##VIDEO ID:oIHAIlms9s0## okay we are going to begin tonight's meeting with a public hearing uh to approve changes to chapter 2150 of the County's code of ordinance regulating the use and display and sale of cannabis and cannabis derived products in the county good evening Commissioners thank you for having us um we have prep prepared a short presentation just um we did present this at our health housing and Human Services committee in early October but we thought it would be worth kind of just revisiting uh the main components of the ordinance so with me I have pahua MOA one of our community health specialists and again my name is shagar chower I'm an associate director within public health so all right so Ju Just to kind of focus on and kind of hone in what we're going to talk about today um we're going to go over purpose and intent of the ordinance real quick we're going to also um discuss uh registration and what that kind of um entails in terms of fees and things like that um we're going to talk about just revisiting the limits of how many cannabis retail businesses are within the county um talk about temporary cannabis events and some of the requirements around those and then General enforcement and Regulation and penalty that are associated with items like age compliance checks and things of that nature and then we're also going to want to talk about communication strategies kind of moving forward as this ordinance has passed and as we continue to kind of visit uh additional topics around cannabis we know this is just again another slice of another slice of the pie here that we're trying to uh tackle and we'll continue to bring items as as as they come forward so um so I want to also thank just this has been an extremely big collaborative effort again the legislation itself is a 300 page piece of legislation so there's a lot to unpack so um not only just with in County departments kind of all working together on this I want to thank our cities and townships for their partnership around this and their collaboration around this um sharing resolutions with us and kind of moving forward with this process with us so it's been extremely helpful I also want to thank all of you you gave us early guidance um when this all kind of started around kind of our general philosophy and direction to to move with so that's very helpful as we're kind of again unpacking all of this kind of bit by bit so with that I'm going to pass it to pH here to kind of talk a little bit of the details of the ordinance all right thanks shagger so the very first um I guess section in the ordinance goes over purpose and intent so just as a reminder that state legislation actually authorizes local jurisdictions to um regulate and protect public health and safety and so state county um being proactive and recognizing that um there are unintended risks in uh unintended access and use to cannabis products especially to our young people and vulnerable populations um decided to be again proactive in enacting this ordinance again to protect public health and safety so I just wanted to start off with that moving on to the registration of cannabis businesses so in accordance with state lawate county has limited cannabis retailer registrations to one per 12,500 residents this equates to about uh not about but this equates to 14 maximum retailers and to to be considered for registration retailers must have a license through the office of cannabis management or ocm and you'll hear me say that um so it could be a micro business with a retailer endorsement a meso business with a retailer endorsement or just a cannabis retailer um retailers are required to register with the county so in addition to having a um license through ocm they have to register with the county otherwise they can face a $2,000 penalty and then the fees that we have um inad County here you can see in that table there's no application fee and that's again per state statute we aren't allowed to have an application fee uh but there is an initial registration fee of $500 and that covers the first two years and then we also have a renewal registration fee which will take effect year three and then every year after which is $1,000 we have also set the hours of operation for cannabis retailers from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and that's 7 days a week all right on cannabis or temporary cannabis events so we are actually replicating the process that we are using for temporary liquor licensing and we're doing this because we know that it has been successful in the past and this has been a multidisiplinary approach across the county so lots of departments involved um but again we know that that it works so the steps for event organizers if they want to have a temporary cannabis event one they must first apply for a temporary cannabis event license through ocm once they get that approved and that's good then they can apply for a temporary cannabis permit through the county so they have to go through both um who can apply for a temporary cannabis permit I know this is another slide but essentially cannabis businesses except for three so there's only three that cannot apply for a temporary cannabis events again they cannot apply and these are cannabis testing facilities a low potency edible hemp manufacturer and a low potency edible retailer those three cannot apply and that's just per state statute there are also some standards that permit holders have to meet um so for example I'm just going to give you a couple of what these standards are you can see um the full section in section 2157 subdivision c um but for example people cannot smoke or vape on the event grounds um the event cannot go outside of the normal business hours of 10 to n and then lastly anyone who attempts to purchase a cannabis product um