|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
SPENCER — At its recent meeting, the Board of Selectmen heard about a police department drone policy and voted unanimously to pursue a waiver that prohibits marijuana from being delivered to town.
Police Chief Michael Befford and Lt. Patrick Waugh talked about a proposed Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems policy that addresses training as well as data collection and retention.
Befford said Waugh is the first certified drone pilot; three officers are also certified.
The police chief said they may open up the program for additional officers to get certified in the future.
“We’ll see how we go and if we’re getting a lot of use out of it,” Befford said.
The proposed policy calls for drone pilots to complete four hours of training per month and that (training) would occur during officers’ regular hours, at least initially, according to the police chief.
Through the Central Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, Befford said the drone could be made available for neighboring departments to use.
“Once we’re proficient with the drone, we would open it up to assist other communities–as they come in with their drones to help us out,” Befford said.
Waugh said the data collected by the drone would be under the control of the Spencer police department and not a cloud-based service.
Befford noted the data would be retained for the time period required under Massachusetts public records law before it gets disposed.
The board is expected to vote on the policy at its September 14 meeting.
At the Aug. 31 meeting, Selectmen voted unanimously to prohibit marijuana deliveries in Spencer through a waiver from the Cannabis Control Commission.
Vice chair Jonathan Viner said the matter would be “irrelevant no matter what,” because of the state’s November 3 election ballot Question 8 to “Prohibit Retail Sale of Adult Recreational Use Marijuana.”
Question 8 would repeal state laws licensing, regulating and taxing recreational marijuana sales.
It would have the Cannibas Control Commission regulate medical marijuana, which would remain in place but stop home growing of recreational marijuana.
Adults 21 and older would still be able to possess up to one ounce without any penalties.
Selectman Chris Woodbury said that he feels “indifferent” about marijuana. “It doesn’t matter to me either way.”
Woodbury said voters in Spencer opposed legalizing recreational marijuana 10 years ago, noting, “There was a lot of stigma back then.”
In other business, the board:
- Named Keith Crockett as the resident delegate to the Spencer Housing Authority; and
- Approved a contract with Action Collection Agency for ambulance debt billing services. The previous vendor for Spencer Rescue Squad—American Profit Recovery–had $900,000 of outstanding bills dating back to over many years. Bridges said most of it is likely to be written off. He said, “We’ll spend time going through what can be collected and what won’t.” The administrator said Action has worked with the town’s Coastal Billing Services in the past and they have a good working relationship.
