The Board of Health heard about the impact the trash strike is having on Watertown’s rodent problem during its July meeting. The board also discussed proposed changes to the City’s tobacco regulations, and discussed a reported violation at a business in town.
Rodents
During the July 16 meeting, Watertown Public Health Director Abbey Myers provided updates on issues that have come before the Board of Health. The “biggest topic” brought up was the ongoing, multi-week trash strike which has overwhelmed sanitary services in Watertown, and has now led to a steadily rising rodent problem.
Efforts by the Health Department have included citing individuals who dispose of trash in parks and other improper locations and recommending that residents take down bird feeders and work to clear any “harborage” which rodents may live within – such as clutters of trash, unused cabinets, and unsealed garbage cans or bins.
“It takes significant time to get rid of rodents, but a very short period for rodents to repopulate,” Myers stated, pointing to the fact that the City’s rodent control efforts had now been pushed back by roughly half a year.
She also made it clear that the City would not cite people for overflowing trash at their locations or other such violations, and that while she hoped the strike would resolve soon, other contingencies are being planned in the background.
Tobacco Violation at Arsenal Wine & Spirits
Reilly Ellis – who coordinates regional tobacco control and compliance efforts — presented the case against Arsenal Wine & Spirits for a recent tobacco violation to the Watertown Board of Health. Ellis serves in this role for Watertown and several surrounding towns through the Brookline Public Health Department.
On July 23, 2025, Ellis sent an underage purchaser into the store to conduct a routine Massachusetts State Tobacco Compliance Check. The purchaser was able to obtain a container of 6mg Zyn Chills oral nicotine pouches without being questioned or asked to provide an ID, which is required by the state in such purchases.
A co-owner and manager of Arsenal Wine & Spirits spoke on her store’s behalf, and said that she did not dispute that the tobacco sale occurred but asked for leniency on the fine and the suspension. She added that the penalty would be “a heavy burden” on her small business. The fine was $1,000 and the store’s ability to sell tobacco products would be suspended for three days. The fine, she noted, is basically the profit on 837 packs of cigarettes, which take roughly four months for the store to sell.
She said that the suspension on the sale of such products, no matter for how long, would be “humiliating and dire” for the store. She also pointed to a serious health crisis in her family, and the employee who made the sale had been forced to take on extra work. The entire staff has been retrained about tobacco sales.
The Board of Health voted unanimously to confirm that the violation occurred. The fine and suspension, however, are decided by the state. Members of the board said the suspension was on the lower end of the scale, with the state usually issuing penalties ranging from 1-30 days.
After the meeting, Myers confirmed with Watertown News that this was the store’s first such violation.
The owner also suggested after the decision that the City and state adopt signage explicitly prohibiting the sale of tobacco and nicotine products to underaged individuals. Current signs, she noted, only reference tobacco. Ellis said that is intended to cover both tobacco and nicotine products.
Update to the City’s Tobacco Regulations – Coming Soon
After the hearing on the violation, Ellis presented markups to the City’s current tobacco regulations, pointing out a number of required and optional changes.
A few optional definitions were added, including expanded language for the definition of a “Cigar,” and the addition of terminology for “Oral Nicotine Patches.” Recommended definitions were added for “Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems” – otherwise known as vapes or electronic cigarettes – as well as for the “Manufacturing Documentation” related to these systems.
“Tobacco Product Flavor Enhancer” was also a required change – related to the flavoring which manufacturers add to their tobacco products, and which are prohibited for sale in the state under the 2019 Tobacco Control Law.
One major update which could be considered by the board, but currently remains optional, is the adoption of the “Nicotine-Free Generation” regulations – which would prohibit the sale of tobacco products to “Persons under 21 Years Old” or “Born on or after January 1, 2005.” Similar regulation has been adopted by more than a dozen towns and municipalities around the state, and the board made note of uproar from many concerned residents when such a rule was last discussed.
More optional regulation was recommended regarding retail density, oral nicotine patches, and the cost of cigars – with the state recommending a base $2.90 price for singles, and $5.80 for packs. New required regulation was also added surrounding the prohibition of flavored tobacco products and limitation of nicotine content in electronic smoking devices.
The board will privately deliberate the proposed changes, and will review the drafted regulations at the upcoming Board of Health meeting. The hearing may occur during the agenda of a regular Board of Health meeting or the Board may hold a separate one on that topic, but the Board did not decided during the July 16 meeting. A legal review and an additional public hearing will follow this, to gather comments from the public. While no deliberation on the regulations will take place during the planned hearing, Myers did confirm that the Board would consider any public input before coming to any final decisions.
Life Science Permits
Also at the meeting, the Board accepted five permits from various life sciences and biotech companies, including two located within the dedicated life sciences building at 66 Galen Street. Of these five approvals, one was conditional, as TACs Bio Sciences – located at 19 Coolidge Hill Road – has to wait to receive permit from the USDA to handle fungal material.
What Else Should Residents Know
As the meeting was wrapping up, Myers listed off a number of staffing and other departmental updates. Among them: the hiring of a Watertown’s first Human Services Director, Jenna Bancroft, who you can read about here.
The City’s recently adopted new regulations on bodywork facilities will go into effect soon – put together primarily by Chief Environmental Health Officer Lauren Olsen. By Aug. 1, the application for a related permit will be posted and the department has made sure to alert all bodywork facilities in Watertown to the upcoming changes.
Also brought up was the new “sharps kiosk” opened on July 1 in the back parking lot of the Parker Annex Building at 124 Watertown St. The kiosk is ADA accessible, and allows for residents to safely dispose of any needles or other potentially dangerous medical instruments. The Health Department also offers sharps containers for public consumption – the Department can be contacted at 617-972-6446.
Myers noted continued efforts by her Department to ensure that the public is aware of skin safety, especially during such a hot and sunny summer.
Sunscreen dispensers have been installed at the splash pads at Fillippello and Arsenal Parks, with smaller dispensers offered at Hosmer Softball Field near the bathrooms, Saltonstall Park near the playground area, and Victory Field near the bathrooms.
Dominic Amirtharaj, member of the board and hospitalist at Mount Auburn Hospital, brought up that many residents had recently come into the hospital with “heat related issues”, and inquired about cooling centers which they City had used before. Though these will not be an option this year, Myers pointed to the Watertown Library, Senior Center, and other municipal buildings – which are all public and would never turn away citizens who are suffering from the heat.