Five cannabis companies suing the City of Menominee file a motion in Menominee County Circuit Court Tuesday asking judge to pause the lawsuit to negotiate a settlement.

The five marijuana companies suing the City of Menominee filed a motion in Menominee County Circuit Court Tuesday asking the judge to pause the lawsuit to negotiate a settlement.

The motion from Lume/Attitude Wellness, Higher Love/OI Holdings, Highwire Farms, NU Group and GreenPharm/Rocky North asks to halt the trial proceedings for 60 days. The motion would be decided in an upcoming court hearing by Judge Mary Barglind, with a date to be determined.

The end of the marijuana lawsuit has been unclear. The attorney representing Menominee in the lawsuit, Matt Cross from Plunkett Cooney in Petoskey, Michigan, in December said the case was days or weeks away from a final decision.

Questions remain on when and where marijuana companies can open up. However, multiple sources say that The Fire Station will be at A&B Automotive, Rize will be at the old Stang Sales and Service, Lume will be at the La Cabaña and Higher Love will build next to Taco Bell. Highwire Farms, NU Group, GreenPharm and Agri-Med locations are unknown.

The City of Menominee has indicated that it will not oppose the motion, according to court documents. All city council members that responded — along with Mayor Jean Stegeman and City Manager Brett Botbyl — said they had yet to see the motion. Most said it was their first time hearing about it.

“The plaintiffs are sending information, but they don’t send it to everybody,” Stegeman said. “This would not be the first time I did not get a copy of a legal notice or intentions. I’m routinely left out of the loop because I’ve made my position clear. I await Judge Barglind’s ruling and stand by the ordinance we crafted.”

Stegeman referenced the city’s Marijuana Selection Committee, which awarded licenses to four of the 16 marijuana companies that applied to open up shop in Menominee. The committee awarded recreational marijuana licenses to The Fire Station and Rize. They awarded medical marijuana licenses to Lume and Agri-Med.

When the city awarded licenses, five marijuana companies sued, and all parties agreed to put licensing on hold until the judge decided the lawsuit’s outcome. This motion also asks for the issuance of licenses to continue to be paused.

Council member Michael DeDamos joined the council during the marijuana issue. The council should’ve uncapped the license limit years ago when it had the chance, he said. He didn’t realize how much of a “knotted ball” it was.

“At this point in the process, I don’t want any further delays,” he said. “If it was just a naked cash grab, they could’ve done that two and a half years ago.”

The city council passed a resolution March 20 expressing the city council’s desire to pass an ordinance to authorize seven marijuana businesses in Menominee. Stegeman and council members Donna Marineau and DeDamos voted against it. Council members Bill Plemel, Josh Jones, Dennis Klitzke, Jackie Nutter, Doug Robinson and Joe Dulak voted for it.

The March meeting happened because of lawsuit delays, DeDamos said.

“A lot of the delay comes right down to the judge,” he said.

Plemel said the last email he got was that Cross would get together with the plaintiffs following the city council meeting.

“He said he was going to try to get together with the different people that were suing us,” Plemel said.

The motion states that Cross was in communication regarding possible settlement terms within days after the city council passed its resolution.

Council member Robinson said the city should advance on the council’s strong stance they took last month.

“The city manager and the mayor received a 6-3 majority vote to move forward in a particular direction,” Robinson said. “We expect them to move forward.”

Dulak, Marineau, Botbyl and Jones offered no comment. Nutter did not respond in time for publication.

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