okay uh all right welcome to the meeting of the Cannabis Control Board of the uh that's on of the city of Jersey City held Tuesday May 28 2024 at approximately 523 we apologize for the delay in accordance with the open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting was provided by mail or facts to the uh Jersey Journal And the reporter uh we have a roll call Vice chairperson cantero here commissioner klewitz here commissioner mate Dublin here chairperson Bunny and commissioner Sloan are both absent my understanding is that commissioner Sloan is on vacation and the chairperson bunny is ill all right um so we are going to dispense with the that reading is that correct correct Mr chairman all right all right so if we could have CCB 22-01 Blossom dispensary somebody here for that all right all right uh good evening Jennifer nice to see you again please enter your appearance into the record Jennifer Caba there we go Jennifer Cabrera um for blossom dispensary and I am joined by the majority owner of Blossom dispensary b a bot as well as um her attorney jbot so you have two attorneys here is there double billing or what oh yeah you know well she gets a free ride with good good so I know at last uh time that you were here uh the board had some concerns about the change of uh management so could you give us just a broad brush stroke as to you know what changed why did it change etc etc of course um so this is a business that was one of the first ones if not the first one approved in Jersey City 51% owned by babot 49% owned by snna bot they wanted to bring on a partner with experience in cannabis they brought on family friends um who are here harender Singh and his wife parvinder core they together invested in this company through their LLC which is called Blossom Jersey City LLC so Blossom Jersey City acquired a 49% interest in the dispensory Bea has retained 51% ownership reason for the change is to have experienced Partners in the Cannabis industry and they opened um um so we originally submitted this change of ownership to the CCB in September of 2023 um we also submitted the change of ownership documents to the CRC that was approved by the CRC on April 11th at their public meeting um and then the store opened for business on April 12th so that is the current state status as a temporary opening yes with approval of Commerce all right with that do any of the Commissioners have any questions uh issues concerns etc etc just trying to get my notes here all right just one second of course and um the owners of um the new owners are both here um beina is here as well as sakna so anyone is available to answer questions have the majority ownership has not changed correct either through the state of New Jersey or the local uh CCB that is correct okay I I don't have any questions myself personally all right yeah anything from uh you Jeffrey no uh I think it's a simple case of uh approval since you've gotten through all the mechanisms of this ordeal um I make a motion that we accept CCB 22-1 Blossom dispensary at 746 d748 Tunnell Avenue is there a second a second all right all in favor I I any opposed you can vote on this I I'm not opposed okay all right so the motion carries congratulations best of luck good luck thank you thank you thank you roll them thick yeah they got to worry about profitability right all right all right next on the agenda the leaf joint anybody here for the leaf joint it's unusual that is unusual the leaf joint is apparently not here that would seem to be somewhat unusual they were notified okay and are they one of the temporary openings they are I do believe they're open they are open we never made it temporary we just agreed that they would have to come back well I make a motion that we send them a notice that if they're not here the next time they'll be shut down for failure to get final approval is there a second to that you want to give them a couple of minutes or it's 5:30 the end of yeah we'll wait to the end of the meeting yeah just in case if uh they're running late smart idea all right why don't we listen why don't we go to Maris next yeah let's do that all right B nice to see you again when you get settled please enter your appearance into the record and uh see if we can get started y grab whatever chairs you can 121 what's that yeah right right 22 Bo that's a long time all right so board me uh Commissioners just want to briefly indicate that I did have have a conversation with this applicant's attorney who was seeded to my right here and that um some of the folks that have a position or an interest in the Enterprise May struggle with uh English as a second language so there is someone that will be translating uh so we have no objection I'm sure the Commissioners have no objection so Bo why don't you put your uh appearance into the record and see where we're going uh bo Huck attorney with porio bronberg and Newman here on behalf of Maris New Jersey LLC uh which is located at for Jordan Avenue and they are pursuing a class five retail license all right so who is the uh first individual to be testifying before we go there go ahead yeah yeah um there's a while back since we've heard the application and there have been some postponements uh could you please explain uh the postponements to us just a a reminder no problem I can explain a couple of them uh I inherited this client from their prior counsel and their prior Council and I both have one thing very much in common uh one postponement happened when she got the flu I believe uh then there was a couple I think cancellations on behalf of the board and then when I got the client my wife decided to buy a new carpet So that obviously means my two daughters were going to come home from daycare and give me the FL which yes it was brutal uh and that that's why we had to get one more postponement the last one there was I think a bit of a uh a clerical mixup and I apologize for us not having been here but we didn't know that it was today we got noticed that it was on a different day right so it's been a bit of an odyssey to get here so thank you for your patience and also to we totally understand when the board has to uh cancel because people I think we canceled our January meeting Council just sorry to interrupt you but we did cancel January you were last year on December 11th and February 26 was um the last time you were scheduled but I believe you had notice for February 28th if I'm not mistaken yep so okay makes sense timeline makes sense it happens all right first witness I'm going to lead off with uh well first off as far as just a quick opening sure uh the company is comprised of Mr Mrs Biza uh has a women's business certification with Olga here owning 51 1% and her husband Slava owning uh 19 also here today I have uh arson aasha thank you it's a little little Tongue Tied with name go by first names yeah thank you uh and with him we have uh Andre shapa uh Mr shapa is a CPA by trade with a residency in practice in North Bergen uh Mrs and Mr Baya uh come from the incredibly highly regulated healthcare industry specifically the home care and adult uh daycare industry where he has extensive business experience uh basically taking care of our most vulnerable um arson here is the CEO and the principal of a boutique commercial real estate firm with over 20 years experience in uh pretty much the queen area he's got a passion for singing area is revitalization he kind of took note of uh where this is going in got a little excited as the industries in New York and New Jersey were taking off and uh saw the McGinley Square Improvement uh District as a tremendous opportunity for everyone to get involved um this is a team that has extensive normal business experience shall we say they're new to this industry and they genuinely see this as a wonderful opportunity but particularly this city as a wonderful opportunity uh this very wonderful location because as I was checking it out today it's fantastic um today the Mayers teams met with Ashley Caleb the executive director of the McGinley Square improvement district and its board uh they've also met with councilman Mira Prince AR and sought her guidance on how to better integrate themselves within the community and be the best possible Community partner theyve participated in a couple Community Endeavors with them they've signed a labor pieace agreement with UFCW and my favorite they've signed signed an mou with Hudson County Community College because they're ahead of the curve on this tremendously and they're doing a wonderful job training our next Generation so with that I'd uh like to start Marson please raise your right hand the square firm the testimony about to give you the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truths to help you got all right your witness counselor easy question how's everybody know one another so um yes you do okay so um I met Slava probably about 10 12 years ago um in real estate transaction um when he started his business with uh uh Home Care uh industry looking for a facility to start the industry uh we rented one of his first facilities after that he's expanded we rented him another recently a couple years back we actually sold him a building where he now operates his uh Home Care out of uh we rented him some facilities for his adult daycare facility out in Queens which he operates and um ever since I mean we had a very um good connection in uh business as well as personal same interest and uh it took off from there all right you own 25% what's your involvement with this cannabis applicant um involvement in terms of the with the business what are you going to do for them so basically initially it started I was the one that help uh identify the location itself uh took us a bit of a challenge but we found the right location um in the midst of everything that's uh going on with new development and everything up and cominging area and um we um from there on um just help assist with everything else that's day to-day operations all right does anybody have any questions for not so far no Jeffrey no no uh members of the public hearing none seeing none uh questions and questions only okay okay um next witness well so wasn't done with this one oh sorry sorry can you describe some of the program social programs your team is actively working on and or act or have worked on recently so um in regards to the Outreach with the community yes so we have um met with the community we helped uh paint the what would you call that the lines on the on the sidewalks and on the on the streets to calm the traffic down uh right we did that recently um we have also um well obviously we had a number of meetings with the um the college uh County Community College County Community College okay and uh we have a couple things in the works where we're thinking