MOULTRIE — In its final meeting of the year, the Moultrie City Council began the process Tuesday to make several changes to the current alcohol ordinance.

The proposed changes range in scope from establishing fees and name changes to significant changes in penalties and beer card rules. The council held the first and second readings of the proposed changes, with the third and final readings scheduled for their next meeting on Jan. 3.

The changes being proposed are the result of confusion caused during the council’s show cause hearings on ordinance violations in November 2004. Penalties for violations and the use and renewal of beer cards are the most significant proposed changes.

The proposed ordinance changes have a first offense penalty as a $1,000 fine or a 30-day suspension of the liquor license. If a second offense is committed within five years of the first offense, the license holder will face a $2,000 fine or a 30-day suspension of their license. A third offense will see a $3,000 fine and a 30-day suspension of the liquor license.

The current ordinance differentiates between vendors who are members of the Moultrie Responsible Vendors Association and have gone through their training program. The proposed ordinance, however, would not make a distinction between stores that have or have not gone through the training program.

For the clerks and salesmen who actually violate the proposed ordinance, the first offense will result in a fine of up to a $500, up to six months in jail and/or community service. A second offense within a 24-month period will result in up to an $800 fine, up to six months in jail and/or community service and a one-year revocation of the beer card, the card that allows a clerk to sell alchol. A third offense within a 24-month period will result in up to a $1,000 fine, up to six months in jail and/or community service and permanent revocation of a beer card.

Another addition to the proposed ordinance would revoke a store owner’s alcohol license if fines against them are not paid within 30 days. The city will also revoke, suspend or probate a license or permit in accordance with similar action taken by the state of Georgia.

The proposed ordinance would also allow an applicant to obtain a temporary license to sell beer for up to three days. There would be a $150 application fee and a $100 per day fee for the temporary license.

Other items approved by the council included:

• Recognizing the winners of the 2005 Christmas parade;

• Granting an alcohol license transfer and a retail license to Linda Blount at North Main Package at 422 N. Main St.;

• Granting a zoning request from Betty Baell and Dorothy Cox to zone 5.52 acres at the Veterans Parkway and Highway 33 intersection and conducting a first and second reading to annex the land;

• Approving an amended fee structure for the Moultrie-Colquitt County Parks and Recreation Department;

• Awarding bids for a change order to the storm sewer drainage project, wiregrass storm drainage improvements project and for computer and scanner equipment for the Moultrie Police Department;

• Approving an amendment to the city’s fireworks ordinance;

• Accepting a proposal and entering into a service agreement for $55,000 in funding from Cornerstone Government Affairs for the Moultrie-Colquitt County Industrial Development Corporation;

• Adding $500 incentive for polygraph examiner’s certification and graduation from the FBI National Academy for the Moultrie Police Department. Councilman Cecil Barber added that the incentive for bilingual police officers is too low and has not generated any response, so the council will reexamine the incentives and bring them before the council at a future meeting; and

• Granting a short-term $500,000 loan from the Electric Fund to the Broadband Fund to be reimbursed once payment from Universal Service Administration Company is received.