Laingsburg sets $500 marijuana renewal fee; LSW budget passes 6-1

Marijuana businesses in Laingsburg will pay $500 a year to renew their city permits, starting in 2027. The City Council set the figure at its Sept. 1 meeting, according to minutes signed by City Clerk Kim Hamilton and Mayor Gregory Beavers.

The number matters because, as The Current reported Aug. 30, the dollar amount was a blank line in Resolution No. 2616 when the packet went out. The council filled it in on the floor: Mayor Pro Tem Randy Cragg moved to set the renewal application fee at $500, Mayor Beavers seconded, and the minutes record "All in favor."

Ahead of that, the council took the second reading and adopted Ordinance No. 2026-02, the marijuana permit renewal application fee ordinance, on a motion by Council Member Robert Miller seconded by Council Member Scott Dedic. That vote was also unanimous.

The one split of the night came on the LSW budget. Council Member Jason Innis moved to approve the LSW budget for the 2026/2027 year, seconded by Council Member Jody Frank. Voting yes were Miller, Beavers, Frank, Leonard, Innis and a member the minutes list as "Council Member Last" — a name that does not appear on the roll call, which recorded Miller, Beavers, Cragg, Frank, Dedic, Leonard and Innis all present. Cragg voted no. The Current reported Sept. 2 that the council had tabled an LSW budget unanimously on Aug. 11 until the LSW board handed over documents; those Aug. 11 minutes described the item as the 2027-28 budget, while the September minutes call it 2026/2027. The minutes do not explain the difference, and they give no dollar total for the budget.

The council also approved a request for proposals for legal services and authorized the clerk to distribute it, on a motion by Innis seconded by Dedic. That RFP could lead to a change in who serves as city attorney.

On the consent agenda, approved on a motion by Miller seconded by Innis, the council signed off on August bills: checks 43159 through 43168 totaling $28,790.11, e-checks of $8,170.28, and tax disbursements of $68,052.58.

Two items were sent forward rather than decided. The council discussed a proposed overnight parking and snow removal ordinance amendment and asked the clerk to draft actual ordinance language for October. And it held the first reading of an amendment to Chapter 58, Recreational and Electric Mobility Device Safety — the city's e-bike and scooter rules — with no changes requested.

What happens next: both of those came back at the Oct. 6 meeting, whose agenda, as The Current reported Oct. 5, listed final adoption of the e-bike and scooter ordinance and a first look at winter overnight parking rules. Minutes from that meeting have not yet been posted. The Sept. 1 meeting adjourned at 8:27 p.m.