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City announces winners of cannabis retail registration drawing; approvals remain contingent on state licensure
Summary
City staff said a random drawing picked Red Iris LLC (downtown) and Skoll MN LLC (highway) as the primary registrants for East Grand Forks’ two retail cannabis slots; selections are preliminary and depend on state endorsements, inspections and compliance. Council asked about alternates and ownership transfers.
East Grand Forks staff reported the results of a random-selection drawing held for the city’s two retail cannabis registration zones, naming Red Iris LLC as the downtown primary selection and Skoll MN LLC as the highway-zone primary selection.
The city’s community-development director, Reed Hutton, told the council the office received about 73–74 registrations across the two zones and conducted the drawing in the council chamber to select a primary applicant and alternate for each zone. He said the alternates would be offered the opportunity to be registered only if a primary is disqualified or cannot secure a state license and complete required local inspections.
Hutton said the selections are preliminary: the city plans to present a resolution next week that would accept the drawing results and move the selected applicants into the next step pending required state approvals and local compliance checks. "We did complete the drawing in the council chambers and selected a primary applicant for each of the zones as well as an alternate," Hutton said.
Council members asked about how long the list of alternates would remain valid and whether ownership changes would require the applicant to repeat the process. Hutton said he expects the city will need a policy on expiration or replacement of selections and noted that state rules typically restrict ownership transfers between preliminary approval and an active license. "At least up until that point, I don't believe that there's an opportunity for transfer of ownership," Hutton said, adding that staff will need to clarify details with state authorities.
The council did not vote on any registration approvals at the work session. Hutton said he will bring a preliminary-registration resolution for council consideration at the next meeting; full retail operations would only begin after a selected applicant receives the required final endorsements and site inspections from the state.
Next steps: staff will present a resolution to accept the drawing results at the council’s upcoming meeting and will outline the remaining state and local compliance steps needed before any retail business may open.
