Public Comment

Transcript (~10 min @ 21:30)

Speakers identified by voice; unnamed voices are numbered within this recording. Auto-caption text — verify against the video.

▶ 21:27 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: just would like to note that in accordance with mass general laws this meeting is being recorded it's also being broadcast live on MMTV and can be

▶ 21:37 Peter D. Mortimer: viewed on the MMTV website a motion to open the floor for public comment madam

▶ 21:40 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: president second we have a motion to open the floor for public comment made by Alderman Mortimer seconded by Alderman Boisselle all in favor any opposed we are now in the portion of our meeting where any member of the public may come forward who wishes to speak on any item on our agenda this evening good

▶ 21:56 Speaker 6: Good evening.

▶ 22:00 Speaker 7: Good evening, my name is George Lasky, I live in Malden. And I'm here about the marijuana zone.

▶ 22:11 Speaker 7: We weren't properly notified in Malden of any changes in your zoning.

▶ 22:21 Speaker 7: And I'd just like to know, is this the map that you sent to the state? It says Mount Hood Golf Course. Mount Hood Golf Course is a federal park,

▶ 22:34 Speaker 7: and it's also advertised in your flyer as a park with kids playing there. And I understand the medical marijuana. You're not supposed to be within so many feet of a public park. One of your aldermen said they didn't want it in their front yard. Well, we don't want it in our front yard. this is our front yard right here your police cannot get there without going to either Sargis or Malden

▶ 23:12 Speaker 7: I know this land at the golf course was taken my family was one of the ones that lost it during the depression days to the government for a public park

▶ 23:28 Speaker 7: and also I like

▶ 23:35 Speaker 7: to mention that two weeks ago I complained about the door to this hall. The handicapped door is not working properly. Twenty-something years ago I put a complaint in, and the state fined you people for that door because it was locked. Also, you have a training center in between the two floors. You were told to lock it with a padlock. You cannot use that

▶ 24:03 Speaker 7: room up there for anything. Also, one of your aldermen said that there was no neighbors on the Malden side until you got to Salem and Broadway. Well, we're a neighborhood up here of people. And many years ago, we had a mayor in Malden, and our neighborhood, he He was in for 16 years, and our neighborhood got together and sued the city, and we put him out of office.

▶ 24:34 Speaker 7: Also, the mayor here at the present time has not talked to me. I've been up twice, and quite a few years ago when you guys were doing the golf course with the illegal fill,

▶ 24:52 Speaker 7: state rep asked me to come out and check it you're all the men of what seven at the time asked me to check it I call the mayor's office that time and I got no response I got told there was nothing I could do about it well I had that job shut down within a day and a half I had a state trooper on the state highway which is Broadway and they tagged all these trucks for their tires and all

▶ 25:18 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: that sir thank you I need to ask you to stick to the items on the agenda this evening you're here to speak on the marijuana ordinance right I'm here to

▶ 25:28 Speaker 7: speak this is a federal pack you people took money from the federal government you if this is the flyer you sent to the state it does not say it's a pack it

▶ 25:41 Speaker 7: says it's a golf course my father told us when we were kids you guys go down and play on that golf course play your football your baseball coach and if any of one asked you any questions tell them to come and see me he says I was down there selling tonic one time in the park department truck combined took me up to the clubhouse Park Commissioner seen me going into the clubhouse with the man told him to put me back in the truck and take me back down and set up my stand again. This is a public park. It is not a golf course. And if you people want to open up a marijuana spot and break the federal law, it is against the federal government. One of you aldermen said that a couple weeks ago. You people are going to get sued.

▶ 26:33 Speaker 7: And I'm telling you, you need an override now. You're definitely going to need an override then I am going to have the federal government come in and take the pack back and give it back to the people they took it from if you people let this marijuana shop go in there thank you very much thank you sir would you mind

▶ 26:52 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: if you haven't already signing in on the sheet for the record thank you thank you

▶ 27:42 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: there are any other members of the public wishing to speak on the items

▶ 28:12 Speaker 2: before us this evening good evening good evening my name is Peter Dunbar thank for your time the no intentions of keeping you on orders third uh 2019 31 longer than the public hearing um so hopefully everybody will get home decent time tonight um i come from a company in boston known as b green supply we're a hardware and manufacturing business we supply hardware consumables to cannabis businesses throughout the country and the reason i come to you tonight addresses a lot of the concerns that we heard from the last public hearing a lot coming from the residents as well as from the council and what we've noticed and we appreciate in hearing from the planning committee is a further understanding of the different types of licenses so that not everything is a retail license and not everything bears a traffic burden to the city in fact many of these businesses can exist right in front of you and many of them that we've seen throughout the country and had experience working with firsthand you have no idea what they're doing in there you don't even know what type of a business it is in fact you would walk by and think all they manufacture widgets and that's the reality that there's an option for this city to take advantage of and that's that there's a lot of cities here that are vibing for this retail market and we see an opportunity for the for the town of Melrose to embrace the cannabis industry that is coming that your that your city has voted for and to acknowledge that companies that are in manufacturing that are testing the product don't bear the same kind of a burden on a town but they still provide a very beneficial financial impact to the community and we've seen that with ways that you know certainly with taxes can certainly go to good use and as we just caught the tail end of you know certainly there's always room for needed spending in the town especially with things that come to safety and so when we look at this we encourage the town to vote and think about that division of licenses in a way that isn't all retail and isn't everything that you see on the front page and that there's many ways where the town of melrose can contribute to the statewide economy of the marijuana industry without bringing people through a front of you know a retail store on main street and it's also in a way that some of the sensitivities that we heard regarding we don't want this in our front yard and we understand that and we see that in a lot of the communities that we've worked with throughout the country and with that being said we've seen the the benefit of that that business being there uh in fact many of them the property values are increasing safety is increasing violent crime is decreasing a lot of real real concerns that uh you know whether whether the town wants it or not um you know we've heard a lot about how in malden just around the corner you're going to be having uh these types of businesses open up so whether you restrict them from here they are going to exist and they'll exist around you and there's an opportunity to benefit from it in a way that supports the concerns and financial needs of the community the citizens and uh certainly the town so thank you very much thank you did you get a chance to sign in sir i did

▶ 31:31 Speaker 6: okay thank you any further comments from members of the public motion to close public comment

▶ 31:36 Jennifer L. Lemmerman: second promotion of closed public comment made by alderman forbes seconded by alderman poysel all in favor aye aye any opposed that concludes the portion of our meeting for public comment