Gardner Board of Health upholds $2,000 fine and seven-day suspension for A1 Mart tobacco sale to minor

Board of Health · Meeting of July 28, 2026

Gardner Board of Health votes to uphold $2,000 fine and seven-day tobacco permit suspension against A1 Mart. The board voted unanimously Monday to find A1 Mart at 157 West Street responsible for selling a Backwoods cigar for $8.49 to an 18-year-old trained youth inspector on April 13, 2026 — the only failed sale in a citywide annual compliance check. Joan Hamlet, director of the Board of Health Tobacco Control Alliance and Gardner's tobacco agent, told the board that state law makes the fine non-negotiable: "A board cannot reduce the fine under any circumstances." Owner Shilita Patel asked for a warning and cited a distressed employee and ongoing business hardships, but Hamlet said only a procedural error or a failure of evidence could result in a not-responsible finding.

The seven-day permit suspension was set to begin August 28. Separately, Mayor Nicholson briefed the board on a plan, now before the City Council, to fully remediate asbestos-containing materials in the two-story section of the Waterford Community Center — where a contractor's drilling error disturbed encapsulated asbestos tiles during mini-split installation — ahead of the planned senior center opening on the building's first floor.

In the full story:

• Background and stakes
• The question before the body
• Substantive content
• The deliberation
• Procedural steps and outcome
• Implications and what is next
• The complete report — 3,211 words

Source: the Board of Health meeting of July 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.