Board of Selectmen, May 21, 2018
HOLDEN BOARD OF SELECTMEN
MEETING MINUTES
May 21, 2018
6:00PM Wachusett Regional High School
Present: Chairman Geri Herlihy, Jeremy Kurtz, Anthony Renzoni, Tyler Gibbs
Others Present: Peter Lukes, Town Manager
Stephanie Bacon, Assistant Town Manager
Brian Falk, Town Counsel
Liz Fotos, Town Recorder
Chairman Herlihy called the meeting to order at 6:00PM.
- Revisit Selectboard Positions on Warrant Articles
Chairman Herlihy stated that Warrant Article 27 and 28 were going to be passed over.
Mr. Lukes stated they should just move the question.
Sel. Renzoni stated that Warrant Articles 6-1 through 26 could be moved. He stated that he thinks this is the best possible solution for Eagle Lake.
Motion by Sel. Renzoni, seconded by Sel. Kurtz, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO SUPPORT WARRANT ARTICLES 6.1-26 AS PRESENTED.
Motion by Sel. Renzoni, seconded by Sel. Kurtz, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO SUPPORT WARRANT ARTICLE 29 THROUGH 33 AS PRESENTED.
Sel. Renzoni stated that they have their speaking lists. He told Sel. Gibbs that with regards to the Street Acceptance, the Board of Selectmen had voted earlier and it was in unanimous support.
A motion was made by Sel. Renzoni to support Warrant Article 34, it was seconded by Sel. Kurtz for conversation.
Sel. Renzoni stated that he understood that Marijuana was legal but he has problems with opening up retail establishments without knowing the effect it will have on the community. He stated they are starting to get studies from other communities but they don’t have that information yet. He stated that what would be taken in for revenue would not solve the Town’s problems. He stated if this was put in General Government it would not fix the school issues.
Sel. Renzoni stated that the state has a Cannabis Commission and they have nothing to do but to give out mandates to communities. He stated that those mandates will be unfunded and the Town will have to pay the bills. He stated that the state doesn’t even fully understand it yet and it is dangerous for us as a community to jump in when they can look at it in the future. He stated that people will argue revenue but he does not feel this is a healthy way to run a community. He stated that he supported banning this matter and revisiting it next year.
Sel. Kurtz stated that he understood what Sel. Renzoni was saying but how it was written was it would be a permanent ban on this. He stated if the Board takes no action or it fails, the moratorium that was already voted on would be in place.
Mr. Falk, Town Counsel disagreed and stated that there was a time limit on the moratorium.
Sel. Renzoni stated that as a Town we do not allow any retail space to go in unregulated. He stated that as a community, we said no to used car lots on Main Street. He stated that this could have a similar argument made. He said he is not saying that this could not be a good option but he wants to see how the government interacts with it first. He stated that they spent two yeas doing studies for the DPW, he said he wanted the same certainty for this matter and the only way to do that was to let this play out a little more. He stated if other communities fail at this, they can learn and protect Holden.
Sel. Kurtz stated that plenty of states were doing this with success. He stated that he felt the Planning Board went and created a bylaw without a lot of advertising but based off his Facebook feed there were a lot of people in favor of this. He stated people will just go to surrounding communities and he does not think that we should all out ban this and wait a year to try to reverse it.
Sel. Gibbs stated that he thinks they are all valid points. He asked what delaying this could do.
Sel. Renzoni stated that by standing by and watching like sized communities we could see what happens with it. He stated if it works well then we could reverse the stance on it and if there are issues or regulations they were protected. He stated that the Cannabis Commission could require a full time position be allocated to this or any other regulation and once something was a policy the Town would be required to comply. He stated that he thinks that the Board of Selectmen should vote to support Warrant Article 34 because he does not think they should jump without knowing how deep the water is.
Chairman Herlihy stated that this was funded by the Cannabis Commission with no control and she was totally against this. She stated that we cannot even park a school bus in our driveways but we want to allow retail marijuana. She stated that we were going to spend $28 million on a school budget but may bring marijuana to Holden. She stated she does not support that. She stated this leads to more impaired driving and more opioid deaths and she would like to ban it in all towns not just Holden.
