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Friday, July 6, 2018
Special Permits granted for City swears-in medical marijuana companies new Deputy Fire Chief By Christopher Roberson
The hours of operation for the Wellness Connection will he City Council recently be Monday through Saturday approved the Special Perfrom 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. mit applications for the WellRegarding Phytotherapy, ness Connection and PhyChristopher Sparages of engitotherapy to operate medineering firm Williams & Sparcal marijuana dispensaries on ages, said the dispensary will Route 1 North. be 2,424 square feet and will The Wellness Connection sit on a 60,000-square-foot parwill be located at 0 Newbury cel, which is currently occupied St. while Phytotherapy will be by Brothers Kouzina. Sparages approximately 1,000 feet away said the site also has 300 feet at 25 Newbury St. of frontage on Route 1. Like the Wellness Connection, Phytotherapy will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Although the council voted 10-1 to issue the Special Permit, the council had not received a traffic study prior to the meeting. In addition, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Pritesh Kumar, was not in attendance. Ward 6 Councillor Mark O’Neill voted against issuing a Special Permit for Phytotherapy. During a follow-up interview, he said approving one dispensary would have been a better course, adding that Ward 6 Councillor Councillor-at-Large unlike Phytotherapy, the Wellness Connection has years of Mark O’Neill Ryan Melville experience on its side. “My vote Against issuing two licenses “I think competition speaks for itself,” said O’Neill. is a good thing.” Representing the Wellness Councillor-at-Large David Connection, Civil Engineer television, which will be di- Gravel said Phytotherapy still Richard Salvo of the Engineer- rectly linked to the Police De- has a long road ahead. “They’ve ing Alliance said the dispen- partment. He said that in addi- got a lot of work to do before sary will be 4,977 square feet tion to requiring identification they even commence operand will occupy 5.4 percent of cards, biometric fingerprinting ations,” he said. “There’s a lot the two-acre site. “This is quite will be used. Glodis also said of distance between here and a large parcel of land,” he said the company’s security divi- there; they don’t even have a during the council’s June 28 sion is staffed by a number of full-time payroll right now.” meeting. former police officers. The council had many more Salvo also said the building Resident Russell Donovan questions for the Wellness Conwill be set back 275 feet from raised concerns about the nection than for Phytotherapy. Route 1 and will be accessible Wellness Connection request- Gravel said the amount of deusing a 60-foot private way. ing a sign variance since the tail that was presented by the Robert Woodland, director building will be so far back Wellness Connection “drove a of Transportation Planning from Route 1. However, Glo- lot of questions.” In contrast, and Traffic Engineering for the dis said that would not be an he said, Phytotherapy had alWoodland Design Group, pred- issue, as the state does not al- ready answered many quesicated that the traffic volume low signage for medical mari- tions by submitting an extenwill be similar to that at the juana dispensaries. sive written narrative. Wellness Connection’s locaAnother resident said he With Phytotherapy being the tion in Portland, Maine, which does not agree with having newer company, Gravel said he opened in 2012. Woodland dispensaries on Route 1, saying is “relying heavily” on Kumar said he expects the Peabody they will only add to the traf- to make the right choices golocation will service “31-33” fic congestion. “You’ve got to ing forward. patients per hour with one car be going 35-40 miles per hour Councillor-at-Large Ryan entering or exiting the site ev- when you pull out on Route 1,” Melville said that in order to ery two minutes. He also said he said. “We’re going to kill our| SEE PAGE 2 the length of patient visits are selves if we put it on Route 1.”
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estimated to be “eight to 12” minutes. However, Councillor-at-Large Anne Manning-Martin said the Route 1 site could be much busier than the company’s Portland location. “You and I disagree with the amount of business it’s going to do,” she told Woodland. Security Officer Guy Glodis said the site will be monitored using an infrared detection system and closed circuit
GRANTED
Shown, from left to right, are Mayor Edward Bettencourt, new Deputy Fire Chief John Hosman and Fire Chief Stephen Pasdon. Hosman was sworn in as the Fire Department’s deputy chief on June 28 at City Hall. (Advocate photo by Christopher Roberson)
Middleton DPW director tapped to lead Peabody DPS By Christopher Roberson
A
fter more than 12 years as the director of Middleton’s Department of Public Works, Robert Labossiere decided it was time to make a change. “I was ready for some new challenges; I saw the advertisement for the director of Public Services in Peabody and thought it would be a great opportunity,” he said. “I spoke to some people about the city and some of the upcoming projects and was intrigued by the position.” After receiving a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Labossiere began his career in 1994 as a staff engineer with Ram Engineering in Haverhill. From there, he went on to become the assistant Public Works engineer in Concord from 1998 to 1999. After leaving Concord, he was hired as the assistant director of the Department of Public Works in Hudson, where he remained until 2005. Labossiere left Hudson
Robert Labossiere New Director of Public Services
that year to take his current position in Middleton. “I have loved working in the municipal sector; I enjoy the different aspects of Public Works,” he said. “Instead of focusing on just one specialty of civil engineering, I am able to be involved in many aspects, such as drinking water, sewer, storm water and highway. Every day is different, which keeps the job exciting.”
MIDDLETON | SEE PAGE 3