Eckerd

Drugs will have to find some other way to deter

burglaries at its new Fayetteville store... the

City Council won't allow a locked gate to be

rolled down over the store entrance at night.

Council

members cited the same reasons that members of

the city Planning Commission used for turning

down the store's request last month - it

just doesn't look good.

"It

projects an image to the citizens that is very

negative," said Councilman Larry Dell.

"It does convey the wrong signal to the

public in my opinion," agreed Councilman Al

Hovey-King.

Scott

Moore, regional construction manager for Eckerd,

said the company installed a gate at the new

store not knowing it needed city approval. The

old Eckerd store was victimized last fall by

"smash and grab" burglars, he said, as

was Eckerd's store at Gingercake Road and Ga.

Highway 54.

Burglars

simply toss a rock or concrete block through the

plate glass front, grab as much merchandise as

they can and take off before police can be

alerted, he said.

"It's

a widespread thing and it goes in cycles,"

he said.

But

other businesses don't seem to be having that

problem in Fayetteville, said Hovey-King. "I

don't believe there's a rash of this smash and

grab at other stores in the city," he said.

Mayor

Kenneth Steele suggested the company find an

alternative. "You would be better served

with silent alarms and a video system," he

said, adding that police response times in

downtown Fayetteville are about a minute and a

half.

Moore

argued that the gate should be allowed because it

is only on the store at night. "Our people

are here 24 hours a day," said Steele.

Council

unanimously denied the firm's request for a

variance to allow the gate.

In

other business, council:

Declared surplus a

huge load of computer equipment and supplies,

office equipment and spent police cars with plans

to turn the items over to a Riverdale auction

company.

The

city normally sells its surplus equipment in a

joint auction with the county Board of Education,

but acting city manager Johnny Roberts suggested

trying the local company to move the items more

frequently. Used equipment simply takes up too

much space in city offices, he said.

Approved a beer and

wine license for Tony Husein, who said he hopes

to close the purchase of Milano's Restaurant

today. Husein said he will keep the restaurant

under the same name, at least for now.

"I

like this town very much," said Husein.

Approved a new roof

and a traffic trailer for the Police Department.

Bids on the roof came in at less than half the

$35,000 budgeted for the repair, so council

agreed to use the rest of the budgeted funds,

$14,065, for the Kustom Signals SMART (Speed

Monitoring Awareness Radar Trailer).

The

sign can be towed to various places around town

and will alert passing motorists to the speed

they are going.

Amended its budget

to reflect midyear adjustments. A $195,000

increase in the water and sewer fund represents

the biggest part of the change.

The

money will come from the fund's reserves, to pay

for $35,000 in system improvements and to cover

the cost of extra water the city had to buy from

Fayette County last fall when its water plant was

shut down due to drought.

Adopted a revised

zoning map. City planning staff put together the

new map to reflect zoning changes over the last

few years.

Delayed until May

any action on the proposed reversal of an earlier

rezoning decision concerning the Landrum property

on Ga. Highway 54 east. The property was rezoned

from a residential category to

office-institutional, but city officials say the

owners have not complied with provisions of the

new zoning.

City

citations against owners of the property for

alleged violations of zoning laws were scheduled

to be heard late last month, but the case was

continued until April 27.

Councilman

Walt White voted against tabling the reversal. He

wants to go ahead and do it.

� Appointed former mayor Mike

Wheat to the Fayette County Development

Authority. Wheat served on the authority in his

capacity as mayor, and agreed to continue now

that he has retired.

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