Marenisco board votes to rescind marijuana ordinance

By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

Marenisco — Despite one opposing vote, the Marenisco Township Board of Trustees voted Monday evening to rescind an ordinance that would have allowed recreational marijuana enterprise within the township.

The action followed the Nov. 5 election, in which Marenisco citizens voted 146-64 against the ordinance after having petitioned to get the matter on the ballot.

The board had passed the ordinance on June 17 after a related public hearing in the spring.

Trustee Dave Hagen voted against rescinding the ordinance after saying he would rather have amended the June ordinance to suit the desires of local citizens.

Township attorney Jim Bucknell, who wrote that ordinance, as well as the resolution to rescind it, said, “At this point in time, there’s nothing we can do with the ordinance that exists.”

Hagen said he suspects few people actually read the ordinance before voting against it, and he added that the situation also was hampered by “misinformation” passed around by citizens.

“We took the prison when nobody else wanted it,” continued Hagen. “Presque Isle didn’t want the water plant, and we took it.”

Hagen said Marenisco traditionally has been open-minded, and he does not believe the problems voters feared in the way of increased crime or other negatives would have been an issue.

“It would revitalize the town,” concluded Hagen of the marijuana enterprise that had been envisioned by citizens in favor of the June ordinance.

In related news, the board also voted to postpone a vote on opting out of recreational marijuana enterprise.

“We were supposed to opt out by the first of November,” said Township Supervisor Richard Bouvette. “We did not do that.”

Bouvette said it would be better first to check related state rulings, which Bucknell warned change on a regular basis.

The board also:

—Voted to pay a bill estimated at $7,900 to cover legal fees for a failed injunction that the township hoped would result in a state decision to cease filling in sewer lagoons at the former Ojibway Correctional Facility. Bouvette said the matter is moot anyway due to contractors having already filled in the lagoons.

—Voted to allow interested parties to contribute funds toward gifts and treats for children visiting Santa Claus at the community center on Dec. 14 at 1 p.m. Trustee Kelly Dunbar immediately contributed $100.

—Voted to allow Brian Berquist to produce fireworks at Gogebic Lodge on July 5, 2020. Berquist first asked the board to reconsider the board’s former vote not to allow fireworks on July 4, but Bouvette said that would interfere with the township’s fireworks in Marenisco. Berquist asked whether they might reach a future compromise, and Bouvette welcomed him to attend meetings of the Fourth of July committee.

For now, said Treasurer Diane Dean of Marenisco, “This is where the fireworks belongs.”

The board next regular meeting will be on Dec. 16 at 6 p.m. in the Marenisco Township Hall.