Southbridge Board of Health Approves $4,045 in Trash Billing Abatements, Hears Tobacco Enforcement Warning

SOUTHBRIDGE — May 21, 2026 — Southbridge Board of Health hears tobacco enforcement warning and approves $4,045 in trash billing abatements. Joan Hamlet of the Tobacco Control Alliance told the three-member board at its May 21 meeting that a string of "not responsible" findings at retailer violation hearings — including five dismissed violations on a single retailer now under state and federal investigation — has undermined the alliance's enforcement work, with each substantiated violation carrying a mandatory state fine of $1,000 to $5,000 that would flow into the town's general fund. The board unanimously approved a $450 trash billing abatement for a condemned three-family property at Twinehurst and a $3,595 abatement for an Edwards Street property declared uninhabitable in 2023, with two additional properties at 215 Hamilton Street and 743 Main Street flagged as likely future abatements. A board member identified as Vice Chair Malika Duck Hill presented a $40,000 grant application for a peer-to-peer recovery support program through a 501(c)(3) she is affiliated with, Recovery Support Program Trauma Healing Empowerment Incorporated, which the board discussed but did not vote on. The board's next meeting is scheduled for June 11.