good evening everyone i'll call the city council to order at 8:00 on Monday evening March 24th 2025 this meeting is being recorded please join me in the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thanks i would ask that you all remain standing for a moment uh councelor Don Landers uh
recently passed away uh Don served 18 years on the city council and had a distinguished career as an educator and administrator uh in the Malbor public school system i consider Don uh Mal's ambassador as he always greeted everyone
with a smile and love to show off the city one of the lasting legacy items will be Dawn's advocacy for the floating walkway around Lake Williams there's been a tremendous success and destination for the residents of the city as well as people from around the Commonwealth so please join me in a
moment of silence for Council Landers thank you very much um you can all be seated uh we'll have uh there are 16 items on this evening's agenda and I will ask the clerk to please start by reading agenda item number one minutes of the city council meeting March 10th 2025 council
Brown thank you Mr president move to accept and place on file the minutes motion made second accept and place on file the minutes any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor opposed the minutes of file 100 agenda item number two now is the time for the public hearing on the application for
amendment to a special permit from Green Meadows Farms LLC regarding uh to allow uh for medical marijuana sales in addition to adult use marijuana sales at a facility to be located at 239 Boston Post Road West we're number 25-100 9378 okay this public hearing be taken up in
four stages first for the public speaking in favor second questions from the public third public speaking in opposition and finally fourth questions from the city council so I'll open the first part of the public hearing of the public speaking in favor starting with the applicant Ash up please state your
name and address for the record please uh good evening city council president council members i'm Chris Dawaki CEO of Green Meadows Farm LLC we're at 239 Boston Post Road West um in May 2024
uh we came across Calvert Naturals uh which is an aspiring cannabis dispensary in the city uh and their location and their rights to 239 Boston Post Road West uh and obviously love the the location um the amazing commerce there uh and we made a bid for their assets
they were no longer pursuing uh the cannabis dispensary there uh which included their rights to the site uh their special permit and the host community agreement and our goal was to build out our third dispensary uh in the state so via lease with RK centers we
are in the process of building a new structure uh which is in its final stages you may have seen it uh when you pass along the post road um and once that's completed which hopefully is in the the very near future uh we'll then proceed with the state's uh CCC Cannabis
Control Commission inspections uh with a target opening of an adult use dispensary this summer uh second slide Steve thank you um so we're here this evening to request an amendment to that special permit um we'd like to allow for
the medical dispensing of our products to patients um if approved we would then of course moved on to the city uh to the state's licensing process uh for medical as well uh and also if approved the city would of course be providing much needed
uh medical cannabis uh to the city's patients um always done in a in a way of of quality and uh and safety um and by the way our our host community agreement does allow for medical dispensing as well uh slide three just some quick
background on who we are uh Green Meadows has been operating in the state for about 5 years we have two other locations in Southbridge and in Fitsburg um both have uh dispensaries that are adult use and medical colllocated we also operate uh cultivation and
manufacturing in South Bridge as well uh we were named the best dispensary in central Massachusetts two of the last three years by the Worcester TNG uh and we've won multiple industry awards for our products as well including NANA in Boston this past weekend which is the
big uh cannabis event there um specific to the special permit uh our hours of operation would of course be within the limits of the special permit um product deliveries and cash pickups would not be altered or increased uh with the addition of medical to to um our our
capabilities there we have ample parking in that lot uh in the Hannerford lot there and our case lot uh and our engineers have designed and built the site to accommodate for both adult use customers and medical patients uh and then very and lastly uh very quickly we're a family-owned and operated
company um we're owned by the patent family uh legacy of of General George S patton from World War II fame of course uh I'm joined tonight by Bob Patton um who was our chairman and also my stepfather um and our origin story and mission that brought us to cannabis
centers around veterans uh and serving patients um we we at our other two dispensaries we offer one of the best veteran discounts in the state um and it's extremely important for us to to serve patients that's why we got into the industry it's really um the ethos of of the business um so again thank you