out to do some kind of a um further Outreach in doing some sort of Affair or some sort of a uh um volunteering or whatnot you know to so more important question have you started to uh explore doing any expungement clinics yes so uh We've looked into that and actually we've reached out to see how we can help assist with um further educating um with the product with um the benefits of it and uh try to kind of uh bring to light some of the positive things getting rid of all the stereotypical negatives out of it um so we've actually um let me see I took some notes Here question we have the whole thing we were actually uh trying to reach out to the hofman Cent the centers in order to educate even the elderly with the well no so we get it you're going to engage the Hoffman Mr Hoffman to do an expungement clinic at some point in time in Jersey City okay thank you have you done any education with the senior community in this area or do you intend to we absolutely intend to and that's more in a slava's uh experience dealing with that type of community and uh we definitely intend on doing possible lectures and setting up uh presentations and putting out all the positive uh of the product that they can actually benefit from as well is the program called stop the stigma yes it is awesome now as far as the uh McGinley Square excuse me the McGinley Square uh community board have you had any engagement with them have you done any meetings with them have you met with your executive director uh yes we have howd to go it went great I think uh we had a good connection and uh we have uh had U you know quite a we saw eye to eye on certain things that we intend to do and carry out have you engaged with any of the local businesses is around where this will be yes so um we've actually um the building that we lease our facility with um has uh I believe five residential units above so uh we had the owner uh introduce us to one or two residents um in the building and uh we've tried to out you know reach out to a few others which we intend to do as this uh takes off and uh so far we had nothing but positive feedback we also reached out to a uh there's a barber shop at uh 10 Jordan Avenue um known as um professional barber shop I spoke to a gentleman named Jerome who runs the place there um he was very excited to have us there and um he says you got our votes you know so no objections there so as far as any type of future Community engagement do you guys plan on participating and helping out with the summer barbecue the Easter egg hunt Absolut yeah we definitely intend to do that with uh uh uh the well create a new event excuse me like a summer barbecue the Easter EG right so we definitely want to number one we want to put ourselves out there as part of a community that are trying to assist and bring up uh the uh values there so one of the few things we said was we were going to do the the barbecues the Easter egg hunt we definitely want to have any type of Outreach possible in order to get all the communities positive feedback and uh to be kind of accepted into the community as the newcomers so were you able to meet with uh glennis Roger you guys of the office of diversity and inclusion to discuss how you're going to be hiring a diverse Workforce and a local Workforce Yes actually we did and uh we said that we would do uh job fairs uh to try to after we open after we open of course uh to uh attract any type of um local talent that can help assist us and uh kind of uh bring on some of the local uh that we definitely would want to help assist us in that you got to get closer to the mic I'm sorry there you go yes will be is it on there we go there you go okay uh yes we intend to hire 100% uh local uh you know Workforce how many people so right now in the beginning we were thinking of somewhere around six and uh see how it uh kind of takes off and as needed definitely getting uh more uh probably two shifts depending on our hours which we're still kind of uh figuring out uh not counting the um security and this is an incredibly the mic sorry this is an incredibly difficult industry to get into you guys recognize that will you be trying to help out any other applicants get into this industry will be sponsoring any other types of applicants trying to go for any of uh different license types um I mean if we can pass on some of the knowledge I mean I would think so yes will you be sponsoring any micro business licenses yes what does it mean sponsor uh we're going to help Mike excuse me we'll help them out their application we'll be paying for their application wow okay uh the last question I have and it's a pretty simple one as far as Hudson County Community College what's the commitment you made with them and theou that we have with them so we made a commitment with them of uh $10,000 a year uh once we're open for business specifically though is that for their scholarship fund correct it is thank you for any kind of uh courses or just their uh it's the Cannabis education it's the Cannabis education scholarship fund sir and oh one last also very important question because it's probably been demonstrated um will you guys yourselves be going for any type of cannabis business certifications cannabis education courses oh absolutely he uh actually so when I had a meeting with them actually gave me a whole schedule of when they're offering their next uh courses so never hurts to have a little more uh education on that level so thank you no further questions I have some questions yeah I have some questions too did you meet with the Journal Square Community Association that's literally in that same area that you're looking to open Journal Square Community Association it's a Block Association that's right in the area of where you're looking to open their that works and meets inside the Hudson County Community College they're a pretty big organization I don't believe I don't I don't think we've met with them yet I don't believe we've met with them have you met with Hudson Catholic which is literally adjacent across the street from the area where you're going to be opening you're Fort Jordan right for Jord yeah Hudson Catholic is right around that area it's right across well I don't believe it's I don't think you think you can see it from this location I know where the it still will impact the school when they're letting out so did you with the the high school at all no no ma and then um mayard was the Safety and Security plan approved by jcpd for this applicant yes yeah and then um I don't have a copy of theou with um Hudson County Community College and I know in my notes um that's what I have last that we were you guys were requesting on a German to um provide further M us but I haven't received anything further y a copy right here I could give you y I'm not crazy right this is for Jordan M okay there you go it's right any other questions for yeah school's right there any other questions for ran clarification clarification um how many feet are you away from uh the church and and the Hudson um Catholic School you with uh Beyond 200 feet he's Beyond 200 feet okay definitely the the reason for the questioning is when we've had other organizations come to open they've met with the high schools to come up with a agreement where some one of the organizations will close during lunchtime or during dismissal during that time so that there wouldn't be any issues with the children trying to go in or hang out in front of the establish real quick may ask my client a question sure sure would during the there's a high school approximate to this location uh when the high school is dismissing or receiving students well you wouldn't be open in the morning when they're receiving students when the high school is dismissing would you be opposed to closing absolutely not we can work around that schedule to accommodate absolutely you the yes is yeah just reviewing it there's only one yeah this is the only you have in place uh with the uh yes yeah is there any additional M us with other parties no I don't believe cuz I know that again that's in my notes requested in AJ German for further Community input um andus with other community members uh We've like excuse me that I I know it's been a couple of adjournments but just looking at my notes from we last when we're all last year have a letter from uh Ashley Caleb the executive director of the McGinley Square improvement district uh that acknowledges that we've met and sat down with her and the organization would that help yeah yeah that'd be great if I can see that too thank you and I'm just going to pass this along for the rest of the board members to see clarification that's okay thank you the clarification I want to ask is uh so you've met with the Sid in McGinley Square correct uh was there any negative feedback or any suggestions unfortunately at that point I wasn't uh retained so I wasn't a part of that but my understanding was the meeting went very well very well we had uh yeah there was no push back or anything and if there was any suggestions we definitely took them on and uh we'll expedite them absolutely we want to have as much of an open relationship with the community as possible because this is again this is a business venture that we believe this whole entire area could be uh something that grows exponentially and we want to not be a thorn in anybody's side because we want to see everybody do as well as we hypothetically could do you have anybody here that can speak on behalf of either McGinley square or Hudson County commited College uh McGinley Square I believe we do okay do you want to hear from them now or oh no I just wanted to make sure because we've asked other applicants as well when they give us a letter to see if they're here in person um to show their support or whether they remain neutral or you know they opposed to it it's working okay this along or I'll pass this along this way and then we can Circle it back this way all right any other questions for this witness from the board hearing none seeing none uh any questions and questions only for this witness from the public all right hearing none seeing none next witness Andre good evening everyone um please raise your right hand do Square affirm the testimony about to give you the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to help you God I do all right put your hand down please state your name spell your last name and you can give us your address uh it's uh Andre shapa and I live at 10 colan Norse Unit C norb and Jersey 07047 all right you're witness counselor what's your background uh I'm a CPA by trade what's your going to be your role with the company U it will essentially be Treasurer CFO so taking care of all the accountant side of the work and where do you live uh in nurs Bergen so not too far Jersey Boy