Members of the Essex Board of Selectmen this week to determine the makeup and role of a new advisory committee that would support negotiations with would-be buyer BB Botanicals on a host community agreement as part of the company’s licensing process with the state.
The Essex Board of Selectmen began working this week through details to form a committee of residents and public safety officials, among others, that would work in an advisory capacity to the board in its negotiation of a host community agreement with BB Botanicals, LLC, which is pursuing a state license to locally operate a retail cannabis dispensary.
The agreement is the second of two steps required by the state for a license to operate, and it offers the opportunity for potential retailers to preemptively work out areas of potential impact for this new category of legal product. Massachusetts recommends no more than six months to negotiate a host community agreement. As of now, the town will already receive a three percent tax on all cannabis sales. The host agreement allows for additional money (up to an additional three percent, or six percent total) tied to impact areas like expected traffic and public safety issues. Abutter issues are also on the table, which is why a group of residents came to the Board of Selectmen weeks ago asking to be at the negotiating table.
On Monday, first up was size of the committee and whether it would be able to directly negotiate with BB Botanicals. Town Administrator Brendhan Zubricki pointed out that the BOS has always been the negotiating arm for the town’s business and diverging from that would set a new, and unnecessary, precedent. So, advisory it was.
Then, the group talked about the makeup of this new committee. What interests should be included and how many of each? The question of number was much easier to answer. Zubricki estimated that seven or so people would be the perfect number since it can be difficult to arrange meetings and reach quorum at a larger amount, and the room agreed.
As for who should be on the committee, Police Chief Paul Francis was adamant that there should be police presence so the department can remain in the loop and provide a public safety perspective. He recommended Sergeant Daniel Bruce (an Essex resident and parent) for the committee. The board agreed. The BOS briefly considered adding a school representative to the committee but after discussion, that idea ebbed once it was clear that the school constituency would already have representation through the police department. Another option they discussed is having a member from the Board of Health serve on the committee.
Some things were clear, however. For instance, at least one of the committee’s community representatives will live in the immediate neighborhood of the proposed site for the dispensary (located on the corner of Eastern Avenue and Harlow Street). The rest will be evenly distributed around Essex. Further, resident Antonella Muniz of Harlow Street, who brought a petition with 400 signatures to the board, will serve as a volunteer recorder for the committee and will not have a vote. The BOS also maintained that the committee should not, and would not, be one-sided and they may not meet as a group outside of an official meeting. Otherwise, they will run afoul of Massachusetts open meeting laws.
The committee will assess the dispensary’s community impact, site, cost and more for its appraisal. The Board of Selectmen will then take the committee’s input into consideration as it moves forward with negotiating a host community agreement with BB Botanics.
The state of Massachusetts licensing board has guidelines for potential retail establishments following legalization of cannabis.
A decision on the committee’s makeup will be made in the next couple weeks and announced at the next BOS meeting.
