PLAINFIELD — A marijuana cultivator that opened on Broom Street in 2018 is behind on property taxes in the amount of $56,458, prompting the town this week to unanimously vote not to renew the business’s host community agreement.

Additionally, the town may soon file a lien against High Plains Farm and the property they own at 27 Broom St. for nonpayment of taxes. Town Collector Heather Davis sent a letter to the company on Sept. 6 giving them 30 days to bring taxes current. Since there has been no reply from the company, a follow-up letter was scheduled to be sent this week. Davis said if High Plains does not respond this time, a lien will be placed on the property in coming months.

The board is open to reversing its decision not to renew the host community agreement with High Plains should the company pay its taxes. If that doesn’t happen, the unanimous 3-0 vote on Tuesday states that the town would deny future licensing requests from the company once the current agreement expires. Town officials weren’t sure when that pact expires.

A host community agreement is similar to a business license for companies in the marijuana industry, as a means of gaining community backing before marijuana businesses open in town. Within the agreement, businesses agree to uphold and comply with all town and municipal rules and regulations, such as paying property taxes.

Company officials did not attend Tuesday’s Select Board meeting, which member Judith Cole said “really says something.”

Board member Polly Ryan said the lack of communication is part of a larger trend by the company, which is owned by Christopher Roos. She said he has consistently declined to communicate with the town, with reasons still unresolved as to why the company hasn’t paid its property taxes. Ryan noted that there has been crop production on the property, however, and assumes that they do have revenue coming in.

Messages left by the Gazette with High Plains this week were not returned. The company remains active on its social media outlets.

High Plains, named for its elevation at 1,600 feet above sea level, had been among the first in the state to gain legal status for cultivation of marijuana, with the original community contract being signed on May 8, 2018.

One of a handful of residents at Tuesday’s meeting was under the impression that High Plains should be doing well and be able to pay its taxes because it’s in a lucrative industry in Massachusetts.

Cole countered that the market has been flooded with marijuana and that the industry “overestimated the demand both at the retail level and also at the wholesale level,” a comment that drew agreement from Chair Benjamin Gillett.

The company itself had anticipated this reality in the weed market, stating in the 2018 agreement that they had in mind a rather short-term vision for the business.

“Our exit strategy is the sale of the company in 5-10 years. When laws are changed to re-classify marijuana, the barriers to entry will be gone and well-funded corporations will quickly enter the market,” the company wrote in its community host agreement application.

Their predictions of the drug being reclassified federally have yet to come true, but they were correct in envisioning the impact “big weed” would have on smaller growers, as media reports throughout the state have highlighted.

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.