SALEM — The board of health approved an amendment to the resolution setting food service, tattoo and piercing, and public swimming pool safety fees for 2025 in its February meeting.

The board voted unanimously to approve the amendment to the resolution, which was approved in its January meeting. Health Commissioner Kayla Crowl explained that while the department’s cost methodology had been approved by the state, the original resolution did not include fees for high and low risk mobile units, which will be $103.40, and $51.70, respectively. Crowl also said that units will be differentiated as high or low risk based on a review by herself or Environmental Health Director Alan Masters and licensed accordingly.

The board also revisited the department’s staff appreciation plans. In its December meeting the board voted to issue department staff with $700 gift cards through the employee appreciation component of the department’s workforce development grant in lieu of issuing traditional retention bonuses. At that time Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey expressed concerns with issuing retention bonuses through the grant currently as they carry an expectation of occurring annually, and it isn’t clear if the department would be able to sustain that level of expense once the grant funds ran out. Dickey argued that the gift cards would provide a similar one-time payment as a retention bonus without the same expectation of recurring annually.

However, after speaking with City Law Director Brooke Zellers it was determined the gift cards would not be a good idea as they are a form of gift and the money from the workforce development grant is considered compensation. Following an executive session for the discussion of personnel matters, and a discussion between the board and staff, it was decided to instead offer staff paid time off. The amount of time off to be given still needed to be determined.

Other matters discussed included potentially opening a department credit card to be used for locations which will not accept purchase orders. Crowl said that companies are increasingly requesting a form of electronic payment noting that a

purchase order was not accepted when she attempted to renew the department’s pharmacy license. The health department would not be the first in the city to implement a department credit card for the as the parks department has a credit card with charges reviewed by the parks commission in its monthly meeting, and the city has an Amazon account. IT was ultimately decided that Crowl would develop a written protocol for a department credit card to be discussed again at in a future meeting.

The board of health will meet next at 2 p.m. March 19.