Okay, we're going now?

We gotta wait.

We got one more.

Where dare we go?

I know.

Good evening, everybody.

I'd like to welcome everybody to the committee on appointments and briefings.

It is seven oh two, September sixteenth, two thousand and twenty-five.

Note this meeting is being live streamed and recorded.

City Council and Committee meetings can be viewed on the City of New Bedford's homepage under quick links, then meetings.

Tonight I'm joined by my colleagues in government.

Uh Joseph Loepes, Ward Five City Councillor, Council at Lodge, Brian K.

Gomes, Council Ward Six, Ryan Pereira, Council Ward 4, Derek Baptist, Councillor at Large and Council President Shane Burgo, and Counselor Councillor from Ward 3, Sean Oliver.

And I am Naomi County Councillor at Large and the Chair of this committee.

Thank you all for joining us.

Do we have anything to read in the record?

We have um four letters to read into the record.

This one is from Councillor Abreu.

I am waiting to inform you that I will be late in attending tonight's committee meeting due to attending the Board of Health meeting at six PM.

Please read this letter into the record to make my colleagues in the public aware of the reason for my absence.

Second letter from Council Giesta.

I am writing to inform you that I expect to be late for tonight's committee meeting as I will be attending the Board of Health meeting at the time.

Opposed.

We did have to leave early before the decision came down.

But the decision did come down.

They voted against it.

So it's not it's not site suitable, and it was two to one vote by the board.

Unfortunately, Council Gomes and I left just before they came down with the vote so we can get here for the meeting.

So I just hope the uh the listening audience was aware that we were there also.

Okay.

Yes, I did.

We're ready.

Number one is a communication.

Mayor Mitchell to the City Council submitting the appointment of Heather Haggerty, New Bedford Mass to the New Bedford Port Authority.

Ms.

Haggerty will be replacing Raymond J.

Hauptman, who has resigned.

This term will expire on December 2026.

It was referred here on August 21, 2025.

Number one is now before you.

Motion received the place on file communication.

Second.

Motion be made by Councillor Pereira, second by Councillor Lopes.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

Ms.

Haggerty.

Welcome.

And you can state your name and address for the record.

Thank you.

My name is Heather Hagerty.

My address is 1018 Shelburne Street, New Bedford.

Thank you.

Yes, Council Loops.

Ms.

Haggerty, you have a tremendous amount of experience in fisheries and port management.

You want to give an overview to the general public so they understand your background.

Sure.

I am currently the owner of Big G Seafood in New Bedford on the waterfront.

It is a family-owned business.

It has been in business for uh four decades.

I took over in 2011 from my father while he was planning his retirement.

When I started, it was primarily a conch processing facility.

And since then I have grown the company.

We now have three divisions.

The second division is a whole fish division where we purchase whole fish from independent fishermen in the surrounding area and uh sell on the domestic market.

The third division is biomedical, where we uh purchase horseshoe crabs and sell the blood to the pharmaceutical industry for the purpose of manufacturing testing kits to detect gram-negative bacteria, which is the only FDA approved test for the detection of the bacteria in vaccines and IV drugs.

And um prior to that, my I have extensive experience in uh computers and uh business administration.

Great.

Great.

That's that's a great background.

Um does anybody have any good council opes?

Thank you.

Sure.

Yes.

Um does anybody have any counselor baptiste.

Hi doing.

Thank you, madam chair.

Um how you doing Ms.

Haggett?

How's everything going?

Great, how are you?

Good.

Uh it's good to hear about your background and what you've done.

What do you think with with all your knowledge of what goes on on the waterfront and what's been happening down there?

What what strengths do you bring to the board?

Um in my time on the waterfront, I've spent uh time with regulatory compliance with the people that make the laws for the fisheries, and I understand um how that is done, the protocol for making those laws, and I've been involved in the uh rule changes, for instance, on the conk industry.

Well, thank you, and um, I hope that you bring a business owner's perspective to the to the poor and sure.

You know, we wish you luck with all you do.

Thank you.

I thank you, Council Baptist.

Any anybody else?

Seeing none, your pleasure counselors.

Make a motion to refer the appointment to the full city council with a positive recommendation.

Motion made by Council Lopes, second by Council Baptist.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

And this will be referred out to the next city council meeting on September 25th.

You're more than likely to you can come in to that meeting and we can swear you into that meeting, or you can come to an uh go to the city clerk's office at a later date be sworn in.

But if you're here, we'll swear you in that night.

I I will be there.

Thank you.

Excellent.

It will be nice to see you, and thank you so much for coming up to the plate and serving.

Item number two, Madam Chairman, uh is um communication, City Clerk, Clerk of the City Council submitting an application for a new private livery license on behalf of Glendon B.

Rice.

Um 68 Erin Court, New Bedford Mass, doing business as Glenda Rise.

Um Transportation LLC, 68 Aaron Court, New Bedford Mass.

Uh the it was the license was to expire on June 30th, 2026.

It was referred to us on July 17th, 2025.

And now number two is before you.

Motion made by Councillor Oliver.

Second by Councillor Gomes.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

Is Ms.

Rice here?

Ms.

Reyes and Reyes, isn't it?

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

That was me.

I said it's right.

It's okay.

Sorry, Mr.

They do.

Hi.

Good evening, Miss Reyes.

Hi, good evening.

Would you state your name for this?

Yes.

Uh my name is Linda Reyes.

Uh my address is 60A air in court, New Beat for MA.

Thank you.

And would you like to tell us a bit a little bit about your transportation business?

Um I apply apply for the um uh for some isomer the application for new uh private license uh labor license for Reyes uh Glenda Reyes Transportation LLC Council Paptice, you have a question?

Oh does anybody have any questions?

Council Oliver.

Thank you for being here.

Um have you done the separate work before?

Do you uh transportation or is this your first venture into that?

No, it's uh just my kids in the school.

You want uh my kids, you know.

Um how many how many vehicles are you looking to have?

Just one, two, one?

One.

Okay.

Um are you looking to is that what you're looking to do is uh school bus type driving?

Yes, kids to school?

Okay.

And uh do you have a parking spot for this vehicle off the street, like a driveway or something?

I have the driveway in my home.

Okay, yeah.

And the car with the van will be parked in the driveway and we're not being used.

All right.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Oliver.

Anybody else has any questions?

Miss Reyes.

Saying none, your pleasant pleasure, counselors.

Refer to the full city council.

Motion made by Councillor Gomes, second by Councillor Burgle to refer to the full city council for confirmation.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

And it'll be voted out with a favorable recommendation on September 25th.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Item number three is a communication, City Clerk, Clerk of the City Council submitting an application for a new private livery license on behalf of Rafaela Arita Guerra.

122 Frank Street, New Bedford Mass, doing business as Raphael is transportation, 122 Frank Street, New Bedford Mass.

The license will expire on June 30th, 2026.

