Westport in Brief!
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Sunday, October 7, 2018
Quick Article Index . . .
Southcoast
Health leads collaboration to transition elderly patients home.
Planning Board
work group welcomes river cleanup consultants.
Costa
Campgrounds committee considers options for land use.
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Southcoast Health leads
collaboration to transition elderly patients home. EverythingWestport.com Thursday, October 4, 2018 NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Southcoast Health has been working with area
nursing facilities to improve the way they discharge elderly patients, with
the goal of providing the education and support needed for a safe and effective
return home. The so-called Project ReD program, which
stands for re-engineered discharge, has been underway for 18 months. In all,
14 nursing homes and 10 post-acute skilled nursing facilities, such as
rehabilitation and palliative care centers, took part in the grant-funded
project. The facilities that participated in the program saw hospital
readmission rates drop by half, compared to the control group of
non-participating facilities, Southcoast Health reported. Southcoast Health engaged Healthcentric
Advisors to work directly with nursing facilities, educating them on best
practices in discharge planning, how to train family members in patient care
and ways to ensure that family members understood what they were taught. Patients are discharged with a color-coded, large-font booklet that
explains lab results, medications and reminders. It provides a place for
patients to record their weight and other information that they then can
bring for follow up with their primary care physician. The idea is to improve outcomes by having patients, along with their
family members, more confident and engaged in their care. It promotes greater
communication and collaboration among clinicians, community services,
patients and caregivers. Bristol Elder Services and Coastline Elderly
Services, for instance, step in to coach elderly patients once they return
home. The Southcoast Health Visiting Nurse Association also are involved. “This project is a good start,” said Dr. Robert Caldas, Senior Vice
President & Chief Medical Officer for Southcoast Health. “We know from
feedback that the staff, patients and families really benefited from the
coordinated work that was done." Grace Dotson, Executive Director of Clinical Integrated Care Services
for Southcoast Health, said that the project “broke down silos and created
relationships, which is wonderful.” Dr. Caldas said the program demonstrates how collaboration and good
communication could be expanded in healthcare to benefit patients, avoiding
the problems that cause emergency department visits and readmissions to the
hospital.
Above: Water Resource Management Committee Chairman
Robert Daylor introduces the consultant team selected
by the ad hoc work group. Planning Board work group welcomes river cleanup
consultants. EverythingWestport.com Friday, October 5, 2018
Special to
EverythingWestport.com The Planning Board’s subcommittee assigned to shepherd the development
of an Integrated Water Resource Management Plan for the town introduced its
team of consultants for the project to a standing-room-only crowd of
residents, town officials, and environmental advocates at an Oct. 3 public
forum held at the Town Hall Annex. The focus of the evening’s introductory presentations was the East
Branch of the Westport River, targeted as the initial phase of a
state-mandated clean-up effort. The state-set goal of the management plan
being undertaken is to reduce nitrogen levels in the river’s East Branch by
at least 18 percent, and seek a corresponding drop in phosphate levels. The river restoration study will begin there because “It’s the biggest
problem to solve” in the overall watershed protection effort, said Kleinfelder Corporation Water Resources Team member Betsy
Frederick, a water management specialist. Agricultural operations have been targeted as the primary source of
the nitrates and phosphates promoting algae blooms, reduced oxygen levels,
and loss of habitat for wildlife. The working estimate is that agriculture
contributes 57 percent of the excess nitrogen reaching the river; fairly
dense residential development is the most important secondary source. Planning Board member Robert Daylor, chair
of the ad hoc work group, said his committee’s job was “to shepherd the study
along,” giving the engineers environmental consultants guidance and aid as
needed. The town has contracted with Kleinfelder
Corporation, specialists in environmental planning, to collect input on goals
and priorities for clean-up efforts from all corners of the community who
have an interest in the river and its watershed, company representatives
said.
