Board rejects sponsorship request for cannabis festival

DOVER - At the Dover Selectboard’s Tuesday meeting, a motion to support “The Original Green Mountain Cannabis and Music Festival” with 1% economic development funds was defeated 3-2.  Per the event’s organizers, Sandy MacDougall and Jim Desrochers, of Dover, and Heather Conner, of Connecticut, the event will go on despite the lack of support from the town. 
At the board’s May 1 meeting, MacDougall and Desrochers requested $14,000 in 1% funds for the festival, which will be held July 1 at MacDougall’s Layla’s Riverside Lodge. July 1 is, notably, the day that possession and cultivation of marijuana becomes legal in Vermont. On May 1, the festival was described by economic development director Steve Neratko as “an educational and entertainment event celebrating the legalization of cannabis in Vermont.”
At the time, the board and police chief Randy Johnson asked for more information about ticketing, traffic control, parking, and revenue estimates. On Tuesday, Desrochers and MacDougall returned with more details and were joined by Conner, who said she has 20 years of experience in event planning, including concerts, and has also worked in radio. She noted the festival’s need for an organizer with experience as well as her familiarity with MacDougall.
“I grew up with Sandy, and I know all about Sandy,” said Conner, trailing off with a laugh. The remark was met with laughter from MacDougall and others in the room. 
“Despite (Sandy’s) wild ways, he’s quite a smart and successful businessman,” said Conner. “I contacted him when I saw this opportunity because I knew that the situation takes some experience to administrate. It takes a team.”
To that end, Desrochers and MacDougall said Conner had already brought knowledge and organization to the table. Since the previous meeting, a site plan had been worked out, parking arrangements had been made, and the numbers for the festival had been scaled back, with tickets capped at 1,800. The shift in available tickets negated an earlier requirement that the group receive a letter of support from the town for state permitting. Ticket prices have been set at $40 for general admission and $100 for VIP, and Conner said the group has begun fielding requests from vendors. Conner also provided details about the music component of the festival, which will go from 1 to 8 pm and will feature performances by Badfish,  Buddha Fly, Fresh Perspective, and Jen Durkin, who Conner said is also helping to organize the event.
MacDougall said he anticipated 500 ticket sales within the first week, which at the general admission rate would amount to $20,000. Chair Josh Cohen questioned why, then, $14,000 from the town was that important. Conner said MacDougall and Desrochers wanted the town as a partner, and presented the board with an event poster that listed the town as a sponsor along with MacDougall’s Layla’s Riverside Lodge and The Lodge at Mount Snow, which is owned by Desrochers.
Johnson, who joined the meeting by phone, said he had met with Desrochers and MacDougall prior to the meeting. Johnson said he would be charging the festival approximately $4,000 for police staffing at the festival, and that as a result of the festival, he would not be able to make his staff available to Wilmington for their fireworks, which are happening the same night as the festival. 
Johnson said that despite the shift in the law on July 1, “It is still illegal to smoke (marijuana) in public,” adding that he had contacted the state’s attorney, who agreed that smoking marijuana at the event would be illegal. “It is considered a public place and a public event and therefore it is illegal to smoke at it. And like I told (MacDougall and Desrochers), the police department will take whatever action we deem necessary for anybody who is smoking in public. I’m not saying we’re going to turn our head and I can’t say we’re not. We will take whatever action we deem necessary at that time. ”
Conner said the festival’s organizers intend to comply with the law and Johnson’s wishes. “We will address through ticketing what the liabilities are and we will have event staff and security who will be aware of them,” said Conner. “This is really a mellow situation, and hopefully it’s a smooth, easy Sunday.”
Throughout the meeting, MacDougall pooh-poohed the significance of cannabis as the festival’s theme by calling it a marketing ploy, and Conner referred often to the group’s overall plan to hold music festivals in several “genres,” the celebration of cannabis being just one of them. But Cohen said that cannabis’ tie to the event put the board in a difficult position, as the request for the town’s support was coming at a time when the board is conducting a monthlong public survey into the townspeople’s feelings about a medical marijuana dispensary proposed to be located in the town. 
“I think the timing sucks,” said Cohen. “On June 19, we’re going to hear back from the valley if we even support a medicinal dispensary. Imagine if we sponsor this and then find out the town doesn’t support (cannabis)?”
Resident Joan Black echoed Cohen’s remark. “This board decided that they didn’t want to make a decision about medical marijuana and other stores coming into town. You wanted the voice of the people,” said Black. “Now tonight, (if you say) we’re going to back this, you’re making a statement.” 
“We’ll be making a statement either way,” said Cohen. 
Ultimately the board voted not to support the festival. A motion was introduced to support the festival with $14,000 from 1% funds, to which Sarah Shippee and Dan Baliotti voted in the affirmative and Joe Mahon, Vicki Capitani, and Cohen voted in the negative. Board members didn’t offer reasons for their votes, though at the board’s last meeting, Capitani said she intended not to support the request because it fell short of the town’s stated 180-day planning window for events supported through 1% funds. 
Despite the board’s silence on its reasoning, Tuesday night MacDougall built a narrative about censorship on the Facebook page for Layla’s Riverside Lodge. “It seems the town Elders - select board - decided there was still a stigma attached to the word Cannabis,” wrote MacDougall. Later, in a comment below that post, he wrote, “It’s kind of a sad day when your own town can’t get behind something that makes money. All because of a word. Censorship is what it seems.” 
Tuesday’s discussion and MacDougall’s later remarks were possibly a reflection of strong and opposing emotions bubbling just below the surface in Dover around marijuana. The survey Cohen and Black refered to in their remarks is being conducted after Johnson asked the town to create ordinances banning marijuana dispensaries. Individual board members refrained from expressing their own opinions on the matter and opted to seek residents’ opinions before ruling on the issue, leading to several lengthy discussions at board meetings and charged, at times antagonistic, discourse on social media. 
Assistant town clerk Jeannette Eckert reported at Tuesday’s meeting that surveys have begun to be filled out. They’re available to Dover residents at Dover’s town office until June 15, with the results to be discussed at the board’s June 19 meeting.