NEWRY — A second public hearing on proposed medical and recreational marijuana ordinances will take place Oct. 22.

After a similar one in August, the selectboard made some changes to the proposal and that requires a followup hearing, Town Administrator Amy Bernard said.

The proposal will be voted on Nov. 5.

Newry’s proposed ordinances are for retail facilities only, not for growing or other activities.

The proposals would put the approval process in the hands of selectmen rather than the Planning Board.

“We’re treating it like a liquor license,” Bernard said Monday.

The hearing will also address Planning Board issues, including whether non-residents should be allowed to serve on the board. The current ordinance provides for members to be removed from the board if they leave town, Bernard said.  But Newry has had difficulty in getting residents to join the board, so voters will be asked if they wish to remove that language.

The hearing will take place at the town office at 6 p.m. on the 22nd.

HOA taxes

In other business at last week’s meeting, selectmen discussed a request from the Jordan Grand Homeowners Association to buy back quartershares that had been foreclosed upon by the town in the past for the cost of back taxes and fees owed.  The HOA wishes to get the shares into the hands of new owners who will pay taxes and fees, Bernard said. She posed the question to the Maine Municipal Association and was told it is permissible.  She estimated that since 2010 a total of about $40,000 is owed on  quartershares at Sunday River.

Bernard said she also learned from MMA that the town could, instead of sending out 1,600 separate tax bills for quartershares, instead send out only two, to the two HOAs at Sunday River (the Summit Hotel also has an HOA). The HOAs could be authorized to collect the taxes from owners and then pay the town.  She said she would need to do more research on the issue.