The ReLeaf Market Owner Kerry Trammel

A Kiantone business is one of 52 businesses granted a conditional license to grow cannabis in New York State.

The ReLeaf Market, located on Foote Avenue Extension, got the news Thursday, April 14 from the state. Owner Kerry Trammel said one of the qualifications required to get the license that the Releaf Market met was that they had been growing hemp for two years.

She said while Kiantone has opted out of allowing retail dispensaries and consumption lounges, the cultivation of cannabis is still legal in the town.

Trammel said that ReLeaf Market is only licensed to grow cannabis at this time, “Basically, we’re cultivating the cannabis so that when dispensary licenses are given out, they have a product that they can purchase from us and sell to the communities.”

She said that they can cultivate up to one-acre of a farm they have in Chautauqua County or grow in a greenhouse that has a maximum size of 20,000 square feet. If both are done, the grow space is limited to 30,000 square feet, “We can hold a cultivation license, the conditional cultivation license, for two years. And after that two years we can already be applied for one of the other licenses that has come out or apply for the cultivation license to continue. So we have an option. Hopefully, those licenses will be out before the two years are up.”

Trammel said the whole process of starting to grow cannabis is highly regulated, “It’s going to be modeled more like the medical side of it – lots of security, everything is tracked seed to sale, so we’ll have bar codes on everything and fences around all of the property. So, yeah, it’s a lot of work to get done in a short amount of time.”

Trammel said they hope to start planting by June 12 with the hope that some dispensaries will have received licensing so that they can sell their product by the end of the year.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced this as part of the “Seeding Opportunity Initiative” Thursday. This farm-to-store initiative makes sales in New York possible before the end of 2022, guarantees support for future equity applicants, and secures an early investment into communities most impacted by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition.

Hochul said in a press release, “The regulations advanced by the Cannabis Control Board today will prioritize local farmers and entrepreneurs, creating jobs and opportunity for communities that have been left out and left behind. I’m proud New York will be a national model for the safe, equitable and inclusive industry we are now building.”

The Cannabis Control Board at its meeting Thursday advanced two components of the Seeding Opportunity Initiative.

First, it advanced to public comment regulations for Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries. As part of the Seeding Opportunity Initiative, this subset of dispensaries must be owned by equity-entrepreneurs with a prior cannabis-related criminal offense who also have a background owning and operating a small business. They will be the first to open and make sales in New York State, establishing equity-owned businesses at the front-end of New York’s adult-use market.

Second, the Board approved a license application for hemp farmers seeking to grow adult-use cannabis this spring – called the Adult-Use Conditional Cultivator License. The license was made possible by legislation Governor Hochul signed last month.

The Board designated March 15 as the opening date for the application portal.

Around 20 amendments were adopted that reduced the amount taken from the fund balance from $1.3 million to $643,568. Those amendments included increasing expected revenues for sales tax by $172,780, limiting management salaries to a 2.5% increase for a $43,340 savings, and cutting $8,380 dollars budgeted for the Human Rights Commission. Four council members, including Regina Brackman, Grant Olson, Tom Nelson, and Tamu Graham-Reinhardt voted against the $6,000 cut to the HRC. The funding had been requested for outreach work and a diversity festival.

A resolution on allocating $3.7 million dollars in lost revenue from the American Rescue Plan Act Local Recovery funds for the 2022 Capital Improvement Program also was tabled.

Council President Tony Dolce said the Council will act on the American Rescue Plan funds at its December meeting and plans to address concerns raised by members of the public about how public safety is funded, “And increasing the amount of funding for different pieces of equipment, different things in the police department particularly, and the fire department. And those things will also be discussed and probably part of the ARPA or American Recovery funds as we move forward.”

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said he wished Council had acted on the Capital Improvement Program, “Which do provide a lot of support for police, our fire, and all of our other departments. You know, by punting it to the next month they only take us longer to work on these projects. We’ll evaluate each one, although I do anticipate some vetoes will be on the way.”

Sundquist has until next Monday, or 5 business days, to submit any vetoes he may have. He said of the amendments made by Council to the budget, he was disappointed in the cut to the Human Rights Commission, “And that commission has been working hard to really to provide some understanding and diversity to the city. So to provide a small amount of funding for them to do a festival is really sad that the council took that away.”

He also was not happy with the cut to the Mayor’s travel budget as wells as a $10,000 cut to the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency.

The tax rate remains at $23.69 per $1,000 assessed property value.

A local law to opt out of allowing cannabis dispensaries and consumption establishments was automatically tabled. It will be discussed at the December Council meetings.

Jamestown City Council

The opt out law was filed under new business and will likely be tabled in order for it to be discussed at December’s council work sessions. A local law requires a public hearing before it can be brought forth for a vote.

Councilmember Brent Sheldon had stated at the October 4th work session that a lot of neighboring communities have voted to opt-out of allowing cannabis dispensaries and on-site consumption locations. He said the state has not come out with promised regulations yet which makes it difficult for municipalities to decide what to do, “Also, with part of the law if you don’t opt out now, you’re opting in and you can’t opt out later and that just does not make sense to me. If you have problems in the future, you should be able to opt out. So I think this is something we need to discuss as a full body, as a full council, look into it more, see if there’s things happening at the state level. The new Governor has appointed several people to the Commission but the rules still have not been promulgated at this point.”