for your time and consideration um and your consideration for allowing us to serve medical patients uh in Merlboro and I'll turn it over to Bob for a few comments as well uh thanks everyone i don't want to take up too much of everyone's time but again
I'm Bob Patton um uh it's a family-owned company uh I'm the chairman uh used to be CEO but my sons three of whom I have four sons three are very much involved with the company they kicked me upstairs where I can do less harm I think um but I'm the role I like to play is is
representing the family and what we really uh got into this business uh in the beginning we we opened our first store in South Bridge uh in 2021 uh it was about being medical it was about um honoring the legacy that not just our family but so many families in America and has become such a great uh ethic in
America to take care of our veterans and prior prioritize our veterans and that's about um very much about who we are as well uh the adult use is of course important um both to the community as a business all of that good stuff but it really begins and ends with us in in the
medical um capabilities that we do as a vertically integrated company so I appreciate the consideration and also I would like to apologize a little bit uh when we started in Southbridge they had they were only medical they had uh were considering an adult use referendum we went in we helped educate the the
community there a very different community perhaps from Marbor but one that's been amazing for us to work with at that time because of the nature of the sort of the application process and of just getting to know we knew everyone so I would have known all of you by first name and all the rest and I don't now because to some extent it's probably
quite healthy it's become a little bit routine I know you have other institutions here in town uh cannabis industries cannabis stores um in Fitsburg when we moved there again introductions were there we got to know the veteran service officers all we we hold classes is at Fitsburg State uh
both on the business side of cannabis and also on the veteran access and education they were giving a space there and yet here in Marbor I'm I'm probably the least familiar i mean Karen Bully we've spoken with and others and Chris has been on point for for the family as CEO and my son Rob who's on the marketing and and uh side so I haven't
been here as much but I I I swear to you I want to make that up because if there isn't that community element it's not worth doing for us i mean it is a business we want to do well but we do really do try to want to do good as well uh and it starts with making sure that it never does become quite routine in
cannabis uh it's it comes from a different past it has different responsibilities um but it has the advantages of bringing people together that might never have thought they'd come together in a dispensary or store before and I mean young 21 and up uh elderly veterans people that are
suffering from ailments and people that are looking for an adult use adventure on a weekend you know it's all in the stores and it's amazing to see Americans come together in that context when in so many other places we are not together although I like to think we're getting there i'll shut up but thank you all very much appreciate it bob and Chris
welcome no you're good no welcome to Malboro any other members of the public speaking in favor any other members of the public speaking in favor any other members of the public speaking in favor hearing none I close that portion of the public hearing questions from the public
any questions from the public any questions from the public hearing none I close that door from the public hearing public speaking in opposition any members of the public speaking in opposition members of the public speaking in opposition hearing
none I close that portion of the public hearing questions from the city councilors council vital [Applause] thank you Mr president uh two questions gentlemen one is what percentage in the two uh dispensaries that you have right
now what percentage of your business is in medical and then also what percentage is for veterans so the medical ranges between 12 and 15% between the two dispensaries uh so it is a a fair chunk of our of our
customer base and patient base um but we we're working all the time to to create more uh and it's about 9% are veterans which is again I think a good percentage and that's reflective of the um discounts and the programs that we offer them thank you very much gentlemen thank
you Mr president thank you councelor Ble any other questions from the city councilors questions from the city councilors council or Thank you Mr president i was yielding to the coun wad counselor i didn't know if
there were any questions before I asked but first and foremost as mentioned by our president welcome um thank you and to your relatives for the service to our country hard to believe I'm standing in front of a relative of General Patton i
I'm almost shocked by it to be honest i never thought I'd meet a relative but I'm sorry to interrupt i always say it's an accident of birth but I am proud to claim it and have tried to you know do it proud but thank you and I'm not going to make the questions easier because of that i only have one question i support
