22 I NEWS I December 4, 20<strong>19</strong> WEST NEWSMAGAZINE Pet Photos with Santa! Saturday, December 7th 10am - 2pm at Any & All Pets Welcome! 15311 Manchester Rd. 636.686.7181 at New Ballwin Road next to Old Navy Questions, please contact PALS 636.338.1818 • www.Pals-Pets.com LIKE US ON Facebook.com/midriversnewsmagazine @WESTNEWSMAG WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM Wildwood scolds Ellisville dispensary location with resolution By JEFFREY BRICKER Dr. Kenneth Remy is a medical doctor with years of experience in pediatric medicine. So, maybe it wasn’t surprising when the future home of a medical marijuana dispensary was proposed near a local school, Ward 3 Wildwood councilmember Remy took action. On Oct. 28, Remy questioned a decision by the Ellisville City Council for a planned medical marijuana dispensary to be known as The Forest. A resolution authored by Remy condemned Ellisville for “approving the placement of a medical marijuana dispensary, including growing and manufacturing marijuana, at a distance of potentially less than 1,000 feet from the Ellisville Elementary, which is attended by multiple students from Wildwood.” Opponents note two problems with Remy’s actions: the legality of medical marijuana was decided by ballot initiative last year and the Wildwood City Council has no jurisdiction over the placement of the dispensary in question in the neighboring municipality of Ellisville. However, a resolution condemning Ellisville’s zoning decision passed on Nov. 25 with a majority vote by the council. “I’ve talked to a lot of people,” Remy said prior to the vote. “In fact, I don’t have children at this school. This was brought to my attention … I think the safety of our children is a priority. I think making a statement from the dais is important because it directly affects our children.” Children from both cities attend Ellisville Elementary, which is part of the Rockwood School District and in proximity of the proposed medical marijuana dispensary, which is to be located at 184 Clarkson Road. “This is about supporting children in Ward 2, Ward 3 and Ward 4 – which are the three wards that have Wildwood children and make up just under 50% of Ellisville Elementary School,” Remy told other council members. While the resolution has no binding impact or authority over the city of Ellisville, those who supported it spoke after the meeting about the intent. “I think a resolution is a perfect tool to send a message,” councilmember Joe Garritano [Ward 8] said. At least one member of the Wildwood City Council wouldn’t mind seeing the resolution go a step further. “Is this resolution something we can pass on to the state of Missouri and the agency issuing the licenses?” councilmember Don See DISPENSARY, page 29 WILDWOOD, from page 17 the meeting. “Obviously we have some disagreement here as to whether or not the results are okay or not okay. MDNR using their standards … indicates they are not alright,” Fran Gragnani, vice-chair of the commission said. “The sample was taken at the top of the lake and not at the level at which the water is pumped up the waterfall. To me, there’s going to be a difference [in] what’s in the lake versus eight feet down at the pumps.” Vujnich disagreed. “From the perspective of the Department [of Parks and Planning] the more robust sampling did occur where it needed to occur and that’s in the waterfall structure,” Vujnich said. Dr. Mark R. Underwood has his Ph.D. in Hydrogeology and is the president of EnviroAnalytics Group based out of Des Peres. When asked by Roberts to weigh in on the matter and review the test results, Underwood seemed to echo those of ARDL’s Dickerson. “The Pseudomonas paucimobilis bacteria is one with a flagella, which means that it is relatively large. It does not travel in air. So, again, unless ingesting the water, there would be no pathway of exposure,” Underwood wrote in a response to Roberts dated Nov. 15. These comments were made available to both city officials and to the media. The ARDL testing cost the city about $4,000. Bowlin pointed this out to the commission and remarked that it seemed “beyond the pale” to spend that much taxpayers’ money to then spend more to ask someone else to interpret the sample. In a follow-up with <strong>West</strong> <strong>Newsmagazine</strong>, Bowlin explained his position. “We’ve listened to the concerns and the consultant we paid for has concluded no harm exists,” Bowlin said. “To now push that aside for a free opinion from MDNR in hopes of a different result means those pushing for it should have pursued that option in [the] first place – and saved our residents $5,000. The time has come for the commission to closely consider the option of ending any further expense on this matter.” The commission voted to have Vujnich speak with MDNR further about the matter and present a report with his department’s recommendation at their next meeting.
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