Town Council - Ordinance & Rules Committee

Braintree Town Council MEMBERS David Ringius, Jr, Chairman Committee on Ordinance & Rules Shannon Hume, Vice- Chairman One JFK Memorial Drive Julia Flaherty, Member Braintree, Massachusetts 02184 Charles Ryan, Member July 11, 2022 MINUTES A meeting of the Committee on Ordinance & Rules was held in Cahill Auditorium on Wednesday, July 11, 2022, beginning at 6:00pm. Chairman Ringius was in the Chair. Clerk of the Council, Susan Cimino conducted the roll call. All votes were conducted by Roll Call Vote. Present: David Ringius, Jr, Chairman Julia Flaherty, Member Charles Ryan, Member Meredith Boericke, President Not Present: Shannon Hume, Vice-Chairman Also Present: James M. Casey, Town Clerk James Arsenault, DPW Director Dru Ledbetter, CEO FlowerXpress Mark Doucette, Chief Revenue Officer Huggens Lafond, Chief of Cultivation Kerlee Nicolas, Chief Financial Officer Karen Chacón, Chief DEI Officer Marquis Cohen, Chief Operating Officer Adrian Brown, Chief Scientific Officer Leslie Pascual, Chief Technology Officer Agnieszka Grosso, Head of Brand & Creative Dennis Braybeck, Senior Mechanical Engineer Louis Crispin, Electrical Engineer Many residents David Ringius, Jr, Chairman of the Committee on Ordinance & Rules asked for a moment of silence for our first responders and all those serving home and abroad. July 11, 2022 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 1 of 10 Approval of Minutes • None Old Business • 22 015 Citizen Petition: Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments: Proposed Amended Article XVIII – Medical and Adult Use or Non-Medical Marijuana Establishments and related amendments to Section 135-601 and 135-806 or take up any action relative thereto A Motion was made by Councilor Ryan to Take off the TABLE Order 22 015 Motion: by Councilor Ryan to Take off the TABLE Order 22 015 Second: by Councilor Flaherty Roll Call Vote: For (3 – Flaherty, Ringius, Ryan), Against (0), Absent (1 - Hume), Abstain (0) Chairman Ringius stated I want to thank all those residents who came to our last meeting and spoke both for and against this proposal. James M. Casey, Town Clerk stated I will give a very high level in regard to Elections and how we proceed as it comes up for a vote. CITIZEN INITIATIVE PROCESS Braintree Town Charter, Article 7, Section 7-7 Citizen Initiative Petition Petition Addressed to the town council or school committee (as the case may be) Contain request for the passage of a particular measure Petitioners Committee Affidavit signed by 10 votersMust contain their residential address Must designate a member to serve as clerk of petitioners committee Responsible for circulating the petition and filing it in proper form 250 or more voters file proposed initiative petition with clerk of the council or the secretary of the school committee (as the case may be) At least 25 voters per District Certification of Voters Town Clerk certifies validity of affidavit* Signature collection process meets minimum requirements 250 voters with at least 25 voters per voting district If valid-town clerk shall return proposed petition to respective office Otherwise, town clerk notifies clerk of petition committee of reason July 11, 2022 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 2 of 10 Certification of Voters Referral to Town Solicitor by clerk of the council or the secretary of school committee (as the case may be) Within 15-days of receipt Notify respective agency Measure proposed may lawfully be proposed by the initiative process in present form or, State reason why measure is not in proper form Copy of opinion to clerk of petitioners committee Further Petition Submitted under Section 7-7(a) Submission to Town Clerk If petition is deemed valid Town clerk shall provide blank forms for subsequent signers Concise summary of proposed measure printed on top of each blank form Summary–as determined by the town solicitor Names and addresses of each member of petitioners committee who signed originating petition Signature Requirements Within 30-days after the date the blank forms issued by town clerk 10% of total number of voters as of the date of the most recent town election November 2,2021:27,709 Registered Voter s= 2,771 valid signatures Street and number of the residence of each signer Petition documents fastened together and filed as a single document Endorsement containing the name and address of person designated as filing petition on each document Validation of Signatures Within 10-days of filing of the petition Town clerk shall attach to the petition a certificate showing the results of their examination Return the petition to the clerk of the council or the secretary of the school committee (as the case may be) Copy of voters certificate shall be mailed to the person designated as clerk of the petitioners committee Action on petition Town Council or School Committee Within 30-days after