It was referred here to us on the 20, excuse me, the 17th of July 2025, and is now before you.

Motion receiving place on file.

Motion made by Council Oliver, second by Council Burgo.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

Hello, good evening.

Hello, good afternoon.

My name is Rafael Arita Guerra.

My address is 122 Frank Street, New Bedford.

Thank you.

Council Pereira.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Hello.

Hello.

Do you have a driveway to park the cars or are you going to park them on the street?

Um I have a garage.

A garage.

Okay.

What size, what kind of car is it going to be?

Is it a van?

Is it a bum?

Like but like a big van or like just a regular van?

Like a mini van.

Mini bum.

Mini van.

Okay.

And what kind of um what are you looking to do?

What type of uh uh what are you looking to do with the license?

Uh we'll try to split sure, sure, sure.

She had a hard time.

That's fine.

That's fine.

So she's my wife anyway.

Um sorry.

Uh okay, so yeah, uh that's the first time she tried to make this kind of business.

And if you don't just want she tried to do an uh private uh school transportation, school, yeah.

Okay.

Very good.

All right.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you, Council Pereira.

Anybody else?

Saying none of your pleasure, counselors.

Motion to refer to the full city council for approval.

Motion made for to refer to the full city city council for approval made by Council Pereira.

Second by Councillor Oliver.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

It'll be referred out with a favorable recommendation on September 25th.

Good luck to your business.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Item number four is a communication.

City clerk, clerk of the city council to the council submitting an application for a new private livery license on behalf of Samurai Bukhari and Ali Bukhari.

Three revolutionary way.

110 Hopkinton Mass doing magic as Wheels Transportation LLC 44 Liberty Street New Bedford Mass.

The license was to expire on June 30th, 2026.

The Bukharis are here.

Oh the you are?

Did you did make it?

Okay.

Thank you.

Motion made to receive and place on file, made by Councillor Burger.

Second by Council Gomes.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed.

The ayes have it.

I want to thank you so much for calling showing up.

I would have tabled this.

I would have tabled this so you could go to your your child's school.

Yes, ma'am.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I but I I feel it that's more important than to go see you guys and all that.

I know, but we would have we would have definitely done it on another day.

I told the officer calling you and saying, no problem, we could do it the next week.

Thank you very much.

I really appreciate that, guys.

Thank you very much for all that great people.

Re-electing and all that.

My name is Ali Bukhari, and this is my wife Sumara Bukhari.

Hi.

We remember that day the first time we stood here.

Yeah.

About 2000.

What was that?

2015.

Yeah.

2016 and stuff like that.

And it's been nine years.

We uh taking care of the New Bedford's great people that through driving them to the airports and 4 a.m., 3 a.m.

2 a.m.

Nice.

And all thankful to the uh New Bedford Police Department and all of them.

Great people though.

And today we are here again that the uh here the uh you know for a renewal request.

Is it renewal did you say it was a renewal?

Because we have it as a new one.

Yeah, I just can't tell you it's it's renewed till the uh you know the expiration is the uh June 30th, 2026.

Right?

Okay, so it must have expired.

That's why it's before that.

Not if it expired.

Okay.

Okay, so we've had the license before, okay.

Yeah, we do already have the license we are doing the work here.

We just clarified it because it expired before.

That's why it's here as a new, but if it came just before, that would have been a renewal.

Okay.

So just for the for the general public, this was they had this license before.

They had this license.

It expired.

Uh this is just to renew that.

Yes, yes, just a renewal.

Expiration is coming in 2026.

So preferred by them to renew it before the time comes up and you guys might be busy or something else is going on important than this.

So maybe they refer to us here to be here.

Right.

Okay.

Do we have any questions?

Uh Council Oliva.

Still just the one car or we we uh have a three cars.

Three.

Yeah, the four was the one is we are just stopping that the uh the uh the behavior of the um you know the the clients and going up and the insurance is going so high.

So we are back to the three vehicles for right now.

Okay, yeah.

And uh you with you being um out of town and stuff, the usage of those um vehicles are they when they're not being used, are they parked on the street off the street?

Oh no, no, that's the parking is a parking is there, though.

So the one parking we have at the 44 Liberty Street that the my old landlord.

Yep.

And uh he just like you know, we kept it the same address there though.

Okay, and also the uh we also have the uh family property at 347 North Street.

Yeah, so they are inside, not on the road.

So well, I wish you continued success.

It seems like you guys have been doing it.

Thank you so much for your cooperation and thank you for your all out.

Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you, Council Oliver.

Anyone else?

Saying none of your pleasure.

Refer to the full city council.

Motion made to the full city city council with a positive recommendation made by Council Gomes, second by Council Burgo, all in favor say aye.

Aye opposed, the ayes have it.

You're outset.

Thank you very much again.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Number five is communication city clerk, clerk to the city council.

Um to the city council submitting an application for a new private livery license on behalf of Denise Afonseika, 240 County Street, New Bedford Mass, doing business as Ms.

D's transportation, 240 County Street, New Bedford Mass, license to expire on June 30th, 2026.

It was referred to you on August 21st, 2025.

And number five is now before you.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

Ms.

Afonsika.

Good evening.

Just like to state your name and address for the record.

Denise Aponse, 240, County Street, New Bedford.

Welcome.

Councillors, do we have any questions?

Yes.

Council Baptiste.

How are you doing?

Um just a quick just a couple of questions.

What what made you want to apply for the livery license?

I've been wanting to do this for a little while, and my son kind of like pushed me a little bit, boy, and it's it's tough, but this is what I want to do.

Less fortunate parents that can't get their kids to school because they can't get buses or anything like that.

So this is what I want.

Well, I are you planning on doing anything else but school runs?

Yes.

I like to do airports and stuff like that too.

You know you have to get like licenses and stuff like that.

Are you prepared for that?

Excuse me.

I said you have to get the licenses to go to the airports and stuff.

Are you prepared to get all that stuff?

Good.

I already have a license.

Uh for the livery.

All right.

I do.

So yes.

I'm I'm I'm proud that people want to, you know, saying stop businesses with all these guys coming up in here stop and businesses.

Um, do you have off-street parking?

Yes.

How many vehicles do you have?

Two.

All right.

That's all I need to know.

Good luck.

Thank you.

No problem.

Thank you, Council Baptiste.

Anybody else?

Questions?

Seeing none.

Um motion to approve the license.

Motion made by Councillor Baptiste.

Second about Burgo and Gomes.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed.

The ayes have it.

Thank you.

This will be referred out on the 25th to full city council with a federal rec recommendation.

And good luck in your business.

Thank you very much.

Item number six is communication.

Uh city clerk, clerk of the city council to the city council submitting an application for a new private livery license on behalf of Rutelia Aguilar Orego.

Seven Phillips Avenue, New Bedford Mass, doing business as Transportation Cabrera Aguila Aguila.

I'm sorry.

