DEERFIELD — In what has waged on in the past several months as a battle of how to deal with the legalization of recreational marijuana, residents parted ways with a divided Planning Board and overwhelmingly passed new rules to govern pot.
The vote on the bylaws came almost exactly an hour after the initial discussion on pot began at Deerfield’s annual Town Meeting April 30 night at the Frontier Regional School, with about 250 people.
Now that the bylaws have been passed, essentially one recreational marijuana retail shop can open in town, which will likely play out as the vacant facility across the from the Red Roof Inn. The national medical marijuana corporation Harvest Inc. has eyed a place in Deerfield.
A vote on prohibition, which was non-binding, was also struck down despite a few, mostly older, voices against it, calling for a town vote.
The $14.7 million budget was approved — a 2.9 percent increase from last year’s $14.2 million budget — without rigorous debate. Most discussion was saved for the marijuana questions that were at the end of the year’s warrant.
The only slow-up on the budget was a quarrel on how the Board of Health’s spending includes, without explicitly stating, funding related to mosquito and tick issues.
The town approved: about $1 million for total government expenses, $1.1 million for public safety, $8.8 million for education with $4.7 million of that on Deerfield Elementary School and $3.8 million of that on Frontier Regional School, $1 million on public works, $142,000 on human services and $256,000 on culture and recreation.
Like Whately and Sunderland did prior, Deerfield approved its allotment to help pay for a John Deere tractor for Frontier Regional School.
Unlike the two towns prior, Deerfield had a bit of debate on the matter. Selectman Henry “Kip” Komosa tried to have the town spend $7,000 instead of the school’s request of up to about $17,000. This amendment was overwhelmingly voted down by residents, and instead the town agreed to pay its share to help out Frontier.
A handful of questions surrounded the capital request on the feasibility study for the church and possible future senior citizen. Residents were looking for updates on the church, which is still held up in court at the moment before it becomes officially in Deerfield’s possession.
The Select Board now has the authority to grant three new alcohol licenses, for stores that want to sell beer and wine but not serve it at their business. For each license to be granted, town input would be a part of it.
Deerfield agreed to join the Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District, an effort spearheaded regionally by Select Board member Carolyn Shores Ness. This year there is no cost, but there may be down the line, as Ness assumes commissioner of the endeavor that aims to limit the spread and growth of mosquitos.
Two early items in the warrant received a handful of conversation.
Members of the Finance Committee debated the degree to which town employees should get raises and how that compares to neighboring towns. Residents agreed to vote the recommended step and cost of living increases.
A debate to spend about $35,000 to put toward savings on retirement benefits played out between the Select Board and the Finance Committee, which had not recommended the spending.
Last year the town invested $10,000 toward an account of more than $8 million, which continues to grow. Selectman Trevor McDaniel said it’s now up to $8.5 million after growing $250,000 this past year.
Finance Committee Chairman Albert “Skip” Olmstead said the amount was too much and a rather arbitrary number.
“I have a problem when two people put something on the warrant and they’re in the minority,” Olmstead said, speaking about Select Board members McDaniel and Ness.
The motion passed, stashing away $35,000 for an issue that town officials agreed is an issue and could use further study and plans.
“We’re all recognizing this bill is coming due,” McDaniel said. “$10,000 isn’t adequate. $35,000 isn’t adequate, but it’s a good start.”
In a race that one longtime resident likened to the 2016 contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, it was the longtime public servant and town-fixture Carolyn Shores Ness who came out victorious Monday.
Winning 719 to 490 votes in the initial town count, Ness won the lone Deerfield Select Board seat in this year’s annual town election.
Ness ran on a campaign that emphasized her 15 straight years on the Select Board and service in town government since the 1980s.
She said in the lead-up to the election she felt the competitive spirit of the election was “energizing” and reminded her of what she views as her biggest strength, connecting with people.
She defeated Erich Brown, a civil engineer who moved to town six years ago with his family, after traveling across the country for work as a project manager in construction. He had said he wanted to run because he felt more people, especially those who are younger, should get involved with local politics, but detractors said he had no experience and shouldn’t jump to the top to start.
“At some point in time, people from my generation need to get involved, so that there is backfill in these positions, just like any other organization, and turnover and fresh perspective,” Brown, 41, said last week.
Instead, the incumbent held onto the position and will have an opportunity to continue to advance an agenda led by issues affected by climate change, such as health hazards posed by mosquitoes and ticks, culvert repair and enlargement, and other issues like senior housing and education.
The race though seems to have hit a nerve in town, drawing a large turnout for a local election and raising issues of term limits, the value of experience and whether a town can be run like a business. A total of 1,211 voters came out for the local election on Monday on a day when there wasn’t a hot presidential election like November 2016 when 2,941 residents voted.
Henry “Kip” Komosa’s bid to assume three positions in Deerfield was stopped short by incumbent assessor Charles Shattuck, by a vote of 771-359.
Komosa’s bid for an assessor seat drew ire from some in town, mostly those aligning themselves with Ness. Outside Town Hall, one sign read, “No Komosa Assessor, No 3 Positions of Power.”
Komosa serves on the Select Board and Planning Board.
Some Ness supporters have suggested that maybe people in town should be limited to how many seats they can serve on, while some Brown and Komosa supporters have raised the idea of instituting term limits and the possibility of extending the Select Board to five people instead of three.
With two slots for three people running for Deerfield School Committee, incumbent and Selectman Trevor McDaniel won with 803 votes, alongside incumbent Mary Ramon with 714 votes, defeating Tolly Stark, who was backed by some in the Ness camp, tallying 494 votes.
A handful of people ran for the three three-year Planning Board seats. Incumbent Rachel Blain took home the most votes with 842. Joining her are incumbents Max Antes Jr. and Paul Allis with 643 and 605 votes, respectively. Steven Pistrich’s bid came up short with 332 votes and write-in Erika Higgins recorded 198 votes.
Olivia Leone won as a write-in for the Frontier Regional School Committee seat, which had no one on the ballot. Leone collected 314 votes, and was backed by Ness supporters.
Leonard Grybko Jr. won re-election for elector under Oliver Smith Will, a one-year term, despite efforts by Ness supporters to run Leslie Dwight as a write-in. Grybko won decisively, 762 to 164.
Write-in Satu Zoller won the Tilton Library trustee seat, a three-year term, which had no one running. Zoller was backed by Ness supporters and garnered 291 votes.
All write-in tallies are not final, although at press time they were not expected to influence the result of any of the races.
