COUNCIL PASSES RESTRICTIONS ON METH INGREDIENTS

The first city ordinance in the state that would make the buying and
selling of some household products used to make the illegal drug
methamphetamine more restrictive passed on the first reading by the
Cookeville City Council last night. The ordinance limits the sale of
over-the-counter packages having a sole active ingredient of ephedrine,
pseudoephedrine or any of their salts to 100 tablets or no more than 3
grams except for in cases of prescriptions.

It also requires that all packages of any drug having a sole active
ingredient of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine be displayed and offered for
sale only behind a counter where the public is not permitted, within a
locked display case or within 6 feet of a register located on a check-out
counter.

Those purchasing products containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine will be
required to present identification and sign a register with the specific
quantity of ephedrine used, their name and residential or mailing address,
driver's license number, a description of the intent of usage, the date and
the signature of the retailer.

The register will be retained for three years by the retailer, which must
present it on demand from any law enforcement officer or representative of
the district attorney general's office.

"A lot of retailers are already trying to limit it," said City Councilman
Ricky Shelton, who sponsored the ordinance. "But many are selling it out
the back door. Putting a 3-gram limit on it and making it within 6 feet of
the checkout counter will help with shoplifting. The registry will
hopefully deter that too.

"If a name keeps coming up on every registry, then we'll know what they're
doing," he said.

"If it saves a life or keeps a child from being put in foster care, then
it's worth the inconvenience," said Shelton of the registry that will be
required for persons purchasing products used in the making of meth.

State Sen. Charlotte Burks, who recently sponsored legislation in the
Senate that would fine retailers that sell excessive amounts of
over-the-counter drugs containing key ingredients for making meth, also
stopped in at the city council's meeting last night.

"I just came to cheer you on," Sen. Burks told council members.

Other council members as well as Cookeville Regional Medical Center's
Emergency Room Director Sullivan Smith and Clarence Smith of Smith Pharmacy
also voiced their enthusiasm about the council's approval of the ordinance.

"We want your input," Cookeville Mayor Chuck Womack told the pharmacist.
"And we also want input from the State Pharmacy Association to make sure
this is a model that can be taken throughout the state."

All council members voted in favor of the ordinance on the first reading.

"Hopefully, this can be a model taken in other cities in Tennessee and put
pressure on the legislature," Shelton said. "We as a city can only fine $50
at a time. The state can mandate stiffer penalties."

In other business:

* The council voted against awarding a contract for a mosquito control
program to McGee Pest Control Inc. for $112,784.

Council members discussed concerns for the mosquito populations and the
West Nile Virus, but the majority voted against spending the money for
mosquito spraying.

Councilman Steve Qualls moved to approve spending the money for mosquito
spraying, with Councilman Shelton seconding.

"Maybe it's where I live, but I don't notice that many mosquitoes,"
Councilman Sam Sallee said. "I'm not sure this is the best investment for
our community."

Council members Sallee, Shelton, Womack and Jean Davis voted against the
contract, and Qualls voted in favor of it.

* The council approved on the final reading of the establishment of a
historic district overlay zone for certain properties on East Broad Street
and Freeze Street as presented by Cookeville City Planner James Mills.

* The council also approved on the final reading an ordinance amending part
of the Cookeville Municipal Code relative to adult establishments.

* A public hearing was set for an ordinance on the closure and abandonment
of a portion of an alley between West 3rd and West 4th streets and North
Oak and Cedar avenues for June 5 at 6 p.m.

* A public hearing was set for the rezoning of lots of N. Washington Avenue
and a vacant lot on Davis Avenue from commercial neighborhood and
single-family residential to medical services also for June 5 at 6 p.m.

* Distinguished Service Medals were presented by Cookeville Fire Chief Gene
Schmid to firefighters Donnie Vinson, Jeff Emerson and Bo Power for their
help in saving a Tutco employee's life recently by using an automatic
external defibrillator.

Tutco general manager Brad McGuire was recognized by the City of Cookeville
as the volunteer of the month for his assistance in CPR to the employee
prior to the arrival of emergency personnel.