Preparing for legal marijuana, the Nome City Council wants to get ahead of the state’s changing laws, and at Monday’s council meeting Police Chief John Papasodora offered an outline on how to do just that.
“We have two definite sections or stages this has to go through,” the chief outlined for the council. “The first is, how are we going to respond to recreational use. The second is, how are we going to respond to the commercialization, the commercial sale and cultivation.”
Decriminalization of marijuana will hit Alaska in about a month, on Feb. 24, a date set when voters approved a November ballot initiative that called for making the drug legal for anyone over the age of 21. The initiative also clears the way for the eventual legal cultivation and sale of the drug statewide, likely before the end of the year. Chief Papasodora presented the council with a long list suggestions for Nome’s still-developing marijuana laws, most of which were modeled on the city’s existing laws on alcohol. Most focused on limitations on use of marijuana outside the home, prohibiting the use of the drug (much like alcohol) in a public place, or transporting the drug in a vehicle. Papasodora also called for increasing fines to $300 for “open container” violations for both drugs; currently, Nome city code assesses a fine of $100 for similar alcohol violations.
But what about edible marijuana products, and eventually, legal marijuana sales in Nome? And could Nome, as some communities are contemplating, use the “local option” to opt our of marijuana sales in city limits? The chief said, in the end, it will be up to the council to decide.
“The sooner that we act on it, and get our ducks in a row and know how we’re going to approach it from a law enforcement standpoint, we can help modify or monitor conduct to try to bring it within the bounds of what’s acceptable for the city,” Papasodora concluded.
“You just need to decide what the limits are going to be,” he said to the council.
The full list of recommendations from Chief Papasodora can be read here.
There’s no firm date on when any proposal will be ready for the public to weigh in on, but council member Randy Pomeranz spoke for the council when he said existing liquor laws are the right place to start.
“I think we need to bring it before the public, and I think the chief has got a great idea in just following the alcohol ordinances, it makes perfect sense,” Pomeranz said.
Switching to other business, the council approved a six-month electricity rate increase from Nome Joint Utility. The first rate increase in 20 years, the price will jump by two cents per kilowatt-hour through the end of June, making the new rate roughly $0.19/kWh to $0.20/kWh for most households. Rates will automatically fall back to the previous levels unless a new rate is approved.
The council also passed an operating budget for the utility, one that leaves it running a deficit of more than $87,460. That deficit came alongside updates from Utility Manager John Handeland that some construction projects could demand more money for completion, including the integration of the Banner Wind Farm, at a cost of roughly half a million dollars. Handeland said those project costs could likely be covered by shifting around other project funds, but with the utility in the red, new expenses popping up, and $2.2 million in city credit on the line, council members renewed calls to get a look at the utility’s cash flow.
At the close of the meeting, the council heard from Port Commission member Charlie Lean, who thanked the council for considering a five percent hike for the port tariff.
“Our profit margin is shrinking over the last three years,” Lean said. “There’s a need for us to have some money, and we don’t want to come to [the council] going ‘we’re broke and we need a million dollars.’ So we have to have a little contingency there.”
Members of the public can weigh in on the port tariff hike—before the city council votes on it—at their next meeting on Feb. 9.