the petition returned to the clerk of the council, or the secretary of the school committee and after publication under section2-9(c) Respective agency (Council/School Committee) Shall act to the initiative petition by…. Passing it without change Passing a measure which is stated to be in lieu of the initiative measure July 11, 2022 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 3 of 10 Rejecting it Failure to act within 30-days after petition returned… Shall be considered to have been rejected on the thirtieth day. Rejected Measure Agency shall promptly give notice of facts to person designated as the clerk of the petitioners committee, by certified mail Supplementary petitions Within 60-days after the date initiative petition rejected File supplemental initiative petition with the clerk of the council or the secretary of school committee (as the case may be) Obtain additional signatures 5%of the total number of voters as of the date of the most recent town election Signatures obtained under subsection(c) and additional signatures, taken together, shall contain the signatures of at least 15% of the total number of voters in the town and in each of the districts into which the town is divided for the purpose of election Certification of Voters Town Clerk certifies validity of supplementary petitions* Signature collection process meets minimum requirements If valid-town council shall call a special election on a date fixed by… Not less than 35 nor more than 90 days after the town council votes to call for the special election, but if any other town election is to be held within 120 days after the date of the certificate, the town council may omit calling of the special election and cause the question to appear on the election ballot at the approaching election for determination by the voters Proposed measure shall be submitted without alteration to the voters Full text of initiative measure submitted to voters shall be published in a local newspaper No less than 7 nor more than 14 days preceding the date of the election Additional copies of the full text shall be available in the Office of the Town Clerk Form of Question Shall the following measure, which was proposed by an initiative petition, take effect? A fair and concise summary prepared by the town solicitor shall be included on the ballot YES or NO response Time of taking effect If a majority of votes cast on the question is in the affirmative, the measure shall be deemed to be effective immediately, unless a later date is specified in the measure The Town Charter states: Section 7-1. Town elections: general, preliminary The regular town election shall be held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November in each odd-numbered year. A preliminary election for the purpose of nominating mayoral candidates shall be held on the third Tuesday in September in every other odd-numbered year, but the town clerk may, with the approval of the town council, reschedule this election to the fourth Tuesday to avoid a conflict with any civil or July 11, 2022 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 4 of 10 religious holiday. Whenever a special election to fill a vacancy in the office of mayor is to be held, a preliminary election shall be conducted 35 days preceding the date established for the special election. Section 7-10. Submission of other matters to voters The town council may of its own motion, and shall at the request of the school committee if a measure originates with that body and pertains to affairs under its jurisdiction, submit to the voters at any regular town election for adoption or rejection any measure in the same manner and with the same force and effect as is hereby provided for submission by petitions of voters. Councilor Flaherty stated she asked our Town Solicitor to ask the Attorney General as to whether this question can go on a ballot. Clerk Casey stated as of 6pm this evening the Attorney General’s office had not provided feedback on this particular process but reading the Charter under Section 7-10 there is no decision - it’s a local election. It is how the question may or may not be worded and to understand what Norwell did in the past. Chairman Ringius stated this was not the Council that brought this forward. This was brought before us by a citizen, Mr. Doucette on behalf of FlowerXpress to change the zoning. This is not something the Council has brought up on their own. This is the typical way we go through and figure out how these things are going to come to pass. Chairman Ringius explained a few months back there was a Veterinary Service that wanted to open. It came to us as a citizen petition, went to the Planning Board for a recommendation, the Town Council referred it to the Committee on Ordinance & Rules that makes a recommendation which is non- binding to the full Council. It then goes to the full Town Council for a super majority vote which means 