yep you know Jersey said he's got better Pizza than where you live right we can argue but probably okay that's it that's it I have a question will you be the um 24/7 contact um that's a good question and I think our contact will be our security person if I believe and Aron so it will be both of them cuz I believe everybody else is from New York Connecticut Connecticut and that's it that's all I have here in other words if we needed somebody to run down to the store at 2:00 in the morning we don't need somebody driving from Connecticut we'd like somebody from North Bergen fair enough well we we'll get there okay yeah all right all right so no other questions for this witness hold it hold it so the vice chair brings up a good point the point is that um everybody has license that are not around who is going to and we have security that's going to take all telephone calls 24/7 who's the actual manager in the store at all times since we have uh not hired anybody yet we don't know that answer yet so none of the owners will be there as a manager correct that that doesn't preclude from being there well let's let begs the question are any of the owners going to be there and if so how often are it's something well arson he's uh well exploring the opportunity to move to Jersey City at this point he again sees this as pick the location himself uh he lives currently in Brooklyn so as far as a somebody who will be checking in regularly it's going to be him this is a sizable Endeavor so they want to make sure this gets off the ground again professional operation as to how they've dealt with every Endeavor they've ever approached so I would anticipate that you'd be the one checking in I when you say every Endeavor they approach have you operated any cannabis businesses before no not the Cannabis businesses okay and then you said I'm sorry to interrupt I'm sorry you said he resides where I live in Brooklyn New York in Brooklyn okay you're I used to live in New Jersey sometime ago in Livingston newers I believe your your ID says a different you have a Pennsylvania no New York state New York New York State okay so you have cuz I have a multiple houses so that's why it's registered I have on in uh Sullivan County okay that's 4151 West your drive that you see just just for the record just want to make sure no I live at 289 Whitman Drive Brooklyn New York 11234 out of all the owners who's going to be on site and how frequently so we're all going to alternate um each one of us will be at the site at least once a week between all four of us that pretty much covers almost the whole week so you know if somebody has to take two shifts so be it we alternate 100% I mean I run my own real estate business he runs his own businesses without being said we understand in order to run a successful business you need to be there you need to be on top of everything that goes on and really kind of have your finger you know on the pole so to speak so we intend to be there you know if it's not Me Maybe him the following day it'll be me so we're definitely going to take turns and making sure that someone there periodically at least you know once to twice a week minimum but that's uh bare minimum I think especially in the beginning until everything gets up and running each one of us is going to be there on a daily basis yeah once they hire a competent manager they can still you know Zoom telephone calls I mean that sort of thing but they really need to find a manager who knows what's going on otherwise if you if you guys are absent owners you're going to have a big problem 100% we understand this running our other business bu so right and on renewal date the violations will come back to haunt you understood well let's hope there isn't any but all right so I'll say for the third time any other questions for uh Andre hearing none seeing none members of the public hearing none seeing none next witness uh okay this is yes we understand so yeah why don't you sit as close as you possibly can to the individual that you are going to be uh translating for and uh I'm just going to ask you to raise your right hand again on his behalf oh okay yeah just you are going to be uh uh interpreting from what language Russian from Russian to English uh to the best of your ability correct uh I would ask you not to interject not to add any flavor just to the best of your ability translate exactly what he's saying understood okay all right uh that that's all I want to you can put your hand down uh can you raise your right hand who's testifying this gentleman yes they could just bring the mic closer to them just cuz it is speaking it still needs to be heard no there's another mic there just because this is still being recorded and you are translating thank spent enough money on it all right the swear the swear firm the testimony about to give you the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to help you got I'm V love bive I do I do I do okay all right say your name again Biz okay and your address 335 May Road Stanford Connecticut 06903 thank you his English is pretty good you're witness counselor please describe the industry that you currently work inare he's an owner of a home healthcare facil facility and an adult daycare facility do your employees ever handle any of the patients medication gentlemen both speak into the microphone closer only so that we have a recording and I'm not suggesting somebody would be running into court and opposing this but at least there'll be a record uh no they social his employees do not have access to any medicine or anything like that and in the business therein they do not administer any medicine whatsoever it is the industry highly regulated it's a very highly you know um over basically the business is overseen very heavily because they're under they're building Medicaid so they're really on top of their you know and how long have you all known each other 10 years 10 years 10 9 11 I don't know I don't remember excellent thank you anything else any questions from uh nope board members hearing none seeing none members of the public hearing none seeing none next witness sir moving chairs again musical chairs yeah yep yep all right please raise your right hand Olga the square affirm the testimony about to give me the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to help you God I do okay please state your name spell your last name and give us your address uh 335 Road Stanford Connecticut your witness counselor how long have you worked in the industry with your husband 10 10 years where predominantly uh are your patients serviced home okay she's a home care administrator and all her patients get basically serviced in their homes as the nurses visit the facilities what done on premises where they operate what region specifically New York New Jersey New York New York Brooklyn Queens New York Brooklyn Queens predominantly all in New York Brooklyn and Queens excellent in their facilities where they loated no further questions board see seeing none members of the public all right next witness the were Fromm the testimony about to give you the truth the hold truth and nothing but the truth to help you God yes please state your name spell your last name and give us your address Kenneth pic that's p r cik 16 woodon Avenue Cranford New Jersey welcome sir you're witness counselor what's your experience in security uh 25 years uh police officer in Jersey City and approximately six years as security guard in schools what's your going to be your role with the company specifically security director taking care of the schedules and making sure that everything is running smoothly security wise and to answer the board's question you're going to be the 247 it's been discussed that I'm going to have a cell phone just for that for that case of emergencies and I would be the one to be contacted and what happens if somebody needs to get to the store at 3:00 in the morning you're driving up from Cranford cranford's only at night it would be a 15-minute ride if fantastic thank you yeah are you presently still employed by the jury City Police Department no I retired approximately 10 years ago if I'm not mistaken um I believe you were present last time correct but the rest of the members were not and we've asked for them to come today I'm just as I see your face everything's coming back um and I know we've asked them to be here right today or the next time because they got a journ a couple of times but okay well cranford's only 15 minutes away so I think uh yeah all right any other questions board members oh do you tend to visit the location on a weekly basis I'd probably be working this uh fulltime security director i' have to take i' have to be there just in case something happens okay do you have any other employment I'm working uh at a school right now in planfield a charter school but this is another thing that I'm going to be you know probably going to be stepping down for that to take this role okay okay any other questions from the board hearing I um I have a question um how often do you think you'll be doing and this is to all the owners or the majority and the um less percentage owners how often do you think you'll be doing um community activities and if so what sort of activities will you be doing I me so I think that's arseling and he did give some testimony I know you even even here when I write the application you do have um you listed different activities that you want to do but it's what you intend to do right so I mean we expect to do something at least uh three four times a year just to be relevant with the community um again this is like a working progress I mean we definitely have the right intentions uh we also want to get the positive input from the community and we want them to tell us hey we want you to do something for this occasion or for that occasion you know so we're very much open-minded and we're willing to invest and you know go side by side with them so but at least figure seasonally three to four times a year bare minimum the issue that I have with that is that although you have a very nice you with Hudson County Community College I don't see much engagement with the rest of the community that surrounds it I applaud you for your community engagement with and your commitment to do the scholarship on cannabis education which I feel that is very important but I would like to have seen more Community engagement with other um other organizations outside of the Hudson County Community College that being your Sole uhou and I believe that thatou was in place when we were last here um so there's no additional M us which is what I think our request was per my notes um so I just want to just point that out there theou with Hudson County College is relatively recent I believe they had discussed that