It was referred here on August 21st, 2025.

And number six is before you.

Motion two.

Thank you.

Motion made by Council Burgos.

Second by Councillor Lopes.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed the ayes have it.

Okay.

We're at the podium already.

Hi.

My name is Alicia Lopez, and I'm just here to translate for Rotila Ros.

Okay.

Yeah.

The one that is here.

Buenas tardes.

My name is Rotilia Aguilar.

Good afternoon.

My name is Rutil Aguilar.

Do we have any questions, Counselors?

Councilor Alba.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

How many vehicles does uh she plan to have?

At this moment only one.

Okay.

And at that property, is there a place to park the vehicle off the street and uh in the driveway or a parking lot or something like that?

Because that that neighborhood, it's it's tough for parking.

So is it basically on the esteene como designado de Pala Parkello?

Um parqueo adentro.

Um she has parking lot in uh in her house.

Okay, so there's a place to park it.

Okay.

So one vehicle, place to park it.

Um and what type of transportation is she's looking to do?

Is it school children or uh just private or or both?

Um it's for children.

Children.

Okay.

All right, well, good luck.

Thank you.

That's all, madam chair.

Uh thank you, Council Oliver.

Anybody else?

Saying none, you have your pleasure, counselors.

Motion to refer to the full side council favorable recommendation.

Second.

Motion made by Council Oliver, second by Council Baptiste.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

The ayes have it.

It'll be reported out to the full city council in a favorable recommendation on September 25th.

And good luck in your transportation business.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I think this week was just astral.

Number seven is communication, City Clerk, Clerk of the City Council to the City Council submitting an application for a new private livery license on behalf of Venecio Mendes, 35 Independent Street, New Bedford Mass, doing business as Venetio Transportation, 35 Independent Street, New Bedford Mass, license to expire on June 30th, 2026.

And it was referred to us on August 21st, 2025.

And number seven is now before you.

Motion to receive a place of file communication.

Second.

Motion made by Council Pereira.

Second by Count Council Baptist.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

Mr.

Mendes.

Okay, Ms.

Smith's Mr.

Mendies is heading to the podium.

Good evening, Mr.

Mendies.

You can state your name now just for the record.

So guys, my name is Vinancio Mendes.

I live in 35 Independent Street New Bedford.

Welcome.

Council Pereira.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good evening.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Do you have a place?

What kind of vehicle are you going to be using?

SUV.

An SUV.

Yes.

Okay.

And do you have a place to store the vehicle or is it going to be parked on the street?

Yes, I do have it.

A driveway.

Perfect.

And what kind of transportation are you going to be doing?

I think starter for the for the student.

Okay.

But later on, they want to like my idea to do B talk to do something bigger after.

Like like CDL of something like that.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

Very good.

Thank you very much, uh, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Council Pereira.

Anyone else on there first?

Motion to refer to the full city council for approval.

Motion made by Council Pereira to refer to the full city council for approval.

Second by Councilor Burgo.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

It'll be referred out to the full city council for approval on September 25th.

And good luck.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Number eight is communication city clerk, clerk of the city council to the city council submitting an application for a new private livery license on behalf of Theri.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

Uh I apologize.

You wise.

Um you can correct me when you come up.

You easy?

Okay.

I'm so sorry.

109 Robeson Street.

They call me Denise.

So you know 109 Robson Street, New Bedford Mass.

Doing uh business as Mel Transportation.

I got that.

109 Robeset, New Bedford Mass.

Uh license to expire on June 30th, 2026.

It was referred here on August 21st, 2025.

And is now before you?

Motion received in place on second.

Motion to be made by Council Pereira, second by Council Baptist.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

Must be this new glasses.

Hello.

My name is Thierry Andrado Wizay.

Um I live in 109 Robson Streets, New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Do we have any questions, Councillor Council Baptiste?

How are you doing?

I'm doing amazing, thank you.

That's my neighborhood too.

Just so you know.

Oh, yeah.

Um is tight over there.

Do you have um driveway?

Yes, I do.

You have a driveway.

So you're gonna park it in the driveway.

How many cars you're gonna have?

I'll be starting with two cars, a minivan and a small car.

All right.

And what kind of uh livery you wanna what kind of transportation you want to provide?

Okay, I want to do uh school boss and medical transportation.

All right, cool.

Well, um hopefully everything goes well with you.

Thank you.

And your business flourishes and good luck with your endeavor.

I got no more questions to ask.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Baptist.

Anyone else on there first?

Seeing none.

Pleasure first is full city council.

Second.

Motion made by Councillor Gomes, second by Council Baptiste.

All in favor say aye.

All right, opposed, the ayes have it.

So it's referred out to the full city council for the approval on September 25th.

Thank you.

And thank you so much, and thank you for doing business in New Bedford.

Thank you very much.

Number nine is a communication, Councillor Gomes submitting a host community agreement proposal application on behalf of Shamar James, founder, CEO of THConnect, LLC, doing business as House of Steel, uh Diesel, um, seeking to operate a co-located adult use marijuana retail product manufacturing establishment at 301 Herman Melville Boulevard, New Bedford Mass, 02740.

It was referred here on January 23rd, 2025.

It was heard in February 2025, and it was tabled.

Number nine is before you, and it remains on the table.

Motion removed from the table.

Second.

Motion made to remove from the table by Council Gomes, second by Council Burgo.

All in favor of removing it from the table, say aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

They have it.

I don't know.

This there's too many.

We're the only women in this room.

There's too many men in this room, ladies.

Well, what welcome back?

Welcome back.

I know that you spoke to us back a couple of times, and welcome back to the chambers and let's hear where we can move forward from this point.

Oh, yeah.

Hi.

Oh, you guys.

Oh, perfect.

Thank you.

Second.

Motion to be made to receive and place on file.

The packet that's being handed out.

Made by Council Lopes.

Second by Council Gomes.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

The ayes have it.

Madam Chairman.

This is the original proposal.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

I have voice.

What did you think?

Okay, cool.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Yes.

We'll need one for both of us.

Thank you so much.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Council Gomes received and placed this on file.

We have already.

And the second person was.

No, so it was.

Council Gomes and Council Burger.

Thank you.

It was Council Loves and Council Baptiste.

Council Burgo now.

It was Council.

Yes.

Thank you very much, Madam Chairman.

Council Gorgeous.

Madam Chairman.

This is before us again due to the fact that we have seen nothing happening with this.

And it's somewhat uh disturbing to this counselor seeing how we've gotten these things through on other occasions.

These people have been waiting a long time.

They have been spending a lot of money.

I don't know what the problem is or why we haven't gotten where we should be with this as one of the first in the city.

I'm looking for answers tonight.

I've asked the state to come down tonight because uh I just can't figure out what's going on here.

And we're not getting the answers.

They're not getting the answers.

They're spending money.

