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.