Water officials approve plan for Beatty pot facility

A proposed medical marijuana cultivation and production facility in Beatty cleared another hurdle with the Nye County Water District Governing Board approving its water impact plan.

Nye County commissioners previously greenlighted a request for a Special Use Permit to allow a medical marijuana establishment (cultivation) at 101 Airport Road in Beatty that used to house a brothel.

One of the conditions of approval was that the grantee shall submit a water impact plan and get the approval from the Nye County Water District Governing Board before county commissioners issue an MME (Medical Marijuana Establishment) license for the facility.

The 4,056-square-foot facility consists of two small grow rooms that will consume a “minimal amount of water,” according to the documents.

“We expect a maximum of 1.5 GPM (gallons per minute) water flow at any given time,” said Chris Wren, vice president of MM Development Company, LLC. “The total water usage in total should be between .4 and .5 acre feet of H2O annually. This water will be used to irrigate the small indoor crop and provide general service water for cleaning and other daily activities.”

The growing method employed will be of a closed loop ebb and flow style that utilizes a central reservoir that is filled with water and nutrients. The supply flows into the table where the plants are kept, and ebbs back to the main reservoir. The reservoir is topped off periodically with fresh water and nutrients.

“We do not anticipate the generation of any wastewater. In the event that wastewater is generated, it will be diverted to irrigate the trees on the property,” Wren said.

In August, Nye County commissioners approved an initial license for MM Development Company, LLC’s medical marijuana cultivation and production facility.

Robert Groesbeck, president of MM Development Company, LLC said it’d been a couple of years since the company started the application process.

“We are anxious to put the facility to work,” he said.

“We hope that we will have it open in a limited capacity in the first quarter of 2017,” he said.

The outcome of the Nov.8 recreational marijuana initiative will determine whether the company will start with an application for recreation marijuana operations, officials said.

“Assuming the recreational marijuana is approved in the future, there are expansion plans for this facility, but this impact plan doesn’t cover the expansion,” Nye County Planning Department Director Darrell Lacy said.

A Water Impact Plan will have to be approved by Nye County commissioners at a future meeting.

The state of Nevada will have to issue certificates for cultivation and production before the facility starting operations.

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @daroasokolova77