MONTAGUE — As odor complaints from abutters of Flower Power Growers continue, the Selectboard has voted in favor of having a third-party consultant evaluate the odor mitigation efforts at the 180 Industrial Blvd. marijuana grow facility.

Town Administrator Walter Ramsey said Waltham-based Tech Environmental will be the contractor hired by the town, and that Flower Power Growers has agreed to the review. Flower Power Growers has also offered to reimburse Montague for the full $4,900 that the review will cost.

Tech Environmental will be tasked with evaluating the grow facility’s existing odor mitigation equipment and reviewing the previous information the town has received.

“They would review all the material that’s been submitted to the town by Flower Power Growers, review the special permits and all the technical specifications,” Ramsey said. “They would also do a site visit at Flower Power inside the facility.”

After a July 8 meeting ordered that Flower Power Growers conduct a technical review of on-site equipment, Flower Power Growers CEO Ezra Hagerty was joined by company founders John Stobierski and Josh Goldman during an August meeting to discuss the updates they made to the systems that mitigate odor from the facility.

Hagerty explained the company’s plans to upgrade an odor neutralizer used with exhaust fans by adding more nozzles to cover gaps in the fan frame where odor may leak out. Louvers, the part of the exhaust fans dictating the direction of air flow, were found to be at an angle below where the odor neutralizer is placed, thus allowing for unneutralized odor to leave the facility through the louvers. Hagerty said the company updated the positions of those louvers, making it so the neutralizer can be effective when the louvers are open.

Additionally, roof fans were reprogrammed to allow the odor-neutralizing agent to release 30 seconds before the fans turn on so it can be more effective when air is exiting. Stobierski added that new policies and procedures would be implemented to make sure these devices are monitored.

Ramsey, during the Oct. 7 meeting when a third-party review was approved, stressed that this is not an independent study of odor or air quality, and Selectboard Chair Richard Kuklewicz said this is a “start” toward finding a solution.

During a Sept. 16 Selectboard meeting, Nicholas Waynelovich and Kimberly Williams, owners of the Ja’Duke Center for the Performing Arts, had recommended the town hire an environmental consultant to study odor around the Ja’Duke facility — a point that Williams reiterated during the Oct. 7 meeting. The two have repeatedly expressed their concerns about the odor impacting the Ja’Duke Preschool.

Williams said her concern over a third-party review is “two-fold” because she feels there should be an odor study of the Ja’Duke property and that the study should be lengthy to catch instances of odor as it fluctuates.

“My concern is that we are just kicking the can down the [road] where another person’s going to come in and say, ‘Yep, they’ve done everything. Their system looks great and it works great,’ yet we still have odor,” Williams told the board.

Waynelovich reiterated what Williams said, adding that he doesn’t understand how Flower Power Growers could have done a scientific study when the Ja’Duke property wasn’t tested for odor.

“Are we here to get the scientific facts or just to placate Flower Power?” he asked.

Waynelovich then pressed the Selectboard to discuss a Sept. 18 recommendation by the Board of Health. Kuklewicz read a letter stating that the Board of Health unanimously endorses having the Selectboard “begin the process of evaluating costs of completing a third-party independent study of the air quality impacts resulting from their facilities’ emittance of cannabis odor and other possible contaminants.”

Waynelovich argued the third-party review that would be conducted by Tech Environmental does not sound similar to what the Board of Health is recommending. Selectboard Vice Chair Matt Lord noted the recommendation from the Board of Health is not something the Selectboard is beholden to.

After continued discussion, Kuklewicz said the third-party review by Tech Environmental is a start when it comes to understanding whether the odor mitigation equipment that Flower Power Growers installed is working, and that information can lead to further plans to address the odor concerns at Ja’Duke.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.