Medical marijuana facilities interested in doing business in Niles can now submit a request for proposal to begin the application process, after city council members approved the motion 5-3 Monday night.

The State of Michigan has determined that the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Board will begin accepting applications for licenses on Dec. 15. With the deadline fast approaching, city council members sought to make progress on establishing all necessary ordinances Monday.

Council members first discussed establishing a request for proposal to garner interest from medical marijuana businesses.

To allow enough time to approve the request before the state deadline of Dec. 15, council members decided that proposals would be accepted through Dec. 1. Businesses that miss that deadline will be required to apply for consideration at a later date, still to be determined.

Because aspects of the state’s newly proposed laws to expand medical marijuana legalization are still murky, whether or not an interested facility needs permission from the city first is a bit ambiguous, said City Administrator Ric Huff. However, Huff said that approval from the city could help the business prove to the state that they are qualified when they go before the state.

But 2nd Ward Councilman Daniel VandenHeede said he felt the deadline would not allow a fair chance for newly interested developers to have all their information ready to present to the city council. VandenHeede said he thought they should extend the Dec. 1 deadline to Dec. 12.

“I don’t want to leave out people who might be very dedicated and qualified and have interest in this, but simply don’t have all that information right here in the next two weeks to put it together,” VandenHeede said.

Huff said that would not leave enough time to consider the application before the Dec. 15 deadline.

Niles Mayor Nick Shelton commented that the city should want to do business with those who were the most prepared.

“Everybody has had the same amount of time to pull stuff together, so I don’t understand the argument of how it is not fair,” Shelton said. “The people who have worked hard should have an advantage.”

Gretchen Bertschy, 1st Ward councilwoman, added that if the city did choose to extend the deadline, they might lose business.

“There are other communities out there that are going to have Dec. 1 as their deadline,” Bertschy said. “The individuals who have their paperwork in order and their acts together are then going to go to community where they can quickly and then initially have permission from that community.”

Bertschy also agreed with Shelton and said the businesses that had been preparing paperwork from the start deserved priority.

“We are then attracting the best who have their plans together,” Bertschy said.

After the meeting, Huff confirmed that a number of medical marijuana business had expressed interest in operating in Niles. He approximated that between 15 to 20 medical marijuana companies had contacted the city to express interest. Huff said criteria detailing which companies would be the best fit for the city would be posted on the city’s website, at nilesmi.org. Council members did discuss that a proposal’s approval would be based on the illustrated experience, capital, business and safety planning, to name just a few.

Council members also voted to approve a second reading of the medical marijuana opt-in ordinance 5-3. The second reading for a medical marijuana zoning ordinance was also approved.

Council members will vote on the approval of the second reading for medical marijuana zoning during the next regularly scheduled meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 27 at the Fire Station Complex, 1345 Main St.

Also on Monday:

• Niles city council members voted unanimously to approve a 2 percent salary increase for City Administrator Ric Huff. The raise will take effect retroactive to Oct. 1.

• City council members unanimously approved the purchase of a bin storage system and associated hardware from Performance Machine in Niles, for $3,500.

• City council members unanimously approved a request for Medina, Ohio-based Corrpro to repair the cathodic protection system at Bertrand Tower, at a cost not to exceed $6,300.

• Council members unanimously approved to accept a bid of $36,588 from Payne Tree Service in Niles to remove 72 dead, dying and dangerous trees, and 86 stumps.

• Council members unanimously approved a bid of $40,182 for the purchase of an Unmanned Aircraft System from Michigami Group Inc. of Holland.

• Council members unanimously approved to purchase Marvin brand windows and have them installed at a cost of $121,679.91, plus the cost of $5,000 worth of supplies from Zeeland Lumber, of Mishawaka.

• Council members voted unanimously to adopt a Resolution of Support for the 2018 17th Street Resurfacing Project.

• Council members voted unanimously to approve a traffic order request to prohibit parking on the north side of Huron Street from Third to Fifth streets.