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CENTRE — The recent snap of cold weather across northeast Alabama has had just about everyone and everything moving like molasses for weeks, including, according to some, the Centre City Council — at least in regards to the creation of its new alcohol ordinance.

Centre residents voted Nov. 2 to allow alcohol sales inside the town limits. Two months later, there has been little outward sign of progress towards completion of the document.

According to Mayor Tony Wilkie, however, the process is on schedule.

"We are diligently working on the ordinance," he told The Post Thursday. "At the same time, we are trying to make certain we proceed as cautiously as possible."

Wilkie admitted his official statement may sound like double talk to some. But he said he wants to make sure he and the members of the City Council take their time and study all sides of every issue, all while remaining as mindful as possible of the sentiments of constituents on both sides of the alcohol issue.

In keeping with that vow, Wilkie and Council members Bess Yarbrough, Harry Moon, Sid Garrett, Phillip Roberts and Glen Chandler met for over four hours last week with an attorney from the Alabama Beverage Control Board to discuss several proposals for the new ordinance.

Centre Police Chief Val Courtney was also there. Council members Frankie Kelly and Joe Hall were not in attendance.

During the meeting, Wilkie and the Council members repeatedly referenced copies of a multi-page document that Wilkie later revealed will eventually become the city of Centre's alcohol law.

"We've been looking at more than a dozen ordinances from cities and towns around the state," Wilkie said. "We're not reinventing the wheel, but we want to make sure we tailor the final wording to be specific to the needs of the city of Centre."

In the first couple of hours of the Dec. 27 meeting at City Hall with ABC counsel Bob Martin, Wilkie and Council members discussed issues as varied as square footage requirements for Class I and Class II restaurants, food-to-alcohol sales percentages in those restaurants, signage requirements, and hours of operation.

At several times during the meeting, one of more Council members offered a proposal, prompting a response by Martin and then a general discussion among all the officials in the room.

"It was a very informative, productive meeting," Wilkie said.

Wilkie said one topic of discussion dealt with how to properly license restaurants that wish to allow patrons to dine and drink outdoors on property owned by the establishment, but which might be visible from public areas such as parking lots or nearby roadways.

Wilkie said he is awaiting copies of a portion of an ordinance from Huntsville. When the question arose during the meeting, Martin was familiar with that city's efforts to regulate a similar situation and suggested Wilkie contact officials there.

Wilkie said he hopes more public knowledge of the multitude of issues that must be refined to meet Centre's specific needs will help reassure people on both sides that he and the City Council are approaching the issue of alcohol sales properly and thoroughly.

"And we're planning to have another meeting on Jan. 4 at 4 p.m. to take the next step forward," he said.

Wilkie said he is hopeful the next meeting will be as productive as the last and can advance the ordinance far enough along for a vote sometime this month.

"It still depends on a lot of things at this point, but I'm hopeful we can see at least one vote on this before the end of January," Wilkie said.

The mayor said even after the ordinance passes, the city will still have to appoint three representatives to an alcohol control board. He also said the state's alcohol license approval process will add another 4-6 weeks to the process before any business in Centre can begin selling alcoholic beverages.