West Stockbridge — In a special called meeting on February 21, the Select Board approved hiring Waltham, Mass.-based firm Tech Environmental to review and comment on Wiseacre Farm’s odor-mitigation plan that was presented in January, as well as propose changes to the proposal.
Pursuant to a February 12 cost estimate cover letter from Tech Environmental President Michael T. Lannan, P.E. to Select Board Chair Kathleen Keresey obtained by The Berkshire Edge, the company proposed a site visit and initial document review for a fee of $4,500, with that cost additionally covering “some modifications to the approach so that it is also centered around the neighborhood too, and not just the production of cannabis.”
Lannan stated the firm could also review the document on a “time and materials basis” if preferred.
Tech Environmental lists “odor control” as one of the firm’s specialties on its website, and the Select Board was down to a short list of candidates that included a second company, SCS Engineers, headquartered in Long Beach, Calif. The Berkshire Edge requested a copy of the SCS proposal from West Stockbridge officials but did not receive this document by press time.
Other Massachusetts towns, including Pittsfield and Oxbridge, had worked with Tech Environmental in the past, and Keresey said she spoke with the town managers of those municipalities in conjunction with this selection.
As part of the cannabis growing facility’s annual report, the Wiseacre plan implements a system promulgated by a professional firm hired by the business, Byers Scientific, offering a custom liquid-based atomization, or fine misting, to neutralize the skunk-like smells that are at the base of complaints filed by Wiseacre neighbors since last summer in West Stockbridge and Richmond. According to the report, the system uses a natural substance to make droplets as an industrial agricultural five-blade fan blows the mist to the desired odorous area.
Jon Piasecki, who is a part-owner of Wiseacre, stated to The Berkshire Edge in an email that he was “happy” a professional engineer will be evaluating the business’s proposal. However, he voiced concern over what the Select Board will be requesting from Tech Environmental as possibly contrary to the Host Community Agreement (HCA), the contract executed between Wiseacre’s proprietors and town officials, with that document governing the farm’s operations, including odor-mitigation practices. “The HCA which binds us to the town, only describes the consultant evaluating that what we are proposing is ‘reasonable,’ Piasecki stated. “It does not talk about alternatives.”
Keresey said the Select Board intends to comply with all of the HCA conditions and was told by Tech Environmental personnel that the group will receive more information once the contract is awarded.
Members of a group comprised of Richmond and West Stockbridge residents near the facility—Neighbors Advocating for Fresh Air (NAFA)—have been clamoring for the West Stockbridge Select Board to conduct a professional independent engineering review of the proposal to confirm the safety of the project. “We support the town’s retention of Tech Environmental and look forward to its expert review of the Wiseacre mitigation plan and look forward to a future public hearing where Tech Environmental, Byers Scientific as Wiseacre’s consultants, and the public can discuss the merits of the plan,” said Tom Ruffing, a founding member of NAFA, in an email statement to The Berkshire Edge following the meeting.
At the Select Board’s February 12 session, Piasecki agreed to hold two presentations from Wiseacre’s consultant Byers Scientific, with the first meeting to include the Select Board and the second for neighbors. When prompted by Ruffing about that schedule during the February 21 meeting, Keresey said the board “thought it was appropriate to retain the consulting firm and then have the process started before we set dates to those particular reviews.”