6 of the 9 councilors would have to approve any change which is typical for what we use. Chairman Ringius stated the Citizens Petition which is Chapter 7 section 7-7 is something that got brought up a lot at our last meeting. Where citizens wanted to find out the way whereby they could make the decision and put it on the ballot. At the very minimum you are talking 2 months. Even if you are up to getting over 2,700 voter signatures. There is no way numerically this could be done by August 3rd. Town Clerk Casey replied I would say the train has left the station on that one. Chairman Ringius stated the final piece is if the council under the Charter, does have the authority to put something on the ballot, for the residents of the town to vote on, I don’t think has been used for anything to do with zoning. Town Clerk Casey stated there was the special election for the debt exclusion that was voted on by the council. Nothing to do with zoning. Chairman Ringius stated the understanding is it would have to be on a regular town election which would not be until 2023. Town Clerk Casey stated that is correct. July 11, 2022 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 5 of 10 Chairman Ringius stated the petitioners will now present on some concerns that were raised by residents at our last meeting. Dru Ledbetter, CEO FlowerXpress shared a presentation stating one concern is to be environmentally friendly. Our goal is to build a LEED certified building. What that means is that it’s the most wisely used green building rated system in the world. It is a framework for efficiency carbon and cost savings, water waste reduction as well as environmentally friendly business practices. Our goal is to achieve the highest rating possible for an existing building. The building is over 100 years old and has been vacant for over 20 years. Odor mitigation and water and waste came up at the last meeting. Odor mitigation is a two-phased approach. Not only internally odor mitigation for our employees and team members. We also want to make sure we minimize the odor inside so when we do apply our carbon filters for outside we are essentially not exhausting any odor at all. We will have a positive water cycle to try to minimize water consumption and use reverse osmosis to try to minimize water waste as well. Water Osmosis systems essentially recycle the water and then some of the water is concentrated with all the pollutants and that’s gone into the sewerage systems like the toilet water does but we’re able to reuse at least a third of that water in the facility so we are not wasting all of the water that we’re filtering. We want to apply a rainwater portable water conversion system. Use the rainwater to energize some solar panels and gardens outside of the facility. We are hoping to collect the rainwater and put it through our filtration system, use it internally and use reverse osmosis to minimize the water exiting and the water waste on the other end. Ecosorb has been in business for over 25 years. A trusted odor solution for inorganic and organic odors. They have a natural odor solution which is plant based (cnb100). ProGuard will be our second and third layers of odor mitigation with carbon filters. Our goal is to have zero odor escape. We are meeting with these teams continuously. Councilor Flaherty stated some residents expressed concern that the facility could emit thc to our community causing passive exposure to residents. Can you address that? Huggens Lafond, Chief of Cultivation stated thc if formed in a plant at the late stage of the plants life cycle. In early stages the plant produces different cannabinoids. For thc to actually be exposed it needs to be ignited. The odor mitigation process was actually created for viruses and pathogens. They found in testing that realized this also aid the plants health and helps to reduce the volatile compounds that could leave the facility. The facility we proposed here will be the most regulated, probably better than a hospital. Councilor Flaherty asked about the revenue projecting $6million. Can you provide information on companies that have already been established doing this and the revenue they see. Dru Ledbetter stated cannabis is making over 100 million dollars of revenue a month. Municipalities are getting 3%. Only about 40% of Municipalities are participating. Last month over $3.6 million in tax revenue collected throughout the state by Municipalities. Some Municipalities are not reporting impact fees that they are receiving revenue. Councilor Ryan asked about the reuse of water. This water will not be for employees to drink, it is to water the flowers correct? Huggens Lafond, Chief of Cultivation stated the goal is to be as efficient with the water as possible. This facility will put some pressure on the water supply. It is a massive facility. For the sinks and toilets July 11, 2022 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 