4:50 PM | Tuesday, October 1, 2024
The City of Osseo is considering a new partnership to operate a proposed municipal cannabis dispensary.
A company called Red Pine Group spoke to the Osseo City Council this week.
The organization is proposing to purchase the property and pay the initial costs to operate a municipal cannabis dispensary for the city.
In an earlier proposed deal, the city of Osseo would get 25 percent of the store's profits, with the rest going to Red Pine.
“To me, it’s really just the initial capital expenditure,” City Councilman Mark Schultz said. “I mean, you can't ignore it. There are certainly aspects to this and we've talked about it, but sometimes it just sounds too good to be true. But sometimes it's not.”
Red Pine says the city is expected to receive about $500,000 in annual revenue.
Osseo City Council members largely supported the proposal, which requires little financial investment from the city beyond the hours of staff and attorneys.
“I think our risk is much lower,” said Councilwoman Juliana Hallstrom. “Initially, I brought this to this (council) because I had the income.”
The City of Osseo is considering a new partnership to operate a proposed municipal cannabis dispensary.
City staff concerns
City officials were somewhat cautious when considering the proposal.
Interim City Administrator and Police Chief Shane Mickelson was concerned about the city's ability to influence operations.
“To be honest, I have concerns about large groups,” he said. “There are regulations and if they're going to spend millions of dollars, they're going to allow the city to come in and make future decisions and things like that. I have concerns about that. I'm a good reader of people, so having a large group like this swoop in at the last minute worries me.”
The city's attorney also noted that the state's cannabis law has not yet been finalized. It's unclear whether the state will allow private companies to operate municipal stores on behalf of cities or with city licenses.
The city attorney will now review the proposal and could present revised language to the City Council at its next meeting.
Osseo
