[{"_1":2,"_110":-5,"_111":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6203210,"mediaKeyId","3783917-32c6d99c089a73d6d435958aa67233c1","parentId",3783917,"title","Board approves FY26 contract cap for health agent and accepts staff performance evaluation","audioSeconds",176,"startMs",3382000,"endMs",3558000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3783917-32c6d99c089a73d6d435958aa67233c1&start=3382&end=3558","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3783917-32c6d99c089a73d6d435958aa67233c1/thumbnail_3382000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6203210/Town-of-Southborough/Worcester-County/Massachusetts/Board-approves-FY26-contract-cap-for-health-agent-and-accepts-staff-performance-evaluation","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6203210-b821472c847d093f03c6b3ac9266673f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771171629&Signature=Mt0esgrDKZunblrIk58CU3aVFMpXoydPPg~ZO6YGhLkxIA4KhJoNvOtcV1UIQ5azU4AL3nbn~CLdEYO6fcq9UDz6FkGuBVBeXgpk82ZA7x~0~4nSWu3rx2O81FT3O2TsbnIcuZlvDNXvD8yjltoMwcrWKeS2-jiYEp8mfiHx6PRYd6fNZjFTGu~zOsrI8uDhn18slUqLQeYMWkfFXHgfCydCDCVL0N-JYQx8rByZ5xnqaDJL6sdJNL-T5Q6pxgqvKbeTSzNdGXj1GgrB541gE8chCA2AVTTHrkRWinsgmGenVoO27ki1Ei2lGjiqKNZCQsjei~Qq1p4jyNo0odKWEw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Town of Southborough, MA","date","2025-06-12T14:58:52.19Z","article","The Southborough Board of Health on June 11 approved a fiscal-year 2026 contract for Health Department staff and accepted a performance evaluation for the health director.

The board voted to approve Dennis Costello’s contract for FY26, which includes a cap of $55,000. Members noted the cap was lower than last year’s budgeted amount but that Costello has not reached that level in recent years. The motion passed unanimously.

Separately, the board reviewed and accepted the performance evaluation for Health Department director Taylor West, which the three board members completed individually and averaged. The board authorized member Malinowski to finalize administrative edits and produce the final document before the end of the week.

Board members also noted that a personnel-submitted request for a compensation review for administrative staff (Barbara) has been sent to the town personnel board for consideration; the personnel board will share objective data at an upcoming meeting if requested.

Votes recorded: contract approval for Dennis Costello (FY26) — unanimous; acceptance and finalization authorization for Taylor West’s performance evaluation — unanimous.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Board of Health 6/11/25","oneSentenceSummary","The Southborough Board of Health approved a FY26 contract for Health Department agent Dennis Costello with a $55,000 cap and accepted the performance evaluation for health director Taylor West, authorizing the board chair to finalize the document.","taxTitle","Town of Southborough, Worcester County, Massachusetts","taxId",56453,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6203214,"Southborough Board of Health reelects officers after municipal election",40,151000,191000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3783917-32c6d99c089a73d6d435958aa67233c1&start=151&end=191","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3783917-32c6d99c089a73d6d435958aa67233c1/thumbnail_151000.jpg","/articles/6203214/Town-of-Southborough/Worcester-County/Massachusetts/Southborough-Board-of-Health-reelects-officers-after-municipal-election","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6203214-47b78dde32e7f1a0c3acba0629b7dd7f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771171629&Signature=kcNEYe2MDvV7iDBnEnYcb2HR86-omNyh33xf48EP4vhK8XjOaoXWthc6cZmEkpgBvcDyS2s9iNdDWzGbyRkqUXYXHWV~Vg0jVrGidl~iWJ2LZEyPg3xy6bDHugBWO17emunDjtnz8dW5YG-ZA8MVFFHYGkhuiwl5UR16moCvqFlcDUlbnySwwALqcDf0LCDyC-SHZiX5505pMcEjZZ1RCBJ7KTTfPe61K9llfT9bt4hDj2mKJqKu6bG5EhrKQHu16idzNnPMAGfIe98YVGNCU0Z~2Za0zW1BCoIxCO1-YeSRGC7-G4Xvag4RKm49QTsT4ETKVkXQzIx~9t3QFLFWvg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","After the municipal election, the Southborough Board of Health held its reorganization at the June 11 meeting and appointed its officers for the coming year.

Chelsea Balinowski was appointed chair, Safdar Medina vice chair and Liz Zulek secretary. The motion was put forward and the board voted in favor.

Board members briefly discussed willingness to serve and to share duties; no further action was taken. The reorganization establishes the board’s leadership for FY26.

