2nd HEMP PLANT ON STRYKER Rd
By Anne Scheck
A second hemp-processing plant on Stryker in Independence has passed permitting hurdles and is expected to be in production soon, according to Processing Lab Manager Brett Werner of Pacific Hills Farms in Rickreall.
The hemp will be sold both as a distilled oil and a flower that can be smoked, he stated. Hemp, a species of cannabis from which medicinal CBD can be extracted, is legal now in the United States. The hemp plant is located east of Stinson Street and Stryker Road.
Independence’s provisions for hemp derivatives, which are considered part of an agricultural product by the state of Oregon, differ from zoning restrictions for marijuana, according to city staff.
A second hemp-processing plant on Stryker in Independence has passed permitting hurdles and is expected to be in production soon, according to Processing Lab Manager Brett Werner of Pacific Hills Farms in Rickreall.
The hemp will be sold both as a distilled oil and a flower that can be smoked, he stated. Hemp, a species of cannabis from which medicinal CBD can be extracted, is legal now in the United States. The hemp plant is located east of Stinson Street and Stryker Road.
Independence’s provisions for hemp derivatives, which are considered part of an agricultural product by the state of Oregon, differ from zoning restrictions for marijuana, according to city staff.
MAIN STREET MAKEOVER
Main Street’s pavement and water lines will undergo a renovation to be paid, in part, by a loan agreement instituted about a year ago for $217,000 – and the city’s transportation and water funds will pick up the rest, providing $313,000, and $150,000, respectively. The loan is from the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program; The total of these three sums is $680,000.
MINET & MUSEUM UPDATE
MINET’s board of directors reportedly passed a resolution that would allow the local telecommunication network to seek a line of credit from a lending institution, if one is needed. The Heritage Museum will receive $11,500 grant allocated to the city’s Historic Preservation Commission, which agreed to use it for the museum’s architectural plans – it is relocating to a downtown corner across from the post office.
PUBLIC SAFETY
A new strategy to identify speeding motorists along Highway 22 will go into effect soon, according to Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton. He declined to identify what approach will be taken, but it’s likely to involve unmarked patrol cars and special detection methods for spotting cell-phone users. The number of drivers using hand-held cell phones along the highway, to talk or text, “is way too frequent,” he said. It’s most common in the 20- to 45-year-old age group, he added. In a statement released a few weeks ago, Independence Police Chief Robert Mason expressed his own concern about continuing cell-phone use behind the wheel.
Date to Note
The Independence City Council will have a work session (6 pm) followed by a meeting this Tuesday, Nov. 26, at the Civic Center. (A hearing has been rescheduled on an appeal filed by a homeowner in Sunset Meadows challenging the city’s adherence to its own Southwest Independence Concept Plan. That hearing is now slated for December.)
FINAL NOTE:~BRANDT’s HOLDS THE LINE~
Joshua Brandt told the Independence City Council at its meeting in early November that the rubbish-and-recycle company plans to stick to its current rates for service for as long as possible – despite growing expenses. Mr. Brandt told the council he was disappointed in the shrinking availability of places to send items that Brandt’s once accepted for recycling. A year ago, Governing Magazine, which reports on municipalities, featured an article documenting that cities – which once could count on processors to pay them for this material – now are “being presented with hefty bills instead.”
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