6 of 10 we have a system to capture the rain water and filter it. Humidifiers will take water out of the air and that water will be collected and put back in the filtration system. Councilor Ryan asked if the rainwater collected will go through a reverse osmosis system. Mr. Lafond stated it will go through a filtration system but not the reverse osmosis system. The plants being grown will use the towns water and that water will go through the reverse osmosis system and get filtered and reused for the plants being grown inside the building again never to be wasted. Councilor Ryan asked about thc escaping the building and the odor. I hope the answer is No. Mr. Lafond stated the answer is no. No thc will be coming from the building. The odor is put through sophisticated carbon filters. One to remove the odors in the air and one to “polish” the air. Councilor Ryan stated with carbon filters you need a very good maintenance program because carbon has a shelf life and expires and gets used up. Councilor Ryan asked where the growing will be inside the facility stating if someone leaves a door open the odors could get out as well. Mr. Lafond stated there is about a 75 feet buffer from the exterior of the building to where the flower is actually being grown including a sterile area where employees would gown up. Dennis Braybeck, Senior Mechanical Engineer stated the building will be under negative pressure. We will be taking out more than we put in. Councilor Ryan stated I hope the plan is to remove all the hvac and replace with new. Dennis Braybeck, Senior Mechanical Engineer stated correct everything has been taken out of that building and all new will be replaced and everything be brought up to code. There will be hospital grade filters in each of the flowering rooms to control the pathogens and the odors in those rooms. Councilor Ryan asked if there will be a maintenance program to be sure maintenance is checked per manufacturers recommended guidelines. Dru Ledbetter stated we will be very strict and have a compliance officer that oversees all of the checklists and ensures these tasks are done on a regular basis. Councilor Ryan stated in my business we test the odor before it goes into the system and after and it better be “0” coming out of the system. Is there any testing for the odor filtration system you have? Dennis Braybeck stated that technology exists. The testing is for the volatile organic compounds that are in the airstream. Councilor Ryan asked if you have zero vocs passing through the carbon filtration system, it means you have zero odor leaving the facility? Mr. Braybeck stated correct. President Boericke (ex-officio) asked how many gallons of water per day do you estimate you would be using? Huggens Lafond, Chief of Cultivation stated we estimate about 30,000 to 35,000 gallons of water a day. President Boericke asked how many facilities like this are in the state. Huggens Lafond, Chief of Cultivation stated this would be the third indoor facility. President Boericke asked if there was any information on the yearly use of any other like facilities. Huggens Lafond, Chief of Cultivation stated some information is hard to get. We can try to ask. July 11, 2022 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 7 of 10 President Boericke asked of the 35,000 gallons of water each day, how much would be wastewater? Mr. Lafond stated we do not know yet. We will try to figure that out. Dru Ledbetter stated due to supply chain issues we do not have all our vendors nailed down. Once we do we can answer during the special permit process. Right now our concern is the Zoning piece. President Boericke asked what besides solar panels will be on the roof of this building? Dru Ledbetter stated that is it. Just solar panels. President Boericke asked how long to get this up and running if approved. Mr. Lafond stated it would take about 18 months to build out the facility and retro fit it. That is if everything goes smoothly including supply chain. Realistic 2 years and 2 1/2 years to see any proceeds from the growing. 24-30 months is a realistic timeframe for this project. President Boericke asked about the jobs. Are these full-time or just at harvest time. Dru Ledbetter stated our business plan is staggering harvest time. We want full time careers with opportunities to grow within our business. Councilor Ryan asked about a back up generator. Louis Crispin, Electrical Engineer stated there will be a back up generator located at the back of the building. Chairman Ringius stated what are your philanthropic endeavors. Dru Ledbetter stated we want to build a committee of community leaders that would manage a fund which would be a percentage of our profits so that the town could decide how this money could be used. We can help pour back parts of the budgeting that have been depleted over the years. We want to put together community outreach programs and job fairs. We