BE Council studies new cannabis regulations | News, Sports, Jobs

The interior of the former Wells Fargo bank building, left, has been stripped down, ready for new construction to begin soon.

Before their regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 5, the Blue Earth City Council spent time during a work session learning more about the city’s responsibility when it comes to the new cannabis business licensing procedures.

City administrator Mary Kennedy explained the new rules from the State of Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) during the half hour work session.

There are 13 different types of cannabis licenses that will be issued by the state, Kennedy explained.

Those include retailer, manufacturer, wholesaler and many more, Kennedy said.

“After a business applies to the state OCM and is approved by them, it is sent to the local government for final approval,” Kennedy said.

That final approval has to do with the city finding that the applicant meets all the requirements of a local ordinance. That means the city will have to create a local zoning ordinance dealing with cannabis.

The zoning ordinance could limit sites for cannabis operations, limit how close they can be to schools, for instance, and include a fee.

Council members discussed whether they could restrict it to one business only, or if they, the city, could operate the business.

Council member Ann Hanna questioned if the city could not issue any licenses for cannabis in the city.

Council member John Huisman said he felt the state would control the cannabis sales, not the city.

“They want to manage it to keep it safe for those people who choose to use marijuana,” Huisman said. “It will be legal according to rules which is a better situation.”

Hanna called that a ‘rainbows and butterflies’ explanation.

Mayor Rick Scholtes pointed out that the city will get 20 percent of a 10 percent license fee from the state, plus the money from the city’s one percent sales tax.

“This is something we need to keep working on,” Scholtes said. “Right now the city has a moratorium in place on this issue, but we need to continue to work on what we plan to do, before the end of the year.”

The council will go over more information on creating a new cannabis zoning ordinance at a work session to be held before their next regular meeting.

During the regular council meeting, council member Jacque Drew pointed to a letter the city had received from the Rainbow Food Co-op, requesting the city consider them for being a cannabis dispensary site as they have an interest in selling cannabis products.

“I wonder if we need to tell them they need to apply to the state first?” Drew questioned. The council was not sure any applications were being accepted by the OCM at this time.

The City Council also spent some time at its short half-hour meeting discussing what differences a name can make.

Administrator Kennedy informed the council that at the July 16 Senior Center Board meeting, changing the name of the facility was under discussion.

“The board agreed that there may be additional opportunities to welcome even more individuals if the facility’s name included the word ‘community’ but did not take out the name ‘senior,’” Kennedy said.

She added that there was good back and forth from board members, with one being a concern about expectations about expanding operations if the facility was named “Community Center” instead of “Senior Center.

Other points involved some community organizations, such as Community Ed at the school, wanting to use the Senior Center for events and classes.

In the end the Senior Center Board passed a motion to recommend to the City Council to consider making a name change to Blue Earth Community and Senior Center.

After some more discussion at the Monday, Aug. 5, council meeting the City Council voted to make the name change official.

In other business at the meeting, the council:

• Voted to approve a list of 19 election judges to work at the Primary and General Elections later this year.

Two council members, Ann Hanna and Jacque Drew, abstained from voting on the motion as they are two of the 19 election judges.

• Heard an update on the construction progress of the new City Hall building. Administrator Kennedy reported the building is completely gutted, including removal of the 6,000 pound vault door and the safety deposit boxes of the former bank building.

The city is waiting for an inspection of the plumbing work by the State Plumbing Inspector and have been waiting since March.

• Approved a request from United Builders to remove a sidewalk on the northeast side of the intersection of Nicollet and Fifth streets, due to the proposed construction of a building on the currently vacant lot.

• Approved a request for a property tax abatement for a construction project located at 906 Upper Valley Drive.

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