Third marijuana production facility contemplated

A third company is expected to get into the medical marijuana production industry in Olds.

Olds town council has given first reading to a bylaw that would help pave the way for Crescent Moon Inc. (also known as Crescent Enterprises) to set up a medical marijuana production plant in the southeast industrial area. Specifically, it would be located at the intersection of 48th Avenue and 68th Street.

On initial drawings, it's listed as the Aerocann Marijuana Facility.

If passed, the bylaw would change zoning for the lot from light industrial (l1) to direct control 7, a category that allows marijuana production facilities.

Scott Moon, Crescent Enterprises Inc.'s business development manager, has told the town the company anticipates employing 25 people initially and 40 eventually, doing everything from growing the product to shipping and receiving as well as maintenance.

A public hearing on the proposed bylaw is set for Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. in council chambers.

If it clears all the hurdles and the plant is built, the Crescent Moon Inc./Aerocann Marijuana facility would become the third medical marijuana production facility in Olds, joining Sundial Growers Inc. and Olds Softgels.

In July this year, Sundial Growers officially broke ground on a $110-million cannabis growing operation in town.

The first phase of the 405,000-square-foot facility will feature four greenhouse units at a cost of $29 million, with construction estimated to be completed in early 2018, and operational by next summer.

Earlier, Olds Softgels began work on expanding its facility to enable it to eventually grow medical marijuana in addition to creating medical marijuana pills.

The two-phase development plan includes five greenhouses for growing operations, along with an addition to an existing building and a new warehouse.

In addition to all that, Mayor Mike Muzychka says a company from India has bought 94 acres of land along the railway tracks in the southeast industrial park with a view to constructing a canola crushing plant.

"They want to set up a testing facility to start – figure out if it's exactly what they want. But they've applied for development permits," he says. "I believe there's three different phases that they're looking at over the next 36 months to 48 months."

Muzychka says it's his understanding that company is looking at breaking ground on the project in the new year.

In addition to that, "we have another that we can't fully announce, but another sort of similar agriculture non-medical marijuana food production plant," he says. "I can't really speak a whole bunch about that yet, but (it'll be) very, very exciting if we get that on board."

Asked if that project is "for real," Muzychka says, "they are in negotiations for land. So it's a little bit further out than the canola, but (they're) very, very interested in the area because of the college and everything that can be co-oped with them."

In fact, Muzychka says all the marijuana-related companies are also looking at working with Olds College. Ideas that have been floated around earlier include providing training and joining forces on research.