Town Of Sutton Board of Selectmen |
Meeting Minutes
Minutes Accepted and filed with the Town Clerk on 2/21/2017 by a vote of 3-0-2_
(Chairman Hebert and Selectman Kenney absent)
7:00p.m. – February 7, 2017
Sutton Town Hall, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
Members in Attendance:
Vice-Chair Paul Maynard (acting chair), Clerk Jesse Limanek and Selectman David Hall
(Chairman John L. Hebert & Selectman Michael Kenney absent)
Town Administrator James Smith & Deb Jacques, secretary
Acting Chair Maynard calls the meeting to order at 7:00pm followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Forum: no comments
Selectman Hall motions to accept as presented minutes from January 17, 2017 Selectmen’s meeting, Selectman Limanek seconds passes 3-0
Marijuana grow facility: TA Smith says he has polled the BOS individually and they are not too excited but they all agreed to listen to a presentation. TA Smith also informs the BOS the Planning dept. is proposing an article on the spring town meeting to regulate medical marijuana facilities. The article will look to allow medical marijuana to the office light industrial districts (OLI). For the fall town meeting, the Planning Board will propose a moratorium on recreational marijuana establishments. Michael Drayer, Director of Cultivation for M.D. Holistic arrives to join in on the discussion. He gives a brief background of his qualifications, he is an avid horticulturist and has overseen this type of business in CA. and Colo. Mr. Drayer states he has met with Jen Hager to discuss the
requirements to move forward with this project. Michael states they like the small location (3000 sq. feet) as it allows them to test the waters without raising any red flags. M.D. Holistics is willing to host a community agreement if they come in to the town. This type of business requires full vetting from the state for owners & employees. They have received a provisional certificate to operate form the state for medicinal marijuana which is regulated under Dept. of Public Health. Once a business opens, the state audit’s them regularly. Michael says what his company is looking for is a letter of non-opposition from the town. This would help his company move one step forward. They would still have to apply for a special permit through the Planning board. Selectman Hall states this is the first time for a facility such as this to come before the BOS. Dave asks Mr. Drayer to explain the provisional permit from the state, bond information for the permit as well as a little
background information on the owners of the company and the person that would be at the location daily. Mr. Drayer gives a brief background of the owners and directors. He goes on to say he would most likely be the person at the facility on a daily basis. Dave asks if there would be any impact to the other businesses in this location such as odors. Mr. Drayer replies they would have all necessary protocols in place as well as cameras throughout the facility and outside for security purposes. What they would like to have is a high end, low impact boutique. Selectman Limanek asks why Sutton, Michael responds that a few things went into this, the rent of the facility, the landlords approval of the business and the towns acceptance. Jesse asks about the specifics of medical marijuana, Michael says there are many ailments treated with medical marijuana. Patients do not have a prescription for it, it is a recommendation. All patients must register with the DPH. When asked if M.D.
Holistics is nervous at all with the federal vs state laws as Federal supersedes state law and by federal laws this is illegal as it is a schedule 1 drug, he replies he is confident it is not in jeopardy. Acting chair Maynard asks about security, Michael replies there are many layers of security from the state vetting for all owners & personal, security of the building, which he says they do not have standing guards and no firearms on site, they call the local police for assistance if needed. Paul asked if there would be any issues with the water or sewer, Mr. Drayer replied no, they use very little water (about 100 gallons a day) and they use no chemicals on the plants. Selectman Hall asks if there is a budget in place for the renovations needed, Mr. Drayer states yes, and the state requires a half a million in an account to apply for a nonprofit cultivation business. Selectman Limanek asks if they receive the approval to move forward how soon before it would open,
Michael responds 9 months. The Board says they will take this discussion under advisement and get the feedback from the two members not present tonight, Selectman Hall would also like to hear from the Planning Dept.
TA Update:
- FY18 Budget Update: The Gov. released his budget 1/25/817- the town received $28,440 in chapter 70 & UGGA, net charges $21,630 for total of $50,070. for state aid. A draft copy of the compensation plan for dept. heads was received. Most of the Dept. heads are close - a few will receive small bumps. This will be reflected in the FY18 budget.
- Police station Building project: 3 requests were received for the RFQ for the design. Flansburgh, RGB and Tecton. The designer selection committee met on 1/31/17 and selected Tecton.
- Net metering deal: TA Smith has been working with Orlando Pacheco and Charles Jenkins discussing a net metering agreement for the WCMA district (Sutton has two districts, WCMA and SEMA) this would give us 20% off our electric bill for 20 years.
- Over spend snow & ice: TA Smith states the budget for Snow & Ice has been overspent. This is an annual issue and once the BOS vote to allow this, TA Smith will meet with Fin Com.
Selectman Hall motions to authorize the Town Administrator to overspend the Snow and Ice budget for FY17 Selectman Limanek seconds passes 3-0
Announcements/Round Table/Correspondence:
Selectman Limanek thanks St. Mark’s church for the recent food donations made to the Mike Chizy Food Pantry. Jesse also
thanks the students and parents that attended last night’s school committee meeting regarding the discussion on football.
Selectman Hall thanks all for listening to the discussion tonight on the marijuana agenda item.
Acting Chair Maynard acknowledges the BOS are in receipt of a letter from Mr. Dwyer, it will be in the Selectmen’s office
Selectman Limanek motins to adjourn, selectman Hall seconds passes 3-0 8:40 pm
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