By Jason Arndt
Correspondent
Discussion about extending the Town of Dover’s annual public health services contract with the Western Racine County Health Department was tabled Monday night by the Town Board.
Thomas Lembcke, Dover chairman, stated the measure regarding the status of the town’s contract with Western Racine County Health Department will be examined at a Town Board meeting to be held in May.
At that time, the Western Racine department will be available to meet with Town Board members to review the 2012 Annual Report of services being provided to residents of the township.
With the recent trend of nearby jurisdictions deciding to switch away from Western Racine to join the Central Racine County Health Department in Franksville, this year could prove to be a crucial point for the Western Racine County Department.
For 2013, the Village of Union Grove and Town of Waterford both moved their public health services to the Central Racine department, seeking cost efficiencies and better communication and accountability.
The costs paid by Union Grove for public health services in 2013 has dropped since the village switched to Central Racine, said Union Grove Trustee Gordon Svendsen, speaking before Monday night’s board meeting.
Svendsen has been a trustee of the village for nearly a decade and the Western Racine County Health Department was a part of the community since its formation two decades earlier.
With Western Racine, there needed to be a special request made and extra costs for restaurant and food services that had to go through the state rather than the local health department, Svendsen said.
Besides seeking better costs by switching to Central Racine, he said village officials had also felt a certain urgency to be able to better inform their citizens.
“I think communication and better reporting is another thing to look at,” said Village trustee Teresa Holm.
Village President Michael Aimone agreed, and pointed to an increase of community education pamphlets related to public health, including building inspections and testing materials.
“Central Racine County Health Department has more education and awareness,” Aimone said.
“We have a whole series of information in areas of special needs and more environmental health resources including restaurant establishments and hazards such as lead paint and radon.”
According to the 2012 Annual Report submitted by Mazmanian, a $36,700 decrease in funding was seen by the Western Racine County Health Department, which resulted in substantial staffing cuts.
Due to the federal Affordable Health Care Act, there has been a stall in receiving federal funds to cover service costs. New rules now limit the amount of basic vaccines that can be given to children in the community, according to Health Director Cheryl Mazmanian of the Western Racine department.
Despite staffing and funding cuts, Mazmanian is attempting to add more services provided by the Western Racine health agency, including possibly bringing Health Care Network of Racine to the Town of Yorkville.
“We are in the process of working with them to provide a satellite clinic,” Mazmanian told Yorkville supervisors at their board meeting Monday. “Right now we are looking for professionals to donate time.”
Ammonia storage hearing
Town of Dover will also be faced with making another kind of decision regarding the health and safety of its citizens on Wednesday, April 10, when there will be discussion regarding a new permit to increase anhydrous ammonia storage by Conserv FS, Inc.
The conditional use permit request and decision may be made that evening at a hearing open to the public at the Town Hall in Dover.
Many area citizens are aware of – and perhaps concerned about – the evacuation necessitated after the Echo Lake Foods fire in Burlington, which was called due to the potential of an anhydrous ammonia leak infiltrating the air.
The investigation into that Echo Lakes fire has not determined a cause, according to Town of Dover Supervisor Mike Shenkenberg.
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