The Dartmouth Board of Health held a meeting on February 18, 2026, chaired by Emily Michelle Olmstead. The primary agenda item was the nomination of Devin Cloutier as the new Animal Health Inspector. Chris Misho, the Director of the Board of Health, explained that the nomination is required by Massachusetts General Laws and is sent to the Mass Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) for final appointment. The position's duties include conducting annual barn book inventories and managing quarantines for rabies control. The position became available following the retirement of longtime Animal Control Officer Sandra Goslin in July 2025. Mr. Misho clarified that the town administrator's office conducted the search and selected Ms. Cloutier, and the Board of Health's role is to formally make the nomination. In response to questions from board member Jim Griffith, Mr. Misho confirmed that Ms. Cloutier is a certified animal control officer who has completed the required core competencies class and has prior experience in the same role in other South Coast jurisdictions. Following the discussion, the board voted unanimously to nominate Devin Cloutier. The meeting was then adjourned.
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Okay, it is 5 o'clock on Wednesday, February 18th, 2026.
0:10I'm going to um open the meeting with a roll call. I'll move to open the meeting with a roll call. So, Emily Michelle Olmstead, chair, is present.
0:31Hi, Jim Griffith. I'm here.
0:34Excellent. Thank you very much. Um, before we begin, I'm going to read this message from Dartmouth Community Media.
0:40Um, so Dartmouth Community Media has implemented and updated Zoom safety measures to help prevent disruptions during meetings. Only board and committee members, town staff, and scheduled presenters will be allowed to turn on their video camera. All other attendees will be able to watch and listen, but video and screen sharing will be disabled. If you are scheduled to present tonight or may want to be
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1:16on a cell phone viewing Zoom, click on participants, click on your name, and click on raise hand. If uh if you called in by the phone number, press star 9.
1:25And once I, as the chair, recognize you, you may unmute yourself. And if you're calling in by phone, press star six to unmute. Once you have completed your statement, please mute yourself. If you have any technical issues, please use the chat feature and DCTV staff will assist you. Thank you for your cooperation. And this meeting is being recorded. Okay, so um section one on our
1:48agenda, new business. Uh, item A is the nomination of animal health inspector Devin Cloutier. Uh, I understand that the director of the board of health, Chris Misho, is on. Chris, can you talk us through this, please?
2:02Sure. Can you hear me? Okay.
2:04Yes.
2:06Okay.
2:08So, Mass General laws requires each municipality to to nominate a animal health inspector. Uh the function of the animal health inspector is to work under the direction of the mass department of agricultural resources director of animal health. This is to carry out um several functionalities um most namely um the annual bond book inventories that occur in the uh last quarter of the calendar year and to
2:43conduct the quarantining um as needed um for rabies control. So when we have let's say a dog um issue where maybe a dog bites a person, dog bites a dog um you have a wound um that is a quarantine issue. Uh so to carry out those duties um it does require the board to make a nomination of individuals that then get forwarded up to the Mass Department of Agricultural Resources and they do the final
3:16appointment. So, um, earlier in this board cycle, longtime animal control officer Sandra Goslin retired, uh, in July of 2025.
3:29Um, the town has, um, concluded its search for a new animal control officer.
3:35Um, and that will be Devin um, Ludier and she is scheduled to start in early March. Um because the animal control officer position does provide dual functionalities of uh just like barking dogs, loose dogs which fall under the select board, but also quarantining and animal um health inspections such as the barn books. Uh the board of health will need to make this appointment. Sorry for
4:03being a little long-winded on this, but I just wanted to provide some background um on the matter. And that's all.
4:11Sure. And and so Okay. So the the the entity that we um are essentially legally doing this for um is the Mass Department of Agricultural Resources. Is that correct?
4:22That is correct.
4:23Okay. And it would be that if if we as a board um or so moved we move to nominate Devon Cludier as the Dartmouth Animal Health Inspector.
4:34Correct.
4:35Excellent. All right. Those are my questions. Um uh Jim Griffith, do you have questions, comments?
4:43And remember, you're muted. I can't Sorry, I couldn't tell if you're talking or not.
4:48Sorry, my mistake. Uh, I'm just curious as to what the um requirements are for someone to do this.
5:00If I may, Madam Chair.
5:01Oh, yes. Go ahead, Chris. Thank you.
5:04Sure. Uh, so there are no requisites. Um however there is an expectation of familiarity um and you know I am aware um over the decades of my professional term um in municipal employment that there have been municipal there have been situations in a municipality that um MDAR uh Mass Department of Agricultural Resources um was concerned about um appointing uh following the nomination by the authority. Um so
5:40there's the expectation of familiarity with the rabies control regulations.
