WOOLWICH TWP. – At the Woolwich Township Committee meeting on Jan. 18, committee members voted unanimously to give a letter of support to Nova Farms, an outdoor-grow cannabis company.
Nova Farms defines itself as an “all-encompassing company” that is dedicated to the growth, production and distribution of cannabis. Currently, the company operates two outdoor cannabis farms in Massachusetts as well as one in Maine.
In obtaining this letter of support from the Woolwich Township Committee, Nova Farms is hoping to use it to obtain a Class 1 Cultivator License and a Class 2 Manufacturers License from the state of New Jersey. If they succeed, the company plans to buy 70 acres of land at 169 Russell Mill Road.
At this location, Nova Farms would cultivate approximately three acres of cannabis towards the center of the property and use the presence of Raccoon Creek’s dense bog to aid in odor reduction. Ross reports that since Nova Farms’ Massachusetts licensing in 2019, the company has had “zero complaints” regarding the odor of their outdoor farms and their processing facilities, which they are also hoping to have on-site in Woolwich.
“Even with this letter of approval, we would still have a lot of work to do,” Derek Ross, CEO of Nova Farms, said in his presentation to the committee. “Some states have taken two years before they started giving licenses out, some take 90 days.”
In addition to this, the Jan. 18 meeting also saw the Ceremonial Oath of Office administered to Patrolman Edward Donahue, which was observed by several members of the Woolwich Township Police Force, as well as Donahue’s friends and family.
In an update about the township’s sewer pipe rehabilitation, Mayor Craig Frederick reported that construction was still ongoing as well as that the pipe rehabilitation is now traveling north up Kings Highway, with about 500 feet of sewer pipe rehabilitation remaining for the township.
Committeeman Michael Nocentino also urged residents to only recycle number one and two plastics in their recycling bins. As a reminder, he stated residents should remove the caps and rings and plastic bags from the recycling bins entirely.
By Berry Andres
