Vacant property on Kemple Road in the village appears to be ripe for the growth and processing of medical marijuana.
During a special meeting on Monday, council unanimously passed a resolution allowing Pure Ohio LLC to construct and operate a facility at the privately-owned property on Kemple Road off Bacon Avenue.
The company must receive the proper Tier II license from the Ohio Department of Commerce before it is official, however.
The property is zoned light industrial and owned by Jondella LLC of Vermilion, according to online records through the county auditor’s website.
Pure Ohio is a subsidiary of Pure O&M (Operations and Management) of Denver, Colo., which manages facilities in Puerto Rico, Colorado, New York and Florida.
Pure O&M partner Gregg Holtzman said the company originally came to the village after his friend at TubeTech Inc. on East Taggart Street encouraged him to look into property there.
That property didn’t work out, but the company continued looking and found the vacant land on Kemple Drive about two weeks ago.
The company was able to work out an agreement with the property owner earlier that morning, David Landman said.
Landman is handling the real estate side of the process and is a consultant with i2Advisors.
Holtzman said the plan is to build a 7,500-square-foot office and processing building, with a 3,000-square-foot greenhouse initially, with potential for more greenhouses later.
The facility is estimated to cost $2.5 to $3 million to construct.
All growing and processing would be done inside to comply with state law, and nothing made at the facility would be available to East Palestine residents.
“Nothing that comes out of this facility is going to be sold in East Palestine, unless you have a dispensary and I don’t think anyone has applied for a dispensary,” Holtzman said.
The company plans to use local contractors for the construction, and even hire local for the future jobs at the facility.
The facility would provide anywhere from seven to 15 new jobs the first day of opening, and within four years have anywhere from 35 to 50 jobs available, Holtzman said.
The lowest paying job at the facility would be $15 per hour, and the highest annual wage could reach $85,000 a year, he added.
“We want to try to pull as much from the local workforce as possible,” he said.
In addition to creating jobs, the facility will have a positive impact on local property and income taxes, he added.
The company anticipates making an annual gross income of $10 million at the facility.
Holtzman said the facility will be monitored with 112-million-pixel security cameras that include facial recognition, which is a state requirement, and fencing 20-feet from the exterior of the building.
“The state requires that every square inch of the building and 20 feet out of the building has camera,” Holtzman said. “There is more security on these than they have in prisons.”
Monitoring will be done both on-site and off-site and surveillance will be backed up for four years, he added.
He also said that everything grown and processed there will be used in Ohio alone, and will not be sent across state lines.
The only thing that is required of the village for the facility to move forward is a show of support through the resolution. The company is responsible for 100 percent of the cost, including any costs to tie into the local water and sewer system.
Village Manager Pete Monteleone also told the roughly 21 people from the public who attended the meeting to submit letters of support as well, if they are interested in doing so, as it would help the company with its Tier II application.
The letters should be turned in at Village Hall.
Monteleone pointed out there are only 12 Tier I and 12 Tier II licenses that will be given out by the state, he added.
The company has a June 14 deadline for the application, and should know within 90 to 120 days after that if it has been approved.
The license would be for the East Palestine location only, Holtzman said, and added that if approval is given the facility would be constructed and operation within a year.
Council members were pleased with the presentation, and felt the opportunity was one that couldn’t be passed up.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I think if we pass on this it would be a huge mistake,” Councilman D.J. Yokley said.
Councilman Alan Cohen agreed.
“For all the years I have been on council all I have heard is ‘Business, business, business. Jobs, jobs, jobs,’ and now we have an opportunity,” he said.
The roughly 21 people from the public who attended the meeting also supported the project.
This story was originally reported by the Morning Journal.