During their regular meeting Monday afternoon, the Atmore City Council approved a proposal to honor former mayor Howard Shell by renaming a street in the Rivercane development property after him.

Rivercane Boulevard, the main entrance into the property, which runs by the Hardees location, will now be known as Howard Shell Boulevard after Dr. Ulysses McBride petitioned the council for the change.

“I was with Mayor Shell when the idea for Rivercane came up, about ten years ago now,” McBride told the council Monday. “That was back when everyone said ‘that will never work.’ And this was not a one-man operation. It’s had many people’s fingerprints on it, but none more so than Howard Shell.”

McBride, a lifelong Atmore resident, said he felt the change was important enough for him to petition the council, something he has never done in all of his years in Atmore.

“I’ve lived here all of my life,” McBride said. “I only left while I attended school. I’ve never come before the council before.”
City council members unanimously approved McBride’s request and presented Shell with an honorary replica of the sign that will be placed at Rivercane.

“This means a lot,” Shell said. “I thank each of you,” he told council members.
In other business the council:

• signed letters of the support for the Employee Support for the Guard/Reserve (ESGR) and witnessed the organization present an award for supporting veterans through employment to Atmore Police Chief Jason Dean.

• approved a resolution banning pellet guns, paint ball guns and other similar devices from use anywhere but on private land.

• approved a resolution continuing the ban on hunting inside the Atmore city limits.

• approved a revision for business license ordinance 2007-06 changing the price for applications from $10 to $12.

• announced their next regularly scheduled meeting, the last of 2012, will not be held Monday, Dec. 24 because of the Christmas holiday. The council will meet again Monday, Jan. 7, 2013.