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Liberty Market, located on North Main Street, has requested a new host community agreement or host community agreement waiver in lieu thereof.

Lanesborough to Negotiate New HCA With Only Dispensary

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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LANESBOROUGH, Mass. Due to evolving state regulations, the town must settle on a new or amended host community agreement with its only dispensary.
 
On Monday, Feb. 24, the Select Board voted to allow Town Administrator Gina Dario to work with counsel towards a resolution.  Dario felt that both parties were willing to come up with a practical solution.
 
Liberty Market, located on North Main Street, has requested a new host community agreement or host community agreement waiver in lieu thereof.  The town was sent a notice of non-compliance from the Cannabis Control Commission in January.
 
"The discussion for the Select Board is whether or not to proceed with either a redrafting of the current host community agreement or a re-negotiation of a new host community agreement that uses a more prescriptive template that is being provided by The Cannabis Control Commission," Dario explained.
 
A couple of years ago, the Canabis Control Commission (CCC) approved changes to the state's adult and medical use regulations including policies that implement the agency's oversight of host community agreements, new equity requirements, and suitability reform.
 
"The Cannabis Control Commission is taking the position that changes to the cannabis laws which went into effect in November of 2022 are retroactive and affect pre-existing agreements, such as the one that the town has with Liberty Market," Attorney Nicole Costanzo said.
 
"Of course, there are some novel legal issues presented as to whether or not the legislative changes do retroactively affect pre-existing host community agreements. It's my understanding that the town does want to work with Liberty Market nevertheless and try and get them a "compliant" agreement for purposes of the Cannabis Control Commission issuing them a license renewal to move forward."
 
She explained that the town could sign the host community "forever" waiver, sign the CCC's model HCA, or enter into a new HCA with Liberty Market.  The current HCA was signed in 2018.
 
"We have been working with the Cannabis Control Commission staff through negotiations for other host community agreements and we are aware of certain terms that the Commission will approve and won't approve," Costanzo said.
 
She recommended that the board designate an official to work with town counsel on negotiations with the dispensary, as it is more efficient. A recommendation will be brought back to the board.
 
Dario was happy to be the designee.
 
"I've had the opportunity to speak with Nicole on many occasions just to get a better sense of what the policy framework in this debate is. I've also spoken with the representatives of Liberty Market and their council," she said.
 
"I think ultimately, all parties are amenable to trying to come up with a practical way forward."
 
Costanzo also outlined new equity requirements.
 
"The legislature and the Cannabis Control Commission do require that municipalities adopt policies or bylaws in an effort to promote equity in the cannabis industry," she explained.
 
"Really those policies and requirements deal, for the most part, with host community agreement negotiations."
 
She and Dario have drafted a social equity plan and a host community agreement policy that creates an application process and procedures.  The board has until May 1 to report compliance to the CCC.
 
 
 

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Pagliarulo, Strout Win Seats on Dalton Select Board

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

The election saw about a 20 percent turnout of registered voters.
DALTON, Mass. — Voters returned one of two incumbents to the Select Board and one newcomer on Tuesday. 
 
Antonio "Tony" Pagliarulo won one of the two seats in the four-way race with 577 votes for the board, outpolling the other three candidates by 107 votes. Coming up second was incumbent Marc Strout with 486. 
 
William Drosehn, chair of the Finance Committee, was 13 votes behind at 473. 
 
Robert Collins, who won a seat by 13 votes in February's special election found himself out of the running this time with 459 votes. 
 

Pagliarulo expressed his gratitude to the voters and hopes that he and the board can do a good job by them.


"Everybody's going to be in office, even though the other two candidates didn't make it. We have a Finance chair and we have a person on the Planning Board, so hopefully we'll work in harmony together," he said. 


Collins holds a seat on the Planning Board; Pagliarulo is a member of the Green Committee and the Public Safety Facility Advisory Committee.


The elections saw above-average voter turnout, with 1,001 individuals voting in person at the Senior Center, and 83 mail-in ballots were counted after the polls closed, for about 20 percent of registered voters. 


Residents lined Field Street with signs in support of their preferred candidates as some played lawn games to pass the time. 


When the unofficial results came in, several of Strout's supporters cheered as they left the Senior Center. 


Strout said he looks forward to serving on the board for another three years and will do so with honesty and integrity. 


This will be Strout's fourth term. When running for Select Board nine years ago, he didn't think he would ever get to this point. 


"But when you get in here and you're able to serve the people and look out for them and take care of the small things for them, whether it's a pothole on their street or the street light out, those are the things that are important to people," Strout said. 


"We got a lot of work ahead of us and bringing people together to get things done, and that's what's going to take for all of us to work together." 


Although losing this race, Collins intends to stay involved in the town, continuing his work on the Planning Board and Storm Water Commission. 


When asked whether he would request a recount given the close results, Collins said he does not intend to and emphasized his trust and faith in the town clerk’s office and the volunteers who handle the counting process. 


Drosehn said he does not believe the results reflected the true vision of the town’s people, feels there was an "anomaly" in the results, and plans to call for a recount.


He said town voters prefer to have someone on the board, "one in particular," that he thinks doesn’t approach the issues.  


Unofficial results for other contested races were: 


The Planning Board had three candidates for its two open seats. Voters elected Dennis Croughwell, who had 729 votes, and Donald Davis with 456. David Martindale had 434 votes. 


The Library Trustees had five candidates for its four available seats. Voters elected Anne Ronayne, who had 1,263 votes, Thomas Condron with 710 votes, Leonardo Quiles with 623 votes, and Sherri Belouin with 576 votes. Michael Jamrog had 356 votes.

 

 

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