The Moultrie City Council held show-cause hearings Tuesday in connection with local stores and restaurants that sold alcohol to an underage police operative during a sting last October.

Thirteen people were on the council’s agenda, but in two cases the stores changed hands between then and now and both the former and current owners had to appear. One owner was not present due to an emergency and his case will be rescheduled.

All the cases had already been adjudicated in Municipal Court, but store owners also had to pay a $1,000 fine or surrender their alcohol licenses for 30 days.

Caleb Meister, owner of Bentley’s, 1520 S. Main St., argued that the person who served the beer was not an employee of the restaurant. He was a musician who took it upon himself to fill in when the server was away from the bar, Meister said.

City Attorney Mickey Waller said the ordinance does not distinguish between an employee and anyone else serving alcohol at an establishment.

Meister had hoped for a third option, but when there wasn’t one, he chose to pay the fine rather than lose his alcohol license for a month.

Nighat Choudary, owner of Macs #2, 1406 West Bypass, when the sale happened in October, agreed to pay the $1,000 fine, even though he’d already surrendered his alcohol license upon the sale of the store. If he hadn’t, the current owner, Abdul R. Zafar, would have had to pay it or surrender the alcohol license for a month.

Similarly, Mohammad A. Choudary, former owner of Super Cee, 2011 West Blvd., chose to pay the fine rather than passing it to the new owner, Saba Shahzadi.

All the other store owners also chose to pay the $1,000 fine:

•  Suken B. Patel, Rich Oil, 1425 First St. S.E.

• Ramesh Patel, Best Little Store in Georgia, 619 W. Central Ave.

• Sunita Patel, Cocomo Inn, 1713 First Ave. S.E.

• Avilo Cruz Pereira, Dan Fair Express, 515 26th Ave. S.E.

• Kaniyalal Patel, One Stop #2, 1721 Tallokas Road.

• Smithaben A. Patel, Mike’s Package Store, 205 Fifth St. S.E.

• Jitendra A. Patel, Susie Q’s, 135 U.S. Highway 319 S.

In other action, the council:

• Approved a license to sell alcohol for off-premises consumption at Race Way, 1301 Veterans Parkway North. The store owner is Subhail Saqi.

• Approved a quit claim deed to an easement on property at Moultrie Manufacturing Co. that the state Department of Transportation is acquiring to widen Highway 133. The council also approved DOT acquisition documents for city property along Highway 133 for the same project.