that was a plan that they were working on and we had asked for somebody to be present to speak on on that and I believe somebody is here present so that's great thank you I have a question uh for anybody sitting at the table tell me something what you've learned in about Jersey City tell me something about Jersey City that impressed you or found interesting something unique so I've been doing commercial real estate for about 23 years out in uh mostly South Brooklyn okay and I've seen certain areas grow and develop and a huge boom happen over the years some areas in Brooklyn such as Bushwick ground Heights I mean it's a whole different animal than what it was 10 years ago Jersey City when I used to live in Livingston passing through on occasion it's a different world than it is today and right now it's like a mini Manhattan you know so I love the the change and the people that are you know that are investing into it and see a bright future so just the the infrastructure itself and the development and how everything's changing and the streets are you know everything is just a whole different world so honestly that's that's what drives us to it and I think we're coming into this in its early stages and I think we are kind of trying to grow with the city as it's progressing and getting a whole new life so that's how I see it but nothing very unique that about Jersey City unique I mean it's it's a city that you know a lot smaller than a lot of different places that I'm used to and a lot of and I I love the community how they all get together where they kind of really like hold hands and making sure that they actually want this to to grow and prosper there's a lot of push back in the different areas here I think everybody's kind of you know all in Harmony in trying to kind of get this off the ground and having develop into something you know it's it's it's blooming arson um with that being said I think that's why we are um stressing the fact that we want you to get more involved with the community not just you but the rest of the members of this entity um because it's an upcoming City and because we have so many individuals coming here with the new development whether it's commercial residential we really want to hear that you're not just here for that that you're here to give back to the community because like you said you know we we are a smaller city than other cities we really we're really focused on that here and especially with cannabis being um something new and something that was frowned upon in the past and now giving many people an opportunity to that have been arrested that have been affected by the Cannabis in their lives in the past and going through the hardship and seeing that now they can flourish that is why it is a p peeve of mind to make sure that we have Community engagement that we have giving that we're giving something back to the community that is just not here to make the money and go cuz we understand that and I think one of the first uh initiatives we took is to reach out to the community with um you know when did we do this back in was this January February when we did the the painting of The Vision zero yeah and and we reached out and I think you know he came from Connecticut I came from Brooklyn I think we were one of the first people there you know uh in the beginning and I think we made the front page on the Facebook um as we were you know going through the motions I was there thank you so you know we you know that's what we intend to do I actually brought my daughter out with me you know trying to kind of help assist you know and as we all know getting a young kid out of bed at 700 in the morning on a Saturday is not so easy so you know what we and I intend to do this um you know getting my kids involved as well just I I feel it's it's it's a good connection just for everybody and connect I want to be in a first name basis with everybody in our local community and that's important to us that's what's important to us too so that's great to hear okay good all right any other questions for this I'm sorry your first name again was Kenneth Kenneth the security uh hearing none seeing none members of the public hearing none seeing none any other Witnesses I believe we have covered we we have somebody here from Hudson County Community College to speak on behalf of the applicant oh all right uh good afternoon or good evening nice to see you again I saw you at uh 10:30 when you were bringing lunch in pleas could you please raise your right hand do you square airm the testimony about to give you the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to help you God yes please state your name spell your last name and give us your address Arash last name is spelled k a r a k a h i a n address is 573 beers Street Haslet NJ 07730 what would you like to tell the board sir okay I'm here to uh vouch for the applicant this evening so good evening everyone my name is Dr arak kashian Dean of the School of Business culinary arts and Hospitality management at Hudson County Community College you may remember me from my comments for other applicants my team and I manag the Cannabis studies curriculum at the college we have created created a propriety curriculum which focuses on Frontline employment all the way through management opportunities within the Cannabis industry students can earn an associates degree in Business Administration cannabis studies a certificate in cannabis business management or a certificate in cannabis business agent Maris has not forgotten that any business can only succeed when it's been embraced by the community that it's meant to serve for this reason our conversations for our agreement were simple as our goals for a collaboration were like-minded there are several noteworthy components contained in this agreement which benefit both the non-credit continuing education population along with those seeking a college credential details of our agreement include workshops training programs and hosting of special events internship and externship opportunities for our students preferential employment for our graduates assistance with promoting cannabis programs at the college a $10,000 donation towards a scholarship fund and a seat on our cannabis Advisory Board as the dean I'm used to working with restaurants and hotels for placement of interns and graduates Dialogue on internships and employment in and the Cannabis industry is new to the college for this reason I truly appreciate the company's full commitment to our collaboration thank you thank you thank you any questions based on that testimony hearing none seeing none thank you for um Coming to speak on their behalf all right uh presumably no other Witnesses sh no no Witnesses sorry no no other Witnesses no other Witnesses all right we'll open it up for a public comment you have three minutes to either speak for or against the application or anything else you would like to say good evening please raise your right hand this were affirm the testimony about to give you the truth the hold truth and nothing but the truths help you God yes okay you can put your hand down please state your name spell your last name and give us your address okay yeah I didn't know um my name is Shireen McCormack It's s sh i r i n MAAC c r m k all right what would you like to tell the board I'd like to tell the board that um I'd like to say hello I'm the president of a newer neighborhood um Association in McGinley Square the McGinley Square community board mscb uh I first spoke with Maris New Jersey on March 11th 2024 after they had proactively reached out to us after speaking to Ward B Council our neighborhood group then held a community meeting it was open to all of the public to attend by zoom on March 22nd it was a meeting with Maris New Jersey and it had been emailed out um to our neighborhood group's newsletter which does include some recipients from the JS qca um it was also posted on Instagram people from Community asked questions about for Jordan's on-site security at the attended intended cannabis shop um they asked questions about proximity to a number of schools density and saturation of other cannabis shops in the area um in relation to the 600t requirement um people asked about construction and opening timelines and more um Community expressed that we need heightened safety in this area there was a shooting on March 9th a few blocks away that resulted in Murder so um that was a concern but you know Maris has assured us that they will be very diligent about security uh Community expressed that we don't want empty storefronts we do want businesses who come in and partner with a community and improve the neighborhood who are invested in and engaged with a community and doing that Outreach that you've all asked about um Maris has offered to help our neighborhood Group by having each employee volunteer and this was just postulated it was just you know discussed um informally something like maybe each employee does a certain amount of hours like maybe 10 hours a month to help our new community group with various projects we have things like neighborhood cleanups or beautification and plantings and Greening um we want businesses that are willing to give back and we would like to establish anou with Marist um we already talked about the HCC um and the expungement um they Maris came out from Brooklyn in Connecticut to attend the first two hours of the Jersey city transportation Department's event which our neighborhood group helped support the event was the monello traffic calming and Street safety Street safety Improvement on April 6th they showed up right on time in 42° weather and they brought Donuts to share with everyone um so definitely put their best foot forward um I then invited them to contribute to our new community group's first free Mother's Day paint and plant event where you paint a pot and uh plant it and give it to someone special they didn't contribute to that but it was reled that in the future they would be happy to um once they you know get in front of this board I understand that they've been paying rent on this location for eight or nine months or something like that um and just hoping to get the ball rolling there so we would definitely like to proceed with future engagement like that and um lastly I would just um like to say um I just wanted to ask this might be more of a question for the next phase at the planning department but I wanted to ask if any of the owners or investors in the Maris New Jersey team are related to any of the city's elected officials no we're not no we're not okay okay and um yeah and I just wanted to recheck on any pending or approved applications for another cannabis shop within 600 ft at this time I don't know mayor can answer that question no okay thank you uh we do