Impact of laying off Health Department inspector

March 17, 2011

Dear Members of the Finance Committee and Council,

I am developing the 2010 Norwood Health Department Annual Community Report and I wanted to provide you with some statistics for your Nuisance/Health Inspector position from 2010 as I have these figures readily available. I am hopeful that this will be helpful to you in understanding what the impact of losing this position would mean to the Norwood community.

Nuisance Complaint Report Year 2010

100 General Nuisance..................................11

101 High grass or noxious weeds................716
102 Junk, debris, litter...............................227
103 garbage set out......................................90
104 Garbage removal from curb.................166
105 Garbage cans with lids...........................34
106 Store garbage from view of public..........24
107 Animal waste removal...........................18
108 Install/repair screening on
all exterior doors/windows..............................2
109 Reduce occupancy...................................5
110 BOCA Code housing violation..................11
111 Hot and cold running water......................0
112 Utilities (water, gas, electric).................171
113 Extermination program - begin.................0
114 Extermination, get professional operator...0
115 Rat proofing.............................................0
116 Rodents, rats..........................................28
117 Inoperable, unlicensed vehicle.................30
118 Enclosure for dumpster.............................0
119 Clean around dumpster.............................8
120 Concrete slab for dumpster.......................0
121 Animals, vicious and dangerous.................2
122 Animals, prohibited..................................20
123 Refrigerator..............................................7
124 Inside furniture outside.............................27
125 Trees.......................................................30
126 Eviction......................................................5
127 Smoking....................................................0
128 Group Home...............................................0
129 Living Conditions.......................................25
130 Heat..........................................................9
131 Animal Concerns........................................4
132 Bugs.........................................................91
133 Dead Bird....................................................0
134 Standing Water............................................1
135 Vehicle parked on unpaved surface.............17
136 Firewood on ground.....................................11
137 Tires...........................................................13
138 Brush/Limbs...............................................40
139 KOPS program.............................................48
140 Overgrown....................................................6

TOTAL GENERAL NUISANCE..........................1,897

Additionally, the Nuisance/Health Inspector collected 726 water samples to verify the safety of Norwood's Public Water supply. Please note that 152 of the 171 “Utilities” complaints were received directly from the water department as these units had their water turned off due to lack of payment of their water bill. Our Nuisance/Health Inspector will verify that the water has indeed been shut off and then the NHD will declare the property unfit for occupancy which generally helps in getting past-due water bills paid.

Please let me know if you have any questions about these figures.

Healthy Regards,
Pam

Pamela Walker-Bauer, MPH, RS
Health Commissioner
Norwood Health Department
458.4600