ORANGE BEACH, AL — A much publicized ordinance when it was proposed, a bid by the Orange Beach City Council to raise business license fees and add a liquor tax on restaurants and bars went away quietly during the Nov. 1 regular session.

Councilman Jeff Silvers made a motion on the ordinance, but it died for lack of a second. The council had hoped to use the increased fees to help support the city’s clean beach initiative, Leave Only Footprints.

It is expected to be a about a $1 million expense in 2017 and the Finance Committee proposed those changes to raise about $400,000 toward the cost of the cleanup.

In December of 2015 the city waived a 10 percent discount businesses received for paying sales taxes on time and it raised about $500,000 earmarked for the beach program.

Under the program’s new rules items such as chairs, umbrellas, toys or other beach paraphernalia had to be removed nightly. Items left behind were collected by a contractor hired by the city. Most of the collected material was recycled and the rest discarded.

Gulf Shores is doing basically the same program, but using city workers to collect the items with about 80 percent being recycled. Orange Beach plans to use city workers to collect the items in 2017.

In other business the council issued a wine and beer license for Bear Point Harbor; donated some surplus police Tasers and cameras to other departments and authorized budgeted and approved spending of just more than $640,000 to various vendors for the bimonthly auditing of accounts.

Elberta Police received 10 Tasers and an in-car camera, Silverhill police received six Tasers and six cameras and three Tasers and a camera went to Summerdale Police. In addition 16 Tasers will be destroyed. The police department has 16 more in-car cameras it plans to donate to other agencies.

In the Nov. 1 work session the council looked over items to be voted on at the next regular session on Nov. 15 which included an extension of entertainment districts at SanRoc Cay and The Wharf. The state law allows patrons to walk around those properties with drinks purchased and consumed on the properties.

Also up for discussion were appointments to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism Board, the Orange Beach Library Board and a member to the Islands of Perdido Foundation Board.

Orange Beach is also considering donating surplus Christmas decorations to the town of Douglas in Marshall County. Douglas was a past recipient of decorations when Orange Beach bought newer ones.