Polson to consider medical marijuana ordinances

Six law enforcement officers also honored at Monday's meeting

POLSON — The Polson City Commission on Monday heard the first rumblings of future discussions on how it will handle a possible influx of medical marijuana operations here.

As more people take advantage of the voter-passed initiative to use marijuana to ease medical ailments, towns across the state are deciding how to best regulate the operations licensed to sell the drug.

Polson city manager Todd Crossett told the commission a “urgent/emergency moratorium on medical marijuana” option would allow it time to discuss the best options for Polson. A moratorium ordinance would temporarily put on hold storefront medical marijuana locations and allow several months for a well-planned ordinance to be developed.

A zoning and planning hearing meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 15, will be held to continue discussions.

In the end, an ordinance could simply mean prohibiting medical marijuana storefronts from setting up in residential areas or near schools. 

The commission immediately had questions. Commissioner John Campbell asked how a “moratorium” would hurt current providers, of which he knew to be at least four in the area. He hoped any action the council took wouldn’t shut those down.

Polson Police Chief Doug Chase said he might recommend mandated alarm systems for operations with larger amounts of marijuana.

Earlier in the meeting, six law enforcement officers were honored for their extraordinary efforts. Chief Chase read a description of each act meriting the awards, and was then honored himself by surprise for his efforts during the bridge jumping incident in late January.

Certificates of Merit were awarded to PPD Officer Chris Wright and Highway Patrol Trooper Tim Procter for an August 2009 incident and their efforts to revive a woman being brought to town by a private vehicle. Both attempted CPR to save the victim.

Wright was honored again, along with PPD Assistant Chief John Stevens, their work to stop a woman from jumping from the Armed Forces Memorial Bridge on Jan. 19. They were awarded the Commendation of Highest Merit Certification and the Lifesaving ribbon.

Finally, Tribal Law and Order Officer Orsino Walker and PPD Sgt. Wade Nash were awarded Certificate’s of Highest Merit and the Polson and Lifesaving Bars for the Jan. 27 incident when a man jumped from the Polson bridge. Stevens was awarded the Meritorious Service Bar, along with citation, for his lifesaving act of CPR on the man who was pulled from the frigid Flathead waters.

“These officers put their own safety at extreme risk in order to come to the aid of their fellow human beings,” Chase said at the meeting. “There are no higher actions one can take in this profession.”

The commission also heard several concerns about cuty golf course operations from resident Murat Kalinyaprak. He questioned statistics like number of rounds played by season pass holders and called for a workshop to be held to fix issues at the course. No action was taken on the items, though Kalinyaprak, in one of his items, called for any or all of the current golf board to be replaced.

He feels it’s “suspicious” how the board was appointed and believed members had modified meeting minutes and refused him the right to speak.

Mayor DeVries and Crossett both admitted things could be done better, but that they believed the board was on the right track.

“The worse thing we can do is create more turnover [by dismissing the golf board],” DeVries said.

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