Magnolia Springs held a town council work session on Tuesday evening with a larger audience than usual. The council did not have a lot of business to attend to, but two substantial items were brought to the council’s attention.

The meeting began with a presentation dealing with possible signage to be placed near the bridge over the Magnolia River, and at other vantage points throughout the town. In the future, the council hopes signs designating the historical district will follow a similar theme as the ones that will go near the river.

The presenter’s suggestion to the council, after conducting research on other similar communities with bridges, was to go with either a metal sign, or a cast aluminum sign. She stressed to the council the other communities she had spoken with reported the signs placed near bridges were the ones most likely to be vandalized, so she suggested a metal sign, which would be about half the price of a cast aluminum sign.

“Any of the cast aluminum signs that are going to be big enough to put there are going to be between $400 and $600 each, which would be a big investment for something that might be very easily vandalized. I was very amazed by how many communities that said if they had a bridge that is what they shot at in the middle of the night,” she said.

She also pointed out if the council went through with the proposed project near the river, which will include a kiosk with information pertaining to the river, then a sign along the side of the road with a lot of detailed information would not be necessary.

She also suggested the council consider an oval sign instead of a rectangular sign.

“Now, the reason I like the oval even more is a twofold one. We have a logo with basically an oval leaf. An oval also reminds you of pools and eddies in the river, which again kind of ties in with the logo. It also is distinctive…an oval is, according to the highway department, something that people take a quick second glance at because they aren’t expecting it,” she said.

For a sign along the roadways, she said it is important to hook those driving by as quickly as you can to make them take a second look. She also hoped the oval motif could be used in future signage as well.

After the presentation, the council agreed on looking into the oval shape despite it being slightly more expensive than a rectangular sign.

Mayor Charles Houser said, “I would still like to at least consider the cast aluminum. I think we can figure out a way to secure that thing so that it would be extremely hard to take it.”

The owner of a Magnolia Springs business also approached the council on Monday to discuss ordinance number 2010-03, which was approved by the council in April of this year. It is an “ordinance making it illegal to sell, offer to sell, or serve alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption, or to allow anyone to consume alcoholic beverages, during certain hours at all bars, restaurants and similar licensed on-premises facilities located within the corporate limits of the Town of Magnolia Springs.”

The ordinance prohibits any such facility to open its doors between 1  a.m. and 6 a.m.

Vicki Cannon, owner of Vila’s, a bar in Magnolia Springs, approached the council about the ordinance because she felt like she had not been properly informed of the ordinance, and she also felt the ordinance was unfairly aimed at her business.

Cannon claims she became aware of the ordinance after a deputy approached her at her business after the ordinance had already been in place.

Ms. Cannon felt like she had not been notified and did not know anything about it,” said Houser. He also said he and Cannon had since discussed the situation.

Houser also had Karen Biel, the town’s clerk, research the notification methods used for the ordinance. Biel found a letter the town sent out in May to the three businesses the town anticipated would be impacted by this ordinance, including Cannon’s. The letters were sent as certified mail, but the town never received Cannon’s certified mail receipt back.

Cannon claims she never got any letters about the ordinance.

She told the council, “you said you also sent a letter to let me know after the ordinance was passed. I didn’t receive such a letter.”

Cannon also told the council she felt like her business was being singled out.

“Let me just ask you why there is such an ordinance that only affects me?” she asked.

Houser claims that the ordinance does not just apply to her, but to any business that wished to serve alcohol and keep late hours. When the council passed the ordinance, three businesses were identified as possibly being impacted by the ordinance. He also said the town was getting complaints about loud noises late at night, so the council passed the ordinance to minimize noise problems at night.

Cannon also asked why a noise ordinance was not passed instead of the one currently in place.

Houser held that the council did what was in the best interest for the town. The council deemed an ordinance regulating businesses would be more effective than a noise ordinance.

Cannon told the council, “You all voted, without me.”

All town meetings of Magnolia Springs are open to the public, Houser stated, including the ones where the ordinance in question was discussed and voted on. He also said every meeting and ordinance is published and placed on the agenda ahead of time. The town is not legally obligated, according to Houser to inform business owners when an ordinance might impact them, but the town tried to do so anyway.

According to Cannon, forcing her to close her business at 1 a.m. is harming her business.

“You tie my hands by forcing me to close at 1 o’clock,” she told the council. “I am not that kind of business. I am not a barber shop. I am not a day care. That is like going to Jesse’s and saying you can’t serve alcohol after noontime. It is unreasonable…Forcing me to close at 1 o’clock is to me, saying, we don’t want you here…I don’t want to be where I am not welcomed.”

Houser responded, saying, “it is not you personally.”

Cannon also claims her building cannot be impacted by such an ordinance because her deed claims the property is grandfathered in as a bar. The council was not sure if a deed would have any jurisdiction over such an ordinance, but asked Cannon to produce the deed for further inspection by the town’s attorney.

Councilman Bob Holk pointed out to the council and Cannon over the past two years he has received numerous complaints about the business, but Cannon claims no formal complaints are on file.

Holk and Houser also feel a 1 a.m. closing time is later than they would like, but that is the time the council agreed upon for the ordinance.

Houser and the council planned to continue discussing this issue with Cannon at a later date.

“You are trying to make this out as one specific thing to one specific business and that is not the issue. I have tried to make that clear, it is not just your business, it is not just noise, and that is the reason we did that,” said Houser. “It would affect other businesses the same way if they wanted to stay open later than 1 a.m., but with the ordinance in place they know they can’t do that.”

The council also discussed the status of the BP grant. The final grant proposal is still on the drawing boards, and has not been sent to BP for approval yet. The council also received a final estimate for the river access project to be funded by the BP grant, which totaled $177,446.25. Houser also gave a status update on the Family Dollar, which was supposed to have already opened. The open date is set to be sometime in early January he announced Monday.