Red Deer County to take 'hard look' at marijuana facility proposal

Some farmers in Red Deer County are hoping their message got through they don't want a 53,000-square-foot medical marijuana facility going up next door.

After meeting amongthemselves earlier this week, area residents expressed their opposition directly to Agrafina, the company behind the proposal, at an open house on Thursday night in Pine Lake.

• Innisfail-area residents oppose pot processing plant

Many wanted to know why Agrafina aimsto build the facility east of Innisfail in an area they described as essentially in the middle of nowhere where there are no servicesinstead of in an industrial location within the county.

KellyFraser worried about the emergency response time to the proposed location.

"If there's an accident, I want to make sure that we'll all be looked after properly," she said. "And the workers. If there are 75 workers, we also need to make sure they'resafe, too."

Fraser said she appreciated the chance to speak directly with Agrafina about her concerns, and she recognizes that marijuana will likely be an increasingly lucrative, legal industry in the future.

"I honestly feel thattheyare ahead of the game, and we are maybe threesteps behind," she said.

The open house attendees also came looking for details about the impact such a facility would have on traffic, water supply and waste management.

But Lorne Cole said they didn't get those answers from the Agrafina represenative at the open house.

"She wasn't able to give me any estimate of the water usage that they would be looking at, the amount of product that they would be producing and the traffic it would generate ... or any idea what the waste management program would be," he said.

"If you're making a proposal such as this, you need those numbers before you even put a paper across anybody's desk."

The company representative at the open house declined to provide her name to CBC News. The company wanted to wait until after the hearing to comment.

Agrafina's application letter to Red Deer County identifies the company as a family-owned business run by a married couple.

"Our intent is to enhance the community through collaboration, building relationships and fostering understanding," a representativewrote in the application letter.

Red Deer County Mayor Jim Woodtold CBC News previously that council has a tough decision on the proposal.

"Medical marijuanais something that is quite new, and so Ithink it's important that we take a hard look at the impact to our communities, and we want to make sure we are very informed," Wood said.

The application is due to be heard by Red Deer County's planning commission on Tuesday.