Bushnell Township to pursue recreational marijuana business

BUSHNELL TOWNSHIP — One of Montcalm County’s smallest townships is moving forward with allowing recreational marijuana sales, following a trail blazed by three other local communities.

The Bushnell Township Board voted 5-0 in a special meeting Thursday evening to begin drafting an ordinance to regulate recreational marijuana dispensaries within the township. Supervisor Chris Smith, Clerk Louise Belyou, Treasurer Karen Conklin Bliss and trustees Mike Fitzgerald and Pat Draper all voted “yes.”

The vote came after a public hearing at the Sheridan Community Center at which only three people spoke (14 people were present in the audience).

Since Bushnell Township is an unzoned township, the ordinance would be a police powers-type regulation.

Township officials are hopeful of the revenue that marijuana sales could bring into the rural community. Bushnell Township on the southern border of Montcalm County has a population of 1,516 people and lost 5.5% of its population (88 people) in recent years, according to the 2020 census.

Michigan’s Proposal 1 marijuana initiative narrowly passed in Montcalm County in November 2018, but narrowly failed in Bushnell Township at that time.

The village of Edmore was the first Montcalm County community to allow recreational marijuana (as well as medical), followed by Crystal Township and most recently the city of Stanton. Meanwhile, the city of Greenville has been working on medical marijuana only and is not planning to pursue recreational marijuana at this time.

Edmore’s general fund anticipates $50,000 from marijuana tax revenue and $40,000 from municipal marijuana licenses for its upcoming fiscal year.

“Obviously there is some financial gain for the township,” Smith said. “That can be used for roads, and in Bushnell Township the two biggest things we have to budget for are roads — which we never have enough money for — and fire protection. We have to come up with alternate sources of revenue. Should we have millages for roads and fire protection, or should we try (marijuana) sales? It would easily cover our fire protection if dispensaries come into our township.”

Smith said an average of $28,000 per year is generated for Bushnell Township’s general fund. Treasurer Karen Conklin Bliss noted that revenue sharing and property tax are currently the township’s only sources of revenue.

“We definitely need the revenue,” she said.

GROW OPERATIONS

Township residents Steve Cotter and Kevin Cotter both spoke during public comment in support of allowing marijuana grow operations in the township.

“If you have a small property, you can probably grow an outdoor grow in a much more economical way than somewhere else,” Kevin Cotter said. “This makes it conducive for many people, people who want to do this on the side. It is a pretty labor intensive thing but it allows a lower financial cost to get into and therefore people in the community can do this with less of a cost barrier. These are highly regulated facilities, they’re well supervised. I’d like to advocate for small grow operations that local people can afford to get into.”

However, township officials had questions about smell complaints from grow operations and whether smell can be regulated. Smith said he’s spoken with officers from the Montcalm County Sheriff’s Office and he said the main complaint they receive regarding outdoor grows is the smell.

“There’s really no way to control smell,” Smith said. “In some areas that might not be an issue in our township, but there’s a lot of areas where it could be. I don’t want to have to tell somebody, sorry, your house smells of marijuana.

“Another question is infrastructure — what type of infrastructure will be needed to support these grows?” he asked. “Bushnell Township is very rural. We don’t have water or sewer — everything’s drain fields, septic, stuff like that. All of our roads are rural and a lot of our roads are falling apart. What will increased traffic do?

“I can’t comfortably say I’d be comfortable with outdoor grows or indoor grows at this time,” he concluded. “It could bring jobs, it could bring economic relief to the township. But I think the real question is what do we see 20, 30, 40 years down the road? Do we see massive warehouses scatted all over the townships? It’s hard enough to keep up with what we have now, let alone having to support these types of new industries. It would be easier if we had water and sewer in place, but we don’t.”

Smith expressed interest in touring outdoor grow facilities and he also asked residents to point him toward outdoor grow ordinances so the issue can be revisited in the future.

LEGAL ADVICE

Thursday’s public hearing began after the Bushnell Township Board first went into closed session for about 15 minutes with their attorney, David Eberle of the Grand Rapids-based Bloom Sluggett law firm, to consider a written opinion regarding marijuana businesses.

During public comment, Dean Whitmore of Bushnell Township asked how much the township pays per hour for the attorney, how much cost has been incurred so far in the matter of marijuana and how much has been budgeted for future legal expenses. Smith only responded that the Michigan Townships Association recommended the township hire an attorney and that the township hired Eberle last November. Smith said the township’s budget meeting will take place in March and they will decide on an attorney budget then.

“With the climate of the county and the atmosphere regarding all of the other issues that are going on, it was recommended by the MTA that we retain legal counsel,” Smith said. “These guys are highly recommended by multiple townships here in Montcalm County. Right now we’re just budgeting based on anticipated fees going forward.”

TECHNOLOGY NEEDED

The Bushnell Township Board, which typically meets every other month, will next meet at 7 p.m. on March 8 at the township hall, when they will begin to plan their upcoming budget year.

Whitmore asked the township board if they would consider using their share of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to improve local technology and communication. The township doesn’t have an online presence at all, meaning residents must look for meeting postings in the township hall window and must request meeting minutes and ordinances individually instead of being able to easily view them online.

“Our township is small and doesn’t have a lot of extra money, I understand that,” Whitmore said. “Getting information to the citizens may be a bit of a challenge. Our township operationally, we’re operating the way we were 100 years ago.  I think there’s a lot of people that don’t know what’s happening. Maybe then (with communication and technology improvements) there would be enough interest to generate a millage for fire protection.”