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City partially denies license for pot business
By ARLA SHEPHARD
Lori Kent and Robert
Wood thought marijuana
could breathe new life into
Shelton.
Now, they've changed
their minds.
The couple, who own
Belfair's MariMeds medical
marijuana self-treatment
center, planned to open a fa-
cility in Shelton that would
allow a health care profes-
sional the ability to write
medical marijuana recom-
mendations to patients.
The business, at the site
of the old Ah Badabing piz-
zeria on 324 W Railroad
Ave., would also provide
space for patients to rent
the kitchen to prepare foods
with active cannabis ingre-
dients, host educational
classes to teach patients
how to grow and process
marijuana, and offer canna-
bis testing to help patients
determine how best to treat
their illnesses.
Following a hearing on
Sept. 16, however, the City
of Shelton denied the cou-
ple a complete business li-
cense this week, specifically
rejecting cannabis testing
and medical marijuana au-
thorizations on the prem-
ises.
Kent and Wood already
received their right to oc-
cupy the building.
"Without a business li-
cense, our right to occupy
amounts to a hill of beans,"
said Kent, who feels that
the couple were unduly ha-
rassed and discriminated
against by Shelton law en-
forcement, in particular
interim Police Chief Dave
Eklund, who testified at the
hearing.
Eklund objected to the
business hosting a health
care professional on site,
because under state law
a health care professional
who makes medical mari-
juana recommendations
cannot hold an economic
interest in a site that also
produces, processes or dis-
penses marijuana.
"My concern was a finan-
cial conflict about the fact
that they have a dispen-
sary in Belfair and here in
Shelton looking to do medi-
cal authorizations," Eklund
said. "That was my primary
concern and why the license
was initially denied."
Kent and her partner
Wood planned to hire an
outside health care profes-
sional who would not have
a financial stake in the
business, Kent said, and
they also did not plan to
sell marijuana or have any
on the premises in Shelton.
"[Eklund] wouldn't even
look at what we're actu-
ally doing, he thinks we're
a dispensary," she said. "He
is ignorant. In truth, there
is no profit [from marijuana
sales]."
In Belfair, MariMeds re-
ceives its marijuana from
patients who have grown
more than the legal limit as
defined by the state, which
is 1.5 pounds, and then do-
nates the marijuana to oth-
er patients, Kent said.
The Belfair site make
a profit from selling mer-
chandise like sweatshirts.
hats and bumper stickers,
she added.
Mason County is in the
midst of a moratorium on
collective marijuana grow
gardens, which are legal
in the state and allow each
person in a collective up to
15 plants to grow, with a to-
tal of no more than 45 in a
collective.
"People don't seem to un-
derstand that. believe it or
not, patients want to be le-
gal." Kent said. "They don't
want to ruin it for the rest
of the sector."
Several of the activi-
ties that would have taken
place at the Shelton facility
would not have been legal,
said City Administrator
Dave O'Leary in the ap-
peals decision he formed on
Monday.
"Since the Health Care
Professional would accept
payment from Marl Meds,
the Health Care Profes-
sional would be considered
to have an economic inter-
est in the applicant's Ma-
son County dispensary," he
wrote. "The business plan
invites Qualifying Patients
to bring medical cannabis
into the business and mix it
into foods ... This is canna-
bis processing. In my judg-
ment, the medical authori-
zations will be performed
in the same location where
cannabis is processed. The
intended use would violate
State law. and for this rea-
son the business license can
not be issued for this pur-
pose."
The city also denied the
business license for can-
nabis testing, but allowed
the license for the commer-
cial kitchen rental, educa-
tional classes and the sale
of equipment used in mari-
juana growing.
However, the couple is
unsure as to whether to
move forward with their
business at all because
their experience with Shel-
ton law enforcement have
soured them against work-
ing in the city, Wood said.
"It's about safety. We
had police cars outside the
building the whole time,"
he said. "I had 17 trained
employees, ready to go, who
are now unemployed."
Eklund had no comment
on the claims that he and
his staff harassed the cou-
ple.
The couple will appeal
the decision further to the
city commission, but they
are also interested in bring-
ing their business to other
cities like Lacey, Kent said.
"We were hopeful to do
CPR on a dead city," she
said. "It's sad. Belfair's
booming and Shelton is just
not."
MariMeds in Belfair
serves about 4,000 patients.
Bridge replacement begins on Skokomish River Road
By NATALIE JOHNSON
Two bridges on the Skokomish River
Road have been partially closed and in
need of repair for the past two years.
On Oct. 1, Mason County will be-
gin work to completely replace Weaver
Creek bridge, the first of two to be re-
placed during the next several years.
"It's a replacement of an existing
deputy director of Mason County Pub-
lic Works. "Basically there is concern
that the pilings that are supporting the
bridge are starting to fail."
The Weaver Creek bridge was last re-
placed in 1964 and has reached the end
of its lifespan, Matthews said.
For the past two years, the bridge has
been restricted to one lane, placing the
heaviest load directly on the center of
the bridge, Matthews said. This is be-
cause pilings holding up the outer edges
of the bridge are in the worst shape.
The project, which will take four
months, will replace the entire structure
with a much wider bridge with a pedes-
trian/bike lane,
The bridge will also have a longer
projected lifespan.
"The new ones are typically 100
years. That is what we're seeing on a
consistent basis," Matthews said.
While the current Weaver Creek
bridge sits within a creek, the new struc-
ture will be entirely outside of the creek
bed, he said.
Depending on weather, county road
crews hope to be done with the project
by the end of January. However, to lay
asphalt, crews need mild, dry weather,
Matthews said.
"Early February for the first few
Journa photo by NatNie Joh3sor
Crews begin work on replacing the Weaver Creek Bridge on the
Skokomish Valley Road.
weeks is pretty good weather." he said.
"It will just depend on what kind of
weather we have."
Traffic will be diverted over a tempo-
rary bridge owned by the county while
crews construct the new bridge.
The 80-foot long, 20-ton temporary
bridge will lay parallel to the old bridge.
County crews don't expect flooding
a common occurence in the Skokomish
Valley to impact the project.
"That bridge, according to the local
neighbors, the deck has never been un-
derwater" Matthews said.
The county plans to replace the sec-
ond bridge the Hunter Creek bridge
-- in 2013. That bridge was constructed
in 1956. he said.
Last week, the Mason County Board
of Commissioners approved a proposal
co lower the speed limit over the Hunter
Creek bridge from 45 mph to 40 mph in
preparation for the construction.'
The [Hunter Creek} bridge is on a
curve. That's what causes the reduced
speed," Matthews said.
The $752,849 project is funded
mostly by the Federal Highway Bridge
Program. While 80 percent of funding
comes from that fund, approved by the
Washington State Bridge Replacement
Advisory Council. the other 20 percent
comes from the Mason County Road
Fund.
Take A "Shoe"
at Bowens!
An invitation to our patients & the
community to help the homeless
and see Dr. Bowers in the
dunk tank at Oysterfest.
October 1st at 4:00 pm
Area A
All proceeds benefit the
Cold Weather Shelter and meals for
the homeless of Mason County.
Dr. Steven H. Bowers
Cosmetic & Family Dentistry
(360) 426-1664
New Patients Always Welcome
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Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, September 29, 2011 - Page A-5