Board: Auburn City Council

Met: Oct. 1

Liquor license

Issue: Local restaurants and bars must reapply for liquor licenses and amusement permits each year. Liquor licenses let them serve alcohol; amusement permits let them play music, have a DJ or karaoke, or have games on site.

The scoop: Councilors approved a new liquor license for BOC (doing business as Thatcher’s) 550 Center St.

Graffiti

Issue: New graffiti rules will require property owners to remove graffiti from their property quickly – or face paying the city to remove markings and pay a $500 fine.

The scoop: Police Chief Phil Crowell said the tougher rules will encourage property owners to fix areas that attract graffiti – possibly by putting up better lights. It also gives his department more leverage in dealing with out-of-state property owners that are slow to clean up graffiti.

Up next: Councilors adopted the measure unanimously Monday.

False alarms

Issue: Auburn police responded to 914 false alarms last year. New rules will require owners to register their automatic burglar and fire alarms with the city. They’d face increasing fines for each false alarm during the year.

The scoop: Permits for security alarms will cost $30 the first year, according to the plan. Renewals cost $5 for residential alarms and $10 for commercial alarms each year. Police will respond to the first two false alarms without charge. Business owners will pay $30 apiece for the third and fourth false alarms each year, $50 for the fifth and sixth false alarms and $100 for each false signal after that.

Up next: Councilors approved it unanimously