5:45Um on the select board side, there is a requirement for uh a certification as an animal control officer. Um there is a statute that required MDAR following a largecale um animal cruelty investigation that occurred not far from Dartmouth. Um there was a statute that was created following that that required animal health inspectors to undergo CEU requirements. However, uh to this day, many years later, that hasn't
6:25implemented. So, there are no educational requirements. Um but there are there is prescriptive requirements.
6:32Um there's state forms that have to get filed back and forth. I hope that answers it all.
6:40Uh if I could ask one more.
6:42Go ahead. Uh based on that, I'm I'm just curious as to how we came to make this appointment or recommendation.
6:54Can you answer that, Chris?
6:55So, yes. Um so the town conducted um you know interviews on prospective candidates and ultimately it's kind of a blended position but the but the um the nominate the the appointment as animal control officer which is prescribed by statute annually. Um the job description for this animal control officer position falls under the appointment of the town administrator.
7:28So we are uh the board would provide a um a nomination uh to complement the functionality of the animal control office position. Uh it's something that Dartmouth has done for um a really long time and I believe that we've set the standard um from which other communities um struggled to um get up to and when they got up to um I haven't seen any reason to go back because it really is
7:55an efficient delivery of services um because oftentimes if you're dealing with a let's say a dog on dog issue or a dog on person issue it might be an unrestrained dog um and you might be looking at another issue that falls under the uh town bylaws for loose dogs.
8:12Um and then you're also providing the functionality um with animal health which really is a functionality of public health because it's tended to the control of rabies.
8:23So it's it's kind of a split position.
8:27U but it's ultimately uh the employment position is is by the town administrator. Cody had Jim Griffin, do you have any other questions?
8:41I'm okay.
8:43Okay. So, here are the the notes I wrote. Um, so, um, it's it sounds like to me, um, that we are required to do this, um, to comply with the Mass Department of Agricultural Resources, also known as MDAR. Um, that, um, uh, the town conducting the interviews and actually chooses the employee. Um, but that this this complements the animal control officer position. Um, and so, um, in my opin opinion, we should move
9:07forward with this, um, nomination. Do you have any other, um, notes or disagreements, thoughts, Jim Griffith?
9:15Um, I I'm I'm I might be just curious as to what this candidate, Devon Clutier's, um, conditions are. What are his qualifications? Or I assume he did well. She Oh, she I'm sorry.
9:34That's okay. Yeah.
9:37Chris, can you speak on the candidates?
9:39Go ahead.
9:41So, um the applicant is a certified animal control officer, which does require um a uh successful completion of uh the core competencies class. um she has been an animal um control officer as well as a animal health inspector in other jurisdictions um where she you know obtained a uh appointment by both the select boards and um in those jurisdictions if in some instances the select board actually
10:10nominates animal health inspector um so in Dartmouth it's by the board of health um other jurisdictions it may be by the select board so um it's um she's familiar with the role um and uh has worked in other jurisdictions along the south coast.
10:33Great.
10:34Um anything else, Jim Griffith?
10:38No, I'm okay.
10:40Excellent. All right. Um so, um finding that we the Dartmouth Board of Health are, um required for this for the by the VA Department of Agricultural Resources, MDAR. um finding that the town of Dartmouth conducted interviews and that the town administrator um ultimately choses chooses the employee. Um finding that this complements the animal control officer position and finding that the
11:03qualifications of this person um were that are that they she is a certified animal health control officer um which is by a core competencies class and that she has a history of this role in other jurisdictions. I move to nominate Devon Cludier as the Dartmouth Animal Health Inspector. Can I get a second?
11:23Second.
11:24Excellent. And now we'll vote. All those in favor? I I.
11:29Any opposed?
11:30Any abstain? The motion passes.
11:34Excellent. Um, okay. Uh, uh, section uh four, that might be a typo, might be section two on the agenda. Um, but this is any item not known 48 hours in advance. This information this item isform information only and not for deliberations by the public body. Chris, do you have anything else for this?
11:54I do not.
11:56I do not either. Jim Griffith, do you have anything else?
11:59I do not.
12:00Excellent. Uh, it is 5:12 p.m. on Wednesday, February 18th, 2026. I move to adjourn the Dartmouth Board of Health meeting. Can I get a second?
12:11Second.
12:12Excellent. And all those in favor? I I Any opposed? Any abstain? Excellent. We are adjourned. Thanks everyone. Have a great night.