By Melanie Petrucci, Senior Community Reporter
Photo/Melanie Petrucci
Shrewsbury – The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved, without discussion, at its Dec. 11 meeting, to move ahead with a Host Community Agreement (HCA) with PharmaCannis Massachusetts, Inc., doing business as Verilife, for the second of two medical and retail marijuana establishments to be located in the town. The new facility will be located at 939 Boston Turnpike.
Selectman Maurice DePalo presided over this portion of the meeting since the board’s chair, John Lebeaux, once again recused himself due to conflicts of interest.
In a Special Town Meeting held April 23, 2018, voters approved bylaws that allowed two such establishments within certain business districts to be located in Shrewsbury.
The board previously approved the retail component of the first dispensary at its meeting on July 10. Prime Wellness Centers, Inc., located at 235 Hartford Turnpike, had already been approved for the town’s first medical marijuana dispensary, having been licensed by the state Department of Public Health. As such, it was given priority for the town’s first retail operation.
“We are at the point where [Town Manager Kevin] Mizikar believes that we have the basis for an agreement with PharmaCannis Massachusetts for medical and recreational marijuana dispensary,” said DePalo.
Mizikar then reviewed the agreement with the board, noting that negotiations had been successful.
“I can tell you throughout the process that PharmaCannis has been very amenable and favorable to work with in our negotiations and this agreement that I bring back is very similar to the draft agreement that had the terms and conditions within that,” he stated.
Mizikar detailed provisions of the agreement which included the community impact fee in the amount of three percent of the gross sales. The company will make every effort to hire qualified local businesses and vendors in the provision of goods and for construction, maintenance and operation of the facility.
Mizikar was also authorized to issue a letter of non-opposition for a Registered Medical Dispensary (RMD) which is required for medical marijuana establishments.
The board the voted unanimously to approve the HCA and the RMD.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the Shrewsbury community, and we’ve been working on this for quite some time. This is a step in the right direction. We are going to continue to work hard to get the doors open to medical and adult use consumers,” said Shelly Stormo, executive director, PharmaCannis Massachusetts, said to the board.
