The City Council faces a relatively light agenda tonight, but some of the items up for discussion may be contentious.

The council meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 220 N. 27th St.

After a lengthy consent agenda, the council will hold a public hearing and vote on an emergency ordinance to restrict locations where medical marijuana can be sold. Current city law groups medical marijuana businesses with retail pharmacies, which have few restrictions. But Councilman Denis Pitman recommended at the last council meeting that marijuana businesses be classified separately. Medical marijuana is becoming more mainstream as the state and federal government back away from restrictions and enforcement.

The proposed ordinance wouldn't allow medical marijuana businesses to open closer than 1,000 feet from residential neighborhoods, schools, churches, parks, trails, day care centers, cemeteries and group homes. The ordinance would also prohibit medical marijuana sales as a home business.

The ordinance would last for only six months while the city develops a permanent ordinance.

The council will also vote on changes to the controversial Billings Bypass project, also known as the Outer Belt Loop. The proposed project would build a highway from the Interstate 90/94 interchange to Highway 3, with the goal of diverting truck traffic north of Billings and off Main Street. The project could take 25 years to complete; cost estimates range from $160 million to $264 million, with most of the money coming from the federal government.

Because of the project's huge scale, local agencies are considering building the project in phases: I-94 to Highway 312, Highway 312 to Highway 87 and Highway 87 to Highway 3.

The proposed project is overseen by the Policy Coordinating Committee, which includes representatives from the city, Yellowstone County and the state Department of Transportation. The council will vote tonight on the phasing idea. If the council approves the plan, the council's representative will take that recommendation to the PCC meeting on Tuesday. That meeting is at noon on the fourth floor of the Yellowstone County Courthouse. The PCC has final say over the project's future.

At recent city and county meetings, a woman named Janice Linn has shown up to testify against the project, saying that she would lose some of her land if the project is built. Linn has called the project a "NAFTA superhighway" because it's part of the Camino Real trade route that links Canada to Mexico.

Linn has been videotaping her testimony and posting it on YouTube. She refused to stop speaking at last week's council meeting until Mayor Ron Tussing threatened to call police.

Council members have received numerous e-mails regarding Linn and the project, some from Tea Party activists. City officials are considering extra security in case a large crowd shows up, since the matter is not scheduled for a public hearing.

The council will also vote on creating a committee to address distracted driving. Councilwoman Peggie Gaghen recently floated the idea of a ban on cell phone use while driving, and the council decided to create an ad-hoc committee that would look at options and develop a public campaign to combat distracted driving.

The proposed 10-person committee will be made up of two council members, a city staff person, a representative from the auto industry and one from the cell phone industry, a member from Riverstone Health, one student from School District 2 and one from Montana State University, and two members of the public.

If the council approves the plan, the city will recruit committee members in November and begin meeting in January. The committee will report back to the council in March.