During a regular meeting Tuesday, July 8, the Trussville City Council discussed whether to award a liquor license to new owners who want to change the current Zapata restaurant to El Cazador for a fresh start.Ultimately, the council’s decision was to deny their application without prejudice to their right to reapply.
A representative for the new owners said they wanted to allow the current owner, who had recently been placed under probation by the council for a server giving alcohol to a minor during a police investigation of the restaurant, a chance to get out of the business.
The representative also said it was merely a coincidence that one of the three new owners is the brother-in-law of the current owner of Zapata, Neil Castro.
The first hiccup in the process of discussing the liquor license came when Councilman Brian Plant noticed the council had not received a report from Police Chief Don Sivley.
Another issue appeared to be that the man related to Castro was taking an annual vacation to Mexico for the month and did not personally appear before the council.
After Sivley retrieved the report, the council decided to enter into executive session to discuss good name and character.
Sivley was asked to join the council to answer questions they had about his report.
The representative for the owners was eventually called in to express their side of the issue as well.
It was after this executive session that the council voted to deny the application without prejudice to the men’s right to reapply.
The council also discussed beginning negotiations to obtain an alleyway, right of way and easement that would include Ma and Pa’s Cleaners to provide more public parking in downtown Trussville.
Mayor Gene Melton asked the council to authorize him to work on the deal with a budget not to exceed $25,000, although he expected it to cost less than that.
Councilman Jim Robinson said he planned to abstain from voting, citing the mayoral race and a lack of communication with Melton as reasons for his abstention.
Melton assured the council he had tried his best to contact Robinson about the issue, but said there was a time limit on the agreement he was trying to work around while keeping the council as informed as possible.
Councilman Wayne Taylor said he had been an advocate of the project for years because he thought not only would the parking benefit the city, but it would be an opportunity to add to the beautification of downtown Trussville as well.
Plant said the issue seemed reasonable and that it made sense.
A motion to authorize the mayor to negotiate purchase of the property passed by a 4-0 vote, with Robinson abstaining.
During the meeting, the council also:
O Approved its consent agenda.
O Approved a resolution for a sales tax holiday the first weekend of August.
O Approved hiring Bhate to perform a geotechnical study for traffic signals at Deerfoot Parkway and the high school access estimated to cost $3,245.
O Tabled a resolution to award a bid for traffic sign backer plates.
O Approved a resolution to award a civic center audio-visual bid.
O Rejected bids on the civic center security system.
