Topsham Select Board members got a preview of the new emergency alert system and opted to wait on forming a cannabis ordinance review committee.
The new Rave emergency system will launch in July, with the transition from CodeRed beginning next week. The Sagadahoc Emergency Management Agency asked Topsham residents to sign up for the emergency alert notification system and direct any questions to the agency.
Philip Davis, Sagadahoc EMA director, updated the Select Board on the transition Thursday night. The Rave system allows users to send voice calls, text messages, email notifications and Facebook posts. Topsham will have access to Rave to send out notifications that streamline emergency notifications.
“Some of the key benefits of this notification system allow the resident to customize which alerts they are getting, so they go in and create their own profiles and it allows them to say exactly what kind of alerts they wish to receive,” Davis said.
Rave will help the town get out important safety information. One example Davis gave was when three Topsham residents reached out to the Sagadahoc EMA during the recent heat wave saying they didn’t have air conditioning. Emergency management directed them to the nearest cooling center.
Later in the meeting, Highbrow, a medical cannabis business with locations in Topsham, Bath, Rockland and Manchester, formally requested the Topsham Select Board to establish a cannabis ordinance review committee to explore allowing adult-use retail due to significant declines in medical cannabis revenues over the past two years. People are not renewing their medical marijuana cards and switching to recreational shops due to the rigorous testing of adult-use cannabis. Maine heavily regulates mandatory testing for contaminants in adult-use cannabis but does not for the medical use of cannabis.
Highbrow tests its medical cannabis the same way that adult-use products are tested but at a higher cost to the company. The company requested the Select Board update the town’s ordinances to accommodate adult-use retail to level the playing field with neighboring communities.
The cannabis ordinance review committee would be dedicated to proposing amendments to Topsham’s current cannabis rules.
The Select Board ultimately decided not to form the committee, opting instead to revisit the issue in one year.
Select Board member Ryan Holmes brought up the fact the federal government is looking into possibly rescheduling cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III and suggested the Select Board wait to see what becomes of the Justice Department’s efforts.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Modify your screen name
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your Press Herald account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.