The Proverbial Kicked Can, Littleton
On November 1, 2022, town counsel first told the Select Board that to be in compliance with some recent changes to the law, the Select Board would need to renegotiate its cannabis-related HCAs.
Of course, town counsel would be the one to do the legwork on behalf of the Select Board since the “legwork” is the practice of law, i.e., understanding the law relative to “community impact fees,” engaging in a meeting of the minds with opposing counsel, fully informing the client of the renegotiated—and now-compliant terms, drafting the contract, and having the client execute (sign) the document.
By March 27, 2023, when town counsel appeared at the Select Board meeting, most of the legwork had been done.
Town counsel reported she had brought along the renegotiated HCAs for Littleton Apothecary (recreational shop), MRM (product manufacturing), and Community Care Collective (recreational shop and a second HCA for cultivation and product manufacturing).
Four in total.
Town counsel explained that G7—the independent cannabis testing lab in town—didn’t need its HCA to be renegotiated: none of the terms were out of compliance. When asked about Sanctuary Medicinals’s HCA, town counsel explained that Sanctuary’s HCA was still being passed back and forth between the lawyers.
On March 27, 2023, Chuck, Gary, Mark, and Cindy signed those four amended HCAs.
As of today, only three are online:
Community Care Collective, recreational cannabis shop
Community Care Collective, cannabis cultivation /cannabis product manufacturing
MRM Industries, cannabis product manufacturing
To reiterate, town counsel told the Select Board that all four amended HCAs were ready to be signed.
Sidenote: Lawyers don’t give their clients contracts to sign that are still in the ‘negotiation’ phase.
Relative to the four amended HCAs, the negotiations were over—town counsel had them with her. The documents were ready to be executed. And they were.
So, what happened to Littleton Apothecary’s?
Fast-forward to:
Matthew’s recusal:
(For what it’s worth, Matthew managed to stay fully outside the meeting room for this Select Board discussion of his wife’s HCA.)
The reason the Apothecary’s HCA is on the agenda in August?
I can only guess that there was some communication breakdown—doubtless the town’s fault.
Town counsel reminded the Select Board that it (the Select Board) had asked how it (the Select Board) might be able to terminate its HCA with Littleton Apothecary. Click HERE for town counsel’s thoughts on that, which included inserting a termination clause relative to the Apothecary’s Special Permit lapsing.
You may recall that in August 2022, the Select Board said “our hands are tied” because Matthew’s wife still had a Special Permit, a permission granted by a regulatory board in town with its own powers: basically informing the town that nothing could happen until the Special permits lapsed.
I sure got the impression that on September 21, 2023, if Matthew’s wife had done nothing—and signs sure pointed in the direction of “fuck all”—I might be able to convince the Select Board of a policy decision to try to abolish poverty in town.
Town counsel reminded the Select Board that it (the Select Board) had asked how it (the Select Board) might be able to terminate its HCA with Littleton Apothecary. Click HERE for town counsel’s thoughts on that.
Then, listen to how town counsel laughs (yes, actually laughs)—click HERE—when she explains to the Select Board how although, back in March, the town had “an appearance of an agreement”—the one signed by the four members of the Select Board in March 2023 after town counsel said that the lawyers for the various businesses had agreed to the documents already—“Littleton Apothecary is unwilling to, now, agree to 11.a.2. in their host community agreement.”
11.a.2 reads:
Here’s what this guy—
Blake Mensing, formerly of The Mensing Group, and Matthew’s wife’s lawyer at the time (and perhaps now—hard to say with these cannabis attorneys) had to say about 11.a.2:
Why hadn’t this objection been made between November 1, 2022 and March 27, 2023?
Why?
Because by objecting in August 2023—after Littleton thought it had successfully renegotiated an amended HCA with Matthew’s wife in March—Matthew’s wife was ensured another five months of non-operation, which, when a “license to print money” is on the line, naturally leads to these curiosities:
Who has the greatest incentive for Matthew’s wife to remain nonoperational for as long as possible? And just how much are the Nordhauses getting paid—perhaps on a month-to-month basis at this point—to remain nonoperational?
Curiously yours,
Jenna