PUEBLO -
More jobs and big business could be headed to Pueblo soon.
City Council will decide on Monday whether or not they should allow a hemp processing facility into the city.
If approved, this is a plan that will be paid for with your tax dollars.
It's a Pueblo Economic Development Corporation (PEDCO) project that could be using $4.89 million from the city's half-cent sales tax fund.
The goal is to bring 163 jobs to the area within two years.
PEDCO is hoping to bring in a business called CBD Biosciences to fill the former Boeing building. It's been vacant for several years in Pueblo's Airport Industrial Park.
This business is a major hemp oil processing operation.
PEDCO says this plan is for hemp products only and will not be used for medical or recreational marijuana.
However, it does contain trace amounts of THC, the same active ingredient found in pot.
"It could lead to a cluster of businesses that spinoffs could evolve from it, so I think it's exciting but at the same time, cautiously, we'll look at it very objectively on Monday night," Steve Nawrocki, City Council President said.
But others News5 spoke with say this is risking taxpayer dollars.
While hemp is legal in Colorado, the product, along with marijuana, is still illegal on the federal level.
"In the federal government's eyes, we're illegal. And I think that's where the question needs to be drawn with the citizens going, do we really want this to invest our hard-earned money into this thing that's potentially illegal on the federal side?" Brian Mater, a Pueblo City Council candidate said.
This project would be a $9.8 million capital investment. Half of which, will be paid for through the city's half-cent sales tax fund.
Council will bring this to a vote on Monday night.
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