Pot company to hold outreach meeting today

BELLINGHAM – A cannabis cultivation and manufacturing company set to begin operations on William Way is ready to discuss a separate proposal to include product delivery services at a community outreach meeting slated for Monday.

Outreach meetings are required by the state’s Cannabis Control Commission, and must be held before any local permitting begins. The session on Monday will be held virtually at 7 p.m.

Attending the meeting will be Frozen 4, LLC principals Ben Virga and Luke Marut, who will present their plan to residents. The online community meeting can be attended by going to the homepage of the town’s website and clicking on “virtual meetings.”

There will be an opportunity for the public to ask questions during the meeting, but the public can also email questions in advance to info@ frozenllc.com. All questions received before 7 p.m. Monday will be read and answered during the virtual meeting.

Last month, the selectmen signed a second host community agreement with Frozen 4, LLC, which is preparing to open its cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facility by the end of the year. The first host community agreement to allow cultivation at 26 William Way and product manufacturing at 24 William Way was signed by the town in January 2019. That agreement will pay the town 1 million, or 200,000 each year, for five years.

The second host community agreement signed by the selectmen in July allows the company to include product delivery services using upwards of 10 vans to locations outside of Bellingham for an additional 1 million to be paid to the town over five years. It is that proposal, which has already been given approval by the CCC, will be focus of Monday’s meeting with residents.

To be licensed by the state, a marijuana establishment must execute a host community agreement with the town

in which it intends to be located. A host community agreement allows municipalities to essentially set parameters on the operation of a marijuana business and establish an annual impact fee to the town to offset the risks of a marijuana business.

Town Planner Jim Kupfer told selectmen last month that the number of delivery vehicles to be used will not have an adverse traffic impact on William Way.

In 2018, town residents voted to support a ban to prohibit recreational marijuana establishments from setting up shop in town, including independent testing laboratories, marijuana product manufacturers, and marijuana retailers. The ban does not include marijuana cultivators, which is allowed by special permit only in the town’s industrial zone.

Virga and Marut held a community outreach meeting with town residents in October of last year to unveil their plans for 24 and 26 William Way. The company says it plans to employ upwards of 80 people with preference given to Bellingham residents. This past March, the company hosted a job fair exclusively for residents of Bellingham for full-time, part-time and seasonal work.

Town officials have been told by the company that traffic generated by the cultivation and manufacturing operations would be limited to a few 8PS deliveries a day and one large truck delivery per month for the cultivation facility.

Frozen 4, LLC describes itself as “vertically integrated,” which means the business owns all stages of its supply chain. In addition to Bellingham, the company also has a host community agreement with the town of Berkley for a cultivation facility in that community.