Votes recorded: the motion to appoint Balinowski (chair), Medina (vice chair) and Zulek (secretary) passed by unanimous vote of members present.","Following the town election, the Board reorganized: Chelsea Balinowski will serve as chair, Safdar Medina as vice chair and Liz Zulek as secretary; the board voted unanimously.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6203219,"Board approves septic plan and 880-gallon flow for 2 East Main Street after public hearing",2302,996000,3298000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3783917-32c6d99c089a73d6d435958aa67233c1&start=996&end=3298","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3783917-32c6d99c089a73d6d435958aa67233c1/thumbnail_996000.jpg","/articles/6203219/Town-of-Southborough/Worcester-County/Massachusetts/Board-approves-septic-plan-and-880-gallon-flow-for-2-East-Main-Street-after-public-hearing","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6203219-54947cebece9af2a7828b02e93d307fa/orig.mp4?Expires=1771171629&Signature=NqK5S~PBgxPDgEagW7nKcGCqRNSbFAIEnqLA6z7PaZj7TigSmajectcxTHJCaK4jpXlJgRYKGocLAgrClwsgk7huyjygWpa5Kjh8bJeolD-HtrNOTDt8Aez9hm3skpe9LB~z2u5cwamLdKlGKbrpbZuX7qd082sxFMTS3HiksIOovxef3gtIOF3~H5xagYuu9JSoqLrxoB7Aa7z6-H4kELL6oZ5clENkmlSc6BVxtVoe2-dHkrJjIWEYQ7srFArA3jjY6MYlKJfqn78bLdggfnE0kjCMmV2ANsM276e70j11CQC3cp4z9XTV9mFj55UsjOZ-C-xe86hDiVLi-v2U8g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Southborough Board of Health on June 11 approved a revised septic plan for 2 East Main Street, accepting an 880-gallon-per-day system design using Goodflow Solutions technology and authorizing staff to finalize the construction plan.

The decision follows a repeated public hearing (the April hearing was repeated because of notification issues) and came after presentations from the applicant’s engineer and town staff, who said the proposed system offers greater setbacks to wetlands and meets Title 5 separation requirements.

The vote is significant because it determines the wastewater treatment capacity tied to a proposed eight-unit apartment project in downtown Southborough and touches on longstanding local concerns about stormwater and high groundwater in the town center.

Peter Bemis, speaking for the applicant, summarized the project history and the technical rationale for using the Goodflow system. He said the new technology would allow a greater setback from wetlands and the intermittent stream and improve effluent treatment compared with the earlier system. Bemis said the project team documented historical flow and that the site’s use supported the proposed capacity.

Dennis Costello (Health Department staff) and peer reviewers told the board that the new plan provides the same or better groundwater protection and that site testing showed the location could accommodate the proposed system under Title 5. Costello said the design meets Title 5 separation to groundwater, including a four-foot separation for the soil absorption system.

An abutter, Steve Morrow, urged the board to consider ongoing downtown drainage problems and a reportedly high water table, saying some basements in the area are regularly pumped out. “My biggest concern is that this project is gonna add another 880 gallons worth of water into the water table that's already at at its breaking point,” Morrow said. He also described a drainage pipe near the railroad tracks that he said has been covered with material and no longer drains as intended.

Costello and Bemis both responded that the proposed septic design conforms to Title 5 and that the incremental impact of the increase in daily flow would be minimal once dispersed through the soil absorption system. Costello estimated that the difference between what is currently approved and the requested capacity was about 134 gallons per day and said the system was designed to meet state code.

Board members discussed the difference between stormwater drainage (surface water from storms) and subsurface effluent discharged to a septic system. Members agreed the drainage problems in the downtown area raise broader infrastructure concerns for other town departments. The board asked staff to meet with DPW (Mr. Cundiff) to relay the public comments and see whether further town-level drainage work is advisable.

Motions and votes taken at the meeting:
- The board voted to approve the increased flow (the board referenced historical information and authorized the 880-gallon-per-day figure using the Goodflow system). The motion passed by majority vote.
- The board then voted to approve the proposed septic plan for 2 East Main Street, including the historical flow documentation, and directed that the plan be updated as a construction document; the motion passed.
- The public hearing was closed at 12:56 p.m.

