GREENWOOD — At the May 18 town meeting, Greenwood townspeople voted nearly unanimously in favor of cannabis ordinances that allow retail, manufacturing, testing and cultivation businesses to come to town.

Resident Bill Bickford asked if the ordinance would address marijuana odors that might emanate from a building. Selectman Norm Milliard said there is an odor guideline within the ordinance. “It would probably be addressed by not re-licensing” said Selectboard Chair Amy Chapman. Another resident asked if zoning would regulate where cannabis businesses could be located. “What zoning? we have shoreline zoning, that’s it,” said a resident.

Bickford warned the other 40 or so voters that their home value would be negatively affected. “Be highly careful what you wish for. It is going to highly affect your property value when you go to resell … you will lose thousands and thousands of dollars,” he said.

Dog ordinance

A new barking dog ordinance passed unanimously. It fines owners whose dogs bark, sustained for one hour or intermittently for three hours. The ordinance excludes agricultural working dogs engaged in herding or protecting livestock.

Resident Charlene Spaulding said, “I think this ordinance came about because of my [Greenwood City] neighbors.” She said a governmental official had asked her how often the dogs bark. “It is a concern. It’s a concern for the neighbors and it’s certainly a concern for the dogs,” she said

A different resident said, “Personally I feel [the ordinance] is an insult to the neighbors of Greenwood City, after three years of putting up with barking dogs. This ordinance is full of “mights” and “maybes” as far as taking care of the problem. This has been going on for three years. We’re going into another summer of smelling that smell and listening to dogs bark constantly. What can we do about it? We need action …  Is the problem going to get solved,” she asked.

“This is a place to start. We have a problem with having ordinances enforced because we don’t have a town police force. State and county police are never in town and won’t come to town for a barking dog. This greatly expands the parameters of what we had before,” said Chapman.

After the meeting, Town Manager Kim Sparks said she has not heard from the State’s investigator who started an investigation in March at a Greenwood City kennel. Sparks said neighbors have complained to her but have not wanted their names recorded because they fear retaliation. She said a man who has never complained about anything told her he can no longer enjoy his backyard, “the constant drone [of barking dogs] will give you a headache over time,” she said.

Greenwood City resident, Jeanie Millett said the noise is 24/7; 365 days a year.  She said state workers have never knocked on her door, “I have to run the television all day or I would go crazy. I have windows I can’t open because the smell is so bad.”

Homeowner fee

Article 23 adds a one-time 1.5% fee to a building permit after a threshold of $100,000 in construction cost.  Fire Chief Kevin Cole said, “this article is intended to help keep the taxpayer’s taxes down by taxing anybody building a brand new property … they are paying a 1.5% of  a one-time tax fee or impact fee because they are impacting our number of calls as the town continues to grows in volume by new houses and people. They are paying this one-time 1.5 % over $100,000.” He said a new garage or deck does not count if it costs under $100,000.

In response to a resident’s question, Moderator Vern Maxfield explained that it is not possible to raise the article’s percentage.

Voters passed the 1.5% fee for new homeowners.

Chapman re-elected

Voters re-elected Amy Chapman to the position of  selectman, assessor, and overseer of the Poor. Chapman said wryly that she is a relative newcomer to Greenwwod, “I have only been here 35 years. Fifteen years on the board. I just love this town to pieces,” said Chapman. She quoted a friend who had been away for 40 years but liked to think it was the way she remembered it: that people still cared about each other.

Articles 3 and 5-21 were bundled then approved as presented.

Boiler-plate business articles 29-3 were bundled as well, and passed unanimously.

Because Article 4 to raise the tax levy was not needed it was defeated.

According to Greenwood Town Manager Kim Sparks the current mil rate is 16.50; the estimated new mil rate is 17.50. This includes county, municipal and school budget.

The former municipal budget was $1,971,007; the new budget is $2,117,766.  This does not include county and school budget. Since everything passed at Town Meeting the change is $146,759 or 7.44%

Sparks was recognized for her birthday and also for 20 years of town service.