×

UP tribe to vote on marijuana business

BARAGA –The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community tribal council is considering the purchase of a $3 million medical marijuana business, Fresh Coast Farms, built at a former U.S. Navy transmitter site in Marquette County, south of Humboldt.

The issue is being brought to a referendum vote on June 1. Tribal members will vote on whether or not to invest $4 million from the elder’s trust fund into purchasing and launching a medical marijuana business. The money not part of the purchase cost would be used for representation, fees and other start-up costs.

In a video of the April 11 meeting of the tribal council posted on the KBIC website, the current owner of the business, Derek Parker, pitched the sale of the 6.9- acre facility along with Joseph Derocha, vice chairman of the Marquette County Board of Commissioners.

“So you know, I have the only Class C-licensed medical marijuana cultivation facility in the Upper Peninsula,” Parker said.

According to Parker, the facility, which was decommissioned by the Navy in 2004, has been converted into a 2,700-square-foot indoor grow facility. The facility uses about 300,000 watts of power and produces about $50,000 per week in profit by selling product at wholesale. That comes to $2.6 million annually. He said his product sells as fast as it is produced.

“If you do want to get into this business, we have a turnkey operation for you,” Parker said.

Derocha compared the move to Fred Dakota launching the first tribal casino.

“This is the new gold rush,” he said.

Parker is currently operating the facility on a temporary license while a permanent license is in dispute with the state.

“The reason that I’m selling this is to make sure that my license is not denied, that these plants never have to be cut down, and this crop continues,” he told the council.

Parker said the plants currently growing are worth $2.5 million.

At the council’s May 9 meeting, Manny Lentine and Craig Aronoff from the Quadrant Consulting Group presented their ideas on how the KBIC could make the investment.

“We have the understanding that the first and foremost objective is the maintaining and bolstering the elder trust fund,” Lentine said.

Aronoff said the consultants have been in contact with state officials to make sure plans would be legal and acceptable. He said the tribe forming an independent limited liability company to actually own and control the facility would enable them to control the business while not directly owning the facility. Owning the facility directly would trigger state vetting requirements for each member of the KBIC.

Quadrant said money from the operation would have to be funneled back to the tribe through indirect means, but did not get into details.

Council Vice President Gary Loonsfoot, Jr. said he has toured the facility and definitely favors going through with the purchase. He said the budget is getting increasingly difficult to meet as casino gaming revenues decline, and that internet gaming could cut into revenue even further. Buying a turn-key operation like Fresh Coast Farms would provide a badly-needed new revenue stream.

A KBIC community meeting on the topic is being held at the Big Buck Bingo Hall in Baraga on Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern time. The initial meeting is open to the public but there will be a closed session for tribal members only to ask questions and further discuss the matter in more detail.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today