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By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

The Thorsby City Council listened to proposals from prospective business owners for lots seven and eight on Montgomery Avenue. The two lots have drawn interest from buyers over the last few months to bring a new business to Thorsby. At the Sept. 6 meeting, the council opened a 60-day window to have prospective businesses submit a proposal for what they would do with the buildings. Lot seven is a shell of a building, while lot eight is a complete structure. An architect would be needed to address some of the structural problems with the building, and the upstairs needs to be outfitted to accommodate fire codes. Councilman Justin Killingsworth was absent from the meeting.

The first proposal was for a Mexican restaurant to go in lot eight along with a Hispanic store that would sell spices or other traditional Hispanic cooking needs. Lot seven would be used as a patio area for the restaurant.

The second proposal was for another restaurant, a deli-style meat market to go into lot eight. The market would have a full-service kitchen to prepare food and have everyday food needs such as meat and vegetables. Lot seven would be left as an open-air venue for events with plans to have lights hung up and a new concrete floor.

The third proposal was for a grocery store that would offer local meat, seafood and produce in lot eight. The upstairs of the building would be redone to be a meeting area. Lot seven would be built back up to have another building to bring a business to Thorsby.

The council was pleased with how detailed each of the proposals were. The council wants to keep the historical look on the outside of the buildings, and all three proposals were open to keeping that the same. The council tabled a vote on the proposals until the next meeting on Nov. 21 to discuss the proposals further.

Thorsby Police Chief Rodney Barnett proposed a change to a policy regarding city employees vacation time. Barnett suggested that city employees have the option to cash out vacation days before the end of the year. He said this will combat finding coverage for employees taking vacation days before the end of the year when they will lose them. The council tabled a vote on the proposal until the next meeting.

Also, at the meeting, the council unanimously approved Brian Belk as a reserve officer for the Thorsby Police Department, and approved leasing fields to the Chilton Crushers softball program.