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Hubbardston health board pushes back on state tabletop mandate, urges LEPC leadership and regional cooperation
Summary
The Town of Hubbardston Board of Health discussed a Department of Public Health request to lead a full tabletop exercise by year-end, saying the scope and timeline exceed the board’s capacity and recommending the town’s Local Emergency Planning Committee and neighboring towns be involved.
The Town of Hubbardston Board of Health on Sept. 9 discussed a request from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) that the board lead and execute a scripted tabletop exercise tied to a public-health scenario and file an after-action report by Dec. 31.
Board member Judy O’Donnell summarized the state’s timeline and expectations, saying DPH offered a two‑day window to file the report if an exercise were held by Dec. 20. Board members repeatedly questioned whether the board has the authority, expertise or staff bandwidth to run a multiagency exercise that would include police, fire, highway, county officials and others.
The discussion centered on three issues: who should lead the work, what scenario would be appropriate for a small town, and whether there are funds or staffing to run a DPH‑grade exercise. Members said existing town bodies — notably the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), which includes police, fire and volunteers — are better positioned to organize a multiagency exercise. Several board members said they will raise the matter at the next LEPC meeting so the committee can consider facilitating or co‑facilitating the tabletop.
Board members discussed possible public‑health topics that would meet DPH’s requirement and be locally relevant, including tuberculosis, water contamination/PFAS, wildfire/air quality and issues connected to a local sandpit feasibility study. Members noted that Worcester has announced a heat‑related exercise and suggested tying Hubbardston’s work to an ongoing local issue to make it actionable.
Members also raised practical concerns: DPH representatives, according to the board, expect towns to script, facilitate and score a professional‑level tabletop; small towns do not always receive grants or stipends to cover the time needed. Several speakers said the state’s guidance leaves unclear the consequences of noncompliance and pointed to variation across municipalities; some towns told DPH they would not be able to comply.
The board agreed to bring the DPH request to the LEPC for Tuesday’s meeting and to contact regional partners and Pamela Masters (noted in the discussion as working with emergency planning/FEP) to explore shared resources before committing to lead the exercise. No formal vote was taken; members described the next step as coordination with LEPC and neighboring towns.