support this project thank you thank you thank you thank you for coming to speak today very approved on Bergen Avenue I can't remember that anyone else from the public all right please raise your right hand you s affirm the testimony about to give you the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to help you God I do your hand down please state your name spell your last name and give us your address good evening everyone Nathan McCormack n a t h an last name is MAAC c r m k I'm a resident of McGinley square at 130 Glenwood Avenue what would you like to tell the board Nathan I wanted to support the um the application that's before the board tonight um Shireen who just spoke is my wife I was present for the last community meeting that we uh attended uh in which they expressed their interest in um in opening the shop and you also agreed to partner with the community in various uh with various Endeavors and thankfully as my wife already you know stated they they showed up within days of that applica of that meeting rather um as she said in pretty cold morning um but they were right there uh ready and willing to participate which was great so as far as I'm concerned right off the bat they put their best foot forward and uh during that virtual meeting the the the biggest concern that I raised uh was not not a surprise to anyone um the security around the business um from my understanding having lived in a state where it was legal where it is legal and friends who live in those States the issue isn't always the people who are going to the business to purchase cannabis it's the people who understand how much cash is on hand in these businesses on a regular basis and that's actually from my understanding one of the bigger issues when it comes to security so I um I brought this up in the meeting they assured me that security would be you know um um obvious I don't know if it will be in you know outside the store or inside the store security cameras are obviously a must but they did assure me the security would be taken seriously uh and that was my biggest concern at the meeting which they obviously addressed at that time so hoping that going forward we can partner with with the group for future community events whether it's cleanups or you know whatever may come up so as I said I do support the the application before the board thank you very much thank you any other comments hearing none seeing none we'll close that public portion of the uh meeting I'm sorry what think Council wants to say something I just um something jogged my memory that was said and it's I think uh somewhat relevant uh can I ask arson one more question sure arson in the Workforce Development plan you guys committed to did you commit to 10 paid vacation days off for anybody who wants to go volunteer for any employees yes we did so um absolutely and we're going to honor that thank you and then I have a question actually theou with Hudson County Community College um states that this will only be for one year the uh 10,000 um scholarship fund is that something that you guys will be interested in renewing after is this a one-time thing um yeah absolutely we renew it it's just that we you only agree to the one one now start with uh assuming my understanding is we have to go in front of a review every year so assuming that we progress and this is all moving forward absolutely we'll honor that so your testimony is that you will try to renew every year absolutely and then um I mean this is just a recommendation but I would recommend that anou is written out between Maris and um the Mel L squared well we can make that a condition of the approval if you'd like absolutely please we've um asked other applicants to do the same as well um just to you know formalize things sure anything else you want to add or some summation no hearing none seeing none okay uh uh bring it back to the board for discussion I'd like to go into Clos session I'll second that motion all in favor I so closed session is really more executive session it's not closed but there is no give and take uh it is deliberation by the board you're not to respond to anything unless of course they ask you a question go ahead okay thank you my concern is that you have to you have to speak it up yeah we're not en closed yeah my concern is that we've been a lot more harsher with applicants that have come in front of us with the community engagements and the commitment we've have I I'm sure they have the best intent to do so but when you have an intent you don't have it in writing there's nothing to hold you by it and I feel that Hudson County Community College although it's a great organization um I just feel that it was easier to go to Hudson County Community col and become get an agreement with them then to actually engage with the actual Community that's there looking at their proximity they have the restaurant in the front there's a corner restaurant I think it's called coconut restaurant is right there in the corner of it Jordan and Montgomery then you have the Armory then are across the street although they are within I I'm going to assume just by eyeballing it they are further enough from the school but not meeting with the school and we've had so much issue with the youth and wanting to either they I'm pretty sure with having a retired jury City police officer um head of security is a gigantic plus but it it's it's also the congregation that's going to happen with wanting to it's just like kids hanging out in front of a bar trying to get somebody to go in there and buy them something it's I mean I did it when I was young I mean that's why I'm only going to put forward what I know that I did because I did the same thing even when I thought somebody was watching me when I was going to go buy cannabis I like 16 17 years old so I'm those are my concerns my concerns is how hard we've been with other applicants and that there's only oneou and not I don't see more Community engagement in that particular area cuz that area already has it it's had some issues and when I'm out in the community and I'm in it all day I was there for vision zero as well cuz it it was raining that day uh drizzling um we've it was right on in while painting the pink and the purples and whatever it is a great initiative but I I would like to see something a little more concrete writing cuz we've we've been really hard on our other applicants I just I would feel it being fair yeah I I I agree I agree with you um commissioner Dublin um I think that's why from the moment that they came up today um as I was jogging my memory and reading my notes um you know I kept just bringing up further Community engagement further M us I know that the Hudson County Community College mou was discussed previously and just based on the dates uh from our speakers that came up they did meet with some of the community members after our meeting because this was the last time we seen this applicant was back in December and according to testimony today um you've met with the community sometime in March so some some initiatives were taken to engage with the community but I think I also agree with commissioner Dublin and that we would like to see more Community engagement from this applicant but before I make a comment did you have anything to add to Jeffrey no okay you wanted to say something else then I'd like to chime in yeah I it's taking off Jeff's question commissioner kao's question of what have you learned from Jersey City Jersey City is a Melting Pot we are a unique City born and bred here my dad is an immigrant of this country who's still a resident of this country who's worked hard and I commend anyone who comes here to set their best foot forward I'll be the first one to stand up and and and do anything to help um but we're so unique that I'm I it's I the reason why we ask these Community engagements is because Jersey City is just not a place to come make money Jersey City is not something that you're not going to reinvest into we are a Melting Pot we are unique to anyone around the country so that's one of the reasons why also it's so important to to to want to invest and to see our our community flourish in those areas because it is that particular area is up and cominging that's right off montelo that's right off Bergen it's an area that has changed drastically it's an area where my dad started his first businesses um who then ventured off to having an enormous amount of more other businesses here in this soil so it's the reason why I ask that there is more Community engagement because that question that that that commissioner ktz asked was a very a phenomenal question because there's so much to say about Jersey City and it we're a colorful City so let me uh suggest this now this of course is an application that has been bouncing around since probably before December uh for nobody's fault whatsoever now we if if the board was so inclined to uh approve or support the application we could put that in as a reasonable condition now don't forget they need to come back for a final you would not uh approve the final if they have not met those reasonable conditions that I could place in a resolution of support from the board but I leave it up to the board but again this is an application that apparently they're trying but it has been bouncing around for quite some time but that is your discretion I mean it definitely has bounced around for um different reasons the flu being one of them not having Quorum another reason a mistake of a date from the 26th to the 28th so I think it's reasonable that you know it has been adjourned as many times for for those reasons um I'm I don't know if you have anything else to one I'm sorry and I'm gonna break the executive here uh they're going for an annual license correct yeah so they still have to get the resolution of support from the governing body then they've got to go back to the CRC and they're paying rent on this place so uh it's up to the board but all right go ahead Jeff everybody knows my position all right um I want to see local businesses succeed in Jersey City I have no problem with the idea of having uh people who don't live in Jersey City open a business as long as they give back and become part of the community right uh I think Ron's suggestion is a good suggestion that we make the final they cannot open up until they get their annual come back to us and they meet the qualifications of actually going to the community talking to the community uh the Sid is not going to sign off one way or the other that's just the way they are and that that goes throughout the city but talking to the neighborhood groups the Duncan Avenue people you know monacello uh Bergen Avenue you know Merchants they could draw up enough people that would come here and say they've reached