And um I I I've got a theory, but I'm gonna wait until we go through this and uh we'll see.

Okay.

That's all I have right now.

If there's a uh brief synopsis that the group would like to give the city council.

Go ahead.

Yes.

All right, thank you.

Uh you're welcome.

Shamar James, um CEO of HOD, uh House of Diesel.

Um, we're back here today because uh we've reached out a few times over the last uh six months since um our February uh meeting, and we haven't got really gotten any answers.

Uh the most we got was uh I'm submitting stuff.

I forgot to submit it, and then after that it was kind of radio silence.

So we're hoping to kind of figure something out.

We're spending you know two thousand dollars a month to just hold the space, so it's getting taxing.

So we would just like to kind of hopefully have our application reviewed, or you know, be told that we're not welcome here.

But we would like something to happen.

Okay, and quite honestly, and if I can have just have your name too.

Okay.

Also part owner of um House of Diesel.

And again, we've been going through this for the last two and a half years, and you're right, we have been bleeding financially.

Um, and we've done everything that we could possibly do, everything that we are supposed to do initially.

The city of New Bedford was very friendly, but something has changed.

We don't know what, but here we are two years and a half later, uh, still at the same process.

And we come here today to ask you, the the this body here to vote to issue an HCA to us.

That's really what I ask is here today.

Thank you.

Corney Tyrone, you have something offer?

Yeah, okay.

Yeah.

Hello, City Council.

Uh, my name is Tyrone Gomes, uh, address 25 Foxborough Street, New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Um, so just for a little context, I'm not sure how many of you guys are familiar with uh your licensing process because every municipality has little nuances that are different, but usually once you get to the point where you have a community outreach meeting, it takes roughly two months to be able to move forward and submit an application to the state because it goes community outreach meeting, HCA, host community agreement, and then special permit.

Some municipalities will have you get your provisional license, then come back for a special permit.

That's what you guys do.

It's not the it's not the norm, but that's what you guys do.

But it it does happen.

It's been two years and two days since we successfully had our community outreach meeting.

So even though it's been two and a half years, because it takes time to find a location, hire a security professional, interact with chief of police, right?

All of these things to get to the community outreach meeting.

Um days normally takes two months.

So Connie's ask was that you guys kind of make a decision and grab it by by the horns because ultimately, according to your process, you guys have final say anyway.

There's just a lot of bureaucracy before it gets to you.

There's a screening committee, then there's a subcommittee, and then it gets voted to go to the mayor, and then it comes back to you guys, right?

So if you're ultimately the decision maker, we're asking that you guys kind of figure out a way to grab this bowl by by the horns and and either issue an HCA or not.

Um but yeah, thank you.

Any questions from me?

Yeah, thank you.

Um from the from the chair.

I I'm just really a little baffled on two years, two days.

Um we've had a few of these facilities come before us and they're they're open.

And they're thriving.

So I don't understand.

So you've gone through the process, all your paperwork is in order.

It's been submitted to the city of New Bedford, and all you're doing is waiting right now for an approval of a license.

So we attempted multiple times to submit the application, and it was not accepted.

And we're being told conflicting things not accepted at this time, will let you know, kind of like don't call me, I'll call you kind of energy.

So you so right now you have submitted your application to the city and they have not reviewed it.

Have not properly reviewed and processed it by the you know the screening committee is supposed to review, process it, and then send it to the subcommittee.

Your subcommittee is supposed to meet twice a year according to your published guidance on the website.

It's been over three years, I think, since your subcommittee has meted, meet said as meeting, has met as met.

So you just y'all you're doing is looking for an answer on your application.

How long does the application been sitting there being submitted?

Two years also?

Two years, two years, two days, two years, two days.

And and did you want to jump in, Connor?

Well, no, I was just saying that it has been submitted when they took the application and I brought it.

They told me it was just a courtesy, but it was not accepted, though they have it.

So the city is telling you your application was not accepted?

Because it's like a it, you know, you have to be very, very careful with licensing and this, and there's this one little nuance that says you have to submit a check that's not going to be cashed, but it has to be on file.

And so the city refused to accept that check.

And that was a red flag to me.

And I was like, okay, let's go back.

We have to make sure that they accept it because we're following their guidance to the T.

And that's when they were forced to say, oh no, no, no, we're accepting it, but it's a courtesy.

You get what I'm saying?

They wasn't going to say we're not actually gonna process this application.

No, nobody communicated that until we went back and said, Oh, we need you to take this check, right?

So the next step is supposed to be HCA, which if you guys haven't brought yours up to compliance, the state has one that they've made available to all municipalities, um, and an HCA, and then according to your guidance, we we submit our application that's been done and will be accepted by the state because I've worked on over 40 applications.

Um and then once we have a provisional license, we come back for the special permit.

We deal with planning with a special permit.

So last thing I'll say is um, in addition to the rent that these guys are paying, they're also paying for consulting fees for legal fees, so it's not just the two thousand dollars.

Um yeah.

Thank you.

Council Pereira.

I don't I just wanted to um uh I don't want these guys to get up and down all the time.

Uh I I just the the this is speaks for itself.

Uh the they've stood here before and and told told us all of this six months ago, a year ago, something like that.

I want to hear from Eric Jake.

So uh, whatever time I want the city solicitor up here, I have questions for him.

But if any of my colleagues have questions for these guys, so we'll have to come up and down.

Okay, but I want the solicitor, please.

Yep, absolutely.

He is here.

Um anybody else have any questions?

Council Gomes.

Does the doctor have anything to offer?

I'm sorry, the doctor.

Oh, she's not here.

Not here tonight.

Madam Chair, could we have uh attorney Eric Jakes?

Yes, we can.

Thank you for the Attorney Jakes.

Thank you.

Counselor Gomes.

Attorney Drake, thanks for being here.

Can you tell me what the problem is here?

What's going on here?

That this delay has gone on as long as it has, and these people have been calling in and trying to get answers.

The last time you were before us, you were here.

Matter of fact, you spoke to them out in the hallway and told them that you would uh either take care of business or you would move this along.

Can you explain what's going on with this?

That is correct, Counselor.

Let me first address the initial lengthy period of delay.

We currently have five operating retail outlets, one of which is an SCP member outlet.

Those outlets all operated and opened under the original HCAs before the CCC entirely changed what we could do in an HCA in terms of monies and things, benefits coming to the city.

As a result of those major changes by the CCC, we had to go back and negotiate amendments to the existing five entities.

During the course of that time, different inspectors of the CCC reviewed amended CCs that were identical.

In some instances, an inspector found a problem with one item, said the rest was fine.

A different inspector found a problem with a different item and said everything was fine.

We got inconsistent responses from the investigators for the CCC.

With one new item that the amended HCA was submitted a year ago.

Other than that, all of the amended CCs, HCAs, are now in place and appropriate.

With regard to House of Diesel, one of the things we had to do was create an SEP or social equity policy.

