Great Barrington Board of Health Remote Meeting: May 14, 2026

The Great Barrington Board of Health met remotely on May 14, 2026, under the state's remote-participation orders. Board members Peter Stanton, Ruby, and Michael Lanute were present, joined by health agent Rebecca. The board handled routine approvals, heard an update from the Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative, appointed collaborative inspectors as agents, and discussed tick season, swimming-water testing, and follow-up on Housatonic Water Works. The meeting adjourned at 7:47 PM.

Reorganization and Approvals

• The board voted unanimously to retain the current chair and vice chair for another year; the chair offered to step aside if anyone wanted the role.
• The board approved the April meeting minutes unanimously.

Board of Health Updates: Tick Awareness

• Ruby reminded the public that ticks are widespread and carry Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, and alpha-gal syndrome from the Lone Star tick. She urged checking bodies, children, and pets, removing ticks promptly, and avoiding squeezing the tick body.
• She recommended fine-point tweezers, grabbing the tick at the mouthparts, and pulling straight out; removing ticks within 24 to 48 hours (or 36 hours) lowers disease risk.
• Members noted ticks have gone from rare to common in Great Barrington over roughly 30 years and discussed climate change as a factor; mosquito-borne illnesses such as dengue and chikungunya were described as close to the region.
• The board agreed to look into posting updated tick-awareness materials on the town website; Ruby will send Rebecca a flyer or graphic.
• Rebecca said she would follow up with DPW on the number of bags collected during the Earth Day cleanup; a fall cleanup was mentioned as a possible follow-up.

Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative Presentation

Jane Smith and Jason Dragonetti presented the collaborative's planned work with Great Barrington for the next fiscal year.

• Public health nursing: The collaborative has two public health nurses, Jill Sweet and Denise Cox (19 hours per week). Denise runs monthly wellness sessions at the senior center; the most recent topic was tick awareness. Nurses are available for camp health-record checks, and a summer intern, Ariana Hall, will assist with outreach.
• Tick education: A $10,000 grant can fund tick removers, potentially branded 'Town of Great Barrington,' and metal signs for posting. Jane offered to work with Rebecca on distribution.
• Vaccines: The Vaccine for Children program is reconciling school immunization records with MIIS because records from pediatricians were not all reaching the state system. Almost all fall flu/COVID clinics are scheduled. Jane confirmed the collaborative uses the Pfizer COVID vaccine and has not ordered mRNA flu vaccine; Ruby noted the mRNA flu vaccine is more effective but has somewhat higher side effects, and the board may revisit that next year.
• Inspections: New inspector Rebecca Clerget has 25 years of restaurant experience and will focus on food inspections, expanding capacity and backup for inspector Jason.
• Title 5: The collaborative identified property transfers with no Title 5 septic inspection, including an example in Sandisfield with 15 transfers and 3 missing inspections, and is offering towns follow-up packets.
• Community initiatives: Southern Berkshire is forming a hub model for wraparound services, similar to the successful Northern Berkshire hub. An emergency-housing group of seven or eight partners is exploring options because there is no safe overnight shelter in southern Berkshire County; hotel-funding options are being pursued for next winter.
• Animal control: Ruby asked about Great Barrington's roughly $20,000 annual animal-control expense and whether regional services could help. Jane said the missing piece in southern Berkshire is kenneling, and she hopes for a future regional animal officer.
• Hazardous waste and sharps: Household hazardous waste day is coming; typically about 300 people participate, and more than 400 have signed up this year. Sharps disposal is available at the transfer station and health office, and Berkshire Harm Reduction collects and pays for disposal.
• Funding and sustainability: The collaborative has $10,000 in grant funds for equity, emergency needs, community meals, and outdoor-access programming. The Public Health Excellence Grant is in its final year; the state budget includes $15 million for public health across the state, and SAPHE 2.0 requires essential public health services. The collaborative is also preparing for the state's METRIK reporting system.
• Tobacco compliance is provided by Tri-Town through a tobacco grant at no cost to Great Barrington; kratom is not covered under that grant.

Appointment of Collaborative Inspectors as Agents

• Health agent Rebecca noted that the collaborative's contract runs through June 30, 2027 and will provide about 15 hours per week of inspection capacity, primarily for food inspections.
• An introductory email with photos and photo ID badges listing Great Barrington will be sent to food establishments before inspections begin.
• The board voted unanimously to appoint all inspectors associated with the Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative to work jointly with the health agent and perform inspections.

Health Department Updates: Swimming Water Testing

• Weekly E. coli testing will begin next week and continue through Labor Day at Lake Mansfield, the Williams River at Old Maids Park, and the Green River at Seaconk Crossroad. The two permitted beaches open for Memorial Day weekend.
• The Seaconk Crossroad site is private property and not a permitted beach, but it is tested as a community service because it has historically had dangerous E. coli levels.
• The board closes a beach immediately after one high bacteria detection; the state allows two confirming samples 24 hours apart, but the board errs on the side of caution.
• The board will promote the state's interactive water-quality dashboard for weekly permitted-beach results.

Lake Mansfield Goose and Intern Funding

• A proposed water-quality intern or dedicated beach-raking position was contingent on Proposition 2.5 passing, which did not pass; no additional funding source has been identified.
• Goose waste at Lake Mansfield remains a public health concern. The Lake Mansfield Task Force has been considering goose-deterrence strategies and maintains a volunteer list; Rebecca will continue discussions with the task force.

Housatonic Water Works Follow-up

• A board member asked for an update on Housatonic Water Works' manganese filtration system: the deadline was moved to June 1, 2026, and monthly progress reports are received from MassDEP but have not always been distributed to the board.
• The board agreed to invite a MassDEP representative to the next meeting to confirm whether the project is on schedule and to discuss brown-water contingency planning before summer.
• Eileen asked to receive the progress reports as well; Rebecca will send the March report and noted that a public records request would be needed for older reports.

Next Meeting and Key Outcomes

• The board tentatively set the next meeting for June 18, 2026, to be held virtually, with MassDEP invited to attend.
• Key decisions this meeting: unanimous vote to retain chair and vice chair; unanimous approval of April minutes; unanimous appointment of Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative inspectors as agents; direction to invite MassDEP to the June 18 meeting; and plans to update tick-awareness materials and promote beach water-testing results.