out to us we believe that they want to be part of the community and we support that and they could bring those people to the final uh approval but they get the chance to move forward to get their anual and if they show up and there's just one or two people well then they're really not engaged in Jersey City right and I'd like to see a meeting happen with Hudson Catholic with something in writing that states that if they do disperse their children at lunchtime I'm not sure if they break for lunch or they they're mandatory to stay inside anymore um or and when they're dismissed and there's a huge business right on Montgomery of for Bergen the Hudson the Hudson Enterprise uh yes Hudson Enterprise the um they that's the special needs um uh location I'm not too worried about them to be honest because they're a lot their families I'm really engaged in that in that particular community and their families they do a pickup and a drop off so there there's not too much walking and there's no more litter Patrol there anymore but I would like to see a meeting happen with them as well because they can generate business for the mentally and physically CH absolutely absolutely if that's something that can happen I'm all for it I'm als I'm I am again like I said I am daughter of an immigrant who immigrated into this country and is very successful um and I applaud anyone who comes in I don't want to give the misconception that I'm not looking or that I don't want to see a business that's coming into jury City to make money but I want it to see more engagement in the community not only come in here for the opportunity because we are a very flourishing company something um a city something opens up in jury City and is run appropriately you're going to be very successful I am a complete Testament of it my dad thank God is a very successful man um who came in from Washington Heights when he immigrated from the Dominican Republic and came to Jersey City that's but I want to see the community engagement which is something that we've done since I'm was born it was part of his give back when he started here that's what I want to see from you guys and I and I and I would be in agreement with adding that to the resolution but it is a it's imperative for it to happen those communities must be touched and I want to see something in writing especially with the schools because that is a concern to a lot of parents so why don't we exit work session ask him I wanted to ask you when we exit motion to hold before you before you I want you to know uh the question I asked I've asked for other applicants who were not familiar with Jersey City and the reason I asked is that your business is a consumer business that is really about people who live in the neighborhood or around the area and quite frankly I don't think you could succeed if you're not really really really engaged and understand Jersey City It's a Wonderful City and it's very unique in its diversity and its culture and its history and by being engaged then you draw the people who live here to your business right so why don't we exit motion to exit work a motion to ex all in favor opposed all right so now there can be some give and take if you have any questions question I think it's off do you happen to know if uh Mr Terry is still the principal over at that school I'm not sure um if he's still the principal I deal more with a teacher because I run different programs but I'm not sure if he's still the principal could possibly could be I don't think there's been a change okay thank you all right just so that um I have a better understanding uh what is the board looking for I know more uh you know proof of more Community engagement but that's pretty Broad well there's there's several communities that that it impacts the that this business will impact one being that there is some type of a written agreement of closing its doors during either lunch or dismissal that's that's with neighboring schools that's the neighboring that's H and Catholic um there I would like to see a meeting with the actual Journal Square um Association they actually meet at the community college um they they have a very long reach um and and just communities from there like have you met with the businesses on the corner business there's a a very um busy Spanish restaurant there on the corner it's called coconuts there's you have you're going to have there's residential areas there there you have prin Pizza you have the Montello um uh s you said you met with the joural square Sid correct that's the young lady that just came up and spoke right um but reaching out to that Community even if you held you have n oh okay I'm sorry oh that's right that was mcy Square sorry there's Glenwood dun Avenue so I think we're pretty much asking for what we asked for December um in addition to the other um percentage of the owners being present as well I'm going I'm I would be okay if that's put into the resolution but that is something that I have that I personally um for my decision would have to see some serious Community engagement I agree understood I have it so with that so with that being said we'll make a motion to approve this applicant um with conditions right I got the meeting with Hudson Catholic to sort of square away scheduling as to when kids are disch and dismissal and dismissal Lincoln high school did U Journal Square uh Association a meeting with them and then some proof that you've met with uh a joining businesses or businesses that are in close proximity to the Cannabis business correct and I think we've asked other applicants to make make sure that they're here present as well so if you are going to submit something in writing just ask one of them to come speak as well and there's businesses on Final approval yeah there's businesses on Bergen Avenue uh very small business that been there for extremely long time uh there's businesses on uh Montgomery there's businesses on Bergen uh there's businesses on um Baldwin you know there's a lot of small businesses there not big business but really neighborhood own businesses uh and I think that you know you want to be part of the neighborhood you know and reach out to like the different neighborhood associations which you can very easily get from the the resident Response Center yeah right the res call resident Response Center and they can give you a list of the surrounding so we have a motion is there a second I think he has a question oh just a quick question I always want to be cognizant of uh the residents's jobs that are in you know working for uh all the different local businesses and don't want to speak on behalf of the client I just have a general question for the board go ahead um when I bring somebody with us when we identify who that would be does it need to be the owner of the company uh for one of those or would an employee be sufficient because if it's an employee I don't want them to have to take off a shift well they're going to come here at 5:00 in the afternoon right it could be either or again I think we're open to I don't think we're very strict on hey it needs to be the owner I think as long as there's some sort of initiative and just some commitment from either a representative or the owner himself so either support or again oppose the business you just want to hear that and support that's in writings the best applications that we've heard through the process through final has been you know a room full of people that came and said we like this applicant because he's going he or she is going to be part of the neighborhood that's we do appreciate Hudson County Community College absolutely no question here thank you thank you all right so any second we do need a second second all right all in favor I any opposed motion carries with those reasonable conditions uh you're off to I believe I guess the governing body for a resolution of support at some point in time right thank you everyone have plan board is next thank you plan board oh planning board sorry board okay I wish it was that simple all right what do you want to call up next here uh we should just do the final Lea is leaf uh here yes here he's right there okay all right if we could have uh the leaf joint okay yeah yeah I I I when I when I want sit up front please y all right uh welcome this is very uh informal um how close are you to opening your doors we're open oh very good glad to hear that your mic might be off just keep on rolling them no press the button any questions from uh the board members no all right I need a motion follow motion okay second all right so okay all in favor I I and the opposed congratulations congratulations your official now was that too hard not at all not all right uh we we do have an a late minute add-on right CCB 22-22 cream dispensary previously known as perennial group oh boy okay so who's here for that all right uh nice to see you Gerald please enter your appearance into the record good evening Commissioners good evening Council my name is Gerard pisillo I'm an attorney with janova Burns I'm here this evening on behalf of the applicant cream dispensary uh we're here for a final uh approval did the gentleman next to you ever testify before yes he did appear before this board uh Alfredo prette he's the CFO and one of the uh principal owners of the applicant is he the majority owner 51% and how many partners do you have four and they're all in different uh about what for about 10% or 51 19 15 and my classes on okay um here's the issue ahead it appears that one of the minority owners I don't mean race I mean as percentage uh um notice came to us that the gentleman was arrested with a pistol an arm you know a gun so I would like to know again I again I have a real problem with that uh until the courts adjudicate this either through a jury decision of you know innocent or guilty I don't think I'd want to see a dispensary that has a part owner that is out there you know legally selling drugs but more importantly that is armed and and and it may be um he's innocent but until proven guilty that's right but if but if he pleads guilty or he's found guilty the CRC may find that to be an ineligible I we agree with that and we acknowledge that there was a partner when we did appear before this board in September of 22 what's his name his name is Carl uh okay and it this did come to light post that approval post our approvals here in the city uh once and when while their application was pending with the CRC uh my clients did remove him he's no longer part of the ownership uh and you have any evidence or can you supply us with some of that evidence that he is no longer a owner has no interest in this particular cannabis business and he was removed because of this incident or he was removed before he was removed moved directly as a result of