The Town Council will meet on Monday, June 8, but it has postponed any action on the proposed medical marijuana dispensary until its next meeting on June 22.
On Thursday, May 21, the Town Council had held a presentation by Green Thumb Industries (GTI), which is seeking to open a medical marijuana dispensary at 30 Pompton Avenue in the former Chase bank branch. New Jersey law requires that GTI get the approval of Verona’s governing body to submit to the state Department of Health. When GTI was licensed as a medical marijuana provider in New Jersey in 2018, licensees needed only a letter support from a municipality. But the state amended those rules in 2019 to mandate a resolution for new licensees. Neither a letter nor a resolution was included in the agenda for Monday’s meeting.
Among action planned for tomorrow’s meeting, the Council will vote on an ordinance to increase the bond to buy the Cameco lots in 2018 to $6.75 million so that the township can also buy the lots now owned by the Poekel family at the corner of Bloomfield Avenue and Linn Drive. Those lots, which had been slated for a mixed-use development with some affordable housing will be combined with the Cameco lots, which had been intended for a 100% affordable housing project. Now, instead of 46 Poekel units and 85 on Cameco, those properties will now only have 95 total units developed, all of which will be affordable housing.
And finally, in what may be a sign of hope for summer in Verona, the Council will also be voting on amended fees for Verona Pool memberships. The amendment will lower the cost of a family membership to $355 for this summer from $475 last year, while Family with a babysitter drops to $435 from $580. The Couples badge will be $330 instead of $440, Parent/Child will be $310 instead of $415 and an individual membership will be $235 not $315. The Twilight membership (for people who can’t use the pool during the day) falls to $135 from $180 last year and a Senior Citizen badge will be $125, down from $165 per person in 2019. The amendment does not indicate when the pool will open or when the township will begin selling memberships.
The Town Council meeting will be conducted via Zoom videoconferencing at https://zoom.us/j/95262662770 . You can also join by telephone, at 1(312)626-6799 or 1(646)558-8656 . Use Zoom Meeting ID: 952-6266-2770, when prompted for a Participant ID, press #