will use local businesses when our linens and lab coats need to be cleaned and we would use Braintree landscapers and union workers so we’re keeping all the dollars circulating in the town. President Boericke reached out to the CCC and received the following information: Matt Giancola, Director of Government Affairs and Policy at the CCC – Direct #: 774-415-0462 For residents/constituent services – email commission@cccmass.com or Mr. Giancola’s number above • I would recommend residents copy their Councilor on any inquiry so we can assist in getting answers and hearing constituents concerns. The Braintree Town Council has a zoning proposal before it regarding Cultivation and Manufacturing and Delivery of cannabis. Can you please help me with the following questions? July 11, 2022 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 8 of 10 1. Is there a recommended buffer zone between cultivation facilities and residences? A: Technically, the CCC has only one buffer zone which is the 500’ buffer zone regarding K-12 schools, measured doorway to doorway. Cities have the ability to lower this buffer zone, if they choose. 2. If the CCC does not recommend a buffer zone between cultivation facilities and residences is there a summary of what MA municipalities have established for buffer zones between the cultivation facilities and residences? A: When an applicant comes before the CCC, the CCC will reach out to the municipality to confirm the application meets the local zoning ordinances. There is no database of buffer zones; Mass Municipal Association may be a helpful resource. Recommend reaching out to individual cities or towns for their ordinances: North Hampton, Greenfield, Pittsfield, Tynsdale (outdoor growing), Lowell, Salem (not yet operational). 3. Does the CCC have a record of odor complaints as a result of cultivation facilities? A: CCC doesn’t keep a record devoted to odor; anecdotally CCC has received them. Depending on the odor or circumstances, DEP may have some oversight (odor pollutant going from one property to another); municipality will have oversight as a nuisance issue. With indoor cultivators, if there are odors, it’s possible their carbon filters have broken down or someone inadvertently shut them down. Carbon filters generally work really well; do not have a lot of complaints with this. Recommend we ask applicant about what their odor mitigation systems are. CCC requires odor prevention to minimize development of odor, but no approved/required system. CCC does require a ventilation system. The Commission can take action if complaints are coming from “over the property line”. Complainant can contact the CCC and each facility has an investigator assigned to it. The investigator will take statements from complainants, require a plan of corrective action, etc. They may mandate that a filter be upgraded, etc. The CCC can issue fines, suspension, revocation of license. 4. Does the CCC have staff, best practice guide or other resources to assist municipalities in establishing cannabis industries in their town or city? A: Yes, CCC has resources. Guidance documents are on the website: state and local government key resources. There is general guidance for municipalities that are just entering the space or thinking of entering the space; overview of commission and license types; There is guidance on equity and host community agreements; host community agreements, Municipal Equity – best practices from cities and towns around the state. CCC cannot come to a local public meeting because they must avoid appearance of conflict of interest. July 11, 2022 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 9 of 10 Chairman Ringius stated we have a lot of information here. We have some important decisions to make. We are not approving Flower Xpress. If we approve this we are approving zoning for the entire town. There is still outstanding materials we are looking for answers to. We are waiting on information from the Attorney General and our Town Solcitor as well. Chairman Ringius asked for a motion to table Order 22 015 to a future meeting. A Motion was made by Councilor Ryan to TABLE Order 22 015 Motion: by Councilor Ryan to TABLE Order 22 015 Second: by Councilor Flaherty Roll Call Vote: For (3 – Flaherty, Ringius, Ryan), Against (0), Absent (1 - Hume), Abstain (0) It was unanimously voted by Roll Call to adjourn the meeting at 7:33 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan M. Cimino, Clerk of the Council Documents provided for Meeting • 22 015 Citizen Petition: Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments: Proposed Amended Article XVIII – Medical and Adult Use or Non-Medical Marijuana Establishments and related amendments to Section 135-601 and 135-806 or take up any action relative thereto Recording of this meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD38ADGHRGo July 11, 2022 Committee on Ordinance & Rules 10 of 10