this in um and because of the impact that it would have had and the concern and the risk that the CRC would have denied the application because of you know because of the infraction and obviously the stain on the applicant as a whole uh AJ Alfredo excuse me I call you AJ but Alfredo did uh address this and go to the CRC and he was the point person in uh you know removing Mr Roberson so he can testify as to the evidence that he is no longer part of the entity uh and this was all vetted through the CRC so that when we received or when the applicant received its final initial or annual license it was without Mr Roberson's involvement have you amended the application I guess with with the the certification why don't we swear you if you don't they squirm the testimony about to give the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth to help you guys yes sir please state your name spell your last name and give us your address Alfredo J pres p r a s a g t 53 High Street Jersey City New Jersey 0376 so Alfredo what documentary evidence can you provide to the board that Mr Roberson is no longer connected in any way to your dispensary we had a change with the state of ownership as well as with the CRC and we had him sign a document that said he is no longer part owner has you we have be so kind as to supply that to me so I can supply it to the board members sure absolutely and I don't think Commerce has received a copy of that mayard okay I I could get that to you way actually it should go through mayard office so no formal change has been submitted to the um and the state application approval reflecting the same information correct okay um by the way if you're going to open up a cannabis store it's a great Street to live on he said High Street with that support he lives on High Street you live on High Street that's perfect didn't think of got got it when he first said it all right so then um I think we should just adjourn the this um applicant um well you could it's the board's pleasure we could we could vote on it and that's conditional uh our votes based upon that within what 48 hours they submit the uh evidence it should be very quickly because they have a scheduled ribbon cutting okay so when your Ribbon cutting we don't get it Friday with mayor full no okay yeah trust me you're gonna want to clarify that right now because I don't think Steve will show up if there's like any I could put it on the record I'll put it on the record mayard you'll have it tonight okay you'll have the documents hold up I just have a question um I'm sorry I said I application no was I here for their test you don't have to be this is an this is an old yeah 2022 you're you're basically just here to to finalize it you you need not recuse yourself just because you weren't here for the original application this in fact the way our ordinance the way our ordinance is is written we require nothing for this final approval essentially if for the board's benefit I can give you a little bit of a background of what they've been doing I would just because two of us were not here when you proved testimony we were we've been we were prepared to address those points uh we at the time when we did appear before this board we had two m in place with the uh whole Spectrum autism Foundation as well as the Police Athletic League uh and I I'll let uh Alfredo speak to this but they've already been actively engaging in those Partnerships um in addition to those two they've uh partnered with Hudson Pride Center and have been working with them and as well have been an active sponsor with the uh uh historic special Improvement uh special Historic downtown special improvement district sorry uh so they've been oh yeah I heard his application yes okay so you've already been engaged with the community already working alongside with them you're a Jersey City resident for three and a half years been been working with all of them my husband and I just recently started partnering with the Hudson Pride Center as well Joseph Cameron and Stephanie Mills uh Sher Singh with the whole Spectrum autism Foundation we started from day one with her Rachel SE with the hdsid as well as uh Elvis and myisha with Pals when that organization was just getting off the ground with basically no resources or nothing and so we had no approvals or anything and we started December 2020 and just started rolling with it and we have prior experience from San Francisco and our family lives here and that's how this all came and and we're we're thankful this day is finally close and here and I'm sure and and Alfredo if you could just give the board the benefit of the employees I think that was a very great thing that you told me before and if you could just let them know as well in terms of the employees um you know I I for us especially with me being Latino and me being married to a man it was very important for us to have inclusivity and diversity and that's 100% what we said our part of our platform was going to be we have nine employees that we've hired seven out of the nine are women uh three of them are part of the lgbtq community five out of the nine are African-American two are Latino and one is Asian and everybody lives in Jersey City except for eight except for one uh so so that was very close to us and we wanted to make sure that we continued to all of our promises that we have been delivering over these last three and a half years and I could say to uh my fellow Commissioners uh they had a very good application when they first came here and they had a lot of support locally okay andus were established and I'm good with that as long as we get we're going I I'm fine with voting on for them to open and have their grand opening as long as within the next 48 hours we have something that tells us that Mr Robison is no longer a part of your organization you will have it as soon as I leave here and get to my computer then I'd make a motion to vote to accept his um all in favor all in favor I I I don't have one of those resolutions thank you Commissioners thank you for your courtesy you'll have that tonight last minute item circulated uh before we I need to just stretch before before we adjourn thank you congratulations what time is you ribbon cutting best of luck 12 well one: luck but we have everybody coming at 12:30 oh great congratulations Good Luck conratulations Good Luck thank you um let's do this in total here Maris the leaf joint and Blossom if I can get a motion to memorialize Second all in favor all right that takes care of that all three are done um Min when is our next meeting 24th here I'm on vacation guys I'm just going to put that right out there real quick I'm on I'm taking my children away good for you you going to bring them back listen if I take them away soon I'm going to be I am going to be she's going to be the one left behind not the it's not a major concern cuz we don't have any applications that are complete okay so there's not it may not take place anyway okay all right motion before we go kids will leave me since we're here and we haven't met in a while is there anything that we want to address uh I I I have something I want I mean no D I mean go ahead I want to address um just attendance overall um I feel like most of us try to be here do we want that on the record I I want it on the record yeah I just want to make sure that you know everybody all of us take out of our time to be here um I'm sure all of us have other things to do um and I just I know that we've had certain Commissioners that have been out several times and I just want to kind of bring that to light on the record and and I think she does best to try to come but I'm saying her life just happens and if life just happens it just maybe it's time to have that discussion to see if maybe it's someone else can take the Reigns for that or maybe she's just it's not my decision no I know it's not your decision trust me I get it so just to lean on get lean on the municipal land use law if a member of the planning or zoning board uh misses I believe it's four consecutive meetings unexcused meetings you know I'm sick what whatever the case may be um what T what could happen is the planning board or zoning board they take a vote and they send a letter to the governing body indicating that it's our position that that seat is vacant at this point and then it's up to the governing body to appoint either a new zoning or planning board member etc etc and I think I would like to have this conversation when um our other members here as well like when everybody's present but I did want to bring it to light today because you know some people have vacation days or whatever it is planned and then yeah like unfortunately Britney um has a stomach virus or you're sick or whatever and if and if I technically not supposed to be here today she's on a vacation day today so I just was like I got a phone call like oh my God we have cannabis and I'm like ran over here because I didn't want to to do that because I one because I feel that this cannabis is really important at least to me it is um and I don't want to stop small businesses from opening because I'm a product of a small business and I I want to be able to see them flourish but I also feel like we need to put in the time to hear them to tell them what they need to do to to in order to open or to be successful or we're not going to agree or whatever the case may be but I feel like it's important for everyone to be present and I think attendance is like extremely important like showing up is the first step and the most important step and from there we kind of just go um but again I would like to have this conversation when everybody's present but today I I wanted to bring it up because I know Happ until July probably and and that's fine but I did want to put it on the record because Sonia was on a vacation day today and last minute we called her like hey we need you if now we don't have Quorum and we understand she stopped her whatever she was doing on her vacation day and made it here so I I just every everybody should put an effort I was in I was about to go swimming I've been I don't I think I've missed a handful of meetings over the two and a half years you know either holiday religious holiday than thank you for being present you know you know I do have one more question I have a question outside of that like we are like we're dwindling down right so like there it's going to get like either slow or no meetings are going to happen what this is my biggest issue so I go get my nails done and I can't go get my nails done because I'm being asked questions about oh um I have this tenant who has been paying rent in one of my locations I can't remember but it's somewhere on Westside Avenue they came they got approvals they got everything right but