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Youngstown council to hear from 5 groups seeking to grown medical marijuana
YOUNGSTOWN
City council will hear Monday from five groups, including three local ones, that want to grow medical marijuana in Youngstown.
Each organization will be given 15 to 20 minutes, with council members asking questions if they choose at the conclusion of each presentation.
City council doesn’t have to take any action, and the meeting is educational in nature, said Rebecca Gerson, deputy law director.
The state is limiting permits to 24 growers statewide under a medical marijuana law signed by Gov. John Kasich in June 2016. The law permits 12 Level 1 growers for up to 25,000 square feet of growing space with a potential expansion up to 75,000 square feet, and 12 Level 2 growers to cultivate up to 3,000 square feet.
The five groups are:
Riviera Creek, operated by Daniel Kessler of Liberty and his uncle Brian Kessler of Boardman. The group includes those with more than five years of marijuana growing operations in states with legal operations.
The Kesslers operate Boardman Molded Products, a plastic injection facility.
The company owns a building on Crescent Street, which will be the home of the Level 1 cultivation center if it’s approved by the state, Daniel Kessler said. The company plans to invest about $2 million to retrofit the building, he said.
Silver Rapids LLC of Austintown is seeking a Level 2 license, said Victor Masters, its operator. The proposed location would be in the Performance Place Industrial Park off of Poland Avenue, said Masters of Canfield. All of Silver Rapids’ investors are from Mahoning County, he said.
The company plans to invest about $700,000 to $750,000 to start, Masters said.
Fasttrack Group, operated by Herb Washington, who owns several McDonald’s restaurants in the Mahoning Valley, and his son Terrell. Neither could be reached Tuesday by The Vindicator.
The company is seeking a Level 1 license.
Ohio Grown Medicine LLC. Information provided by the city lists Les Hollis as the company’s point of contact. He couldn’t be reached to comment Tuesday by The Vindicator. The company wants a Level 1 license.
Hollis is the president and chief executive officer of Illinois Grown Medicine, a medical marijuana dispensary service in Chicago.
Mahoning Valley Agriculture, which met Monday with The Vindicator. The company, consisting of out-of-state investors, is finalizing a deal at an industrial park and is seeking a Level 1 license. It plans to invest about $10 million.
A sixth organization, JB Hamlin & Co., has opted not to give a presentation, city officials said.
Level 1 groups must submit applications to the state by June 20, while the Level 2 groups have until June 16. The state will evaluate each of the applications on a point system with information that identifies the groups concealed from those making the decisions to make sure it’s a fair process.
Each group applying for a Level 1 application must give a $20,000 nonrefundable application fee and pay a $180,000 license fee if approved.
The fees for Level 2 applications are a $2,000 application fee and an $18,000 license fee. There also would be a $200,000 annual fee for Level 1 cultivators and $20,000 a year for Level 2.
The medical marijuana will be made available to purchase by those with 21 different medical conditions by September 2018.