Board of Health — Skokie, IL
Date: 2023-11-09

Skokie Board of Health
 Thursday, November 9, 2023
 7:00 pm
 Conference Room D&E, Village Hall, 5127 Oakton St

 AGENDA

I. Call to Order

II. Approval of Agenda

III. Approval of Minutes: October 12, 2023 Meeting

IV. HHS Program Presentation: Body Art Program/Tanning
 Program/Community Support & Hazardous Homes/Beekeeping Program

V. Chair’s Report, Dr. Linn

VI. Director’s Monthly Report, Mike Charley, Director of Health and Human
 Services

VII. Ongoing/New Items of Business
 A. IPLAN Update, Sibyl Yau

VIII. Public Comments

IX. Adjournment

 Next Regular Meeting: December, 14 2023 @ 7:00 p.m.




Document Number: 614522 Version: 1

Skokie Board of Health
 Thursday, November 9, 2023
 7:00 pm
 Conference Room D&E, Village Hall, 5127 Oakton St


 MINUTES

In attendance: Heidi Nickisch Duggan, Dr. Bruce Gaynes, Dr. Michael Gottesman, Maureen Hanlon, Dr.
Edward Linn, Rohit Pandya, Jan Shiffman, Dr. Kyungran Shim, Dr. Romil Sood, Patricia Urbanus, Ruth
Varma, Sibyl Yau, Staff Liaison: Mike Charley,

Excused: Dr. Swapna Dave, Juliet Haido, Margaret Keeler, Irtaza Usman, Dr. William Werner, Dr. Larry
Williams,

Absent: Trustee James Johnson, Trustee Keith Robinson



I. Call to Order @ 7:05 PM

II. Approval of Agenda: Approved. First by Dr. Sood, Second by Rohit Pandya
1.
III. Approval of Minutes: October 12, 2023 Meeting: Approved. First by Dr. Sood, Second by Rohit
 Pandya

IV. HHS Program Presentation: Body Art Program/Tanning Program/Community Support &
 Hazardous Homes/Beekeeping Program: Mike Charley presented information on all the
 following programs.

 A. Body Art Program: Body art facilities are permitted through IDPH. Facilities are
 regulated through the Illinois Body Art Code & Illinois Body Art Act. Skokie HHS conducts
 inspections of all body art facilities annually. HHS receives grant money from IDPH to
 conduct the inspections.
 B. Tanning Program: Tanning facilities are permitted through IDPH. Facilities are regulated
 through the Illinois Tanning Facility Code & Illinois Tanning Facility Act. Skokie HHS
 conducts inspections of the one Skokie tanning facility annually. HHS receives grant
 money from IDPH to conduct the inspections.
 C. Community Support Homes/Hazardous Homes Program: Community Support Homes is
 a Village program that seeks to help individuals and families identified as living in homes
 that are considered hazardous. Examples of properties that may meet the criteria for
 being hazardous are properties with no water, no heat, severe pest infestation, no
 potable water and/or a large accumulation of garbage inside the residence. Essentially
 conditions that make the home not habitable and/or close to not being habitable. The
 goal of the program is to coordinate all Village internal resources and work with external
 professional resources to help the individual/family with their underlying issues and
 resolve those issues to make their property habitable, in a respectful and dignified way.
 D. Beekeeping in Skokie: Residence have two options for keeping beehives in Skokie. 1)
 Residential beekeeping and 2) a community apiary option. Residents wishing to keep
 bees on residential property must meet specific criteria as outlined in the village
Document Number: 615562 Version: 1
 ordinance. Residents apply for permit to HHS. HHS reviews permit applications, visit
 the resident’s property and after all criteria are met, issue an annual permit that expires
 May 31. For the community apiary, it’s located at Oakton College and was developed as
 a partnership between the Village and Oakton. Individuals interested in keeping hives at
 the location must apply to HHS and meet specific criteria. Like the residential
 beekeeping permit, HHS will ensure the individual beekeeper meets specific criteria
 then issues an annual permit. For both residential beekeeping and the community
 apiary, the beekeeper is responsible for maintaining their hives in a safe manner.

V. Chair’s Report, Dr. Linn: Dr. Linn thanked members of the board for participating in the Boomers
 and Beyond event. Dr. Linn shared that there are 2 approved RSV Vaccines, but only the Pfizer
 product is approved for pregnant women. It is to be administered between 32-36 weeks of
 pregnancy to protect the newborn babies. He provided that for infants there is a monoclonal
 antibody called nirsevimab that is recommended for all infants. However, except in rare
 circumstances, most infants younger than 8 months of age do not need nirsevimab if they were
 born 14 or more days after their mother got RSV vaccine. Dr. Linn communicated that
 nirsevimab significantly reduces the risk of severe RSV disease and is the preferred method to
 prevent the disease, however Dr. Linn communicated that there is a shortage of nirsevimab
 currently, so vaccinating the mother is being recommended and is effective, with very low risk.
 Dr. Linn communicated that RSV cases are ‘creeping’ up. Mike Charley communicated that local
 wastewater data does show RSV cases increasing recently.

VI. Director’s Monthly Report, Mike Charley, Director of Health and Human Services: Mike provide
 some general public health updates on events HHS has participated in and/or coordinated,
 including such things as a Live4Lali Opioid/Nalaxone training for HHS staff and the Boomers and
 Beyond Resource Fair held on November 3 and coordinated through the Village’s Commission
 on Family Services. HHS will stop accepting unwanted medication as of December 1, 2023,
 however there are four convenient drop off sites in Skokie still; this information is being shared
 via social media and a newly created flyer. HHS has suspended their Emergency Financial
 Assistance (EFA) program due to lack of funds, however Mike communicated that he hopes
 there to be additional funding in the future. Over the last year over $150,000 in funding was
 distributed via this program. There was a greater amount of funding the last year due to
 receiving AARPA monies and having some reserve Village general fund monies. HHS will be
 participating in the November 21 Interfaith Service at Central United Methodist Church, 8237
 Kenton Ave, presenting information on the Village’s EFA program. Proceeds collected during the
 service will be donated to the Village’s EFA program. Mike shared that the IPLAN report was
 submitted to IDPH on November 9, two new rat control program part-time staff started on
 October 26 and that HHS is piloting the use of a new CO2 device to treat rat burrows.

VII. Ongoing/New Items of Business
 A. IPLAN Update, Mike Charley: Mike provided that the Affordable Housing Action team is
 working on a survey that will be distributed to two Skokie census tracks that have the
 highest housing burden. The Access to Behavioral Health Action team is working on a
 survey to be given through our Federally Qualified Health Centers, at events and
 through providers. Finally, the Access to Health action Team is working on interviewing
 pregnant/new moms on the barriers to the access to healthcare during every stage of
 pregnancy.
 1.
VIII. Public Comments: There were two guests, Grace Xue and Rose LaForest that attended the
 meeting, both are Northwestern University Journalism students. They communicated that were
 assigned to work on writing stories related to “Health and Science” and they have been focusing
 on several current health topics and have been reaching out to key Village HHS staff to collect

Document Number: 615562 Version: 1
 information for their stories.

IX. Adjournment @ 8:03 PM

 Next Regular Meeting: December, 14 2023 @ 7:00 p.m.




Document Number: 615562 Version: 1