That policy was created by me, approved by the mayor on June 5th of this year.

We then were required to go through a licensing process relative to that SEP.

The application that's available, if anybody wants to look at it on the CCC website, has to be executed under the pains and penalties of perjury.

The first week of August, I had questions before I was willing to sign under the pains and penalties of perjury with regard to the issue of how many applicants do you have?

Because we can't accept an application as I understand it, unless the SCP has been approved and the quote-unquote license issued by the CCC.

And so that's why technically their application, which I suspect is extremely well done, has not technically been accepted.

I got the answer from the CCC the first week of September.

It took them a month to respond to my various emails.

Once I got the answer, I completed that application, and we have filed it online with the CCC.

It is assigned to Dan Huber as the investigator.

I have not heard back yet whether or not it's approved.

So as late as today, I placed the phone call to Dan Huber's cell phone in anticipation of this meeting and left a message.

Hey, where are we?

And that's a summary of where we are, Councilor.

Why weren't the applicants notified of this?

I got an email from Clawney.

Somebody in mid-August saying, I just want to confirm, tell me if I'm incorrect that you have submitted the SEP and you're waiting to hear back.

I can't tell you exactly who it was that sent me the email.

I suspect it was the consultant, but it may have been one of the principals.

At that point, I didn't have anything to tell him other than he's correct.

What he submitted to me was the current status.

So the hold up right now is the SCP.

The SCP has to be approved by the CCC.

Once it is approved, then we can move forward, and the mayor can reopen the application process, and we can receive applications.

We have one definitive SCP that I am aware of, and we have two other non-SCP applications.

What is the SCP that you're over?

Social equity policy.

Who is that?

House of Diesel.

Okay.

All right.

And then there are two others that are non-SEPs.

We have not accepted any of those three, because we have to be approved and licensed before we can go forward.

Once that happens, the administration is prepared to move forward.

And the next license will be an SEP license.

Our policy, which you can read on the website, says for the first six months, we will only take and consider applicants who are SCPs.

And there's two other acronyms that are eluding me, but they're equity type of applicants.

For the first six months, that's all we're going to take and consider.

Thereafter, 50 percent of all HCAs entered into an SCP with a minimum of one.

The reason that's written is if you are already at your max, then we're going to take another SEP before we take a non-SCP application.

Why didn't we accept their check?

I can't speak to that.

That would have been handled by the planning office.

I don't know if Mr.

McCarthy can answer that question for you, or if Jen Carloni, who's out on maternity leave, can answer that question.

I don't know.

How long do these people have to wait now?

We can move forward once the CCC says they are satisfied.

And you are working on that right this minute.

Well, I can't say this minute.

Not this minute, but I can tell you that today I called Dan Huber's cell phone number and explained the situation to him and said, Dan, where are we?

What do we need?

I understand your frustration in my office does not move quickly, but I can tell you that I waited for a month for the CCC to answer that question.

And had I not had to sign that application under oath, I would have filled it out to the best of my guess as to whether or not we would include the House of Diesel on those who have applied and negotiated.

The term on there, I believe was negotiated.

We haven't negotiated, we know they're there.

So my question is: do I list these folks that I know are interested?

They're out there, they have an application they want to give me, but your statement says how many have negotiated, or how many are you now negotiating?

I can answer the negotiated because we've done that.

But how many of you now negotiating?

I didn't understand the question.

I did not want to do it incorrectly under oath.

And as I said, it took a month for the CCC to respond.

Can you understand my frustration in the this has been a while?

The last question I'll ask you, what is the time span here?

If you've got a decision sometime this week, what is your time span on moving this along?

As long as the mayor tells me to move forward, we'd move forward with the planning office.

Okay.

I'm going to yield at this time.

Okay.

Thank you, Madam Chairman, for the moment.

Um baffled here.

Uh Council Pereira.

I didn't believe a word you said, Eric.

Thank you, Counselor.

Uh I'll be honest with you.

Uh I'm I'm I I I don't know what to say.

If they were coming to us and saying, hey, it's been six months, I understand things take time, and okay, I'd probably look at them and say, well, it is government.

It's going to take two years, Eric.

You're saying, oh, well, we did this in June.

Okay, so it took you 16 months to get this done in June.

Or a year or whatever, since they submitted this, that you knew we'd have to update something with our uh uh uh SCPs.

Okay.

So fast forward to June.

So you did this in June.

Now you you submit it you uh submitted to the mayor in June.

I am so you probably started working on it before, so however many months that is.

You submit it to the mayor, approved it in June after probably meetings and discussions with him.

Send it to the CCC.

Now it's uh August.

You don't have a meeting.

If this wasn't on the agenda, would you have called Dan Huber?

Yes.

I might have to I would look at this like a budget hearing too.

This this speaks volumes to when you come to us in budget time and say, oh, about this, about that, I need this, I need that, and then what I seem to see is as as core functions of government, and then we're just not doing it.

I I'm just look, I I I've I feel like I've been fair with you.

We've had conversations about many things.

Uh, this one's very frustrating to me, Eric.

Very frustrating.

I understand your frustration, counselor.

I appreciate your concerns.

I acknowledge that there's been some delay.

It's not directed to this particular applicant.

I told you there are three.

The other two have not moved further forward.

I can tell you that I am extremely disappointed that you've publicly accused me of being a liar.

I have a problem with that, counselor.

That's fine, Eric, but I just I I just don't understand how how uh it can take this long.

I just don't understand that.

I don't know I'm gonna tell you something you don't want to hear from me.

There's a lot of work that's gonna be done in my office.

You've cut the budget significantly, and in this case, there's other bureaucracies that have issues.

Your question is answered.

What's that?

I said a questions answered.

Um did he answer your question?

What?

Did Attorney Jakes answer your question?

Yes.

Okay, because I mean I just he's gonna go back and forth and somebody else is waiting to ask the question.

I'm just waiting.

But we should be able to go.

But I might I'm able to go back and forth.

He's answering the question.

No, I just wonder if your question was answered.

Yes, madam chair.

Okay.

Okay.

I'm sorry.

Um, but but you know, and and I'm I'm not gonna sit here and debate budgetary items with you.

We put money back last year to fill that, and this year we we went forward and and uh cut very little from your budget comparatively uh to other departments and to to previous years.

Uh I'll discuss things with you uh uh after uh because I don't know if I sound like to move on to other things, so I I just uh that's okay.

Thank you.

I just don't want to get into a budget topics here.

Counselor Baptiste.

Thank you, madam chair.

So when when did everybody else that has a business have to go through the reissuing process?

I'm sorry, Counselor.

Like when when they had to when when the rules changed, when did everybody else have to submit all their applications and so I'm I'm I'm sure that all the the establishments here that distribute marijuana in the city, you said they had to switch up some things because to go with the compliance.

We amended their HCAs that process took about a year and a half, and as I said, I believe, and don't quote me because I'm on camera, I get realize.

