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Minutes of Council Workshop dated Aug 5, 2019WORKSHOP MEETING OF THE AGAWAM CITY COUNCIL Minutes dated August 5, 2019 The Workshop Meeting was called to order by Council President Johnson at 7:45pm in the Auditorium of the Agawam Junior High School, 1305 Springfield Street in Feeding Hills. Item A. Roll Call ROLL CALL – 9 PRESENT, 2 ABSENT (Councilors Letellier and Mineo) Roll Call was taken with the following councilors present: George Bitzas, Council Vice President Cecilia Calabrese, Paul Cavallo, Council President Christopher Johnson, Robert Magovern, Dino Mercadante, Robert Rossi, Rosemary Sandlin and Anthony Suffriti. Absent were Councilors Gina Letellier and Joseph Mineo. Mayor Sapelli and Solicitor Buoniconti were also in attendance. Council President Johnson stated that the purpose of the workshop was to establish a direction with respect to the legalization of the sale of recreational marijuana. If the Council does nothing, then as subject to the existing state law, it will become legal in town as of January 1, 2020. In his opinion, there are three choices: Vote to not allow recreational marijuana to be sold in the Town of Agawam. Vote to allow recreational marijuana to be sold in the Town of Agawam. Choose to place this item on the November ballot to allow the people of Agawam decide. Again, we can ban it, allow it, or go with a non-binding ballot question. At that point, if the Council decides to place this question on the ballot, then the Council must honor and respect the will of the people regardless of one’s own personal belief or moral compass. During the discussion this evening, Council President Johnson noted that he did not want to hear whether or not councilors were for or against this, the purpose of the workshop is to decide on which direction the Council would like to proceed. Council President Johnson also reminded everyone that after the ballot question to legalization marijuana in the State of Massachusetts where the Town of Agawam voted 50.8% No to 49.2% Yes (with only a couple hundred votes separating the two) and researching the rereading the ballot question and related information, this is a different issue and question than that was. Councilor Mercadante stated whether or not it was binding or non-binding, councilors are elected by the people and it is our job to do the will of the voters – not our own personal belief. Council President Johnson agreed we would have to honor the voters’ decision and legally this question can only be placed on the ballot as a non-binding question. Councilor Magovern also stated that we were there to represent the people of Agawam and believes we must place this question on the ballot. It is a very conflictive issue and it should be clearly written with the pros and cons noted. Councilor Cavallo asked if we had a determination of the number of establishments we can or would have to have within town and also if it is two establishments, do we have to have two or can we say we can only have one? Solicitor Buoniconti stated that if the Council does nothing then we would fall under the state’s numbers and two establishments would be allowed in town. Councilor Cavallo asked if the public had the right to petition to put this on the ballot as well and the Solicitor confirmed noting that under the Town Charter there are certain mechanisms in place to put something on the ballot. This is more for non-binding questions. A non-binding question would need to be submitted within thirty five days of an election to be placed on the ballot. If the Council so desired, it should go on the September agendas in order to be on the ballot. Councilor Cavallo also asked about the 3% tax and Solicitor Buoniconti said that is a local option that the Council would also have to adopt. They discussed the recent process that the City of Springfield went through ultimately selecting four businesses. Councilor Sandlin asked if there would be any public input if we decided to place this on the ballot. Council President Johnson stated that the ultimate in public input is by putting in on the ballot and given the sensitive nature of this topic, he would imagine there would be a lot of public input. Councilor Rossi is not in favor of placing this on the ballot. He believes that it already was on the ballot. Those who voted no have the option to not allow in their town and most towns who voted no did not go back to ask the voters to decide again. Regardless of the percentage of the vote, Agawam still voted no. We should say yay or nay and be done with it. Councilor Mercadante stated that if we didn’t allow it to go on the ballot, then we would have to say no however, now that it is legal in the state, many of those people may now be swayed to vote differently on this issue. Many may have been on the fence and it is probably the best idea to give this to the people to decide. Solicitor Buoniconti reminded everyone that in 2016 the binding question was to legalize the use of marijuana in the state. This is now a different issue. Councilor Bitzas said we do need to vote one way or the other and questions which is best for the town. He agreed with Councilor Rossi. He also said he has no problem with this going on the ballot but feels they already spoke and doesn’t matter if it was 300 vote difference or 3000 votes – no is no and we have to respect the majority. Councilor Cavallo also inquired