Billerica Select Board Extends Marijuana Hours to 11 p.m., Fills Committee Seats

BILLERICA -- September 12, 2022, Billerica Select Board extends marijuana establishment hours and fills more than a dozen committee vacancies. The board voted unanimously Monday to amend Select Board Policy Section 46, extending allowable hours for adult-use marijuana establishments and medical marijuana treatment centers to 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week, and immediately approved a corresponding change-of-hours request from Collective Premium Cannabis on Fort Republic Road, whose owner Ron Giannetta was praised by Chair Andrea Loria as "a really good business partner in town." The board made fourteen appointments across four bodies, including elevating current alternate David Gagliotti to regular member of the Historic District Commission and seating four Billerica Memorial High School students on the Youth Advisory Committee. Loria warned that with 28 board and committee vacancies open, the public criticism directed at applicants during the meeting was discouraging participation: "I understand why people don't want to come up." A resident identified as Ms. Reardon used open mic to dispute claims that the Community Preservation Committee hoards funds, citing CPC financing of 13 of 18 million dollars for the Howe and PHR project, and raised alarm over conditions facing elderly residents at Housing Authority properties on the Talbot and River Street.