I believe it's Northeast Alternatives that there's a single issue that we're recently advised of.

And that one goes back to 2024 when the party submitted to the CCC.

And they're just now telling us they have an issue with that one.

My my question is, right?

Um if that goes back a couple of years and they've put in their application a couple of years ago, why wasn't there any way that you can process theirs while going through it and then find any issues that you have with it so that they can fix it so that it could already be in the in motion of going.

You understand what I'm saying?

Like so I think this has been on it's been on pause for two years.

Um so while other people have been you know reconforming what they do so that they can you know be up to standard.

Um I don't know why they would not um start the process already and then whatever finance that you have you can start changing the findings as it goes along so that they could have already been in business.

Um and I'm not blaming you, and I know the administration has different things going on, and you know it's it's it's hard enough to be a business owner in the city of New Bedford is even harder to be a black business owner in the city of New Bedford and going through this, and I know that you know none of the other owners of these establishments look like them.

So I I don't know why the I'm not blaming you for anything.

Like I said, this is this is a group effort.

This is this is a group effort.

Um where you know two years is is a little bit too long to have these processes going on.

I think that you know they they should have been at least contacted, treated fairly, and um told about the processes that had to happen so that they can fall in line and they can already establish their business, you know, with with the taxes that come with it, with um not just with the building, but with the kickbacks that we get from the industry.

I think this this would be a great opportunity for the city of New Bedford.

Uh, I don't know if it's an issue where they want to put the establishment at, um, who they are, but I I you know, like I said, this I I felt like this is a little bit too long that they should have at least been the process should have been started so that they can make their changes because as soon as the changes come down, they have to put a new application in, then the changes are gonna have to come back again, then they're gonna have to change it again, then the process is gonna be a little longer.

And I think that would have skipped uh a step, and I think just calling somewhere, you know, this week, and I like you say you are understaffed, but you know, this is this has been a couple of years, so um that's that's the question.

Why wouldn't it be like the process start already so that they could actually fall in line and it could be going faster.

Let me attempt to answer that question for you, counselor.

It's my understanding that when the rules and regulations were changed by the CCC and by the state statute, those companies that were already operating were allowed to continue to operate while we were in the process of amending their HCAs so that they were compliant with the new rules and regulations.

Applicants that had not yet applied, and I believe that's the case of House of Diesel.

But they applied to these two others were not allowed to have their application submitted until we were compliant.

And in terms of the overall genre, if you check the website, I believe there are a hundred and twenty communities in Massachusetts that are required to have their SCP filed and approved.

To date, only 20 communities have filled out their applications to be approved.

I think four had been approved.

There were 17 in the shoot when I read it.

New Bedford would have become the 18th in the chute that's applying.

So this is not a unique situation in New Bedford.

Well that now, like the question I'm asking, like they if they came in in 2023, like I'm sure that it didn't stop where they had to change the when when did they have to change the process?

I believe counselor that they came in after the statute was passed, regulations were promulgated, and the game changed.

I may be incorrect on that, but I believe I'm correct.

I that that that's the only that's the question I just had.

If because if they put it in beforehand, I thought that it should have been actually processed in and what was going on.

If everybody had to change in late 2024 and they put their stuff in in September of 2023, the application October of 2023, and it wasn't taken in and it wasn't accepted because of what had to go through with the state, and the state didn't start it until 2024.

I don't I still don't know why their application wasn't at least accepted and move forward.

Well am I thank you?

I yield the floor.

Thank you, Council Baptiste.

Um the chair.

Um when the rule changes were done and you had to um do the a new SCP, the special equity policy.

And you wrote that up.

Did you or the mayor's office or somebody send the applicants explaining what was going on, why the holdup was there?

I believe that there was conversation with one of the representatives with me.

Conversely when I was going to file the SCP and when it would be completed.

And I know that I received an email in early August attempting to confirm that the SEP had been drafted and we're awaiting review by the CCC.

So you are the SCP was already drafted by you in August and submitted to the State.

It was drafted by me and approved by the mayor in June.

And by August 4th, it had been submitted to the State.

So August 4th was submitted to the day.

My question was was there a letter?

These applicants have been waiting so long for an answer.

And when they're up here, they're still like submitting and not get anything back.

I was wondering if the solicitor's office actually explained to them and sent them a letter stating this is the holdup because it's a state change.

And we've submitted it and we're just waiting for our approval.

Because now you're saying it's there, and you're waiting for this Dan from the CCC from Massachusetts to come back to us and say it's all set.

Is that all we're waiting for?

Once that is approved by Mr.

Dan that you've been trying to get and communicate with communication with, once he says it's approved, can they move forward?

Once he says it's approved, I need the permission of the mayor to move forward.

So diesel can move forward with the permission of the mayor, once the man from the C CCC from Masses from the State says it's okay, we can move forward with their process and their application to grant them their license in New Bedford with the approval of the mayor.

Once any issue, if there are issues with the application is resolved with the CCC, I would be prepared to tell the mayor we can move forward at this time legally.

Correct.

But you now you said there's an issue if there's any issues.

Okay.

If there are any issues.

If there were issues, I think we would have heard the issues before.

They've been on it for two years.

So if there's an issue with the state or with the city, they should be notified that there's an issue.

Again, counselor, the SCP was filed August 4th.

Okay.

All right.

I'm telling you that they responded to an amended HCA 14 months after it was filed.

I assume that if I get on their case some more, that something will come out.

And I will certainly contact the Mr.

Huber again tomorrow and say I appeared before the City Council of New Bedford last evening and they were very unhappy with me.

Maybe the City Council should draft a letter to Mr.

Hubert to find out what is going on because we want to move business in New Bedford forward.

And the council is the council was able to take whatever activity and action it wishes.

Counselor Gomes.

Could I have um Tyrone back at the podium?

I want to c I want to clarify something.

Oh, absolutely.

We can have Diesel back at the podium, please.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

My colleague from Wad4 had um asked the question, and um you you you uh you say you can answer that question.

Yes.

Uh the question was when were the HCA updates supposed to go into effect officially statewide?

That's March 1st of 2024.

We submitted an application in 2023.

Not only was the HCAs supposed to be updated, but the social equity process was also supposed to be um updated by by that date as well.

So there's two different things that we're talking about, an HCA, and every municipality is supposed to have a special process for social equity, right?

For diversity and inclusion.

The reason why we're only seeing 20 or 30 municipalities upload their application is because a lot of them already had a social equity process.

So they wouldn't need to.

You get what I'm saying?

Also, a lot of these issues are really non-issues, guys.

I've been contracted by the state of Massachusetts since the rec program rolled out to teach social equity courses.

I do it every I'm doing it right now.

I did two last week.

We're doing one on Friday.

I'm very familiar with the SE process, the program, worked with many municipal actually helped some municipalities get compliant when they want to deal with Greenlight, when they want to work with us, because it's not that hard.

