Calhoun City Council members are considering a variance request for a structure housing a pri-vate water source within a neighborhood.

Its owner, Thane Langille, said he installed the well in hopes of offsetting water shortages when drought conditions make drinking water scarce throughout the state.

The value of water in drought situations, he said in a letter to the council members, outweighs any protests against the well house from his neighbors.

He also offered to share water from the well with surrounding residents should the need arise.

The structure covering the well, a four-foot by eight-foot by four-foot accessory building, is in vio-lation of zoning rules, and Langille asked the council for a three-foot variance for a setback to the right-of-way.

In the letter, he stated it was not his “intention to circumvent the system.”

The drilling of a well, explained City Utilities General Manager Kelly Cornwell, does not require a permit. However, he said the water may not even be of drinking quality. Langille may have to have the well water tested at the state level before he knows if it’s potable.

Langille could have avoided the need for an aesthetically intrusive pump house, Cornwell said, by installing the well’s pump under his house and the controls within his house, which would have allowed for a much smaller structure over the well.

West Calhoun revitalization

City Council members signed off on amendments to phase one of the West Calhoun Urban Rede-velopment Plan.

Some key points in the amendments, explained City Administrator Eddie Peterson, pertain to his-toric preservation rules. The council had been waiting to approve the amendments until the historic preservation guidelines had been solidified.

He described these guidelines as “common sense” policies.

The city can use modern materials as long as the overall historic look of the houses remains intact, he explained.

---

Also during the Nov. 23 meeting the Calhoun City Council:

* Approved beer-wine-liquor pouring license renewal requests for Jeff Mathis for Longhorn Steak-house, Ian B Wonderling for Ruby Tuesday and Juan Leon Escamilla for El Nopal.

* Approved beer pouring license renewal requests for Kitty Leung for Great Wall Chinese Restau-rant, Melba Jane Price for Southeastern Pizza Group (Pizza Hut), Juana Naranjo for El Pueblito Restaurant and Jason B Marshall for the Dawg Pound.

* Approved a beer-wine pouring license renewal request for Kristin Maddux-Lawrence for Schroe-der’s.

* Approved a combination beer package/ pouring and liquor pouring license renewal request for a private club for William Whittenburg for American Legion Post 47.

* Approved beer package license renewal requests for Tejash Patel for A-Night Hi-Tech, Phil Beamer for Philip Beamer Distributor – Red Bud Road, Phil Beamer for Philip Beamer Distributor – Highway 53, Hannah Soliman for LA Kyrillos, LLC – Food Mart #530, Raymond J Brown for J & J ‘S Package Store, Ray Tierce for Tierce’s Little Giant, Alex Warren for Mapco Express #3505, Alex Warren for Mapco Express #3520, Ram Chandra Thapa for ABC Convenience and Barbara Bishop for Dixie Beverage Shop.

* Approved beer-wine package license renewal requests for Ashish Kumar R Chaudhari for Chaud-hari Enterprises, Douglas Lloyd Busch for Kroger #393, Terry Bouldin for Ingles Food Market, Leslie Mashburn for The Pantry Inc

Kangaroo Express #3519, Karen Aldridge for The Pantry Inc. Kangaroo Express #3563, Karen El-dridge for The Pantry Inc. Kangaroo Express #3513, Michael Boling for Wal-Mart Supercenter #1215, Laura Fritz for Rite Aid #4751 and Terry Vonderbogart for Rite Aid #11828.

* Approved beer-wine-liquor package license renewal requests for Jaimin Patel for Liquor Mart, Yogesh Patel for Siya Enterprise Inc. – Party Liquor, Champ Kelly for Red Bud Liquor Store Inc., Mukesh S Patel for Mukhi Inc. – Calhoun Liquor and Dilip S Patel for ABC Liquor.

* Approved taxi cab license renewal requests for Edwin Herrera-Bojorequez for Taxi Edwin and Hermelindo J Davila for Taxi Abuelo.

* Approved pawn license renewal requests for Robert I Reich for Georgia Auto Pawn Inc., Nancy P Long for D & S Pawn Shop, Kent Popham for Complete Cash Holdings, Larry E Knight for Corner Pawn, Frank Mcdonald for National Title Pawn of Calhoun.

* Approved a manager change request for Wal-Mart from Linda Maples to Michael Boling.

* Approved an address change request by Maximiliano Campos for Taxi Max from 1116 South Wall Street to 804 North Wall Street.

---