Board of Health — Burlington, VT
Date: 2026-06-24
Time: 17:45

May 27, 2026 BOH draft minutes
Board members participating: Chair Celia Bird, Jenny Tomczak, Kate Tracy, Bianka Cimrin, Jane
Seymour and Health Officer Bill Ward

Board Chair Celia Bird called the meeting to order at 5:45 pm.

Agenda
Jenny made a motion to adopt the draft agenda. 2nd by Bianka.
Vote was unanimous in favor.

Draft minutes
Celia noted the typo in the draft that said May when it should say April. Jenny asked that the
abbreviations should be spelled out for clarity. Kate made a motion to approve the draft April
March minutes with the corrections. Bianka 2nd- Vote was unanimous in favor.

Public Forum
There were no members of the public present.

 Substance Abuse and Safe Syringe Disposal
Bianka presented an overhauled report on the public and mental health impacts of syringe litter
in Burlington, highlighting the significant mental toll on affected individuals despite the rare
physical risk of disease transmission. She proposed a four-part framework to address the issue,
including securing non-taxpayer funding, mandating upstream accountability, establishing
standard of care, and closing the surveillance gap. Bianca requested feedback on the report and
proposed solutions within two weeks, with the goal of presenting a formal resolution to the City
Council. There will be follow up on the report and a vote at the June Board of Health meeting.

Health Equity
Celia introduced health equity as a standing agenda item, explaining its purpose is to ensure the
board's work considers race and health equity, particularly for vulnerable populations in
Burlington. The discussion focused on consideration of the Board’s tabling work planned for
Juneteenth. Jenny added that she was available for tabling at the event.

Burlington’s Juneteenth event will be on June 20th, where the BOH plans on tabling items
including syringe cleanup tools, sunscreen and other items to be determined.

At 6:15 pm Celia had technical problems and lost connection with the meeting. Jenny made a
motion to allow Bianka to continue as the chair in Celia’s absence. Jane seconded it.
Unanimous vote in favor.

Celia returned to the meeting in the discussion of expenditures on tableting and she made a
motion to allow Jenny to spend up to $500 on items to give away at Juneteenth. Bianka
seconded the motion. Unanimous vote in favor. Bianka offered to help set up early and bring
promotional materials. Bianka also suggested adding a blood pressure checking station staffed
by a volunteer nurse, and she will check on availability of a nurse she knows. Bianka will
participate until noon that day.

Budget requests
They decided to allocate $1,000 to CVOEO for translation services and $500 plus remaining
balance from Juneteenth to the BTV cleanup crew.

Chair Report
Celia reported that she and Jenny had applied to be reappointed as Board of Health members.

Emerging Issues
Jenny and Bill discussed past experiences with the state approved permit for herbicide
applications along the railroad tracks. In recent years the BOH posted notifications near
railroad tracks in the form of caution signs in multiple languages. They will coordinate with
each other to post the same signs this year on city property near the railroad crossings when
the 48 hour notice is received from the contractor schedule to apply the herbicide.

Public Outreach/Communications
Jenny will coordinate with Bill on a FPF communication about the railroad herbicide permit
issued by the State and the BOH caution signs.

Adjournment
The board discussed scheduling a meeting for June 24th.June 27th at 5:45 PM.
Jenny made a motion to adjourn the meeting, 2nd by Kate
Celia noted the meeting was adjourned at 6:39 p.m.