pretty much what you're doing uh just to give you an intro but how did you win that award was it based on the service to veterans how did you win that award to be whatever it said number what whatever it was you had in your presentation
the the award for the best dispensary yes it's it's based on the variety of products your and your service especially including the medical patients uh because they deserve uh and the state mandates that they have equal if not better representation of products on the shelves uh compared to adult use
customers so it's it's the facility and how you keep it it's the products that you have on your shelves and your variety and then of course the experience that you grant uh customers and patients and just one other note not that it's been a concern at your dispensary but uh there has been issues out in our parking lot in another
dispensary and I was going to ask if your your standard operating procedures to avoid any issues of on-site consumption and so forth yes if you have so standard operating procedures for that yep we do have SOPs we train all of our uh we call them guest services
associates bud tenders at the at the register and the POS to give instructions in terms of you know the the the exit bags get stapled and you're not to open that on our premises not to open it until you get into your private locations uh and then of course we have a one of the benefits of having a vertically integrated company is we do
have a security team and so we've got um surveillance uh interior and exterior and they keep an eye on all of that in all three well in the future all three facilities so if we see something that is taking place that's unoured or or not within compliance um we'll address that out in the lot excellent thank you both
thank you thank you Mr president thank you councelor any other questions from the city councilors questions from the city councilors any questions from the city councilors seeing none I close that portion of the public hearing and the entire public hearing and this is in urban affairs thank you gentlemen thank you very much thank you so much
everybody thank you very much good agenda item number three now is the time for the continued public hearing of the proposed excuse me zoning map amendment from Raundo Neto owner of 36 Jefferson Street to reszone 36 Jefferson Street identified as map 56 parcel 153
from residence B to neighborhood business district order number 2425-1009330C and in addition we have a request from attorney James McMahon on behalf of Raymond Raymond Neto to continue the public hearing to the April 14th 2025 city council meeting so this is a continuation of the public hearing
councelor Roby thank you Mr president so we are in sync with the planning board for their public hearing and our public hearing being on the same night the planning board did extend their public hearing till April 24th with the caveat that that would be the last extension
either they withdraw or they be prepared to come and present so I would move that the city council continue the public hearing with the same caveat that um that's our last extension they either withdraw or they come prepared to
present so the motion's made and second to extend or continue the public hearing till April 14th but this would be our last extension everybody's understands any discussion on the motion to continue the public hearing to April 14th and this being the
last time we'll be extending the public hearing seeing none all those in favor opposed the motion carries to continue the public hearing to April 14th with this being the last extension the vote is 10 agenda item number four communication from city council
president Oing regarding revised city council committee assignments council Roby thank you Mr president move to accept and place on file the communication from the president with the revised committee assignments motion made and seconded to
accept and place on file the communication any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor opposed communication is filed votes 10-0 agenda item number five communication from councilors Aing and Naven regarding municipal aggregation March 2025 update councelor Naven thank
you Mr president hard to believe yet another quarter has passed us by however Ma resident uh residential electricity users participating in our municipal aggregation program have saved over $44,000 in the fourth quarter of 2024
this is the city's fourth quarter with this contract with First Point Power which began in February of 24 and will run through November of 25 the rate is just over 14 cents per kilowatt hour which is lower than National Grid's basic service summer rate of just over 16 cents per kilowatt hour which was in
effect from August 24 through January of 25 importantly this contract provides 100% renewable energy and our rate is even more cost-effective when you compare it to National Grid's green options the First Point power contract saved MA residential electricity users
participating in the program more than $2.6 million in calendar year 24 and in total the municipal aggregation program has saved all users uh almost $40 million since the program's inception in 2007 so our residents continue to save
money and this program um continues to earn praise all across the city and with that and I move to accept and place on file motion made second accept and place on file the communication any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor opposed the communication is filed