must check they have to check the ID of anyone trying to attempt to purchase so those are just some of the standards that permit holders must meet under the temporary cannabis events enforcement and penalty so the first one that's up is violations and this first bullet point talks about the violation of use in public places so this is referring to like individuals if someone um was using cannabis in a public place they could get $300 fine which is considered a p a petty misdemeanor which is not criminal in nature and then that second bullet point talking about violation of any provision of the ordinance that's essentially referring to businesses or retailers and if they do that it's considered a misdemeanor for compliance checks there's two bullet points here public health is responsible for doing the age verification checks so very similar to like tobacco checks we um we're making sure that retailers are not selling to anyone under 21 or minors that would be the responsibility of Public Health and then ocm is responsible for product compliance checks so making sure that the products that are on the shelves now are legal to be sold and they're in the correct packaging things like that so there are two different um pieces there under compliance checks 30-day suspension so this takes place if a retailer um violates any piece of the ordinance or they pose an immediate threat to Public Health and an example of that is again if they sold to a minor that could be an immediate threat to Public Health what happens is their registration would be suspended and they could no longer sell up to 30 days um essentially what happens there is we would then report that to ocm and then work with them to get that resolved with the retailer um another thing I want to point out too is civil penalties um these retailers can be referred to ocm for any administrative order and penalties um or a County Civil nuisance so just wanted to mention that and then the responsible entities for enforcement and penalty um are the Sheriff's Office and public health all right communication strategies this is important to us we want to make sure that um we are being transparent in what we're doing and so we do have a Communications plan that includes a press release there's web articles um after the ordinance is going to be is approved we have social media posts gov delivery that we use to send emails out to folks um and then we will also be updating our cannabis U frequently asked questions or FAQ on the website um and of course our social media post will be scattered throughout the year to again remind folks and people about um any updates that we might have here are references the first one actually is um a guide for local governments on adult use cannabis which we base the ordinance on and then um that's the OC's website are there any questions so you pH you said that sheriff's department and public health are the enforcement agencies so even in a municipality the police dep Department are not an enforc agency on this is that right Tom no I think the sheriff is the enforcement agency even in the small cities but you have to keep in in mind that so far there are only two that have identified that they want to retain responsibility for registration and not delegate that to the county so at least in those jurisdictions they're going to be fully responsible for all enforcement matters but the city of Rochester then because they're are giving that to us basically their law enforcement is not going to enforce this law we need to have a discussion with the city of Rochester frankly on that point I think going forward yeah I would think so I mean we're not we're not the law enforcement agency primary one in the city of Rochester right any other questions before I open the public hearing yes yes oh thank you Mr chair uh I I don't see anything and maybe this is intentional uh relative to where a cannabis business can be located relative to a an area that that might be trending toward youth activities uh be at a high school be at a Rec Center be at a a park I know you can't smoke in a park but uh but can you sell it across the street from a park that kind of a thing are we are we going to address that at any time or is that going to be done by the cities uh or the townships relative to their own ordinances yeah so that's kind of encompassed in the zoning ordinances so homestate County did update their zoning ordinance to reflect that and we did the maximum distances allowable by State Statute um also then local jurisdictions are updating their zoning ordinances to kind of reflect what they want to do for that for those distances okay so like the city of Rochester has also updated their uh Land Development code for instance to um indicate those same distances those um maximum distances and I believe it's like a th000 feet from a school and 500 ft from a daycare residential okay y from a school so but nothing about Parks or no Parks as well so anything like where a child essentially a child could be present yeah okay thank you very much Mr chair yes so uh a cannabis consumer might assume that if they were to attend a cannabis event they would be allowed or encouraged to smoke or vape can cannabis at that event uh but that is prohibited uh according to U these ordinances uh could you go into some more depth about why smoking or vaping cannabis would not be allowed at a cannabis event sure I can talk a little bit about it and then um Abby if you have anything to add um but that so they can consume Edibles or cannabis products but we prohibit proh prohibited smoking and vaping because of the secondhand um smoke that could go to others who don't want that and so that is I believe one of the reasons was there anything else that I'm missing and possibly because the event could be in a um in a location