Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Holyoke - Marijuana would be dispensed for medical purposes from a one-story brick building at 630 Beaulieu St. in an industrial area under an application the City Council will receive Tuesday.
"The project will include redevelopment of the one-story, 31,510-square-foot building to accommodate a 3,500-square-foot area for office and product dispensing, with the remainder (28,010 square feet) being used for growing of Medical Marijuana," said the application filed by Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Center.
The council at 7 p.m. at City Hall is likely to refer the application to its Ordinance Committee.
Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Center is a nonprofit organization. It is headed by Brian P. Lees, who formerly held jobs with the state as a Republican state senator and as Hampden County clerk of courts, and Heriberto Flores, president of the New England Farm Workers Council. Neither could be reached for comment Thursday night.
Flores is listed on the application as the applicant and Lees' is the contact name. This is their second attempt at opening a medical pot facility in Holyoke.
The application -- officially, a request for a special permit from the City Council -- will be the first reviewed under the medical marijuana ordinance established here in August 2014.
Massachusetts voters in 2012 permitted medical marijuana facilities by approving a statewide ballot question, 63 percent to 37 percent.
State law prohibits a city or town from banning medical marijuana facilities. Six medical marijuana dispensaries are now open for sales in the state, including New England Treatment Access in Northampton, which opened last year.
But City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain said Thursday representatives of Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Center should expect numerous questions from councilors in the special permit deliberations.
Jourdain said the key parts of the medical marijuana ordinance are that it restricts such facilities to industrial zones and an applicant must obtain a special permit from the City Council to operate. The latter was a step councilors insisted on to ensure such plans get proper scrutiny.
The application includes a June 6 letter to the City Council from Robert J. Goldenberg of Goldcar Limited Liability Co. (LLC), which owns the property at 630 Beaulieu St. The letter says Goldcar LLC has entered into a purchase or lease option for the property with Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Center.
Goldenberg, of South Hadley, is listed as manager of Goldcar LLC in online records at the office of William F. Galvin, Massachusetts secretary of state.
Signs at 630 Beaulieu St. on Wednesday identified it as the location of C.A.R. Products Fine Cleaners, Manufacturer of Auto Detail Supplies, Car Wash Products, Fleet and Industrial Cleaners, Marine & RV Cleaners, Household Cleaners.
The building is in the same neighborhood as the entrance to Interstate 391, the city wastewater treatment plant and a trash transfer station. It was built about 1955 and sits on 1.3 acres. The property has an assessed value of $597,100, according to Holyoke Board of Assessors records.
Improvements planned for the property include installation of handicapped accessibility features from the parking area and enhanced security and lighting, the application said.
Security measures will include installation of a chain link fence, which will contain lockable gates, to surround the site. The loading area also will be protected with a new fence, the application said.
The exact means of lighting hadn't been selected, as of the application, but the lighting will be shielded to direct illumination downward to the pavement instead of "spreading uncontrolled."
The group led by Lees and Flores had proposed a medical marijuana facility at Appleton and Race streets in the former Cubit Wire & Cable Co. Inc. building. Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Center at the time had a provisional license from the state.
But on June 27, 2014, the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services denied the group a permanent license.
That was in relation to State Auditor Suzanne Bump the previous month reporting that the New England Farm Workers Council had improperly charged more than $700,000 in salaries, travel and other expenses to state contracts between 2010 and 2012.
While not questioning the legitimacy of the expenses, Bump said none of the items should have been charged to state contracts held by the council.
William M. Bennett, Flores' lawyer and the former Hampden district attorney, said at the time that the decision to deny the license was improper and unfair and a review of the auditor's report would vindicate Flores.
By October 2014, the New England Farm Workers Council had satisfied state officials that no money was misspent and no money had to be repaid.
"No money was owed because no state money was used for improper purposes. Period," Bennett said.
Flores had appealed the findings of Bump's office to the state Operational Services Division, which oversees state contracting services.
In a letter dated Oct. 8, 2014, Joanne Portes Rodriguez, the division's director of audits and quality assurance, said the New England Farm Workers Council's corrective action plan, along with revised annual financial reports, had settled the matter.
