NILES — Niles City Council members, residents and marijuana business members discussed and debated the city’s potential identity as marijuana business hub at its Monday night council meeting.

Among 17 items for action or discussion were two city attorney reports that would allow recreational marijuana businesses to seek to locate in the city and an amendment to the zoning ordince that would allow recreational marijuana business land use and regulation.

No decision will be made until the council hosts a second hearing in the near future. Viewpoints on the city attorney’s report were apparent, however.

Much of the discussion drew back to a comment Brown City, Michigan, resident Gary Vettese made during public comments. He is the chief operator of Rosenburg Holdings, which was approved for a medical marijuana provisional city that night.

“With your support, we can make Niles the epicenter of cannabis processing in the Midwest,” he said.

Council member Daniel VandenHeede said he thought that decisions regarding marijuana were moving too fast. He said Niles’ identity has changed over the years, but he did not want its new identity to be marijuana-related.

If I were choosing a town to move to now with a family, unless I was starting a marijuana business, I don’t think I’d want to move to the epicenter of marijuana of Michigan,” he said.

Councilmember Jessica Nelson said that Niles’ identity would not change, just as a marijuana business’ presence in the city would not negatively change the community around it.

“Anyone that knows Niles knows this as a manufacturing community,” she said. “This is going along those same lines.”

Councilmember Charlie McAfee, who kept a low profile when it came to marijuana topics this summer, appeared to have the insight most favored by the audience. The full room was overtaken by claps at the end of her report.

“Personally, when I accepted and ran for this office, I told the people of my ward and my area that I would be their voices,” she said. “I would not decide for them. I would be their voices. The voices of the people. To me, that is the idea behind being in the seat I’m in right now.”

McAfee represents Niles’ third ward. Nearly 72 percent of 2018 voters approved in that ward approved of making recreational marijuana legal in Michigan, compared to 69.1 percent citywide.