that's already um prohibited um according to the great yep thank you okay all right I think that's all so we thank you we will open the public hearing would anybody like to speak for or against this this ordinance would anybody like to speak for or against this ordinance third and last time anybody would like to speak for or against this ordinance I entertain a motion okay we got a PO in a second all in favor say I I opposed okay with the public hearing is closed so I'll entertain a motion then we can have discussion if desired move to adopt the U approved changes to chapter 2150 of the county code second okay we have a motion of second any discussion all right hearing none all in favor say I I I opposed motion carries all right thank you all right next up is the cassant agenda a approve mate County Board minuts from November 5th 2024 B approve the recording of the RightWay plats for cassad 21 reconstruction project C approve the recording of rightaway plats for the casa 44 and th14 interchange Project D revoke existing agreement and authorize new revocable license agreement with Northbridge Church e approve write-off of uncollected able balances for DN Community Corrections F approve write off of uncollectible balances for Human Services G approve utility easement at County Public Works subdivision H approve amendment to County Planning advisory commission bylaws I accept the Minnesota Department of Health cannabis and substant use prevention program funds J approve joint Powers agreement for laboratory services with the Minnesota Department of Health K approved the 2024 purchase of services agreement with Family Service Rochester supplement or supporting Implement implementation of a Family Resource Center L approve the acceptance of child care continuous Li licensing joint Powers agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Services move to approve the consent agenda second okay all in favor say I the chair can I just offer you went through a long list here uh the public should know that you know the board is the board has had out you know pretty extensive discussion all of these uh perhaps except the minutes uh at at previous meetings and so we just don't flippantly approve these without without discussion correct okay I have a motion to second on favor say I I I oppose carries all right short meeting tonight board and committee reports I'll just go down the rep go down the line gr do you have anything to offer uh well the Micah uh which which we are belong to an organization of like counties that are more Metropolitan less less rural uh and the uh executive director has resigned so uh um commissioner sanum is on the search committee uh for the new executive director but they are very helpful for the uh Urban counties so that would be my report okay thank you yeah I don't really have a report we've got a AMC meeting with EMS coming up and that's tomorrow and then uh next week we have a um Extension Office uh meeting so I don't have a report okay Dave I would just offer the county as I think we all know is pretty involved in veteran services we had a uh I thought a a very well attended veterans uh Veterans Day program at the event center on on on the 11th and uh uh the place was literally full I don't know if that's four or 500 but a nice turnout to honor our veterans great laurel I do have a couple committee reports um commissioner Ty and I we serve on the first homes board and I uh I thought I would give an overview about first homes and the Community Land Trust model uh for the benefit of folks uh in attendance and anyone um listening online and for my fellow Commissioners so the the first homes um uh first homes organization is based on a Community Land Trust model which dedicates uh properties to a community Land Trust uh in perpetuity so it's a way to create permanent affordable housing and when we attend the monthly meetings uh we get financial statements projects that are in the works uh sales activity community outreach Community Partners uh social media activ activ ity updates um monthly newsletter for the Community Land Trust homeowners including homeowner tips and reminders uh and opportunities and uh I think it's interesting to to know that the first homes team is constantly looking for um to acquire properties to incorporate into the Community Land Trust uh and that's whether to build rebuild uh rehab or sell uh a home that requires very little work um and the the CLT model also offers down payment assistance um and a gap loan that can be repaid when you sell your home so it's a really affordable accessible way for income qualified uh people and families to become homeowners when home ownership would otherwise be Out Of Reach uh at uh our most recent meeting we had uh a presentation from uh a builder a local Builder named Matt Durand he's an educator and director of the rctc carpent carpentry program it's a a one-year program it's 32 credits they partner with Community uh for instance Two Rivers Habitat for Humanity and first homes the program um has financial aid available for its participants because there's a huge need for carpenters and framers in our community and it's just one way that that um that we are encouraging um people to go into the trades as a profession uh that the in the car this carpentry program the students build a house they build a grade on slab two-bedroom one B house and they learn about safety and blueprint reading framing Roofing drywall Cabinetry siding and much more and it's just a great example of uh of a way that our community is um helping to meet the need and create create opportunity for folks to go into the trades and in car into the carpentry profession um in particular thank you for your report yep all right we have reached the end of our meeting I'm looking for a motion to adjourn or