The CCC has hired two of my former staff members, attorneys that are working in licensing.

This stuff seems confusing if you're not dealing with it every day, and most of you are not.

You have a lot of responsibility.

I deal with it every day.

These are non-issues.

The state actually provided an HCA template that they said, okay, you're concerned about signing under perjury.

What what whatever?

Here.

This is compliant.

Many municipalities elected to just take that and roll with it.

I'll answer any questions you guys have.

Counselor Gomes.

I'm not done.

Um the application was in uh almost a year before.

Correct?

I find that I I find that interesting, and there's no answers to this.

I had another question.

If somebody else has a question that they would add ask um.

Oh, I just remembered one thing.

Uh the gentleman Dan that we keep talking about.

Yeah, that's what that's the question I want to ask.

Yep.

Have you met with Dan?

Yes, we met a month ago.

We had a conversation, the HOD team.

He's a part of enforcement.

He's on management level internal enforcement.

He actually was invited here today.

Yes, he was.

Councilman Combs invite invited him here.

Um so when we spoke with him a month ago, he was not aware.

He reached out to us because we had reached out to Commissioner Camargo, who has since stepped down, and she was connecting us with you know the enforcement that they have internally.

Dan reached out to us to ask us what's going on, and we gave him submitted the same material you guys have.

So um, you know, he was uh uh a month ago, he was completely unaware of all of these problems that we've been having.

Obviously, today he received you know a phone call, email from the solicitor, okay, but you know, Dan was completely unaware.

Attorney Drake.

Attorney Drakes, please.

Attorney Jakes.

Attorney Drakes, what do you make of all of this?

You say that the application was um uh submitted in um June.

Yes, or August.

August.

The SEP was approved in June.

I started the license progress, the license process online on August 4th.

I stopped because of the requirement that it be under oath.

I sent an email to the address that was on the licensing application.

I received a response ultimately on I believe September 4th, and I filled out the application and filed it, I believe either the next day or within two days.

How come Dan didn't know anything about this?

Pardon?

How come Dan didn't know Mr.

Dan didn't know anything about this?

We're just being told.

I only submitted the license materials in August.

Okay, so you hadn't had conversation with Dan prior to this?

No.

Okay.

The stuff is done online.

I did it online.

You respond to an email address online, and it wasn't until I was able to figure out that Dan was the investigator on our application that I reached out to him today.

Okay.

Okay, Madam President, that's all I have for now.

I would like to hear from the state after the questioning of attorney Drake's Okay.

Council Burr, did you have another question?

Okay.

Is there is there anybody here from the state?

That's that's the building code.

That's planning.

Oh, that's planning.

Oh.

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

So we got nobody from the state today.

No.

And we got no communication from the state today.

No.

Well, I find this very, very um frustrating.

And I'm sorry that these people have had to go through what they have had to go through all this time.

And it's for no one to show up from the state for us to get nothing from uh them.

That something's uh something's up here, and we're gonna figure it out.

And I'm gonna hold anybody accountable for their actions.

I don't care what it is, because these people have been put through the ringer, as I said.

And I told you earlier, Madam Chairman, I had a theory.

And my theory is they don't want them here.

And they don't want him here.

I don't know why.

This is a good family, a prominent family where they come from.

Nothing on their records or anything of the sort.

Is it the location?

Is it their location?

You carve the map upstairs.

You carve the map.

Is this location not fitting in to what you think figured no one would ever come along and take it?

Is it not fitting into what's going on down in the waterfront?

I don't know.

And uh please don't mind me.

I'm just so frustrated with this and so uh that the answers just seem to be very vague and uh not combined.

When we last met, man, we were supposed to have an arm in arm type of thing going on with this with these group and and the city solicitor.

Only for me to get calls every two weeks or texts saying anything from the city, anything from the city, nothing from the city, nothing from the city.

Now we've got changes in the rules or whatever.

And and it's interesting, these rules came down.

Um how many people were affected, uh Attorney Jakes, by this rule change across the Commonwealth.

Every marijuana uh um uh establishment across the Commonwealth was was affected by this SCP change or whatever.

Yes, if you had an HCA, virtually every HCA that was out there would have been affected.

The old HCAs essentially allowed the city to gain significant financial gain by permitting the marijuana establishments to come into their community.

All of those gains, except for the excise tax, have been removed along with an impact fee.

We've made a decision not to pursue the impact fee, but the cost, because the cost in establishing what those impacts would be exceeds what you would get from the impact fees.

You have to show that there are more police calls, there are more ambulance calls, there are more issues, et cetera, et cetera.

Security did you gotta provide overtime police?

We can't establish those things because it's not a problem with the existing HCAs.

No, it is not.

So what was not been a problem?

We have not had one problem in the city.

So what we currently receive is the 3% excise tax.

That's what we receive.

But that required all of these ACAs to be rewritten as to their terms.

There were promises to hire a certain number of people in the city.

There were promises to make donations to schools, all kinds of promises that were put in the HCAs, and those had to be negotiated out.

And that took some time.

And that's what that process was.

What could we give these people for an answer tonight?

We wait for the call from Dan?

I'm gonna call Dan tomorrow again and see what is the time frame that is involved.

And again, counselor, I've seen generally their application.

It looks extremely complete to me.

I've seen an awful lot of applications for other types of licenses or permits that have come before this body that aren't anywhere near as well drawn up and completed as this application.

That's credit to them.

It is.

Okay, then the last question I'll ask you.

If I was to table this for 30 days, do you think you would have an answer if I brought you back in 30 days?

Because I'm gonna ask for the state to come back here in 30 days, because I think they have an obligation to us to at least send us a correspondent this evening or tell us that no one was gonna show up.

They had enough non-notice on this.

Yeah, um, but for no one to show up, no correspondent from them or anything.

I that's not your fault.

I've got a problem with uh if I was to do this for 30 days, you think that is a sufficient enough time for you to get this put together.

I can't speak for the state, obviously, counsel, but I would certainly hope so.

And rather than just call Mr.

Huber tomorrow, I will also email him so there's a paper record of my overture.

Okay.

During that period of time in August, when I was looking to get an answer to my question, I utilized email to do it.

Today I made a phone call because I knew it was on the agenda.

But I can certainly document it in the form of an email.

And I would hope 30 days from now, this is resolved.

I can't promise you, but I would certainly make my best efforts to do that.

I I would are very much appreciate that, Attorney Drake.

I don't want to sit here and have this session as a beat up session.

I just want to do what is right for the people that come before us.

And these people have been nothing but a class act coming before us.

I have had one of these before, and it just seems like there's a problem.

And I'm not going to go there.

I'm not going to go there because I don't go there, because I represent this entire city.

But I'm going to tell you something.

I don't like what what has been going on with them.

They deserve to get a phone call back when they called whether it's a good phone call back, whether whether it is good information or it's bad.

