Hello everyone!
Some time has passed since Iโve provided an update on the grow, so I wanted to let you know about the latest happenings on West Wealthy. Unfortunately, we experienced a few setbacks that cost us some time. But the good news is we bounced back and are currently rounding third base, headed for home!
- HVAC โ It turns out there are a couple of buckets that equipment falls into when an HVAC permit is under review. Equipment can be classified as either be โprocessโ cooling or โcomfortโ cooling. Process cooling is, just that, equipment designed to provide ventilation and air conditioning during an industrial activity. Comfort cooling is for the comfort of the personnel operating inside the space. To this day, I contend that growing cannabis on a commercial scale is an industrial activity, and the equipment associated with the use should be considered process cooling. But after weeks of back and forth between the City and me, we could not come to terms on this issue. The units that were manufactured and ready to ship in August were scratched. New equipment was manufactured. All in that gave us a 16-20 week delay.
- Metal Wall Panels โ The specific steel thickness of our metal panels that were installed to cover the spray foam insulation in the building measured .0153โ. We provided documentation from the manufacturer that there also .002โ of paint for an overall thickness of .0173โ; however that was insufficient to meet the .017โ requirement. The metal panels that were already installed had to be taken down, and sent back to the manufacturer. New fabricated panels were ordered, which gave us a 4-6 week delay.
Donโt get me wrong, I have tons of love for this City. I am incredibly grateful to be here doing something that Iโve long dreamed of doing right in our hometown of Grand Rapids. But holy cow, for real guys?
Going forward, we have a few more items to button up.
- Floors are being buffed and epoxied this week.
- Grow racks are slated for delivery on February 9th. The installation should take only a few days.
- Grow lights will follow the racks, and weโll hang the lights and call for our Certificate of Occupancy inspection.
- Weโll provide the City of Grand Rapidsโ Certificate of Occupancy paperwork to the State of Michiganโs Marijuana Regulatory Agency and schedule an inspection with them and the Bureau of Fire Safety. A few fees will be paid, and a few pieces of paper will be shuffled around, and Iโm sure, and weโll be good to go.
When? ASAP!
On a personal note, my wife Megan and I are expecting our second child on January 21st. There was a running โover underโ debate in our houseโ which would come first, the baby or the other baby ๐ the grow! Itโs looking like the human baby will be first, and I believe thatโs all for the best.
The delays cost me a lot of time and money and more than a few sleepless nights. But the delays ended up buying me some undivided attention with this new human that we are so excited to welcome into the world.
Things have a way of working out just as they should.
~Casey