The city of Park Ridge Community Health Commission met Jan. 26 to review 2017 goals.
Here are the meeting's minutes, as provided by the commission:
COMMUNITY HEALTH COMMISSION
SECOND FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM 505 BUTLER PLACE, PARK RIDGE, IL 60068 THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2017 7:00 p.m.
Members Present: J. Barnette, A. Cline, M. Cunningham, E. Manning T. Milburn, T. Williams, A. Plewa- Rusiecki
City Council: None
Others Present: None
Staff Present: Recording Secretary S. Tunzi
Absent: P. Collins, K. Gruenshel, M. Hulting, Acting Mayor M. Maloney, B. Peterson Meeting called to order at 7:04 p.m.
I. Roll Call
Roll taken.
II. Approval of Minutes (December 1, 2016)
A motion was made to approve the December 1, 2016 minutes. T. Williams asked that under Section “C” of the Discussion Items that the minutes be amended to reflect that T. Williams accepted the nomination of chair. T. Milburn made a motion to approve the amended minutes and A. Cline seconded the motion. Unanimous approval.
III. Citizens Present Wishing to be Heard on a Non-Agenda Item
None.
IV. Action Items
None.
V. Discussion Items
A. T. Schmidt resignation
T. Williams stated that T. Schmidt submitted her resignation to Acting Mayor M. Maloney effective immediately due to her taking on additional responsibilities at work. Acting Mayor M. Maloney will need to be consulted regarding filling her seat. T. Williams also added that P. Collins’ job responsibilities have changed in which he will be traveling more which potentially may impact him being able to attend the meetings.
B. Open Meeting Act/Structure of meeting
T. Williams reported that as a City Commission under the Open Meetings Act, breaking into smaller subgroups during meetings would not work as an agenda and minutes would need to be posted for each subgroup. Her vision was to come up with 3 – 5 projects related to the Mission of the Health Commission which could be at different stages of development. Each project would have measurable outcomes, a timeline and be assigned at least one or two champion leaders who could meet independently during the month and report back to the commission.
C. 2017 Goals/Projects/Activities/Timelines
A. Cline stated that she was reviewing last year’s goals and believed that this year the group needs to focus on developing a path forward for a Sustainability Plan. T. Milburn suggested starting with 2 or 3 projects, working together to define, focus on and set goals. He agreed with A. Cline about the sustainability plan with another goal possibly being Emergency Preparedness. He passed out a list with sustainability ideas and the need to meet with and get a commitment from City Council. Discussion ensued regarding the sustainability plan idea and whether or not the commission wanted to propose the development of it. J. Barnette expressed that there should be more awareness but not sure if this should be the mission of the Health Commission, adding that he wants to make sure to justify the health benefits to the community. It was decided to table the sustainability plan idea and see what other projects the commission would like to do. A. Cline suggested preparing some background and to come back to the group and talk more comprehensively as to what a sustainability plan is and how they are developed and implemented in other towns.
D. Budget needs
None
E. Update on current projects – Emergency Preparedness Presentation, Meeting with School District 64 nurse, Get Fit Park Ridge, Kid ID Program, Environmental, Prescription Medication Flyer
IL Chip Program
A. Plewa-Rusiecki reported that she talked to a representative regarding the Illinois Child Identification Project. She stated that the charge is $1.00 per kit and that the Masons would sponsor and bring everything that is needed. The only caveat is that they need four rooms and it has to be done indoors. She mentioned that it has been done in the past at the Taste of Park Ridge. It was suggested that National Night out may be a better idea. It was decided to move forward with the IL Chip Program with National Night Out being a target day and a representative will be asked to come to the next meeting to speak to the commission.
Emergency Preparedness Presentation
Discussion ensued about T. Schmidt having been the lead person and also that she had brochures. A. Plewa-Rusiecki stated that she had sent T. Schmidt a presentation but didn’t get feedback on it and will reach out to her. J. Barnette asked specifically what the commission would do with regards to Emergency Preparedness. A. Plewa-Rusiecki responded that initially it was educating the public, adding that the Emergency Response team had been doing a lot of the education and that T. Schmidt had teamed up with them and got lecture opportunities. J. Barnette suggested flood preparedness and mitigations as a presentation idea.
Meeting with the School District 64 Nurse
J. Barnette stated that he met with one of the school nurses before the holiday break and talked with them a little about the app for the air quality flags program. He also talked to her about a few things, one being an Anti-Idling sign, which would be a reminder and to make people aware. The nurse mentioned to him that there are some opportunities to sit in at their Medical Advisory Board meetings. The timing of the meeting, right before the holiday, was not ideal but worthy of a follow-up meeting with them. He felt that this meeting was a good way to open the door and to show that the commission is interested in working with them. Another opportunity to speak with the nurses may be at an in-service meeting.
J Barnette spoke to the commission about the flag program. The free app is called AirNow. It shows by zip code the air quality based on monitors surrounding the area, measuring PM- particulate matter and ground level ozone generated by cars and diesel trucks. Green means that it is healthy for everybody and yellow means that people with respiratory issues should be careful. It is a good educational piece. He added that the nice thing about having it at the schools is that the kids could be involved by raising the flag each day. It could also educate the parents. The closest monitor is on Mannheim south of Park Ridge. There is another monitor north of Park Ridge. He believes that the set consists of six flags. They are full-size flags, made of nylon and cost $80 per set. J. Barnette initially thought of the program for District 64, but it could also be done at City Hall, alerting people of the Air quality in the community. It was discussed that this would be a project that the commission would like to take on. J. Barnette will talk to the city about possibly flying the flags.
Prescription Medication Flyer
J. Barnette discussed the Save A Star program which is a Program for Drug Disposal at the Police Department and available 24/7. He presented to the commission a draft of a poster. He added that he had talked to the Chief of Police and was told that they collect 30-35 pounds of drugs each month and it is a very successful program. He stated that more posters could be made and posted around the city to make people aware of this program. Discussion ensued on what the poster should say.
T. Milburn asked if there are any other similar messages that the commission would like to post, possibly creating a monthly marketing campaign.
J. Barnette discussed that he approached the library about doing a presentation on radon for Radon Action Month which is in January. He stated that he has 25 free radon tests from the State of Illinois. The library responded that they are totally booked up until May. J. Barnette would like to do something with the kits either giving them out or selling them for a nominal fee at an event. He said that he would prefer to sell them because people would be more apt to use them. He feels that everyone should test their homes every couple of years.
Get Fit Park Ridge
T. Williams stated that she had talked to local business people about this program and they said that January through May is their busy time and that June is a slow month. It was decided to wait until June.
F. Webpage update
T. Milburn said that the website is working but there are no hot-links for a citizen to find the commission. Recording Secretary S. Tunzi will look into putting in a hyper-link on the website so that a citizen can find the commission’s website either from the Boards and Commission page or from the Meetings and Agendas page.
VI. Administration Report A. City Staff
None.
B. School Administrators None
C. Other Community Entities None.
VII. New Business.
T. Williams stated that she may not be able to attend the February 23rd meeting and may need someone to facilitate the meeting. She also added that she will be out of town the week of the March 23rd meeting. There was discussion about rescheduling the March meeting to March 16th. Recording Secretary S. Tunzi will look into availability on March 16th and will get back to the commission.
J. Barnette attended the O’Hare Airport Commission meeting on January 18th as one of their agenda items was to coordinate with the Park Ridge Health Commission. He stated that they would be interested in coordinating and talking with the commission about a few things. A number of citizens were at this meeting complaining about noise.
VIII. Adjournment
T. Williams made a motion to adjourn, T. Milburn seconded. Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
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