Two companies that hope to conduct cannabis testing at laboratory sites in Wareham are now one step closer to that goal.

At their Feb. 9 meeting, the Board of Selectmen voted to authorize the negotiation of marijuana host community agreements with both Smithers and Baystate Labs.

Once host community agreements are in place, the companies will be able to file applications for licenses from the Cannabis Control Commission.

Jesse Alderman, counsel for Smithers, noted that it typically takes many months for the state to grant licenses.

“So we would just be getting, basically, in the CCC pipeline,” Alderman said.

Tag Glynn, a representative for Baystate Labs, said he hoped to begin negotiating a host community agreement for the same reason.

The Smithers testing facility would be located at 790 Main Street. But before Smithers would be allowed to begin testing cannabis products at its location next door to John W. Decas Elementary School, Town Meeting would need to approve a zero-foot setback from schools for marijuana testing facilities. 

The measure, which would require approval by two-thirds of voters, was initially set to be voted on at the fall 2020 Town Meeting. That article was passed over and will likely be up for votes at a future Town Meeting.

The Selectmen voted to approve the negotiation of a host community agreement with Smithers, conditioned on the zero-foot setback article being approved by two-thirds of voters when it goes before Town Meeting.

Selectman Alan Slavin pointed out that the Decas School is scheduled to be decommissioned within a year or year and a half and said it could take the Cannabis Control Commission longer than that to issue Smithers a license. Slavin described the existing lab as an “extremely low-impact business” to the town.

“They’ll provide a service that needs to be done,” Slavin said, voicing his support for Smithers. “And it’ll be another source of revenue for the Town of Wareham.” 

The Baystate Labs facility would be located at the town-owned property at 4 Recovery Road. A lease for the property has not yet been signed, so the Selectmen agreed the host community agreement would be “contingent upon the lease being executed.”

Cannabis testing is required by the state, and labs are currently in high demand. Each batch of product manufactured in Massachusetts — including flower, edibles, concentrates or vaporizer fluid — must be tested for contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals and bacteria.

“We all know in the [cannabis] industry, the big choke-point these days that’s keeping people from getting product to market is the lack of testing facilities and testing capacity,” Selectman Peter Teitelbaum said. 

He pointed out that Wareham already has cannabis growing and manufacturing operations. 

“This is just a logical extension of what’s been permitted to-date,” Teitelbaum said. “To try to get something in there that can help those businesses compete in the state and in the larger marketplace by getting their product tested within a reasonable amount of time.”