that's what they don't have that's no finances to open right so now he comes and he's like I'd like to put in an application I owned I bought the business in the middle of I think the renter must have been renting like three four months this new person came in bought it and now it's like oh they're going to open cannabis oh I should have thought about that now the people who he's been renting that's been paying rent for like a little bit over a year cannot open their cannabis business because they don't have the financial backing 9% of right absolutely which is like the same way when my father started his businesses in alcohol and that it tanked the business um so now this guy wants to put in an application which we're probably not going to be able to even do because it's the same location it's the same exact but he don't have the money no he's got to open he hasn't put in the application but he has now this guy's like listen I'm not going to rent anymore I'm done but I can't know you know something this is something that I brought up about two three meetings ago is because we don't have a pin in the uh map but we can't deny someone from open you know hearing and opening up but there has to be a timeline that you don't have a post right and if you don't have the financing or you there has to be there has to be a deadline where you can finish it and open up or there has to be some type of an extension to us like I know that the state is backlogged I've heard that a 100 times I get it but if you're going up against the state and you're saying I'm just waiting for my license I have the financial backing to open and you get your state approval and you're a year later you're still not open that's not fair to other person let me let me just hold on a second just let me just say this I'll tell you how we handle it no I just want to tell you this though most of the people are not being hung up by the state they just don't have the money okay yeah that's exactly right so the other 20 towns I represent um what they do is they have in the ordinance that the resolution of support expires in a year and they have to come back to renew oh they just have they're gone if you haven't done something a new application if you haven't no we don't open if you haven't done something in a year off to the next person and that would be fair because at least within a year you should have heard back from the state and if you're only waiting for the St to get money I mean if you have your money is there a deadline with the state application that once they approve they have a year or two to open or two years but that's not fair for a business they got rid of that they had a year from final approval to open and they got rid of that regular and constru the St so what happens is you have typically conditional annual which is final but then you have to build and then you have your inspection okay so what mayard is referring to is once you had your annual you had one year to build out that's gone now that's so can we ask the I ask all that to ask can we ask the people who were who who um when was this board created I can't remember off the top of my head 2022 okay so in 2022 the people that have not opened as of yet as of let's say July 1st right of 24 can we ask them to come and appear in front of us to tell us why they haven't opened is that allowed you could sure yeah I I did it in t three months ago so can we do that how how many applications I mean just so know the board has reviewed probably 90 applications okay we have 60 64 about 64 that's been approved and out of that 64 there's another 45 that have been approved by city council but we only have nine that are open so just so you know why don't we you know I don't know about all the board members but I think the three of us would like to sit down with the council and talk to them maybe at the caucus of why we think that it's time maybe we should wait for the chair to be present for this conversation but I guarantee you she won't support I think I think that the issue is that that I don't think that I don't know where the count I haven't had a conversation with any counil people referring to cannabis because it's like not something that anybody wants to talk about um but I mean I don't think that it would hurt to ask because an an amendment to this ordinance has to happen something has to give there were way for us to only have nine for you guys to have heard because you guys have been here longer than I and Jose to hear 60 something 90 something okay 90 heard 60 approved nine open in a city this size that's crazy so to your point you could have them come in and ask them what's going on and if it looks like it is just going south you could simply vacate the resolution of support do we have the authority to do that under our ordinance you don't need that I mean I mean it doesn't prohibit it so we also I mean for from 2002 to now if you didn't open to approve so we can also put a motion to take it and there's nothing that says you can't yeah that you can't ask for a status now maybe you don't have to have them come back maybe you could do an emails an explanation on why have you not opened and you were heard in 2002 you were heard in 20 um I mean 2022 2023 and you're yet to open because I know that when I'm out here trying to just get my nails done I can't because they're like I want the guy's not and the guy's not going to be able to open he told the landlord I want to break my lease but hasn't told told the board no so I don't at this point I got to go look at the address now because I was too busy trying to you know have some me time your nails though yeah all right did your nails get done though it sure did but that's my point like yeah I mean I think we can bring this up at our next meeting um hopefully we have a full uh board uh present and I think it would be great to just another question so let's say oh no because I'm not here I was going to say June 22nd if even though they didn't have applicant we could have meant to just discuss on the record I'll tell you something we even if we have no applicants we can sit here and have a work session that's what I want ourselves going through everything that we would like to we plan it doesn't have to be the next go ahead um oh I have done status updates and what I've noticed a lot of people are in the middle of um like the build out I do know people are low on the funds I do know that there are people that say that um I've had people have issues like like um IC tea uh Medicine Woman for example they were one they were like three or four the third or fourth one and like they had issues with do right you know at least they can show you that I know places that we've had on that list that I've done drive-bys and there's no intent of no buildout because there's not even a nail in the wall but so with the always just reason no I know I know what you mean yeah should focus on those that have full Municipal approval right that's what I'm looking at okay those are some of the people that I've been talking to too so the people that have full Municipal approval we can't vacate a municip that's what I'm saying is that even going to be possible I would strongly suggest we continue this when we have a at least full board close to it so we can get some general consent somebody's car is going off is that's the is that ice te's place again is the Medicine Woman is that ice te's place there's a change there's possibly a change of location they called the other day and they said they decided not to do that now they were thinking about changing they had such a big issue with the Department of Transportation and it was a big issue so now they're it's they fixed that issue but it's taking them all this time they toed in 2022 like even with Blossom today like they were number one right they were first you know and and they just opened in on April 20 so the process seems like it's taking the average person about two years I just don't I I just been hearing so many of those that are that are basically throwing up their hands in the air and saying I'm not going to open I don't have the money and they just I believe there are a lot of people like that I know at least three that's the only reason why no I know they haven't that's the reason why I asked if that's possible to ask them to come in I also have tending applications that have yet to get in front of you like St you don't have to say you don't have to say the name I have same thing like they're not sure what the loc like the location's an issue so we have people that are just kind of bringing us along yeah but I think the focus is really just going to be on those that have full Municipal approval to give us a status update we'll we'll either reach out to them if the board desires them to come back we'll let you know I mean we'll give we'll give you an update by email and then you can make a decision if you want to see that particular applicant um and then we can recommend to the governing body that they resend it right that's what the other question before we no don't motion yet I just have one quick question that keeps keeps coming up um you know everyone's asking about the renewal process at what point what at what point do they get renewed because we have you know there's applications that have um that came in front of the board and was approved then they came in for the city council month later and then they received the state application and then there's an opening date at what point does the board want to see them back it's got to be either when they get the final sign off by us or the uh or they open up say I think open up would be reasonable the only concern I have and and why I'm a little not not that I don't agree with that a year from opening up it's just that so we're going to allow them to pay for the renewal right because if they paid us oh months before they opened they really should be paying us again one year from the date that they paid last why would they pay you for Renewal oh once the LI we issue a City License once they receive the state license so when they come back here see as this members came back today they came back they they have to pay us prior to coming back to the board maybe we should change the method or ask the council to change it that it's a nominal fee for you and then the actual renewal is when they you know year after they open uh I don't know if that's going to work cu the money's not coming in the revenue is not being realized around the same amount of a year pleas forgive me at that we really should wait for the chair yeah okay I think so too we'll ask that just know it is the questions come up and we don't have a way of answering it but okay okay so motion to Mee with you that there that's an issue we have to talk about all in favor I