The applicant retains responsibility to produce the final construction documents reflecting the edits the board requested, and the health department will follow up with DPW on downtown drainage concerns and continue permitting coordination with the planning board and conservation commission. The conservation commission had granted an extension to the project’s order of conditions through July 2027.","After a repeated public hearing, the Southborough Board of Health approved a septic design using a Goodflow Solutions system and accepted an 880-gallon-per-day flow based on historical use, with board members directing staff to update plans and coordinate with DPW on downtown drainage concerns.",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":80,"_45":103,"_47":104,"_49":105,"_51":106,"_53":107,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":108,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":109,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6203224,"Southborough Board of Health reappoints tobacco-control manager; board discusses flavored products, nicotine pouches and kratom",777,968000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3783917-32c6d99c089a73d6d435958aa67233c1&start=191&end=968","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3783917-32c6d99c089a73d6d435958aa67233c1/thumbnail_191000.jpg","/articles/6203224/Town-of-Southborough/Worcester-County/Massachusetts/Southborough-Board-of-Health-reappoints-tobacco-control-manager-board-discusses-flavored-products-nicotine-pouches-and-kratom","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6203224-624d60c96c6dacf346979dc4e3747020/orig.mp4?Expires=1771171629&Signature=Pb72VIvLxvHdbLe2vIMbSsXq~7dZfRBXZknqv5Nk6q9uXnhgvJENDrdjaSQTZnWq90ACzON5EVYBgdaJi3A7YWRm6JUShxC~qdW9EQx50sQnnupKnX614DlIVI-ZDNTWESN4T87TzlY5~Y5hhVpHNFHtDGsA~Tuz15EfI0KHodIyLdtcdAztzavwGwzgXeAPOcewCvmobAGduPu~fvBwUemYyLTbs0A274JeQVTR4fmHQEb~2rf2nTGRsjzg9-35oZEfVD2pl~L~gvrD5i-2q495n~f6wa8Y6C1YgTlyA05HtBEHQQneRSRsFior1ThB~eaYgyxf4u9WV6OYCAA~Wg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Southborough Board of Health reappointed its tobacco control program manager for fiscal year 2026 and heard an update on flavored tobacco products, nicotine pouches and kratom sales in local retailers.

The reappointment took place at the board’s June 11 meeting, where members voted to appoint Pari (tobacco control program manager) to continue inspections and education work under the MetroWest Tobacco Collaborative. The board then received a report from Pari about retail compliance, flavored products and emerging substances in stores.

The appointment matters because the board enforces local tobacco regulations and can hold a public hearing to update those regulations to address products that manufacturers or distributors label as “clear” or “unflavored” but that staff say have detectable flavors, and to consider rules for products not explicitly covered by existing state guidance.

Pari reported that Southborough has nine retail tobacco vendors and that undercover youth compliance checks in fiscal year 2025 found no sales to minors. “For the year, fiscal year, FY '25, we did we don't have a we didn't have any sale for minor in Southborough,” Pari said. Pari said inspections completed roughly 10 days before the meeting turned up flavored products at several retailers, and he shared photographs with the health director.

Pari told the board that the state-level MetroWest Tobacco Collaborative / Department of Public Health guidance indicates flavored tobacco product decisions are left to local boards of health. “The state, MTCP, DPH has mentioned clearly that the flavored tobacco product should be decided by the Board of Health in each communities,” he said. He recommended bringing actual product samples to an in-person meeting so members could inspect and, when appropriate, “sniff test” packs to identify flavors.

Pari described other items found in stores: nicotine pouches with varying milligram levels (he reported seeing pouches from roughly 3 mg to 15 mg in the region), kratom products appearing in more stores, and nitrous-oxide canisters he said are sometimes abused for inhalation. He noted that several communities in the collaborative have taken different approaches: “Concord, Vespero, and Norfolk, they have removed, the flavored vape products and flavored nicotine pouches from the community,” he said, and he said Hopkinton recently limited nicotine pouch sales to adult-only stores (Hopkinton has none). He also told the board that manufacturers and distributors have at times represented products as unflavored even when the product packaging or odor indicates otherwise.

Board members and staff clarified the process: the board already has local tobacco regulations adopted after Massachusetts’ June 2021 action on flavored products, and local rulemaking to add or remove products would be done by regulation after a public hearing, not at town meeting. Chelsea Balinowski (chair) stated the board has authority to hold a public hearing and update the local tobacco regulations and that a change would not require town meeting.

The board did not adopt any bans or changes at the meeting. Instead, members asked Pari to bring physical product samples to an in-person meeting this summer for the board to review and to continue coordinating with the health director on next steps. Pari said he was available for an in-person review and that he would provide the samples if the board wanted to schedule that meeting.

What the board will do next: staff (the director and Pari) will schedule an in-person review of product samples; if the board chooses regulatory action after seeing evidence it can open a public hearing and proceed with a regulatory amendment.

Evidence and public record: Pari provided photos and a verbal compliance summary during the meeting. No rule change was proposed or adopted at this meeting; board members asked staff to return with samples and regulatory language if needed.","The Board reappointed its tobacco control program manager for FY26 and heard a yearly update about retail inspections, flavored tobacco products, nicotine pouch potency and kratom sales. Staff said the board has authority to decide local restrictions and agreed to an in-person review of product samples before any regulatory change.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Board approves FY26 contract cap for health agent and accepts staff performance evaluation

Southborough Board of Health reelects officers after municipal election

Board approves septic plan and 880-gallon flow for 2 East Main Street after public hearing

Southborough Board of Health reappoints tobacco-control manager; board discusses flavored products, nicotine pouches and kratom