BUCKLAND — At least two dozen residents came to this week’s Selectboard meeting, asking the board to hold off on drafting a marijuana application policy until a third selectboard member is elected in September.
“This is such a big issue for the town,” said Jeffrey Rose of the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals. “I beg you to table this. Wait until you have a third person on board for this big issue.”
The agenda listed “Selectboard Marijuana License Application Policy,” and Chairwoman Dena Willmore wanted to read a draft procedure that was written by Town Administrator Andrea Llamas.
“Everybody should start at the same spot and end up at the same spot,” one woman said.
“I hear you,” said Willmore, but she added, “I just want to get this out. I appreciate your concern, but I’m going to read this now.”
The proposal for Selectboard approval would require the applicant to hold a community outreach meeting that was recorded by Falls Cable TV. It would also require a synopsis of the community outreach meeting, and copies of paperwork submitted to the state, a proposed community host agreement, and a demonstration of how the applicant will comply with state and town regulations. The plan would also require that $5,000 be put into escrow for the permitting process, and that the proposal also be approved by other town boards, including the Board of Health, Conservation Commission, with the police and others notified of the plans.
Willmore said the board needs to research some issues, such as: is $5,000 in escrow the right amount for the process. She and Selectman Zachary Turner said that all meetings regarding decisions on town cannabis regulations and site approval would be done in open public meetings.
Some present asked why Buckland voters hadn’t gotten the chance to vote on a marijuana moratorium. The Selectboard said a moratorium hadn’t been proposed for the Annual Town Meeting warrant, and that such a proposal could not be raised at Annual Town Meeting and immediately voted upon.
Planning Board Chairman John Gould pointed out some requirements in the application policy of another town. Horace Taft-Ferguson also agreed with the residents who asked the board to wait for a third Selectboard member.
Willmore and Turner make up the three-member Selectboard following the resignation of Kevin Fox earlier this year.
“This issue seems to be getting more and more contentious,” Taft-Ferguson said. “We deserve three people on that side of the (Selectboard’s) table, and you deserve another (selectman’s) vote.”
Last month, there was a community outreach meeting for a proposal by Farm Bug Cooperative to site two craft marijuana cultivators in Buckland — one at 68 Hog Hollow Road and another at 27 Purington Road — which drew many residents.
The Sept. 11 special town election includes a three-way race of Selectboard candidates who would like to fill the one-year unexpired term left by Fox. Those candidates are: Barry L. Del Castilho of Upper Street, Tuyet Linh Lafleur of School Street and Helen M. O’Gorman of Crittenden Hill.