about the proposed facility on the rotary and what would happen if this never comes before us. Solicitor Buoniconti said that proposed facility would still need to seek approval from the State Cannabis Control but if they are approved, they could sell both medical and recreational marijuana. Mayor Sapelli renegotiated the agreement that the former mayor had entered into with this business. It is still being worked on by the owner. Licenses cost about $50,000 per year for medical and about $5000 per year for recreational. Councilor Bitzas asked if the City Council said no to the sale of recreational marijuana can they still sell it – Solicitor said only if we allow this. Council Vice President Calabrese stated her opinion is in favor of having this go on as a ballot question. The initial legalization ballot question was poorly written and very confusing. Now that it is legal and the margin was very narrow, people may have a different view and there are a lot of new families in town. Agawam now has the benefit of hindsight and she thinks the voters would be very astute and educated to make an informed decision. Councilor Mercadante asked if the one tentative dispensary sold both medical and recreational marijuana, would this satisfy the number needed in town to adhere to state law. Solicitor confirmed this. Mayor Sapelli stated that in his opinion when the original question was on the ballot, it was different than what was being talked about this evening. The argument regarding legalization is over. In his humble opinion, this is an entirely new issue and now the town can reevaluate what they would like to do. We now have these three options and we should exercise this. As Mayor, he could bring it to the Council or place this on the ballot and he believes the fairest path is to place it on the ballot. However he cautioned the Council that they must be prepared to honor the will of the people. Solicitor Buoniconti noted that it would still require the Council to pass an ordinance. Councilor Bitzas asked about the timeline. Solicitor stated the per the Council Rules and Regulations, the ballot question would be New Business on September 3rd meeting and acted upon at the September 16th meeting. He would also place two ordinances on the Agenda simultaneously so that the Council could take quick action after the November election so this can be in effect by December 31st. Council President Johnson reiterated that the non-binding ballot question will be placed on the City Council Agenda on September 3rd. Both ordinances (one if the town votes yes and one if the town votes no) will be placed on our September 16th Agenda so that the Council could act after the election results. We would probably have a joint Public Hearing with the Planning Board because they would be zoning ordinances. Councilor Sandlin asked if we would need to have a Special Meeting so this is done in time (no this would not be necessary). Councilor Rossi adamantly believes this does not need to go back on the ballot. He said the City Council has the power to say no without going back to the ballot. He said the fact of the matter is the City Council needs to decide this issue. If there are morality issues with this and the town says yes, then you are stuck and have to go with the will of the town. Councilor Mercadante said the City Council is simply elected to do one thing and that is to do the will of the people. It is not about our individual morality – it is the will of the people. Councilor Rossi believes the people already spoke. Councilor Mercadante agreed however this is a different and unique situation. It would be nice to maintain your own morality but we represent the people and town as a whole and the dynamics have changed. Councilor Cavallo stated this is an opportunity for the community to make a decision and even if it goes against what he believes in, he needs to respect the town’s wishes. Councilor Magovern said the people have to speak however he requested that we provide the people with plenty of information to make an informed decision. It is vitally important to have this vote so we can go on record. Councilor Bitzas said by placing this on the ballot, we are delaying our vote and he has a big dilemma with this. Councilor Suffriti is in favor of placing this on the ballot. He said give the power to the people. That is called democracy and it is now a different question. He believes that the time has gone by and the pros and cons have changed people’s minds. He thinks the new outcome will not be as close as it was before. He also has strong opinions on this issue but believe he has to go with what the people want. Council President Johnson said the purpose of this workshop was to get all of this information into the Council’s hands and we still need a consensus – which seems to be to place the non-binding question on the agenda. Obviously at that time, everyone can voice their own pros and cons about this issue. Council President Johnson also agreed with the Mayor when he said it is a different question altogether. He personally has reviewed all of the ballot information from the prior vote and nowhere does it say this question. Now that it is legal in the State of Massachusetts, we need to present a clear question to the voters. He thanked everyone for their well thought out conversation during the workshop. Motion to adjourn was moved and seconded all around. Meeting was adjourned at 8:28pm.