Pepperell Selectmen Approve Marijuana Cultivator Host Deals, Post Notice on Town Meeting Quorum

PEPPERELL — June 8, 2020 — Pepperell selectmen approved host community agreements for marijuana cultivator Pepperell Roots and authorized posting of a special meeting to consider reducing the town meeting quorum ahead of the June 22 annual town meeting. The board voted unanimously to approve two substantially identical host community agreements — one for each of Pepperell Roots' two proposed cultivation sites — covering a 3 percent sales tax and a 3 percent community impact fee, with a payment window shortened to 30 days from 45. Town Administrator Andrew McLean announced the town had received a $40,000 permitting-streamlining grant the morning of the meeting. The board also worked through dozens of annual appointments to more than a dozen town boards and committees, approving three-year appointments on a split 2-1 vote for the Zoning Board of Appeals, and processed five separate special police officer appointment lists for regional cross-jurisdictional coverage through June 30, 2021. McLean told the board that capping the annual town meeting at roughly 60 people per room under state COVID-19 indoor-gathering rules made an outdoor format logistically "not effective," and the board directed staff to post a special meeting for the following Tuesday to consider reducing the quorum from 75 — potentially by as little as one — which would force the removal of a pending citizen's petition to the next town meeting warrant.