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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-09-19 Community Health Commission Minutes Edina Community Health Committee September 19, 2006, 6:30 – 8:30 pm Community Room City Hall Members Present: Bill Alldredge, Jan Johnson, Mark Johnson, Mary Jo Kingston, Idelle Longman, Brad Montgomery, Tolu Oyelowo Members Absent: None Guests: None Staff Present: Sherry Engelman CALL TO ORDER Chair Oyelowo called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS New Members Jan Johnson and Mary Jo Kingston were introduced. Both were given an opportunity to tell a little bit about themselves. Chair Oyelowo and Liaison Engelman gave a brief summary of what the committee work encompassed during the last year. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes from June 9, 2006 meeting were approved with corrections by motion from Member Johnson and second from Member Longman. . “FIT CITY” PROGRAM One of the required criteria to become a “Fit City” is that a City adopts a resolution affirming activity–friendly commitments by city leaders and elected officials. On behalf of the Community Health Committee, Chair Oyelowo and Liaison Engelman presented this resolution to the City Council during the July 5 council meeting and encouraged their support by adopting the resolution. Chair Oyelowo discussed the fact that obesity has become a serious health issue in the American population and severely reduces life expectancy. By becoming a “Fit City”, Edina can help lead the way to heighten awareness of the obesity problem and encourage residents and visitors to develop active lifestyles. Also discussed was the fact that City of Edina already fulfills requirements such as active recreation programs and availability of maintained parks and trails to participate in “Fit City”. A suggestion was also made to consider developing more sidewalks to encourage children to walk to school. The Council voted unanimously to adopt the resolution. Liaison Engelman submitted the Fit City application on behalf of City Manager Gordon Hughes. The application was approved and the City of Edina was designated a “Fit City” on July 11, 2006. The State of Minnesota Department of Labor attended the August 15 council meeting to congratulate the Council on their commitment to active lifestyles and to present the official “Fit City” plaque to the City Council. Chair Oyelowo and Member Longman attended the presentation. Liaison Engelman displayed the plaque during the committee meeting and indicated that it would be permanently displayed in City Hall. Liaison Engelman indicated that an employee wellness program was being planned for City of Edina employees. A brief discussion followed regarding need for a linked bike pathways. Possibly a suggestion could be made to the Planning Commission. The committee agreed that now designated a “Fit city, we should actively promote healthy lifestyles. A decision was made to present a fitness challenge from the Community Health Committee to all City of Edina Boards and Commissions. The challenge would include adding or increasing physical activity or improving diet. Chair Oyelowo and Liasion Engelman will decide details and work on a draft challenge. Member Alldredge offered to assist with the draft. Possibly the challenge would begin in January 2007. Member Longman presented green wrist bands indicating support of “Fit City” and encouraged each committee member to wear one. Liaison Engelman took remaining wrist bands to distribute to City employees during the Employee Wellness Program. Liason Engelman will check with Edina school district to find out if they are participating in the “Fit School” Program. Members agreed that the committee should encourage them to participate in the program as it would be complimentary to our “Fit City” designation. PANDEMIC FLU Members viewed a recorded segment of the August 1, 2006 City Council meeting regarding a presentation by Mike Siitari, Police Chief and Ken Carlson, Edina Emergency Preparedness Coordinator. The presentation reviewed the Edina Emergency Preparedness plan and City planning efforts for pandemic flu. Liaison Engelman reviewed pandemic flu awareness efforts with regard to articles in About Town, About Business, Sun Current and utility billings, Cable programs, and educational materials for Edina employees. Information included was general pandemic flu, home emergency preparedness, flu shots, good hygiene, hand washing and covering coughs. An additional suggestion was to consider developing a prerecorded emergency preparedness/pandemic flu phone message and educational materials that school children could take home. Liaison Engelman indicated that the school district was working on their pandemic flu plan and had discussed take home materials. Member M Johnson offered congratulations to the City on the special pandemic flu logo on the city web site. Also discussed was emergency preparedness information for businesses and what could be done for making businesses aware of emergency planning. Since many businesses are Chamber of Commerce members, Member Johnson offered to check with the Chamber on possibility of sponsoring an emergency preparedness speaker. TOUR OF NEW MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH LAB Member Longman discussed information regarding a tour of the new lab, available Monday-Friday. Members were very interested in touring the lab depending when it was scheduled. Most felt a tour over the noon hour would work best. Member Longman will further research to determine if a noon hour tour would be possible. HEALTH STAFF REPORTS Liaison Engelman reported that the Health Alert Network (HAN) backup system was recently tested in Edina. The test includes a request that each agencies respond back within 2 hours. The fax distribution method failed to relay to those agencies on the alert list indicating a need to adjust the fax method. The email distribution method worked very well. The City of Bloomington conducts the main HAN system, while City of Edina acts as a back up should the Bloomington system fail. Liaison Engelman also reported on the Metro Mass Dispending Scenario attended by Health Department staff. The scenario practiced was how large numbers of people could be immunized at one location in a short time. The scenario indicated a need for further planning on mass dispensing as there was considerable confusion on the part of participants and the emergency responders. CONCERNS OF RESIDENTS None presented. OTHER BUSINESS Member J. Johnson mentioned that several grocery stores now have hand sanitizers available for customers. Member M. Johnson suggested that the committee add information to the Community Health Committee page on the Edina web site. This will be discussed at a future meeting. ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Member M Johnson and seconded by Member J. Johnson to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm ________________________ Sherry Engelman ________________________________________________________________________ 2007 Meeting Dates: March 20 May 15 September 18 November 20