Clinton Board Votes to Change Shake Machine Sampling After Coliform Spikes to 1,561

PLYMPTON -- November 12, 2025, Clinton Board of Health votes to overhaul shake machine testing protocol after coliform spike hits 31 times the legal limit. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to require the outside laboratory, rather than establishment staff, to collect milkshake machine samples at KKD's after the most recent test returned a coliform count of 1,561 colony-forming units per gram against a regulatory maximum of 50, the highest result the board has recorded at the location. The failure came on a replacement machine, ruling out equipment as the cause. Health agent Kathy will contact the facility manager to implement the new protocol; board members signaled that if results do not improve, suspending the machine's operation entirely is on the table. In a second unanimous vote, the board backed a proposed engineering study tied to the contested Ricketts development site, where MassDEP has imposed a project hold and the Clinton Zoning Office has issued a cease-and-desist on earth removal, contingent on the town administrator confirming funds are available ahead of a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing tentatively set for November 19.