Bellingham Board of Health names new tobacco inspector, launches compliance program

BELLINGHAM — May 6, 2025 — Bellingham Board of Health voted to formally designate a sitting member as the town's tobacco inspector and launched a new compliance-check program covering all 27 active permits. The board, chaired for the first time solo by Richard Gilbert after a member was absent due to illness, approved a $500 petty cash account for undercover tobacco purchases at local stores, with youth buyers to be paid $20 per hour out of the inspector's $50-per-hour fee. Members also voted to spend up to $2,500 from the town's $125,000 tobacco fund on lime-green anti-smoking t-shirts for the rescheduled May 31 Earth Day cleanup. Health Agent Dylan Levante noted the town has not been consistently using the state-required six-page inspection form and said that practice will change immediately. The board discussed but did not vote on whether to revoke tobacco permits from businesses that have stopped selling tobacco products, with Gilbert arguing for revocation and another member warning it could harm small business owners seeking to sell their stores.