Board of Health adopts $150 housing re-inspection fee

Board of Health · Meeting of October 26, 2026

BELCHERTOWN — The Belchertown Board of Health voted unanimously to adopt a $150 housing re-inspection fee for landlords whose properties still have uncorrected violations at a scheduled follow-up inspection. The fee applies per housing unit and escalates with each additional re-inspection needed, with staff noting Ware and other communities already charge similar fees. The board also voted unanimously to send a draft regulation to a public hearing next month that would expand its existing kratom and synthetic cannabinoid ban to cover "unregulated novel intoxicating products," including substances marketed as dietary supplements and products nicknamed "gas station heroin" linked to a 2024 illness cluster in New Jersey.

The draft keeps existing penalties of $1,000, $2,000 and $5,000 fines with escalating suspensions. A resident, identified as Dan, questioned the legal basis for routine animal barn inspections during public comment, prompting staff to explain the inspections support state disease-outbreak preparedness. The board separately reported a vacant public health nurse position will be re-advertised after an earlier job offer went unanswered.

In the full story:

• Housing re-inspection fee
• Animal inspection authority raised by resident
• Synthetic cannabinoids and novel intoxicating products regulation
• Minutes, warrant and public health nursing update
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,387 words

Source: the Board of Health meeting of October 26, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.