BERNARDSTON — The Heirloom Collective — the marijuana cultivation facility on Route 10 formerly called the Happy Valley Compassion Center — will likely begin operation in mid-September, CEO Jim Counihan said this week.
The company is now completing construction of the building, with its final inspection “weeks away,” Counihan said.
The Heirloom Collective is also “exploring whether or not we would like to get a recreational license,” Counihan said.
The company has no plans to turn its Bernardston location into a storefront, but would like to be able to sell its crop to retailers of recreational marijuana.
Currently, the Heirloom Collective is only licensed to sell its crops to medical dispensaries. An additional license is required to sell to recreational dispensaries.
In the state Cannabis Commission’s process for granting that license, the Heirloom Collective would have to provide a host agreement with the town of Bernardston, and will have to hold a community outreach meeting.
The Selectboard received a draft of a new host agreement at its meeting on Wednesday. No representatives from the Heirloom Collective were at the meeting. Counihan said that he wants the Selectboard to respond to that draft, to “make sure we are in the same ballpark,” before deciding whether to further pursue the new license.
The board will discuss the documents at its next meeting.
If the Selectboard and the Heirloom Collective successfully negotiate a host agreement, the company will plan a community outreach meeting.
Counihan said that the negotiation process for the medical cultivation host agreement was “very efficient. … Everyone came away feeling like it was a productive process.” If the negotiations for this second license go as smoothly, he said, the community outreach meeting will probably be held this fall.
Contact Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261 ext. 261.