting - 08-10-2026

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