Williamstown Weighs Timing of Vote on Retail Pot Ban
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Now that the commonwealth has legislation in place to regulate the recreational marijuana industry, it is up to the Board of Selectmen whether it wants to ask town voters about banning production and sales of the drug in town.
Town Manager Jason Hoch explained to the board on Monday that the law signed by Gov. Charlie Baker this summer offers communities a chance to prohibit the pot industry. The mechanism differs depending on how voters in said town voted on the November 2016 ballot initiative that decriminalized marijuana in Massachusetts.
For towns where the majority of voters voted against legalized pot, the ban on retail can be accomplished either through town meeting or — for cities — by a city council vote.
Towns like Williamstown, where November's voters supported Question 4, can only accomplish such a ban by way of a ballot question.
"The reason we didn't ask that question before was it wasn't clear how to ask that question," Chairman Hugh Daley said on Monday. "Now, we're down to the question of: Do we call for a ballot question on whether the town wants to ban retail and production of marijuana in Williamstown. Do we call the question, and, if so, when?"
Hoch framed the latter question as a choice between the Nov. 7 special election to fill out the expired term of the late state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi and the regular town election in May.
Hoch said there are pros and cons to either date.
A November decision on the local ban question would allow more time to develop warrant articles in advance of the annual town meeting, which comes one week after the town election. Among the questions that could potentially be put to town meeting: whether to add a local sales tax on top of the state marijuana sales tax; municipalities are allowed to tack on a 3 percent tax, similar to the local portion of the state rooms and meals tax.
On the other hand, waiting until May will allow voters to have a clearer picture of what a commercial pot industry will look like in the commonwealth. Hoch explained that the Cannabis Control Commission created by the July legislation has until March 15 to publish its rules for businesses seeking a license to commercially produce or sell marijuana.
Another argument for waiting: the cost of a November vote.
Although the town is already holding a special election for the 1st Berkshire seat on Nov. 7, that is a state election, Hoch explained. Holding a town election on the same day may look like a zero-cost option, but, in fact, there are regulatory differences, including the addition of extra poll workers to run a "parallel" election, that would cost the town about $2,500.
On the other hand, in May, the ban question would just be an additional public question on an existing town election ballot.
Of course, the Selectmen always could choose to simply let the November 2016 vote on the ballot question speak for itself and make no move toward a public question on the idea of a ban. But that seems unlikely.
Although the vote in the town was 61 percent in favor of Question 4, it was clear in May 2017 that there were many voters — even some who supported statewide decriminalization — who were hesitant to allow pot-related businesses in town.
A zoning bylaw designed to regulate where commercial marijuana enterprises could be located in town generated considerable debate in the spring before passing by a wide margin at the annual town meeting — with proponents arguing that, absent a bylaw, pot businesses could potentially be located anywhere.
No local ban on pot could affect the statewide legalization of pot production for personal consumption or the decriminialization of possession of small amounts of the drug.
Hoch told the board that the town's counsel at the firm Kopelman & Paige can produce draft ordinance for a ban for voters to consider fairly quickly, so there is time to get the ban question together in time for the November vote if the board decides to go that route.
Two members of the five-member board did not attend Monday's meeting, and the board, as is its custom, is skipping its second August meeting. It next is scheduled to meet on Sept. 11.
Another topic for that meeting will be the process for conducting a review of the town manager.
The board started kicking around ideas for the review this summer. On Monday, Daley suggested that it finalize the process this fall and complete it by December. He explained that he thought late autumn was the right time for the board to conduct its regular annual reviews going forward.
His rationale was that a December review will be fresh enough to inform the spring renewal of the town manager's contract without interfering with the busy budget and town meeting season in the winter and early spring.
The form of the review will be decided by the board at a later date. Selectwoman Anne O'Connor said she had been researching procedures elsewhere in the commonwealth and found an assortment of approaches, including town that don't do much of a review at all.
Daley argued that the Board of Selectmen would be shirking its responsibility if it did not conduct regular reviews.
"We have a fiduciary obligation to the town to review performance," he said.
"I don't want to view this as … a compliance review. I want to view this as a tool so we can deliver to Jason areas where we can say, 'Focus on this,' or, 'You're doing a great job on this thing, so let's do more than that.' It's not a hammer, but it is a tool."
In other business on Monday, Hoch reported that the town's participation in a multi-community electricity aggregation program is up for a renewal. Under the program, all electric users in the town are automatically enrolled in the aggregation program unless they choose to opt out.
The regional aggregation has contracted for a rate of 10.7 cents per kilowatt hour as of Nov. 1, Hoch said. That represents an increase of 0.3 cents over the current rate that Williamstown consumers pay, and the rate is locked in for three years.
The aggregation's electricity will come be a 100 percent Green National Wind product. Currently, the towns in the aggregation are supplied by hydroelectric power.
O'Connor noted that residents and commercial users can seek out a still greener alternative by opting out of the aggregate supply and choosing an electric plan available through massenergy.org, where consumers can purchase power at a higher rate with the difference going to help grow the green energy supply in the commonwealth.
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