the vote is 100 agenda item number six communication from the mayor regarding a transfer request in the amount of $41,533.50 for the recreation department which moves funds from senior clerk to equipment and supplies youth activities to fund equipment and field upgrades councelor Iris thank you Mr president
the motion to refer to the finance committee please motion's made in the second refer this to finance committee any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor opposed this is going to finance and the vote is 100 agenda item number seven communication from the
mayor regarding transfer request in the amount of $364,51.93 from reserve for salaries to various accounts to fund the collective bargaining bargaining agreements with the engineers foreman and patrol unions councelor Irish thank you Mr president motion to refer to the finance committee please motion made a second to refer to
the finance committee any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor opposed the transfers go into finance the votes 10-0 agenda item number eight communication from the mayor regarding draft open space plan for 2025 to 2032 for public review and comment councelor Roi thank you Mr
president move to refer this to open space committee motion's made in second refer to the open space committee any discussion on the motion councelor Ducet thank you very much Mr president um there was a lot of work done on this report i was working with um the uh
Priscilla Ryder and the other members of the committee and I hope everyone gets a chance to review the material that's listening to this uh specifically focus on the plans that are involved uh the maps of what's uh in the plans uh it's very enlightening so thank you thank you
council so I so spoiler alert we were just up at the planning board um I'm sure councelor Roi through the open space committee will have Priscilla present to us there will be a test so just a spoiler alert if you want to watch you can watch the planning board
meeting uh motion's made secondary for the open space committee any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor opposed this item's going to open space the vote is 100 agenda item number nine communication from the mayor regarding a report of cemeteries and perpetual care trust fund guidelines
pursuant to order number 25-100 9345A councel Haven thank you very much Mr president um this is the first report of the cemeteries that we've received based on an order that this council passed um just a couple of months ago i'd like to thank Assistant Commissioner excuse me
acting commissioner Scott um and Veterans Director Michael Hennessy as well as Matthew Sergeant who's been doing a lot of the work here um in our cemeteries and has created this report um pretty impressive that they were able to put it together in such a short period of time since we just passed it i did want to highlight um a couple of
things in the veterans um section um just because I know we asked for quite a bit of information um the veterans agent noted that all stones that have been requested are a little bit less than a month away give or take um that's from the VA um so we are expecting to have a few more stones that should be coming in
and then in the coming months as we get a stretch of nicer weather um the veterans agent as and Matt Sergeant are going to be going up to the cemetery to do a more indepth um inventory of what needs to be repaired for veterans gravestones in particular um so that will be in next year's report and they
will be able to forward this along when they have the information um so very grateful for them um for all the hard work that both DPW and our veterans office has done and with that move to accept and place on file motion made in second to accept and place on file the report from the mayor and the commissioner on the veterans status of
the cemeteries any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor opposed the report's going to be filed the vote is 100 agenda item number 10 communication from the planning board regarding a favorable recommendation on the proposed zoning ordinance amendments
chapter 650 zoning relative to medical and adult use marijuana testing laboratories order number 25-1009351A councelor Roi thank you Mr president move to accept and file the communication motion made second accept and place on file the communication any
discussion on the motion seeing none those in favor opposed communications file 100 agenda item number 11 communication from Sbury companies a minute and militia regarding request for a temporary sign and authorization to
place it on city property at the corner of Route 20 and Hager Road from Saturday September 20th 2025 to Sunday September 28th 2025 for the 2025 Colonial Fair and muster at the Wayside in Council Ducet thank you very much Mr president uh this
is an annual event that they continue to do um I don't see any issues with this i'm hoping we can approve it tonight motion made seconded to approve the request to install the sign that we've done for the last I don't know how many years they're the only ones that follow the program religiously on the motion to
approve the sign location any discussion seeing none all those in favor opposed the sign authorization is approved the vote is 100 agenda item number 12 application for special permit from 27 Curtis Aav LLC for the proposed renovation and reconstruction of a
