The County Press

Imlay City says ‘no’ to marijuana




IMLAY CITY — Following its attorney’s advice to “let the smoke clear and then we’ll figure it out,” the Imlay City Commission has taken the first step to reject recreational marijuana businesses to operate in the community.

Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday evening to opt out of recreational marijuana sales. In Lapeer County, Almont, Attica, Elba, Mayfield and Rich townships along with the Village of Almont and City of Lapeer have already opted out or are in the process of opting out of allowing recreational marijuana businesses in their communities.

Imlay City legal counsel Brian Garner cautioned commissioners that it appears LARA (the state Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs) may have rules in place by June 1 for licensing marijuana businesses. He commented, “My one concern is if we wanted to opt out and they adopt their rules and they start accepting applications they get an application and then after the fact we opt out, that application may be grandfathered in. It may be a vested right and there’s going to be a legal battle.”

Garner has encouraged the 22 municipalities he represents to opt out now, to “see where things go. You can always repeal it and hop back in.”

“This protects us from a business coming in and trying to sue us for not allowing them to be within our borders, right?” asked Mayor Pro-tem Frank Demske.

Garner noted that a prerequisite for LARA licensing approval is local municipal approval for marijuana sales. So, if a community has opted out, a business can’t apply for a license.

Garner told commissioners, “litigation is going to come into play if you don’t opt out before they file their application, or if you create a scheme on a merit based system or some kind of system and you approve one over the other, as we saw in Lapeer, there’s going to be litigation.”

Noting “there’ll be a learning curve,” City Manager Tom Youatt said, “I think we’re doing the right thing opting out at this time.”

Whether or not a community opts in to allow adult-use marijuana businesses in a community has no bearing on the ability of people to possess or consume marijuana. Passage of Proposition 1 allows people to carry 2.5 ounces in public and at home have up to 10 ounces and 12 plants, as long as they are not grown in a location visible from outside.

Garner noted that of all the municipalities he represents only one in Tuscola County is considering opting in.

However, he added, even if the city commission votes to opt out, if 5 percent of Imlay City residents who voted in the last gubernatorial election sign a petition, the question could be put on the ballot.

Commissioners will vote on opting out on recreational marijuana businesses a second and final time at their April 16 meeting.

The state Bureau of Marijuana Regulation has until Dec. 6 to come up with the rules and regulations that will govern the recreational marijuana market, although the department expects to have a draft of the rules by this summer.

Once those are in place, the department will begin to accept applications for recreational business licenses. Medical marijuana businesses will be the first in line for those licenses for the first two years of the recreational market.

The City of Lapeer has approved provisional licenses to six entrepreneurs who plan to open medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

In other business:

• Commissioners voted to sell a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche to North Branch’s Ed Boyne for $1,800. Boyne was the high bidder out of three for the retired police vehicle.

• Commissioners voted to keep Scott’s Lawn Maintenance on the payroll for another summer. Scott’s bid $9,100 for parks and grounds summer maintenance, while the only other bidder, Yard Services, asked for $14,800.

Youatt said the city had “some minor issues” with Scott’s last summer, but they were resolved and Dept. of Public Works Director Ed Priehs recommended taking the low bid.

• Youatt told commissioners that as a result of the city’s A+ bond rating from Standard & Poors the city received a 3-percent interest rate on the 20-year bond for its new fire hall, while means the millage rate will drop from 2.0435 to 1.8335. “That’s really good news for our taxpayers,” he said.

• Wholesale water rates from the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) will jump from $11.92 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) to $13.54 Mcf. GLWA is also increasing its fixed monthly charge to Imlay City from $57,400 to $70,900. The new rates, which were approved by GLWA’s board March 13 will go into effect July 1.