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.