pre-existing non-conforming car wash located at 27 Curtis Avenue council Roi thank you Mr president move to refer this to Urban Affairs Committee set a public hearing for uh April 28th and advertised motion made second refer this item to the Urban
Affairs Committee we'll set a public hearing for April 28th and advertise any discussion on the motion seeing none of those in favor oppose the motion carries this is going to urban with a public hearing April 28th and to advertise the
vote is 10 agenda item 13 minutes of boards commissions and committees mr president councelor Dette thank you very much Mr president motion to accept and place on file the minutes of the boards commissions and committees motion's made and second to accept and place on file all the minutes any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor
opposed the minutes are filed the vote is 10-0 agenda N14 claims councelor Brown thank you Mr president move to send the claims to legal motion's made second to send the claims to the legal department any discussion on the motion
seeing none of those in favor opposed the claims are going to legal the vote is 100 reports of committees who wants to go first councelor Fello thank you Mr president the city council's public services committee met
on Wednesday March 19th 2025 at 7 p.m uh we had one item on that evening's agenda order number 25-1009377 an application for a taxi livery license from Louise De Lima Gomes of Skyline Limo Service to operate a delivery service with one vehicle at
2312 Mayflower Circle uh the chair opened the meeting with a brief moment of silence to remember Ward 7 counselor and former public services committee chair Don Landers uh the chair introduced the voting members of the committee and then read an email from police chief David Georgie dated
February 26 2025 which confirmed the Corey report was submitted to the chief and he is without objection to the issuance of the livery license councelor Irish asked Mr gomes what vehicle he would be using the petitioner responded that he'll be using a 2025 Tesla Model Y
responding again to councelor Irish Mr gomes confirmed that he had spoke to the property management of 2312 Mayflower Circle about the delivery service and confirmed that he had adequate space for his vehicle council Ducet asked the petitioner about his experience in the delivery business mr gomes explained
that uh prior to the CO9 pandemic uh he was in the business for 4 years the petitioner stated that he plans to concentrate his service on private clients going back and forth to local airports on a motion by council Irish seconded by the chair the committee recommends approval of the order uh on a
motion by councelor Ducet seconded by the chair the meeting adjourned at 7:06 p.m i will be asking for a suspension tonight Mr president to take up this order there's been a request for suspension of the rules take this up to this evening all those in favor of the suspension opposed suspension carries 10
council Villo thank you Mr president move the recommendation of committee which is to approve motion made and seconded to approve approve the recommendation of the committee or to move the recommendation of committee which is to approve the delivery license any discussion on the motion seeing none
are those in favor opposed delivery license approved 100 who's up who else has got a report councelor Roi thank you Mr president the city council urban affairs and housing committee met on Wednesday March 19th we had two items
on our agenda the first one was order number 25100 9351 a communication from assistant city solicitor Jeremy Mcmanis on behalf of councelor Asing regarding proposed zoning amendment relative to medical and adult use marijuana
independent testing laboratory the chair read the letter from the planning board which we accepted tonight it had a favorable recommendation on the zoning change voting 5 to zero the change would allow four independent testing laboratories in the city and the order
is in proper form council nan moved to approve the order it was seconded and the vote carried five to nothing this will just lay on the table it does not need to be referred to the solicitor as as I said it is already in proper form
and the second item was order number 251009353 an application for a special permit from McDonald's USA LLC for a proposed restaurant with a drive-through facility use within the Wayside zoning district located at 735 Boston Post Road
East councelor Det recused himself from this discussion and Sabalowski on behalf of McDonald's introduced herself eric De Brule from Bowler Engineering and Sean Kelly from Chappelle Engineering the chair read through the comments from the department heads and began reviewing the
draft special permit councelor Naven asked about number five sign and awnings and Miss Sublowski handed out a sign I mean handed out a photo of the sign which is 4T x 4T he stated he wanted to make sure the applicant followed what is
in the Wayside district they will be coming back to us for a signed permit so we will have discussion there um number 15 lighting was revised to delete the word unreasonable before light trespass to match the suggestions of Miss Ryder
and number 16 landscaping was amended as suggested by Miss Ryder to add to the end of the last sentence as may be amended during site plan review number 19 severability of conditions uh at my suggestion that one was
