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Issue: 1165 Date: 12/20/2012
Become A Fan, Like St. Louis Chinese American News
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ARTF & St. Louis County Department of Health 2012 Annual Meeting
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On Monday, December 10, the Asian Restaurant Task Force (ARTF) and the St. Louis County Department of Health held an annual meeting at the Department of Health's new north county campus. (61212 North Hanley Road, Berkeley, MO)
The meeting was facilitated by Francis Yueh, St. Louis County commissioner and coordinator between ARTF and St. Louis County Department of Health, Joyce Theard, Environmental Health Administrator for St. Louis County Department of Health and Jimmy Chu, chairman of ARTF and owner of Bubble Tea in Delmar's Loop district. In attendance were representatives from several local restaurants, grocery stores, and inspectors from the St. Louis County Department of Health. The purpose of the meeting was to review past events with ARTF for this year, notify the community about new county requirements and services, and provide information regarding the goals for 2013.
St. Louis County Executive Mr. Charlie Dooley sent his office special assistant Ameena Gul Mohyuddin to attend the meeting. In addition to St. Louis County, administrators from the health departments of St. Louis City (Pat Mahoney, Rhonda Bartow) and St. Charles County (Ryan Tilley) also attended.
In 2012, members of ARTF accompanied health inspectors on several restaurant visits. In addition, Jimmy Chu and Joyce Theard were invited by the Missouri Milk, Food, and Environmental Health Association (MMFEHA) on April 12, 2012 to give a presentation about ARTF working with the St. Louis County Department of Health to provide public safety services to local restaurants in the community. ARTF also assisted the St. Louis County Health Department in providing monthly bi-lingual health tips to the community in the St. Louis Chinese American News.
As for new county requirements, effective September 4, 2012, the staff at the St. Louis County Department of Health informed the Asian restaurant community that St. Louis County-based companies that need a yearly license or permit must show proof that they are current on their businesses' personal property tax obligations before St. Louis County can issue the license or permit - without which the business cannot operate. St. Louis City also requires similar proof prior to receiving a license or permit. St. Charles County, on the other hand, does not have such requirement. St. Louis County offers three different ways of checking the payment status of personal property taxes: (1) search
http://revenue.stlouisco.com/Collection/ppInfor/ ; (2) call 314-615-5500; and (3) visit any St. Louis County office.
For 2013, St. Louis County Health Department is preparing to institute new health codes. Both St. Charles County and St. Louis City have implemented health regulations from 2009. In addition, food service providers are required to receive a hepatitis A vaccine within 30 days of employment.
About ATRF
ARTF was established in February 2011 by Francis Yueh, Chief Editor of St. Louis Chinese American News. With the full support of St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, ARTF has worked closely with the St. Louis County Department of Health to develop a series of programs including food safety education, training, "Know Your Inspector" meetings, documentation translation, joint inspection, and cultural exchange activities.
To enhance the mutual understanding of health code execution, ARTF developed a bilingual "Q & A" section named "Inspector's Corner" that is posted in the St. Louis Chinese American News. Every month, the St. Louis County Department of Health provides ARTF with a question and answer press release. ARTF translates it to Chinese and publishes it as English and Chinese versions. It is an effective way to educate and promote new regulations and codes to the Asian community.
ARTF 2013 members are:
Jimmy Chu, chairperson, owner of St Louis Bubble TeaDr. James Wang, attorney and president of Creve Coeur City CouncilAndrew Shih, manager of Hot Wok Cafe Chinese restaurantProf. Hong-Gay Fung, University of Missouri, St. LouisDr. George Wu, attorney, Husch Blackwell LLPFrancis Yueh, Chief Editor of St. Louis Chinese American News |
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