Sel. Kurtz stated that every border town was going to have this.
Chairman Herlihy asked if the 6% tax was worth it.
Sel. Kurtz stated that the law that passed allowed everyone to have three plants of their own anyway. He stated that kids were growing it.
Sel. Herlihy replied she understood that but why make it easier.
Sel. Renzoni stated that nips were not allowed in Holden liquor stores, he asked if we should go back and allow those because bordering towns allowed them.
Sel. Kurtz replied that liquor stores could petition if they wanted to but that was not what was before the Board.
Sel. Kurtz asked what the difference was between Warrant Article 34 and Warrant Article 35.
Mr. Lukes replied that Warrant Article banned the retail marijuana establishments and Warrant Article 35 allowed them in certain parts of Town.
Sel. Renzoni stated if Warrant Article 34 failed then they needed to go to Warrant Article 35 and take a position on that depending on this vote. He stated if this failed at Town Meeting, the Board needed to support Article 35.
Sel. Gibbs stated he could get on board with seeing how the next year played.
Mr. Lukes stated that Sel. Lavigne had emailed his opinions as well; he passed it in for the record. (Attached.)
Sel. Renzoni moved the questions.
Motion by Sel. Renzoni, seconded by Sel. Kurtz, it was VOTED TO SUPPORT WARRANT ARTICLE 34, THE BAN ON THE RETAIL SALE OF MARIJUANA BY A VOTEOF 3-1(Kurtz: no).
A motion was made by Sel. Renzoni to support Warrant Article 35, it was seconded by Sel. Gibbs.
Mr. Lukes left the meeting at 6:20PM.
Sel. Renzoni stated that if Warrant Article 34 failed then this would be how the Town could regulate it. He stated they would be foolish to not regulate it.
Mr. Lukes returned to the meeting at 6:21PM.
Mr. Falk stated that this would be by Special Permit as well which meant they would have to enter into a host agreement and there would be no recourse for not accepting an applicant.
Sel. Renzoni replied that could evolve.
Mr. Falk replied it could which is why he indicated for now. He stated that how it was enacted currently no matter how small, any marijuana sale needed a Host Community Agreement and the Board of Selectmen would have the authority to enter into the agreement or not as they saw fit.
Motion by Sel. Renzoni, seconded by Sel. Gibbs, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO SUPPORT WARRANT ARTICLE 35 AS PRESENTED.
Motion by Sel. Renzoni, seconded by Sel. Kurtz, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO SUPPORT WARRANT ARTICLE 36-38 AS PRESENTED.
Motion by Sel. Renzoni, seconded by Sel. Kurtz, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO OPPOSE WARRANT ARTICLE 39 AND 40 IF THEY WERE BROUGHT TO THE FLOOR.
- Discussion of FY 19 Budget
Sel. Renzoni stated that Mr. Lukes did a great job on the budget. He stated that he had been on the Board for 9 years and this was just good management.
Chairman Herlihy also stated that the relationship with Fin Com was better than ever.
- Discussion of Vacant WRSDC Position
Sel. Kurtz asked if this was for the remainder of the Term.
Sel. Renzoni stated that it would be until the next Town Election whenever that may be.
Mr. Lukes stated that the term was until 2020 but the service would be until the next election.
Sel. Kurtz stated that four people ran and one didn’t make it in. He stated that this was a short term and thought that maybe that person would be a good option.
Mr. Lukes left the meeting at 6:27PM.
Sel. Renzoni stated that he thought that they should advertise the position and speak about it and then an appointment could be made.
Sel. Kurtz stated he understood what they were saying but she was a write in candidate with 100 people writing her name.
Chairman Herlihy stated she would like to see who came out for the position.
Sel. Renzoni stated that if they just gave the position to her then they were selecting from the public without posting it. He thought that they should open it up to the public immediately and set interviews quickly to get the position filled.
Sel. Herlihy declared a recess at 6:30 until the completion of Town Meeting.
Motion by Sel. Kurtz, seconded by Sel. Renzoni, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ADJOURN THE MAY 21, 2018 BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING AT 9:08PM.
APPROVED: ___June 18, 2018_____________