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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEXHIBIT_037trp ?7 From: Tracy & Mark Williamson parents of Luke and Jessie Williamson To: Whom it may concern Re: Family owned and operated Outback Bud Company Luke had the opportunity to start his career in a new industry, the marijuana industry was just getting started in the state of Washington. lt was new, up and coming, he thought with hard work and a consistent quality of flower, he could make it. But the industry was harder and more regulated than we could ever have imagined. Our goal was to keep our license in our family and to not take on big investors, but it has taken its toll on our finances. The industry does not support the small family owned operation of a nursery. As you can imagine it is very expensive to sustain commercial rent that is continually rising in the industrial developments where marijuana has been approved. Staying in a commercial building is not sustainable. The business must move from this high rent commercial space to a more adequately equipped permanent structure, that we own. This is what has led us to this hearing. We purchased a piece of land in Jefferson County to secure a home and future for Luke. The voters of Jefferson County approved marijuana by 65%. To sustain a small family owned agricultural business in Jefferson County, they must be provided with places they can grow and get out of commercial rents that continue to go up. This is what the Cottage lndustry permit was created for. Other marijuana nurseries have used the same permits we are applying for and have been approved. I won't go into a complete list of rules and requirements because we would be here for days but here are a highlighted few based on the community meetings we have attended. We are essentially no different than any agriculture farm except for the regulations and requirements placed on us by the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) which makes the crop we produce the most regulated agricultural crop that there is. We are a small nursery that is allowed to grow 1O,OOO sq. feet of canopy. We can only sell our flower to licensed retail shops in the state of Washington. Prices are generally dictated by supply and demand, creating an extremely volatile marketplace. Our marijuana nursery is just like any other nursery with plants in various stages of their lifecycle. They start as clones, which are created from older plants. A small branch is cut off and cultivated to produce roots, essentially creating a clone of that plant. The plant then goes in the vegetative part of its life where it grows. After the plant is big enough it is then put into the budding cycle by restricting the light for 8 to 9 weeks, they produce flowers or what consumers might know as buds. The plant is then cut down and dried. We trim the flower by hand, and place them into a package, they are then sold to a retail marijuana store. We have no intension of going into extraction or making oil. We are a flower-based business. Another difference between our nursery and any local nursery in Port Townsend is ours is not open to the public. lnstead of being able to sell our product directly to consumers we are only permitted to sell to stores approved by the WSLCB. Our nursery is monitored by the WSLCB. You must be 21 years or older to enter. All visitors are required to sign into an official record log and wear a badge while on site. The log must be available for the WSLCB review. The department of agriculture regulates what nutrients and pesticides we can use on our plants. The WSLCB requires testing of all products. The testing ensures everything we sell to retail stores is safe for consumer consumption. The (WSLCB)vets all license holders to verify the money brought into the company is not money from illegal sales and that all money is taxable by the state of Washington. WSLCB does a walkthrough of your building to verify all cameras are documenting all actions within your building and that there are no blind spots. All sales are tracked and taxed by the WSLCB. Cameras monitor all activities inside and outside the buildin 924/7,365 days a year and the footage is stored for 45 days. Every plant from the beginning of its creation to the sale at the retail store is tracked trough the states traceability system. To do this, every plant is assigned a unique identifier (lD)that must be placed on the plant at the time of creation. Throughout the plant's lifecycle this lD stays with the plant, allthe way to when the customer purchases the flower at a retail store. All waste from these plants, from stems to roots is also tracked through the traceability system. WSLCB and the Commercial lnsurance lndustry required us to carry offsite monitored smoke, fire and security alarms. We intend to be good neighbors that continue to abide by the laws and regulations set forth by this hearing, the DCD, the WSLCB, the Department of Agriculture, and the ORCAA. Moving to the new building will allow our small family owned and operated business to provide Luke and Jessie with an living wage that will support a family. We truly believe once we get moved in and the building is up and running the neighbors will not even know we are here. Thank you for your time.