People in Ashville may soon have another option to get a bite to eat during the day.

Marcia and Wade Wells, owners of the Mobile Mini Diner, asked the Ashville City Council for permission to set up shop in the downtown area from time to time.

“We’d like to offer a successful, established concept while keeping with the tradition of the diner,” Wade Wells said.

The mobile diner currently sets up shop in Springville from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., providing a quick, nostalgic lunch for passers-by. The full-service kitchen is fully permitted through the health department and the county. Because of a generator, the diner is self-contained and wouldn’t require extension cords from anywhere to do business.

The million-dollar question, however, was where to locate the diner.  

“It’s rather tight around here now, but we’ve considered 5th Street across from the Baptist Church parking lot, possibly the area behind the jail, there’s a field there, or straight across from Alabama Power,” Wade Wells said.

Given the opportunity, the Mobile Mini Diner would continue to serve Springville as well as setting up hours in Ashville.

While the council was open to the idea, Mayor Robert McKay reminded the council of previous concerns with mobile eateries.

“We’ve had street vending before, and some of the restaurants had complaints that they paid water and sewer and things like that, but the street vendors don’t have to,” he explained. “They didn’t like that we were letting someone come in, take the lunch crowd and leave.”

But he also noted that those were different times, when there were more dining opportunities available for the lunch crowd than there are today.

“With the courthouse here, there really is a need for a place to get something to eat,” said Councilman Mike Sheffield. “The other restaurants couldn’t stop someone from renting a place on the square and moving in [to take the lunch crowd]. I’m definitely open to it.”

The council decided to table the motion until their Feb. 10 council meeting in order to give the public a chance to voice their concerns about the situation.

In other actions:

— An agreement with the St. Clair County Correctional Facility was approved for juvenile detention services.

— An expenditure of $887.75 to St. Clair County was approved to install a pipe on Peaceful Valley Road. The city did not have the equipment to perform the installation themselves.

— A financial report for the quarter ending on Dec. 31, 2010 was approved. McKay said the report was fairly decent, with everything shaking out where it was expected to. The city is expected to be at a $15,000 surplus at the end of three months. “It’s not huge, but at least it’s not $15,000 in the negative,” he said.

— A trencher trailer was designated as surplus equipment and will be sold. The funds will go toward the building of a new storage shed at the city maintenance shop.