Board of Health votes 2-1 to keep chicken-coop fees, defers regulation rewrite

SUDBURY — October 24, 2023 — Sudbury Board of Health votes 2-1 to keep chicken-coop fees as community social worker resigns. The board rejected member Linda Marie Huet-Clayton's push to replace the $25 annual backyard-coop fee with a one-time plan review, with Chair Carol J Bradford and member Susan Sama voting to keep the schedule intact pending a broader rewrite of animal regulations built on a 2013 bylaw. Health Director Vivian said commercialization of COVID-19 vaccine has effectively priced out municipal clinics, citing a $1,115 ten-dose Pfizer vial from McKesson — roughly $115 per dose, "twice the cost of our most expensive flu shot." Community social worker Chrissy gave four weeks' notice, with a last day of Nov. 17; the department will post two replacement positions. Vivian also reported about $101,101 in opioid settlement receipts now flowing into a new stabilization fund, with stigma reduction her top spending priority.