The Lampasas City Council voted 5-0 last week to grant a specific-use permit to allow a tenant to operate a tire dealership at 101 N. Key Ave., the former location of Lampasas Rental & Hardware.

The permit requires the business to construct a privacy fence to block the view of stacked tires.

Councilman Evan Stubbs abstained from the vote, and Councilman John Cole was absent from the meeting.

Also at the recent session, the City Council voted 6-0 to abandon four unopened alley rights of way in Blocks 7 and 8 of the Witcher Willetts Addition and Blocks 44 and 45 of the J.A. Ramsdell Addition, near 702 and 704 N. Hackberry.

Property owner Roy Cockrell, who built residences at the two Hackberry addresses, requested the abandonment so a new homeowner could obtain a title policy. The two subdivisions overlap, and although the alleys were dedicated to the city of Lampasas in an 1883 plat, there is no record of abandonment by the city.

As a result, surveyor Jerry Goodson concluded it would be impossible to determine through a survey exactly where the alleys are located.

The ordinance the City Council approved stated the abandonment is because of "unique circumstances related to conflicts in historical deed records."

In another matter, the council conducted a public hearing but did not vote on a request to vacate unopened portions of East Avenue K and Eighth Street/North Stanley. The total requested abandonment amounts to about 41,000 square feet, or 0.94 acres.

Ronny Muse, under contract to purchase property north of Farmto Market Road 580 East and east of the railroad tracks, plans to construct a metal building on the site. Because part of the property he is buying lies within a floodplain, Muse requested the abandonment in order to give him room to construct the building outside the floodplain. Parking spaces will be built within the flood area.

Most of the property requested to be abandoned is zoned for light industrial use. Randy Clark, director of Public Works, estimated the land's value at $16,195, based on the average per-square-foot value of surrounding properties. An opinion of value Muse obtained from Bumpus Appraisal Service set the property value at $5,210.

During an operational report, Assistant City Manager Stacy Brack noted that the low bid for debris removal from Sulphur Creek is $42,000 -- about $26,000 higher than the original estimate. The Natural Resources Conservation Service will pay 75 percent of the increased cost, Mrs. Brack said, and the city will pay the remainder.

In other business, the council voted to reappoint Cole, Steve Hudson, Robert Reed and Sally Yancy to the Lampasas Economic Development Corp. board. Their new terms expire in 2011.

The City Council will hold a budget workshop at 1 p.m. on Thursday, as well as at 1 p.m. Aug. 11 and Aug. 13.