SOUTHBRIDGE – An effort is afoot to give voters a chance to reverse the outcome of the June 2017 townwide vote that disallowed adult-use recreational marijuana.

In wake of the November 2016 statewide referendum that allowed adult-use cannabis in Massachusetts, four subsequent ballot questions on the June 13, 2017, Southbridge ballot regarding retail sales, cultivation, testing facilities and product manufacturers all failed by a wide margin.

An initiative petition seeking to have the matter put back on the ballot failed, but town councilors remain in agreement that the four ballot questions confused voters because they asked if voters favored a prohibition, meaning a yes vote meant that the voter was against allowing recreational marijuana.

During Monday’s council meeting, the panel discussed at length an agenda item for the chairman and vice chairman to seek a legal advice on how to put the matter back to a townwide vote.

Councilor Monique Manna said she would not be in favor of a vote to reconsider.

Ms. Manna noted that the state approved the wording of the questions on the 2017 ballot. She said it’s not up to the council to get legal advice on “something people should have read and understood before they voted on it.”

Councilor Richard Nash said the matter deserved revisiting, and he applauded the effort by residents who sought a petition initiative, which he said was hindered by time constraints.

Councilor David Adams noted there was a large turnout for the 2016 general election, in which 58 percent of registered voters in Southbridge voted, with 55 percent in favor of the marijuana question and 44 percent against.

Mr. Adams also stated that the town needed to diversify its economic portfolio, noting the recent closure of the Southbridge landfill and the more distant shuttering of American Optical.

Mr. Adams also mentioned he had received a phone call from a property owner who had an opportunity to host a 140,000-square-foot grow facility that would have been in a mill building.

After discussing what the council should actually ask of the town lawyer, Chairman John D. Jovan Jr. advised councilors try to “do this in incremental steps.” He said the council should initially ask counsel if the reconsideration needed to be triggered by an initiative petition or residents, or if the council could start it. The council decided to postpone the matter until its May 6 meeting.