That that they received that phone call from your office.

If it's not you, just your Secretary CN, the Attorney Drakes has wanted us to notify you that we we have talked to the State.

This has gone through, this is our next procedure.

This is our next move on this.

So they know.

And it's not such a frustrating thing, because as you know, and it's been said here tonight, two and a half years is a long time.

A lot of money being dished out, and nothing in return.

And no bullseye anywhere.

No no nothing to say we're in.

And it's i i I'm I'm just frustrated with this one.

And you know I am, and I would just appreciate your effort to get this resolved as soon as possible.

I understand, Councillor.

Thank you very much, attorney.

That's all I have for the Madam Chair.

Um so at the at the appropriate time, we're going to make the motion to table, and hopefully Attorney Jakes have would have heard back from the State.

Correct.

But I also have a related motion that because we want to hear what happened with the State.

We're supposed to be standing tall and be ready to uh um you know assist.

And and we can't get people to uh give us a communication.

I think it's very very, very poor of the CC.

Just so the committee would know if you would allow me, the um communications were sent by mail and by email to uh Bruce Stebbins, the acting chair and commissioner, and to Daniel Huber as well.

And we we didn't we did not receive a response to the email that was sent, nor the uh the mail communication.

Thank you.

Councilor Burgo.

Um I would just if since obviously uh assistant city planner Michael McCarthy has been here for over an hour.

If he does have anything to offer, I would like to hear if the planning office has anything to share regarding this matter.

No.

Good evening, Mike.

Good evening, Councillor.

Mike, yeah.

So do you have anything to share?

Uh so we are in possession of the uh the application packet.

It was dropped off by Mr.

James when when they came into the office.

The the planning department's role at the start of the HCA process is we need there needed to be a department designated to do intake for the screening committee.

So we do that intake, review and make sure that all the material is in there.

But as the screening committee was not being convened, as uh Attorney Jakes explained, because they were updating all of the other host community agreements.

I could not accept that application only because I it had nowhere to go after I accepted it.

So once the screening committee has a date and is convened, we will accept uh HCA applications and they will be reviewed for completion and then passed off to the screening committee to review.

Umce that's ready, they their application is in the office and it's it I reviewed it when it came in, it is as complete as an application could be.

So what has the so the uh planning office hasn't made any recommendations or votes on this application because it hasn't moved?

Yeah.

Um our our role in in intake is just to make sure, just to review for completeness as a public-facing department.

And then the screening committee, which I um believe as representative from the solicitor's office, the police, health, uh the city planner sits on it and may uh representative from the mayor's office.

They review and make notes and then communicate with the uh the applicant negotiate the actual legal host community agreement.

But our role as planning staff in the in is just intake and review for completion.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Burger.

Uh don't come in for one second.

Um the check that they speak of by turning the application to the check is because there was no screening committee to move that application on.

So you reviewed it, you looked at it, and it was ready to go forward, but you can't move it forward without a screening committee.

That's correct.

And I and I I send them away with the check because I I don't feel comfortable holding on to a check when there's an unknown date when something is going to occur.

It's it it's uh a liability for us in the office.

So the application is there, it's in the box, it's on the shelf, it's ready to be reviewed and passed ahead uh whenever the screening committee is convened.

Right.

So um they seem to be confused to check no check.

I just find there's the communication back to this company has been lacking.

Did anybody say I cannot accept this check because we do not have a screening committee?

I said that in person when the application was dropped off.

So did you so they knew that the screening committee w wasn't there?

Did you give them any time frames or anything or I don't have a time frame for when the committee will be convened because there was there were those open questions that uh attorney jakes discussed.

So I haven't been giving anyone time frames.

Uh what I do when I receive an inquiry is I let people know that I have their contact information, and when the screening committee has opened up an application process, they will be notified and they can submit an application at that time.

Okay.

So you did say there is a member of the planning board that sits on the screening committee.

The the city planner sits on the screening.

Okay, thank you.

Council Lopes.

I got one super quick question for you.

So their application at this point is two years and two days old.

By the time the screening committee gets convened and everything goes down that avenue.

Will they need to resubmit their application because of how old it is, or will they still be able to be accepted with the application that they have already provided the planning office?

Planning department, sorry.

Well, once the uh once the committee uh is accepting applications, I'll I'll reach out to to them if they have any material that they believe needs to be updated.

We can accept that and supplement it into the application.

So the one they have submitted it as good if they want to make any revisions to it, they would be able to make it at that appropriate time.

Absolutely.

So there's no timeline?

I don't have a timeline.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Council Lopes.

Um Attorney Jakes come back up here for one second.

Attorney Jakes, um, so there's a member of your your department that sits on it.

Would you be able to find out when that screening committee is going to convene again to accept applications and uh relay that information back to the council because it's been quite some time, and I'm wondering if they ever are going to reconvene to look at these applications.

I can certainly ask the mayor.

Yeah.

Because it's it's it's up to the mayor when he convenes this committee, correct?

That is correct, Council.

Okay.

So the so it's in the mayor's hands right now about that screening committee.

That is correct, Councillor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

How's that?

Anybody else have any questions for either planning, applicant, or diesel.

Um I don't have any questions.

I just wanted to uh to the maker of the motion.

Um I see that on our council agenda that the next um appointments and briefing meeting is October 14th, which is 28 days away.

It's it will not be on October 14th.

We might not be keeping that date.

So I don't want to give you that date just yet.

We're working on a new date.

Do you know what that new date might be?

No, I do not.

Oh, okay, great.

Well, I guess my question then to you, Madam Chair, is will this be on the next uh agenda?

Absolutely.

Okay.

Because that was the only concern I had about putting a uh time table on.

If we could just motion a table and then if you could guarantee to us that this will be on the next agenda item.

Yeah, that's fine.

I just want you to say that on the next appointment and briefing agenda it's going to be brought up.

It would be a quick half an hour meeting for a delivery, but the next full meeting, absolutely, they will be on this agenda.

Okay.

Great.

And hopefully we'll get some information back from the screening committee and all the information that they need and information from the state.

So council Gomes, are you ready to make your motion?

On a related motion, did uh letters be sent to the two invitees um requesting why we receive no correspondent or from either or of them.

And also requesting that um the mayor uh put open the screening committee as soon as possible to um um address this applicant um applications coming before us.

Okay.

Did I cover it all?

It might not be till November, but it will be on the agenda.

And if we have the full one in October, it'll be there.

Is there a second?

Second I isn't seconded by Council Oliver.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

And then and now can make the motion table.

Motion to table.

Second.

Motion table made by Council Gomes, second by Council Lopes.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

Motion to adjourn.

Second.

Motion to adjourn made by Council Pereira, second by council Gomes.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed, the ayes have it.

We adjourned at 826 p.m.

For some reason I've seen that.

We've only met a few times in Oxford.