The Middlesboro City Council approved a resolution to prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries from operating within the city limits during their December meeting. The measure passed by a 4-3 vote with council members Glynna Brown, Judy Grandey, Dawn Risner and Bill Smith in favor and council members Tommy Joe Mike, Terry poore and Jade Robertson voting no. Council members Lucas Carter and Brad Cawood were not present.

Mayor Boone Bowling explained that without taking any action, the city would automatically be opted in to allowing a dispensary through Senate Bill 837.

“This is not saying yes or no to the treatment options, this is just about whether you are in favor of having a dispensary operate inside the city,” he said before the vote. “By voting yes, you are saying no to a dispensary.”

The lottery for dispensary licenses was held in November and four companies were selected for those licenses in the southeast region of the state. Two of those companies are located in Somerset with one in Corbin and one in Russell Springs. The city needed to have this resolution in place by January in case one of those businesses wanted to open a dispensary in Middlesboro.

The city had the option to take no action and fall under the state guidelines or put the question on the ballot to let voters decide, but opted to prohibit dispensaries from operating.

“We can also opt to change this resolution down the road if citizens decide that we should have a dispensary a few years from now,” Bowling said. “If we opted in and allowed them, then we wouldn’t have the option to change that.”

In a separate matter, the council unanimously adopted a resolution from the Cumberland Valley ADD in relation to a $300,000 Kentucky League of Cities grant for a walking bridge from the city parking lot, over the canal, to Cumberland Avenue. The city will be responsible for $90,000 in matching funds.

Jane Cambron from Tinsel Trail on the Avenue thanked the mayor and city council as well as the Police, Fire, Street and Sewer departments for all of their help this year.

“Everything from picking up trash to blocking the streets for us, all of their help in getting it up and running and helping up keep it going, we’d like to thank you and invite everyone to come out and look at the lights,” she said.

Cambron also said that voting has closed and announced this year’s winners.The first place winner was Whitney’s Beauty Bar/Solid Steel, second place was Mimi’s Sweet Treats and J.R. Hoe was third.

“We’d also like to thank Brian O’Brien and the Big One for sponsoring our trophies this year,” she said.

The trees will be lit through the night of Jan. 3. People can come and start removing their decorations from the trees  between Jan. 4 and 10.

O’Brien also thanked the city and all the departments for their help with the Christmas parade.

“We appreciate the Police Department and the whole street crew and everyone who was instrumental in helping us pull this off. Thank you for the use of the city parking lot as a staging area and to all of the fantastic participants, we are very grateful to all of them,” he said. “We felt like it was a pretty decent parade and we hope that you enjoyed it.”

Mike said this year’s parade was one of the best he had ever been to.

“Being able to take my kids and letting them see the bubbles come off the Coke truck, the Fire Department, the Police Department, it was amazing,” he said.

Mike also praised the police and other departments for putting on the annual Cops for Kids Christmas party.

“That’s what it’s all about. It’s the kids that better the next generation, to make sure they’ve got everything they had there — When they don’t have it at home, they need someone to be a fill-in for mom or dad,” he said. “It’s touching and it gives you hope when you see people like that in your community.”

It was the final meeting for Robertson, who did not seek re-election.

“I just wanted to say thank you to the citizens of Middlesboro for voting me in and allowing me to have this opportunity. I feel like we’ve done some good things just in the two years I’ve been here and there are still plenty of things in the process of moving that haven’t been completed yet,” she said. “I know that you all will be in great hands with the new members that will be taking over.”

All of the council members wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and several took time to thank the employees in all of the departments for their hard work this year in keeping the city running smoothly.

“I’m going to sound like a broken record in echoing what everyone else has said, but as we’ve heard we’ve got so many great organizations and this is their ‘fruit season’ — they’ve worked all year to do what they do at this time. It’s a really good time to be in the city, a very happy time and a good time to be thankful for all of these organizations and all of those around you,” Mayor Bowling said.

He also thanked outgoing council members Robertson and Carter for their service to the city.

“The citizens have been blessed to have you here,” he said. “I’ll miss you guys, but we’re still rooting for you.”