Bellingham Board of Health mandates quarterly reports from tobacco compliance officer

BELLINGHAM — December 17, 2024 — Bellingham Board of Health requires tobacco compliance officer to report quarterly after year of missed meetings. The board voted unanimously at its December 17 meeting to mandate quarterly check-ins from Rob, the town's tobacco compliance officer, who acknowledged attending only a handful of meetings in the past year and said he had not known direct board attendance was expected. Chair Vinnie Marini pressed Rob on the gap, telling him, "if we're paying you, we should hear from you." Rob, who described conducting roughly 150 compliance checks and stings annually across 30 retailers with no recent failures, agreed to the arrangement and will attend the January 7 meeting to report on sting operations. The board also heard that Health Agent Dylan ordered an emergency closure of a Dunkin' Donuts location after a plumber's pipe-clearing sent raw sewage across the restaurant floor while employees continued operating — a closure Dylan said was the first time he had exercised that authority.