Radnor Township Board of Health Meeting – May 19, 2026
Radnor Township Board of Health Meeting – May 19, 2026
The Radnor Township Board of Health met on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 5:30 PM in the Radnorshire Room. Vice chair presided due to the chair's absence. A quorum concern was noted—four members were present, but if a fifth had been appointed, five would be required. Out of caution, no votes were taken on the April minutes. The meeting covered routine updates, a communicable disease briefing, student intern progress, county health activities, and a discussion of the new food pyramid.
Communicable Disease Update
- Respiratory viruses (influenza, RSV, COVID-19) were reported as very low in the county.
- Hantavirus was noted as low risk in the U.S.; transmission via rodent urine/droppings; public advised to avoid sweeping/vacuuming areas with rodents.
- Tick season was highlighted: recommendations include light-colored clothing, tucking pants into socks, checking body and pets, using repellent (e.g., oil of lemon eucalyptus), and prophylactic doxycycline for tick bites.
Student Intern Program Update
- One intern (unnamed) is finalizing a presentation on a family health history awareness project, to be presented at the next meeting.
- A second intern, Haley, is working on a project on the relationship between sleep and academic performance in high school students; she has completed research and interviews and is preparing a PowerPoint.
- Board members emphasized the need for a quorum at the next meeting so interns can present.
County Updates
- County health department continues immunization clinics, STD clinics, and CPR classes.
- Food inspections in the past month: one complaint-based inspection with two repeat violations, down from nine risk factor interventions on follow-up; four establishments received perfect reports: Conestoga Swim Club, D in the Senzo's Bakery, Country Twist, and the canteen at Cytokinetics F 300.
New Food Pyramid Discussion
- Vice chair presented the new pyramid, noting it is now an upside-down pyramid (replacing the plate model from the past ~10 years).
- Criticized the imagery: a large raw steak, red meat, cheese, whole chicken/turkey, and a stick of butter—potentially misleading on portion sizes and healthy choices.
- Praised the underlying written guidelines: for the first time, all grains should be whole grains; explicit endorsements of probiotics, healthy fats (avocado, olive oil), and no added sugar (replacing previous endorsement of fruit juice).
- Overall message: eat real, whole foods, limit processed foods; emphasis on lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and pasture-raised eggs.
- Melissa added that balance and portion control are key, noting high caloric intake and saturated fats from proteins.
Key Outcomes
- No votes were taken due to quorum uncertainty.
- No public comments were received.
- Meeting adjourned by motion and second, unanimously passed.
- Next steps: interns to present at the June meeting (quorum needed); board members reminded to check meeting dates (half on Tuesdays).
Meeting Transcript
To the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God. Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right. Welcome to the May meeting of the Radner Township Board of Health. Just for uh the clarity of anybody who uh is watching at home. Uh we have a couple of things going on here. So our uh board chair, Chloe is in attendance but is not able to chair this evening. So as the vice chair, I will be chairing this evening. Um additionally, we have two members who are joining us remotely at the present time, as far as we are aware, four members does constitute a quorum because we are unclear if an additional member has been appointed. Um if an additional member has been appointed, that would mean five would be a quorum. Um so we are holding the meeting, but um out of an abundance of caution, we will not be uh taking a vote on the minutes tonight since um that would potentially need to be redone if we were incorrect about the number needed for a quorum. Um so with that said, we're going to skip over the review and approval of the minutes for this evening. Um the next agenda item that we had listed was uh organizational issues and important health dates for organizational issues. Um I will just ask uh all board members to again check their calendars because we do have a I believe exactly half of our meetings for the year, even though we're theoretically scheduled every Monday. I believe half of our meetings are occurring on Tuesdays this year. Um so just everybody please be aware of that. Um Baby, did you or Melissa, did either of you have anything to add in terms of health dates for the month? I don't myself tonight. Okay. Melissa, no, me either. Okay. Um the next item on our agenda is the communicable disease update. And we we could talk about respiratory viruses in the county for uh are very low, everything. Uh of course, as we would expect for respiratory viruses is low. Um very low, actually, in the county. So um influenza, RSV, uh potassias, all very low at this time. I there's been a lot of talk about the Hantavirus, uh, and that is a very low risk in the United States, spread by uh the urine people can get infected uh with virus particles from rodent urine droppings, uh, nesting material becoming airborne. Um it's a rare to um it's not spread easily, and ways of getting it would be sweeping or vacuuming rodent droppings. Um if you see areas with a lot of rodents, you want to keep clear of that. Um, but the risk in the United States is very low. Do you have anything to add to that? No Ebole is coming onto the scene, but I we'll just wait on that one. Uh well, hopefully uh that not with Ebola, but uh we'll definitely keep an eye on it. Um I would just add in terms of the uh the uh hontivirus that uh for people to be aware of the um the media coverage. Um actually there are a few comedians who have done some uh some actually pretty good coverage of the fact that um a lot of the news channels, the experts they're bringing on are saying, Oh, you know, are kind of keeping uh the expectations about how nervous everybody should be sort of realistic, and then they cut back to the anchor, you know, kind of stoking fears about things, you know, because that's a person who's maybe got a little more invested in the viewership numbers than the accuracy. So um just uh kind of keep that in mind with the uh the media coverage around that particular disease. I would concur with that completely. And I would just add, you know, uh a couple one more thing around the the tick tick bites because it's that time of the season, right? With Lyme disease. So just for people to dress kind of defensively there, you know, wear like color clothing, tuck in your clothing, wear your socks high, check your body immediately upon returning indoors, check your pets, because they do carry ticks usually in and out of the house. Um, and of course, you can apply repellent, and if you don't want to do repellent, there's like oil and lemon sense that you can use that could potentially help as well. If you are bitten by a tick, uh and you have any concerns, of course, you can see your PCP or urgent care. I do believe now we have gone back to prophylactically treating with doxycycline. I know we've gone back to that, so um, that's an option as well. All right. Uh anything else under communicable disease before we move on. All right. Uh so with that, we will move on to uh updates on the student intern program. Hi, I know Haley's also trying to join on Zoom, but she couldn't find the link. I'm not sure if you want, I I can just tell her it's fine.
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