LEOMINSTER — The Leominster City Council’s Legal Affairs Committee has taken decisive action against Middlesex Integrative Medicine (MIM), a cannabis cultivation company accused of flouting local regulations and an order to cease operations. In a special meeting on June 13, the committee voted unanimously to order MIM to vacate its facility at 25 Mohawk Drive by June 30, 2025. This enforcement vote came just days after a June 10 hearing in which city officials heard of extensive violations committed by the company and delays in shutting down its operation.
“This company has not complied with any of the ordinance for years — not just small parts of it, but the whole ordinance pretty much,” said Councilor-at-Large Susan Chalifoux Zephir, during the June 13 meeting. Emphasizing that the city’s patience had run out, Zephir added, “We need to make a statement that time is of the essence here. We mean business – it’s time for you to move and withdraw so the landlord can clean out his building and try to find a new tenant.”
According to city officials, Middlesex Integrative Medicine’s five-year special permit—originally issued in 2018—had already expired, leaving the company without valid authorization to continue operating in Leominster. Despite this, MIM continued its cannabis cultivation activities in violation of local ordinances.
According to Councilor Claire Freda, Middlesex Integrative Medicine failed to meet several obligations under its special permit, including submitting annual financial reports and notifying the city of changes in management or ownership. “We got one check from them for $10,000 that first year in 2020, and then there were two payments…for $5,416.97, each in April ’21 to August ’21, for a total of $27,084. That’s all we got from this company,” Freda said during the June 13, 2025 Legal Affairs Committee meeting. She noted that the company never once appeared before the council to provide the required annual updates. “They were, by the permit, supposed to come to us annually with a report of their finances, a report to update us on any kind of changes in management, any kind of changes in ownership,” she said. “We couldn’t even keep track of who has been in that company — from Fat Panda to now there’s a new one. There’s just been so many different names since the original owner.”
One unmet requirement discussed during the June 10, 2025, Legal Affairs Committee meeting was a decommissioning bond intended to cover the cost of safely dismantling the cannabis grow operation at 25 Mohawk Drive. “Pursuant to our municipal ordinances, [the company] was supposed to get a bond — we’ve been asking for one for a year, it hasn’t been presented. I would kind of like to know the situation and status of that,” said City Code Enforcement Officer Luke Beaulac. He added that an insurance agent for MIM once told him the bond would be sent by the end of the day — “and we haven’t seen it since.” Beaulac expressed concern that without a bond, the property owner could be left responsible for removing equipment or repairing any damage.
During the June 10 meeting, Attorney Nicholas Carter, representing court-appointed receiver David Engel, confirmed that no bond had been provided. He said the requirement had proven “essentially cost prohibitive” because insurers demanded the full anticipated cost of removal up front, rather than a typical percentage. Carter also stated that the matter falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which is overseeing Mohawk Drive Corp., the owner of the property. He said the facility’s closure was proceeding according to a court-approved stipulation.
The city’s push to shut down the operation intensified after MIM allegedly ignored a cease-and-desist order in March. The city issued the order in late March 2025, instructing MIM (and its affiliate Apical) to halt cultivation due to the permit and compliance issues. However, according to Kevin Crowley — the owner of the Mohawk Drive industrial building leased by MIM — the company continued cultivating cannabis up until the last couple of weeks leading into June. Crowley told the committee that the March cease-and-desist order “was completely ignored by MIM and Apical,” adding that they “laughed at it and kept growing.” Crowley asked city officials why they didn’t pursue the cease and desist before now, adding that MIM’s defiance allowed it to harvest product in the interim. “I have no idea how much revenue they generated between March and now, but I bet it’s quite a bit – right in their pocket,” he said, adding that the company “owe[s] me over a million dollars in lost revenue, legal fees — we are in bankruptcy because of them.” Crowley’s company, Mohawk Drive Corp., has – in fact – filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
These entangled legal and financial disputes initially complicated enforcement. Nicholas Carter, the attorney for MIM’s receiver, told councilors on June 10 that a U.S. Bankruptcy Court-approved agreement gave the tenant until August 31, 2025 to fully vacate the premises. Carter reported that MIM’s “grow operations have ceased” and all remaining cannabis product would be “cleaned out by the end of this month,” with another month or two needed to remove cultivation equipment. Under that court stipulation, August 31 was to mark “the end of the cannabis operation at the facility in Leominster.”
However, city councilors questioned the timeline outlined in the court-approved stipulation allowing MIM until August 31, 2025, to vacate the facility. “Why are we letting them dictate the date?” asked Councilor Claire Freda.
During the June 13 meeting, the Legal Affairs Committee voted unanimously to order Middlesex Integrative Medicine (MIM) to vacate the facility at 25 Mohawk Drive by June 30, 2025. “The unanimous decision of the committee is to have them vacating the property, our attorney is ready to move on it as soon as we vote,” Councilor Claire Freda announced, later confirming the deadline as June 30. The motion was seconded and passed by unanimous roll call vote.