strucken from the uh draft councelor Prisado sorry councelor Presiado asked if this would be owned by McDonald's corporate and the response was that prior to building it would be placed with a franchise with a lease councelor Naven moved to approve the draft special
permit for a drive-thru service window for McDonald's as amended it was seconded and the vote carried four to nothing with councelor Ducet recused would like to ask for a suspension so this can be referred to the solicitor before I ask for the suspension council
ducet yes i'd like to recuse myself from the vote please let the record reflect that council det will not be participating on this vote been a request for suspension in the rules any any comments motion to approve the suspension opposed suspension carries 90
with one abstain councelor Roby move to refer this to the solicitor to be put in proper form to be on our next agenda for a vote motion made second to send this up to the solicitor put in proper legal format any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor opposed
the items going to legal the vote is nine in favor with one abstained next councelor Nan thank you Mr president um two um quick committee reports uh first personnel committee met um very briefly on March 19th at 7:15 to
consider four reappoints to the zoning board of appeals um however we did not have any of the members present so uh there was a motion to postpone um and we did so and I believe that uh we adjourned about 7:16 p.m um the following that the veterans affairs
committee convened at 7:30 p.m um all members of the committee were present we were joined by council president Oing counselors Irish Roby Presciato and Ducet um additionally present to discuss the order was our veterans director Michael Hennessy and Matthew Sergeant there's one item on the agenda it was
order number 25-1009385 communication from Mayor Dumis regarding the proposed order on the naming of veteran city squares throughout the city uh the chair read the mayor's letter and the accompanying order for naming the squares and places for here we go philip David Burer Square
Clarence Hinson Square Amade Lur Square Mark Joseph Stolo Square Charles Deer Cosma Square Alfred Desmare Square Arthur Charles Bosle Square David H bishop Square and then right behind City Hall the new plaza will be named the
Gold Star family's plaza director Hennessy and Matthew Sergeant explained the process that resulted in this request and that Malro will continue to recognize veterans both past and present john Manning president of the Mob Veterans Council informed Mayor Dumis in writing that the Veterans Council met and agreed to the naming of the eight
city squares to be named for individual veterans saying that the veterans chosen were picked from the master list of deceased Malbor veterans additionally the Veterans Council supports naming the plaza behind city hall in honor of the gold star families councilors were in support of the mayor's request and on a motion by councelor Vital seconded by
the chair the committee recommended the approval of the order as submitted and the vote was 3 to zero on a motion by councelor Vital seconded by the chair the committee adjourned at 7:56 p.m like to ask for a suspension of the rules uh to act on this this evening request for suspension of the rules all those in
favor of the suspension opposed suspension carries 100 council neighbor thank you Mr president move the recommendation of committee which is to approve order number 25-1009385 communication from Mayor Dumis regarding proposed order on the naming of veterans city squares throughout the city motion made second
to move the recommendation of the veterans committee which is to approve the naming of the squares in the plaza behind city hall any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor opposed the motion carries and the vote is
100 any other reports of committees cal for Irish thank you Mr president uh public service announcement finance committee will meet on uh March 31st 2025 at 700 p.m thank you anyone
else look good agenda item 15 order number 25-100 9358 communication from city council president Oing with proposed amendment to municipal aggregation order number 19-1007578B recommendation of the finance committee is to approve
councelor Irish thank you move the recommendation of committee to approve motion made second to move the recommendation of the committee which is to approve the order any discussion on the motion seeing none are those in favor opposed the order carries the vote is 100 agenda item 16 order number
25-100 9375 a transfer request in the amount of 626,000 excuse me 626,8124 cents from peg funds to Marro Cable Trust to fund the operating and capital budgets of the WMCT TV for fiscal year 2026 the recommendation of
the finance committee is to approve councelor Irish thank you Mr president move the recommendation of committee to approve the transfer please motion made second to approve the transfer request any discussion on the motion seeing none all those in favor opposed the transfer carries the vote is 10-0 councelor Naven
thank you Mr president move to adjurnn motion's made and seconded to adjurnn all those in favor opposed we are adjourned at 8:32 have a good evening everyone