Under the corrective action plan, the New England Farm Workers Council agreed to restructure its board of directors to include more independent members; seek competitive bids for consultants when practical; and revise its internal accounting system, among other changes, Bennett said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana Dispensary Site Planned In Holyoke
Author: Mike Plaisance
Contact: Massachusetts Local News
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Massachusetts Local News
"The project will include redevelopment of the one-story, 31,510-square-foot building to accommodate a 3,500-square-foot area for office and product dispensing, with the remainder (28,010 square feet) being used for growing of Medical Marijuana," said the application filed by Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Center.
The council at 7 p.m. at City Hall is likely to refer the application to its Ordinance Committee.
Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Center is a nonprofit organization. It is headed by Brian P. Lees, who formerly held jobs with the state as a Republican state senator and as Hampden County clerk of courts, and Heriberto Flores, president of the New England Farm Workers Council. Neither could be reached for comment Thursday night.
Flores is listed on the application as the applicant and Lees' is the contact name. This is their second attempt at opening a medical pot facility in Holyoke.
The application -- officially, a request for a special permit from the City Council -- will be the first reviewed under the medical marijuana ordinance established here in August 2014.
Massachusetts voters in 2012 permitted medical marijuana facilities by approving a statewide ballot question, 63 percent to 37 percent.
State law prohibits a city or town from banning medical marijuana facilities. Six medical marijuana dispensaries are now open for sales in the state, including New England Treatment Access in Northampton, which opened last year.
But City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain said Thursday representatives of Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Center should expect numerous questions from councilors in the special permit deliberations.
Jourdain said the key parts of the medical marijuana ordinance are that it restricts such facilities to industrial zones and an applicant must obtain a special permit from the City Council to operate. The latter was a step councilors insisted on to ensure such plans get proper scrutiny.
The application includes a June 6 letter to the City Council from Robert J. Goldenberg of Goldcar Limited Liability Co. (LLC), which owns the property at 630 Beaulieu St. The letter says Goldcar LLC has entered into a purchase or lease option for the property with Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Center.
Goldenberg, of South Hadley, is listed as manager of Goldcar LLC in online records at the office of William F. Galvin, Massachusetts secretary of state.
Signs at 630 Beaulieu St. on Wednesday identified it as the location of C.A.R. Products Fine Cleaners, Manufacturer of Auto Detail Supplies, Car Wash Products, Fleet and Industrial Cleaners, Marine & RV Cleaners, Household Cleaners.
The building is in the same neighborhood as the entrance to Interstate 391, the city wastewater treatment plant and a trash transfer station. It was built about 1955 and sits on 1.3 acres. The property has an assessed value of $597,100, according to Holyoke Board of Assessors records.
Improvements planned for the property include installation of handicapped accessibility features from the parking area and enhanced security and lighting, the application said.
Security measures will include installation of a chain link fence, which will contain lockable gates, to surround the site. The loading area also will be protected with a new fence, the application said.
The exact means of lighting hadn't been selected, as of the application, but the lighting will be shielded to direct illumination downward to the pavement instead of "spreading uncontrolled."
The group led by Lees and Flores had proposed a medical marijuana facility at Appleton and Race streets in the former Cubit Wire & Cable Co. Inc. building. Debilitating Medical Condition Treatment Center at the time had a provisional license from the state.
But on June 27, 2014, the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services denied the group a permanent license.
That was in relation to State Auditor Suzanne Bump the previous month reporting that the New England Farm Workers Council had improperly charged more than $700,000 in salaries, travel and other expenses to state contracts between 2010 and 2012.
While not questioning the legitimacy of the expenses, Bump said none of the items should have been charged to state contracts held by the council.
William M. Bennett, Flores' lawyer and the former Hampden district attorney, said at the time that the decision to deny the license was improper and unfair and a review of the auditor's report would vindicate Flores.
By October 2014, the New England Farm Workers Council had satisfied state officials that no money was misspent and no money had to be repaid.
"No money was owed because no state money was used for improper purposes. Period," Bennett said.
Flores had appealed the findings of Bump's office to the state Operational Services Division, which oversees state contracting services.
In a letter dated Oct. 8, 2014, Joanne Portes Rodriguez, the division's director of audits and quality assurance, said the New England Farm Workers Council's corrective action plan, along with revised annual financial reports, had settled the matter.
Under the corrective action plan, the New England Farm Workers Council agreed to restructure its board of directors to include more independent members; seek competitive bids for consultants when practical; and revise its internal accounting system, among other changes, Bennett said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana Dispensary Site Planned In Holyoke
Author: Mike Plaisance
Contact: Massachusetts Local News
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Massachusetts Local News
