Marijuana business grower Harsh Patel took the hot seat during the Lee Select Board's November 18 meeting, responding to allegations of owing back taxes and delinquent water bills to the town as well as facing neighbors who argued that the "skunk-like" odors emanating from the facility have interfered with the quality of their lives.
Patel is the CEO and founder of Green Theory Cultivation LLC, doing business as Aruna Marijuana Cultivator, that began operations at 845 Pleasant Street pursuant to a license granted by the Cannabis Control Commission in August 2020. The company's Host Community Agreement (HCA) with Lee—that defines how it will operate within the community—requires the payment of all property taxes and water bills. A copy of that agreement can be found here.
Ironically, that contract was executed on August 6, 2024, by Gordon Bailey when he was chair of the Select Board, on which he still serves. As a neighbor to the cultivation facility, Bailey and his wife have been the sole complainants to the recurring odor issues for which Patel had to previously answer to the dais in past sessions.
Bailey told attendees that he has had to close up his windows in the summer and detailed the account of one neighbor who could not attend the meeting but related that he has had to retreat inside his home during the summer as the smell outside "made him sick to his stomach."
Read more at The Berkshire Edge