Above: The river restoration study will begin there
(East Branch) because “It’s the biggest problem to solve” in the overall
watershed protection effort, said Kleinfelder
Corporation Water Resources Team member Betsy Frederick (right), a water
management specialist. Their report to the town will identify possible solutions to water
problems townwide, with cost estimates and
potential options for resolving some or all of the issues involved. Private
wells, septic systems, and stormwater collection and discharge points are all
potential topics for study. “We want you to share your knowledge with our study team,” Daylor told the overflowing audience at the forum. Most
of the audience identified themselves as living on or near the East Branch,
with a varying number of concerns about the river’s use, present condition,
and potential clean-up efforts. Shows of hands indicated that virtually 100 percent of the audience depended
on private wells for their water supply, and their homes and businesses were
serviced by individual private septic systems. Only a small portion of North
Westport along State Road is serviced by a municipal water line. The knowledgeable attendees at the Oct. 3 forum included selectmen,
Board of Health members, former members of town Estuaries and Water Resource
Management Committees, fishermen, farmers, businessmen, builders, and
representatives of local environmental organizations – all apparently eager
to share their experience and expertise with the consultants. Residents and town representatives were encouraged to provide input on
pollution sources, stormwater runoff issues, water sampling data, and other
information via a direct link to the consultants to be up on the town website
soon, said Kleinfelder Senior Principal Planner
Kirk Westphal. Stormwater outlets, failed septic system sites, well pollution
problems, and agricultural operations will all be identified and prioritized
for lists of possible actions for the town to consider, he indicated. A participant survey will gather input on the priorities of special
interest groups, home and business water use data, and land use changes in
the past decade, noted Frederick. Prior studies and years of water quality data collected by the
Buzzards Bay Coalition and Westport River Watershed Alliance since 1992 will
be reviewed “to see what’s changed” in the most recent past, she said. Specific problem site solutions, general plans to reduce stormwater
runoff reaching the river, community priorities and funding issues will be
addressed in Kleinfelder’s study report, to be
endorsed by the working group before being submitted to selectmen for
possible action on its recommendations. The consulting study team also includes Westport resident David
Potter, a civil engineer specializing in site engineering, who noted he is a
regular user of the river who will make sure the local perspective is always
well represented in the group’s final recommendations. The proposed timetable has the working group setting “community goals”
for close study and potential action by the end of October, holding a
workshop to debate “alternatives” for recommended actions in November, and
issuing a final priority list of projects in February 2019 for voters to
consider at the spring annual town meeting. Potter ended a long presentation by the consulting team by neatly
summing up the goals of the Integrated Water Resource Management Plan... “to understand the whole (watershed) system, identify the
‘broken spots’ that can be fixed,” the engineer suggested. How many of those remedies can be applied to the long-term effort to
restore the health of the river will depend on the funding made available,
short and long-term, by the town.
Above: Kirk Westyphal, PE, Senior Principle Planner for the Water
Resource Team introduces the stakeholder process and public engagement
strategy to a standing room-only crowd in the Town Hall Annex meeting room. Below: Board of Health member Phil Weinberg shares his
opinion on objectives as BOH Chair Bill Harkins
(center, left) and BOH Director Matthew Armendo (left of Harkins) listen.
Costa Campgrounds committee
considers options for land use. EverythingWestport.om Sunday, October 7, 2018 The Westport Camping Grounds, located on Old County Road, adjacent to
the west of the Westport Community Schools complex, is a 33-acre 61 B
recreational facility with 165 feet of frontage that has been offered to the
town for purchase. The acreage may allow for secondary access to the
Elementary School that would reduce a potential of a traffic bottleneck. The 15 +/- acres of dry uplands may allow expansion of recreational
playing fields, potable deep-water wells, and potential future expansion
possibilities. The current construction envelope is tight at the new Westport
Middle/High School building site, and some playing fields will need to be
located on the old high school grounds. The campgrounds owners had made it known they plan to sell the popular
camping area and were interested in giving the town a right-of-first-refusal. The cost of relocating the current Middle School’s tennis courts, deep
concerns that the Westport Free Public Library was A Westport Residents’ Petition was circulated requesting that Westport
investigate the purchase of the Westport Camping Grounds to incorporate this
parcel into the educational and recreational Westport Community Schools
complex. The petition asked whether the purchase price could be offset by the
reduced site development costs of relocating the tennis court and Westport
Free Public Library land taking and parking lot reconstruction. Grants and
fundraising may help to defray additional costs. On September 28, 2018, the nascent Westport Camping Grounds Advisory
Committee met to review the scope of the committee’s charge. The Committee is
staffed with representatives from the Select Board, the Library Trustees, the
School Committee, a former Select Board member, the Town Manager, and
abutters. Joseph Ingoldsby was nominated to chair the committee. The Committee
has been charged to exercise due diligence, review constraints on use, review
all possible highest and best uses, and review costs and funding options. A certified appraisal will have to be done after the wetlands are
identified. The Committee is scheduled to walk the Westport Camping Grounds accompanied
by the owner, Martin Costa, and then meet to review and discuss site plans
and wetland delineations in preparation for a more comprehensive analysis of
town’s current and future needs. Another meeting is scheduled in two weeks.
Above: Costa’s Westport Camping Grounds is
located just to the west of the Elementary School (building with dark gray
roof.) Aerial Photo | EverythingWestport.com - - - - - End -
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