HOLYOKE -- In an old paper mill lined with storerooms and arched hallways that stretch like tunnels, the folks of Holyoke Gardens LLC want to cultivate recreational marijuana.

Harvesting 1,200 pounds a month, at $2,000 to $2,500 a pound, projects to a yearly take of $28 million to $36 million.

That's according to David Caputo, spokesman and licensing consultant for Holyoke Gardens, who said Wednesday his analysis of the marijuana industry tells him those projections are not outlandish.

"Even if we only get halfway there, I'll be pretty happy," he said.

The City Council Ordinance Committee Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall will consider Holyoke Gardens' application for a special permit to operate the business at 5 Appleton St., near Water Street in The Flats neighborhood.

The state approval that Holyoke Gardens needs is a license from the Cannabis Control Commission, which is in process, Caputo said.

Holyoke Gardens LLC is a start-up that wants to cultivate and produce marijuana and marijuana products for sale to licensed establishments in Massachusetts.

In other words, what the facility produces will be sold to other businesses, not the general public.

"There'll be no traffic in here. Only people in here will be our workers," Caputo said.

The company will employ three people at first. That will increase to 15 after the first year as the company renovates parts of the facility's 150,000-square-feet, he said.

The new company is reworking the former Norman Paper Co. mill. The property is owned by Benz Holdings LLC, of which Glenn E. Shealey here is an official. Benz Holdings is leasing the space to Positronic Farms of Holyoke, which is leasing it to Holyoke Gardens, Caputo said. Caputo is president of Positronic Farms.

Massachusetts voters legalized recreational marijuana by passing a ballot question in 2016. Voters legalized marijuana for medical purposes in 2012.

In Holyoke, Mayor Alex B. Morse has said the legalization of marijuana can translate into jobs and revenue for the city. The Holyoke Gardens' revitalization of a former mill is not alone.

A separate recreational marijuana company called Hothouse Holyoke is planning to open next door at 5B Appleton St. with a business that would cook the weed into fruit snacks resembling beef jerky for sale in local stores.

Caputo, 53, and Irene Masse, 50, chief operating officer of Holyoke Gardens, gave The Republican a tour of 5 Appleton St.

Caputo said he has raised $1 million through sales of stock. Holyoke Gardens separately is raising $150,000 through 10 sales of stock in the company at $15,000 each, he said.

The city could receive $1 million a year from Holyoke Gardens in terms of a host-city agreement and the marijuana tax, he said.

The facility will be sectioned off into dozens of grow pods of 20 feet by 30 feet each. The plan is to build 72 pods in the first year, Caputo said.

"They're essentially indoor greenhouses lit with artificial lighting," he said.

Indoor and outdoor cameras will be operated from a control room. Besides a layer of protection for the exterior, the surveillance inside is aimed at stopping workers from stealing marijuana, he said.

"We're going to have like 56 cameras and all the data from the footage has to be preserved for 90 days," he said.

In a May 15 memo to Morse, Police Capt. Manuel Febo said he had approved the Holyoke Gardens security plan, noting it is a "living document" subject to periodic review. Febo at the time was acting chief and is set to become Holyoke police chief later this month.

"This will all be empty soon enough," said Caputo, walking through a storeroom filled with big items wrapped in plastic and brown paper.

A smaller room had over a dozen large and small, gray and black metal boxes wall-mounted and set on the floor, the results of a $50,000 upgrade in the facility's electrical system, he said.

Echoing other prospective pot entrepreneurs, Masse said marijuana is unique because it's been around forever yet is currently getting fresh looks.

"You've been around it your whole life -- untested, unregulated and untaxed," said Masse, saying later, "I just want to grow plants in a room...just music playing. This is all about permanent agricultural work at a living wage."

Besides security, state regulations require that such facilities get the marijuana tested to guard against traces of harmful substances. The intent is that the marijuana sampled from such facilities will be a higher grade than what folks are used to getting from friends and dealers, Caputo said.

"That's one thing, the quality levels will go up and the safety levels will go up," he said.

Officials in Holyoke Gardens include Justin P. Goldberg of Easthampton, and Michael Lees of Belchertown, according to the group's application for a special permit.