Park's eternal flame could be rekindled
The eternal flame at the city-owned Franklin Wright park, which is located at the intersection of Church and Monticello streets, hasn't burned for nearly two decades, but the Covington Garden Club hopes to change that.

The Covington Garden Club received permission from the city council Monday to replant the park and to seek to repair the natural-gas powered eternal flame at the park's granite monument. The flame is meant to honor the service of military veterans.

City Manager Steve Horton said the flame hasn't burned since the 1990s, and a previous effort to repair the device failed.

City buys Chevy Tahoes for fire dept.
In other city news, the council approved the purchase of four Chevy SUVs for the Covington Fire Department for a total cost of $106,703 ($26,675.75 per vehicle). The vehicles were purchased from the Hardy Fleet Group in Dallas, Ga.

One of the SUVs will be used as an alternative medical response vehicle, because 60 percent of all fire calls are medical.

The other three SUVs will be used by officers. One will replace a wrecked vehicle for the deputy chief of operations, one will be used by the fire marshal and one will be used by battalion chiefs as a mobile command unit on scene.

Alcohol licenses
The garden club will receive help from the city to pull up the junipers and crepe myrtles, and the city will pay to repair the gas line to the flame if the device can be repaired.

Residents who have been convicted of (or pled guilty or nolo contendre to) a felony or any crime related to alcohol, drugs, sex crimes or crimes against children, or had their parole or probabtion revoked relating to a charge in the above categories cannot get an alcohol license within five years of such an instance.

This ordinance change will apply to alcohol licenses for both on and off-premises consumption. The council tabled the change this week but will approve the revision at its next meeting.