WILLIAMSTON EXTENDS MEDICAL MARIJUANA MORATORIUM YET AGAIN

WILLIAMSTON - The city's temporary ban on medical marijuana businesses
has been extended until late February.

In its Aug. 8 meeting, the City Council agreed to extend the
moratorium for another six months while leaders decide how and where
medical marijauna caregivers can operate in the city.

Staff members said the city wouldn't have been able to adopt an
ordinance until after the current moratorium expired on Aug. 23.

"Given the uncertainty regarding the ever-changing interpretation of
the Medical Marijuana Act and the alignment of various city boards,
the extension will give the City Council and the Planning Commission
more time to amend the ordinance in a thoughtful manner," city planner
Michael Gradis wrote in a memo to the Council.

The Council was poised to adopt an ordinance allowing registered
caregivers to operate in certain industrial-zoned areas. But an
advisory committee later recommended allowing them to operate as home
occupation businesses.

The Planning Commission, which needs to make a recommendation before
the Council can act, wasn't able to consider the matter before Aug.
11.

Under that timeline, the Council couldn't adopt an ordinance until
mid-September, at the earliest.

In its meeting last week, the Council also agreed to change the way
the city pays for legal help in an effort to reduce costs.

The city's legal firm, Cohl, Stoker & Toskey, proposed a retainer
agreement that would cap the city's costs for routine legal work.

The city has been paying its attorneys on an hourly basis, and legal
bills skyrocketed last year with the large volume of work.

The Council voted unanimously to enter the retainer agreement.