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For more information on this project, contact Charles Henry, Environmental Health Director at the Sarasota County Health Department.

SARASOTA COUNTY PACE EH
February, 2006 Progress Report

Summary of the PACE EH Assessment Team Meeting held on February 15, 2006

Agenda Items
Welcome/Introductions
Review of Objectives
Identification of Community Meeting Format and Initial Dates/Locations
Survey Development
Role of Assessment Team/Membership Discussion
Review of Grant Request
FEHA Presentation
Next Steps & Timelines

Attendance List:

SANDRA DANU,  HEALTHY GULF COALITION
DON CHANEY,  HEALTHY GULF COALITION
JERRY MANNING,  CITY OF NORTH PORT UTILITIES
TIM RUMAGE,  RINGLING SCHOOL OF ART, ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
GLENN COMPTON,  MANASOTA 88
CONNIE MORTON,  SC GOV.
CHUCK HENRY,  EH DIRECTOR, SCHD
ROBERT BOLESTA,  ENGINEERING MANAGER, SCHD

Welcome and introductions were completed. The team welcomed Connie Morton who is with the Sarasota County Government.

The project objectives developed at our last meeting were reviewed and discussed. The objectives were accepted, as written, by the team without changes. There was a suggestion to change the text of our second Goal to simply read, “Enhance the health of our coastal communities”. The team agreed on this change. A new goal was made out of the removed text. This revised goals and added objectives are listed below.

Goal: Engage the community and investigate the relationship between environmental conditions and human health in our coastal communities.
Objectives:  Define, identify, and map the coastal communities that will be part of this assessment process.
                    Develop a community-based methodology for conducting an environmentalhealth assessment of our coastal communities.

Goal: Inspire citizens and visitors to increase their knowledge and understanding of environmental health issues.
Objectives:  Develop at least 3 successful ways to market environmental health information to the community.
                    Develop an environmental health speaker’s bureau and support its usethroughout our community.

Goal: Enhance the health of our coastal communities.
Objectives: Enhance public access to environmental health data and statistics through website access and links.
                   Encourage environmental health related activities for local students, both at the college and primary levels.

Next, we discussed our community meeting format options. After discussion the team agreed to follow a format recently used by Sarasota County Water Resources. This format will be a community presentation on an environmental health topic followed by splitting the attendees up into small groups of (6-10), each facilitated by one of our team members or other trained volunteers. The small groups will be prompted to brainstorm responses to questions about coastal community concerns linked to health and the coastal environment. The information gathered would become part of the information used for developing a list of community issues to analyze. It was suggested that specific job titles along with job descriptions, be written for the various functions needed to staff the community meetings. This will allow clear communication on expectations and responsibilities and help ensure the success of the meetings. Dates for our first community meetings were discussed, as well as, several possible locations. Our team agreed to plan for late April or early May, as the target for our first community meeting. Community meeting sites will be split up based upon the 5 watersheds located in Sarasota County. This concept will allow us to educate the community about the specific watershed in which they reside. It will also allow us to determine if issues identified are specific to one watershed or common to all. A short list of potential meeting sites was started and includes; Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Tenth Floor Garden Terrace, Spanish Point, Selby Gardens, Lemon Bay H.S., Sarasota County Health Department (Ringling Site), and various locations already used by existing groups such as the Siesta Key Association, Long Boat Key Association, and the Healthy Gulf Coalition.

The discussion moved on to the development of a survey tool. Existing surveys from other PACE EH projects were reviewed, as well as, several draft ideas presented by team members. The team agreed that the survey would be used in three ways; as a mail out survey, as a handout survey at community meetings, and as an online survey posted on a web site for our community to access and complete. The team also liked the concept of having a survey section with defined boundaries, followed by a section with space for free flow input to questions, and finally a section for any additional comments or concerns. Discussion on specific survey questions will continue at our next meeting with the health department agreeing to develop a draft survey based upon today’s discussion.

Next, a short discussion of the assessment team membership and the role of team members occurred. It was stressed that we need to formalize our team membership before we begin to conduct community meetings. Team member commitment forms, used by other PACE EH projects, were discussed and the team agreed to consider using a similar commitment form. This item will be placed on the agenda for our next meeting.

Chuck Henry shared information with the team about a grant opportunity that is available from the Florida Department of Health for PACE EH projects. The team was very interested in pursuing this grant, so the team spent time reviewing the required information and application format. Specific budget items were identified as well as timelines for each task of the PACE EH process. Chuck will take this information and complete the application process.

At our last meeting, team members asked for additional information and resources on coastal environmental health related issues. Rob Bolesta distributed several documents related to red tide and blue-green algae. These documents included a list of references, web sites, and contacts. The team also asked for specific health status data for Sarasota County. The latest health summary from the Florida Department of Health’s CHART data site was provided to team members. A brief review and discussion of this information followed.

Finally, the team was asked if they would be interested in presenting at the Florida Environmental Health Association’s Annual Education Conference, since it is being held in Sarasota this summer. The team was interested in exploring this possibility, as well as, attending the conference. Chuck agreed to check on the possibility of presenting, availability of space, topics, and other requirements. He will report back to the group at the next meeting.

Concerns about the low attendance at tonight’s meeting were discussed. It was decided to try an afternoon meeting to see if an earlier time frame allowed for better attendance. The team continues to be both productive and enthusiastic. The team agreed to meet again in three weeks at our normal Cattlemen Road meeting site.

The next meeting was set for Tuesday, March 7, 2006 from 3 to 5 p.m.

January, 2006

December, 2005

October, 2004

August, 2004