Barre Select Board sets December 11 special Town Meeting, adds marijuana tax article

BARRE -- October 9, 2018, Barre Select Board sets December 11 special Town Meeting and adds marijuana tax to a 12-article warrant. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to schedule the special meeting at 6:30 p.m. and to place two new Select Board articles on the warrant: Article 11, adopting a 3 percent local marijuana retail tax under MGL Chapter 64, Section 3, and Article 12, establishing a marijuana host community agreement process requiring at least two public hearings. Members debated at length whether to pull a pending recreational marijuana moratorium article, with one member warning that the town has voted 50-50 on the issue at prior meetings and that achieving the two-thirds threshold needed for a zoning bylaw is "not gonna happen" at that margin. The warrant also includes a $500,000 debt authorization for a fire department engine replacement, estimated at roughly $60,000 per year over 10 years against the tax levy, and a citizen petition with 183 verified signatures requesting a permanent basketball hoop at Norcross Park. A public hearing on the financial warrant articles is tentatively set for November 26.