West Stockbridge and Richmond — Numerous West Stockbridge and Richmond residents appeared before the West Stockbridge Select Board on December 19 urging the dais to ensure that Wiseacre Farm has an effective odor-mitigation plan when its annual licensing review and report is due next month.
Following an October 12 meeting, Wiseacre, owned by resident Jon Piasecki, was charged with documenting a written odor-mitigation plan after multiple reports were cited over pungent odors emanating from the plant. On December 19, Richmond and West Stockbridge members of the newly formed advocacy group Neighbors Advocating for Fresh Air (NAFA) pushed for the board to hire a consultant to evaluate the plan once it is released and ensure that it meets designated odor-mitigation standards—essentially, to determine if it will “pass the smell test.” “I just want you to know West Stockbridge is involved and we really care about the submission of Wiseacre’s plan,” said West Stockbridge resident Joanne Yurman.
The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission governs the business that includes a 2022 Host Community Agreement (HCA) between the Select Board and Wiseacre. The HCA is intended to address community concerns arising from the marijuana operation, and that includes odor-mitigation measures. Although the HCA acknowledges that odor will be a part of the operation, Piasecki is required to take specified reasonable mitigation measures, and the board has the right to request more odor-curtailing measures be added at the business’s expense, as well as demand a review of such actions by a third-party engineer.
Wiseacre began its operations in June in West Stockbridge, near the Richmond border.
“We want to stress our town’s concern and interest and support for a plan that will, in fact, mitigate the issues, and, hopefully, we can avoid the kind of concerns that our residents felt late in the summer,” said Richmond Select Board Chair Neal Pilson. He also addressed the West Stockbridge dais on October 2 regarding complaints from his constituency about the strong cannabis smells coming from Wiseacre. “I do support the idea of an expert,” Pilson said. “I would urge you to consider engaging one. I’m just here to say, as a selectmen of Richmond, we have a very real concern and want to support our residents in this matter.”
Piasecki previously told the board that the odor is noticeable during a short period in the late summer’s cannabis harvest when the product blooms. He said he has taken steps to mitigate the odor—adding screened fencing, planting clematis, sinking down the level crop field to be bordered by the higher ground of a railroad trestle and berm, and spacing plants apart—and was willing to take greater measures, such as an air moving system, to compensate for the smell.
The matter was not listed on the agenda for the meeting, but the statements were made during the evening’s Citizen Speak session.
At the meeting, Fire Chief Steve Traver said this year’s town call volume is 292 calls to date, compared with 224 calls last year at this time. He also expressed reservations regarding the possibility of a merger or regionalization of public safety services with other towns, including Stockbridge, Richmond, and Lee, although Lee has moved forward with building out its own public safety complex. The issue had been previously discussed as an idea to explore between adjacent towns.
“I personally feel we would be remiss not to look at something like the potential merger or further sharing of services with other towns,” Chair Kathleen Keresey said. “So, there is no commitment, there has been no commitment made.” She said the idea is “really in the very, very beginning stages of conversation.”
The board also:
- Appointed Michael Murray as Conservation Commission member;
- Approved an annual entertainment license to Heirloom Lodge;
- Dissolved its Human Resource Intermunicipal Agreement as requested by Great Barrington officials;
- Heard an update from member Andrew Krouss regarding the Municipal Band Institute program identifying 10 sites that are unserved or underserved;
- Heard an update from member Andrew Potter that he will be introducing a town warrant regarding a levy on short-term rentals;
- Discussed the potential for using grants to fund improvement plans on Moscow Road; and
- Supported becoming proactive regarding the proposed transportation plan released October 31 by General Electric Company in conjunction with the Housatonic Rest of River remediation plan.
