Delaware County, Indiana

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MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE

DELAWARE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH

AUGUST 9, 2007

 

The regular meeting of the Board of Health was held on August 9, 2007 in the Delaware County Commissioners Court Room on the 3rd floor of the Delaware County Building.  Chairperson Mrs. Judi Harris called the meeting to order at 7:05pm.  The following board members were present:

Mrs. J. Harris, Dr. Peterson, Mrs. T. Townsend, RN, Mrs. K. Hutson, RN, Mrs. B. Terhune.  Dr. Wilkins, Health Officer, was also present.

 

Chairperson Harris asked for corrections to the June minutes.  No corrections were made;  a motion was made to approve the minutes and approved unanimously.  July Board meeting was canceled; no approval of minutes necessary.

 

Mr. Jones discussed the planning document prepared by Dr. Roepke for the Delaware County Health Needs Assessment.  Dr. Roepke was out of town and not available for the meeting.  A breakfast meeting is planned for September 6th at the Ball State Alumni Center to present goals to address issues within the Needs Assessment.  The Board reviewed and discussed the goals as presented.  (See attached).  The Board questioned whether the goals were achievable.  Mr. Jones stated that several were already being implemented, such as a coalition being established to address suicide prevention awareness.  The Board was invited to attend the breakfast meeting. 

 

A proposed Burn Ordinance was presented by Mrs. Christine Stinson of this department.  The ordinance provides enforcement capacity of existing state law.  She stated she has been working with area fire departments to discuss the ordinance.  Fines are established for people burning trash and other material.  A responding fire department can issue citations to the violator.  This department would be the enforcement agency.  Any fines collected would be divided between the Health Department and the responding fire department.  After discussion, Mrs. Hutson made a motion to approve the ordinance.  It was seconded by Mrs. Townsend.  Approved unanimously. 

 

Tobacco Settlement Funds were discussed.  A presentation was made by Consuea Parsuns of LifeStreams for the Senior Games.  She is requesting $3,000 to augment funding for the event.  The Board will take her request under review.  Mr. Jones stated we are to receive $50,300 from the Fund.  The funds have not been received, but should arrive late summer or early fall. 

 

Mr. Jones discussed the Web Site development for the department.  The project is going well, and should be live by the end of August.  The Commissioners have contracted with E-Gov to develop the site.  A presentation of the site will be made to the Board when it is finalized. 

The Workforce Development project was presented.  Mr. Jones stated that Dr. Monroe, the State Health Commissioner, asked Dr. Wilkins to participate with this pilot project.  Twenty county health departments across the state have been invited to participate.  The project involves assessing the needs of the public health system within the county.  Partners in public health which include other agencies that work with this department are invited to be involved.  Four days of training are provided for the department and its partners to build the infrastructure for the public health system.  A project, childhood obesity, has been selected by the group to discuss.  Goals and objectives will be established to address the needs of the program.  Dr. Peterson feels the department already reaches out to partners to work on projects and is concerned about the necessity of the additional training. 

 

Mr. Jones discussed the 2008 budget presentation that will be given to the Delaware County Council in September.  He asked if Board Members could attend to provide support.  The Board anticipates difficulty for the budget due to increasing property taxes and a declining industrial tax base.  In addition, the Needs Assessment discussed population loss. 

 

In other business, Dr. Wilkins discussed the preparedness meeting conducted by Janet Archer from the Indiana State Dept. of Health.  A kit has been developed for use for presentations illustrating teaching techniques about preparedness issues in the household and work place settings. 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:20pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Mrs. Judi Harris, Chairperson

 

 

 

Dr. Donna Wilkins, Health Officer