Lemont Cannabis Referendum To Appear On March Ballot

LEMONT, IL — After several meetings of discussion and debate about recreational cannabis dispensaries in town, the Lemont village board has approved a resolution for two different advisory referenda.

At its Dec. 9 meeting, which ran three hours long in a crowded board room, the board approved an advisory question asking residents if the town should dedicate resources to fund the village's police unfunded pension liability; and an advisory question asking residents if the town should allow recreational cannabis dispensaries in the village.

Mayor John Egofske called the issue of allowing a recreational cannabis in Lemont "a money issue."

"We have debt that consists of bonds, we have debt that consists of unfunded pension liability," Egofske said. "The pension liability is mainly our police pension."

According to board documents, should a dispensary be allowed in the village, the board has committed to dedicate the revenues from a facility to its unfunded police pension liability.

"When I say this is a money issue, we do not have any excess revenues to take care of these unfunded pensions," Egofske said.

"We would love to hire more police," Egofske said. "...we just cannot afford it." He added the village owes $10 million in debt for pensions (police and IMRF); and the police pension is funded at over 70 percent.

The two referenda questions on the ballot will be:

Shall the village of Lemont, in counties of Cook, Will and DuPage, Illinois dedicate resources to fund its unfunded police pension liability?

Shall the village of Lemont, in counties of Cook, Will and DuPage, Illinois allow the operation of a recreational cannabis (marijuana) dispensary within its jurisdiction?

Several residents at the Dec. 9 meeting asked the trustees and mayor for their personal opinions about allowing a dispensary. The majority of speakers at the meeting wanted the village to opt out of allowing dispensaries, while a few residents did speak in favor of a dispensary.

"I don't have enough information right now," Egofske said. He added that more information will be available after Jan. 1, and the village will be able to see revenue from other towns.

"A referendum will tell us the true picture of what everyone feels," Egofske said.

Trustee Dave Maher shared that his vote was a 'yes' for a dispensary.

"I'm looking for more information as well, but right now, my vote is a yes," he said. "My vote is a yes because the state actually is saying it's legal; so we don't control whether it's going to be in our communities or not, whether it will be in our schools or not."

"My discussions over the last three months with our constituents is showing an overwhelming support for a dispensary in Lemont," Maher said. He added that the majority of the room, which was about 50 or 60 people, were opposed to a dispensary, but Lemont is a town of 17,000.

"I got a chance here to wait and see, let's wait and see," Trustee Rick Sniegowski said.

Patch reached out to trustees about their opinions on the issue and trustees Janelle Kittridge and Ken McClafferty responded.

"I strongly believe we are not ready to make any decision yet," Kittridge said, adding the referendum will help the board make a decision.

She said if she were to vote today, she would have opted out, but voted for a referendum because she wanted more time.

"Lemont could really benefit from a dispensary so it would be irresponsible for me to not entertain the idea and keep an open mind."

"As a trustee I believe putting a moratorium on cannabis sales was the right thing to do," McClafferty said. "It gives the board more time to get a better feel on community sentiment through the advisory referendum."

McClafferty said whether the referendum passes or fails, he will respect the outcome.

"The vast majority of municipalities have fast tracked their decisions to 'opt out' or 'opt in' without any input from the community which I believe is a huge disservice on an issue of this importance. By hitting the pause button with the moratorium it gives Lemont residents time to monitor any social or financial impact it will have on those communities that have opted in," he said.

The board also approved an ordinance creating a temporary moratorium on the processing or consideration of any applications to locate a cannabis dispensary in the village. Board documents state the moratorium is being enacted so the board can receive additional information on the topic and additional feedback from village residents.

The moratorium will run through April 30, 2020. Board documents state the village has not received any applications seeking to locate a marijuana dispensary or other type of cannabis business in the town.

Both referenda will appear on the March 17, 2020 ballot.