In regards to the city budget, Council members are expected to bring budget amendments to the floor as part of the approval process. Finance Chair Kim Ecklund stated at the budget public hearing on November 19th that only the general fund will be voted on tonight.

That said, a resolution was pre-filed to approve $3.7 million in lost revenue from the American Rescue Plan Act Local Recovery funds for the 2022 Capital Improvement Program.

Under the City Charter, Council must approve a budget by December 1st or the proposed Executive Budget automatically goes into effect for the next year.

A work session will be held at 7pm in the Third Floor Conference Room with the voting session taking place at 7:30pm in Council Chambers on the second floor. Both are open to the public and will be streamed online.

Doug Champ spoke before the City Council’s Public Safety Committee and at last night’s work session, saying Chautauqua County had designated 4% of their ARP money toward public safety, “Such things as new hand guns, personal ballistic vests, body and mail scanners; communications upgrades, message boards, EOC upgrades.. whatever that is, replace a dive boat, EMC equipment, and additional money for the District Attorney’s office. $985,000 for those. We’re doing nothing for our Police and Fire Departments.”

Champ said public safety and public health are supposed to be the number one addressed items in the use of ARP funds.

Champ asked the condition of police vehicles to which Jamestown Police Chief Tim Jackson said aside from one new car, the vehicles were in poor condition with each having mileage of around 100 to 150-thousand miles.

Councilmember At Large Jeff Russell, who is a retired police officer, asked Chief Jackson about the state of handheld radios used by officers. Jackson responded, “A lot of the officers have to share because the radios are broke and they can’t be repaired. The batteries are bad. We need new radios.”

Russell, “Can they not be repaired because they’re outdated?”

Jackson, “They’re outdated and the batteries are very expensive.”

Russell, “Would you agree with me that a police officer’s lifeline is their radio that they’re carrying with them out on the street?”

Jackson, “Yes, communication is what it all rests on.”

Jackson also said 32 of the bulletproof vests officers use are outdated and not covered by the manufacturer any longer. Councilmember Brent Sheldon asked if JPD had been asked to submit any requests for use of American Rescue Plan funds to which Jackson said every department had submitted a wish list.

Councilmember At Large Kim Ecklund said the Finance Committee chose not to act on the resolution regarding the American Rescue Plan master plan in anticipation of additional conversations over the coming weeks.

In other business, Councilmember Brent Sheldon said he’s noted a lot of neighboring communities have voted to opt-out of allowing cannabis dispensaries and on-site consumption locations. He said the state has not come out with promised regulations yet which makes it difficult for municipalities to decide what to do, “Also, with part of the law if you don’t opt out now, you’re opting in and you can’t opt out later and that just does not make sense to me. If you have problems in the future, you should be able to opt out. So I think this is something we need to discuss as a full body, as a full council, look into it more, see if there’s things happening at the state level. The new Governor has appointed several people to the Commission but the rules still have not been promulgated at this point.”

The Public Safety Committee did approve a motion to set trick-or-treating hours for Halloween in the City of Jamestown for 6pm to 8pm. The City will again not hold a Halloween Fun Fest this year due to it not being funded in the city’s budget.

Around 20 people attended the hearing that started off with a presentation by County Mental Hygiene Grants Director Steve Kilburn. Kilburn said the three high risk populations when it comes to marijuana use including youth, those vulnerable to mental illness, and those who are at risk for, or currently have a substance use problem.

Several of the residents who voiced support for not opting out cited how access to marijuana may help reduce opioid use including resident Jaron Pollino who said recent studies support this, “And if we were to look at those, they would reflect that there is a direct correlation in between using marijuana and being able to get off of this stuff permanently without having to use suboxone or whatever else you might be addicted to long term. So this would be one of the biggest things to help combat our number one problem in this county.”

Others in support cited the financial benefit to the village including resident Emily Garrick, “You’ve already multiple times during this meeting expressed some anxiety about the budget and I think that this is an extremely lucrative taxable industry that could be beneficial to the village. And I also think that by opting out you would be actively driving business away from the village, not just for potential dispensaries but for other village businesses.”

Several members did request the board provide information on potential revenues the village may realize if the sale of cannabis was allowed in Lakewood.

Resident Jim Larson‘s opinion was shared by several voicing support for opting out of allowing cannabis dispensaries, “I don’t want to see increased criminal activity and I don’t want to promote more drugs to young kids so I’m against it completely.”

Resident Dorothy Larson concurred with her husband, “Number one, I don’t find many good things about having it. We don’t need to make money off of it in Lakewood. We’re doing just fine where we are. And I haven’t heard enough positives things to bring it here.”

The Village Board took no action on the issue and will hold another public hearing on whether to allow cannabis dispensaries and consumption locations at 6:45pm, Monday, August 23rd.