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Cordell Mayor Jerry Beech Beacon File Photo
The New Cordell city council voted during its Monday, Aug. 5, 2019, regular meeting to adopt license and application fees for the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits. The council’s previous ordinance change, which opened the door for dispensaries in the city, required the council to establish fees for initial applications and licenses, as well as for annual license renewals.
The council voted to set an initial application and license fee of $2,500 for dispensaries, a fee city administrator J.C. Moser said was the same as that charged by Weatherford and Elk City. The council’s vote was 5-3 in favor of the $2,500 fee, with council members Vicky Dunlap, Cheryl Wedel, Steve Mc-Laughlin, Earlene Smith and James Newman voting in favor of the proposal and members Zetta Penner, Vona Hicks, and Kelly Maddox-Tilley in dissent.
The council then voted on a motion to set the annual renewal rate for dispensary licenses at $1,500. Council members Wedel, Smith, Dunlap, and Penner voted in favor of the motion, with Mc-Laughlin, Newman, Maddox-Tilley, and Hicks voting no. Mayor Jerry Beech cast the tie-breaking vote and the motion carried.
According to Moser, no applications for dispensary permits in Cordell have been submitted as of Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019. He did say that he was aware of two dispensaries in the planning/construction phases within the city, but felt those businesses were waiting for the council to set the fees before filing permit applications.
The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority charges an annual fee of $2,500 for a dispensary license. According to the OMMA database, last updated July 24, 2019, there are no state-licensed dispensaries in Cordell, but there are four in Hobart and six in Weatherford.
The city attorney, Johnny Beech, will be drafting resolutions formalizing the fee structure, which will be presented to the city council for a final vote at the next regular meeting, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, 2019, in the Cordell Community Center.
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