Cannabis permits officially awarded at Council meeting
HANFORD — The Hanford City Council met Tuesday and a final decision was made to award cannabis permits to three companies to be located in Hanford’s Industrial Park. There were also recognitions from the police department and several closed session decisions.Cannabis permitsCouncil voted unanimously to award the recommended number of permits to Caliva, Genezen and Premium Extracts at the Nov. 7 meeting, but the decision would not be final until a public hearing was held Tuesday.About six Hanford residents stood up to address Council during the public hearing.None of the citizens that spoke were inherently against awarding the cannabis permits; however, there were some expressed concerns over the odor, safety measures and traffic the new companies would bring.Community Development Director Darlene Mata said there will be strict odor requirements for the companies. She said there will be no outdoor cultivation of cannabis and the buildings will have ways to filter the air. Mata also said traffic studies will be a part of the process moving forward.Police Chief Parker Sever said the companies will be required to submit a security plan that the police department will review. He said he has visited other commercial cannabis grow areas and talked to police chiefs, who told him there is very little criminal activity that occurs.Sever said there will be fences all around, site visits from officers and video monitoring that the police department will have access to.Council voted unanimously to officially award the cannabis permits to Caliva, Genezen and Premium Extracts.“This was a very big decision, we should take a lot of pride in it, but, I would recommend not popping the champagne bottles just yet,” Councilman Justin Mendes said, adding there is still work to do before the city can reap the benefits of the decision.The next steps for the cannabis companies is to obtain conditional use permits and undergo an environmental analysis.RecognitionsLt. James Lutz and Sgt. James Edlund were ceremoniously promoted Tuesday night.Lutz was previously a sergeant and has been with the department since 1999. He served on the Gang Task Force and was the department’s firearm and taser instructor.Edlund was previously a corporal and has been with the department since 2005. He served on the Problem Oriented Policing team, was a detective for over five years and is the tactical commander for the SWAT Team.“It’s been really fun growing up with them in our department,” Sever said. “To see these guys grow and mature and take on leadership roles within the PD is just really exciting.”Lutz and Edlund both took the Oath of Office at the meeting and had their badges pinned by their wives.Closed session action report:An emergency item was added to the night’s closed session agenda involving the Veteran’s Memorial Building.City Attorney Bob Dowd said information regarding the building’s roof was brought to light from the City’s public works department. Dowd said the roofing structure was “suspect at best” and Council unanimously decided the building would close on Wednesday.“The building, of course, is owned by the County and the City will inform the County of this recent information that has come about and will see what the County wants to do with it,” Dowd said.Dowd said plans would immediately begin to ensure the people who use the building can be located elsewhereDowd also said another action was taken during the night’s closed session. He said in a 3-2 vote, council decided to begin the process of declaring the City-owned Rabobank building as surplus property.“[We’ll] be back to the Council in the future as to how that process is moving forward,” Dowd said.Let's block ads! (Why?)
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HANFORD — The Hanford City Council met Tuesday and a final decision was made to award cannabis permits to three companies to be located in Hanford’s Industrial Park. There were also recognitions from the police department and several closed session decisions.Cannabis permitsCouncil voted unanimously to award the recommended number of permits to Caliva, Genezen and Premium Extracts at the Nov. 7 meeting, but the decision would not be final until a public hearing was held Tuesday.About six Hanford residents stood up to address Council during the public hearing.None of the citizens that spoke were inherently against awarding the cannabis permits; however, there were some expressed concerns over the odor, safety measures and traffic the new companies would bring.Community Development Director Darlene Mata said there will be strict odor requirements for the companies. She said there will be no outdoor cultivation of cannabis and the buildings will have ways to filter the air. Mata also said traffic studies will be a part of the process moving forward.Police Chief Parker Sever said the companies will be required to submit a security plan that the police department will review. He said he has visited other commercial cannabis grow areas and talked to police chiefs, who told him there is very little criminal activity that occurs.Sever said there will be fences all around, site visits from officers and video monitoring that the police department will have access to.Council voted unanimously to officially award the cannabis permits to Caliva, Genezen and Premium Extracts.“This was a very big decision, we should take a lot of pride in it, but, I would recommend not popping the champagne bottles just yet,” Councilman Justin Mendes said, adding there is still work to do before the city can reap the benefits of the decision.The next steps for the cannabis companies is to obtain conditional use permits and undergo an environmental analysis.RecognitionsLt. James Lutz and Sgt. James Edlund were ceremoniously promoted Tuesday night.Lutz was previously a sergeant and has been with the department since 1999. He served on the Gang Task Force and was the department’s firearm and taser instructor.Edlund was previously a corporal and has been with the department since 2005. He served on the Problem Oriented Policing team, was a detective for over five years and is the tactical commander for the SWAT Team.“It’s been really fun growing up with them in our department,” Sever said. “To see these guys grow and mature and take on leadership roles within the PD is just really exciting.”Lutz and Edlund both took the Oath of Office at the meeting and had their badges pinned by their wives.Closed session action report:An emergency item was added to the night’s closed session agenda involving the Veteran’s Memorial Building.City Attorney Bob Dowd said information regarding the building’s roof was brought to light from the City’s public works department. Dowd said the roofing structure was “suspect at best” and Council unanimously decided the building would close on Wednesday.“The building, of course, is owned by the County and the City will inform the County of this recent information that has come about and will see what the County wants to do with it,” Dowd said.Dowd said plans would immediately begin to ensure the people who use the building can be located elsewhereDowd also said another action was taken during the night’s closed session. He said in a 3-2 vote, council decided to begin the process of declaring the City-owned Rabobank building as surplus property.“[We’ll] be back to the Council in the future as to how that process is moving forward,” Dowd said.Let's block ads! (Why?)
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