A group of local business owners along Water Avenue hammered out rules Wednesday for a proposed entertainment district.

The group, formally named the Selma Entertainment District Planning Committee, includes representatives from Arts Revive, Waterfront Lounge, Vineyard restaurant and others.

City Council president Corey Bowie presented more than a dozen different suggestions for rules within the entertainment district before the Council officially approves it.

“If we are looking at an entertainment district, safety is paramount,” Bowie said. “I think it’s best if we go ahead and work through the logistics first. We don’t want to get out there too prematurely where something might happen because then we would be looking at putting the liability on the city.”

The Alabama Legislature approved a bill during the 2013 legislative session that allows Selma and any other class-five municipalities to establish two entertainment districts within its city limits. An entertainment district allows patrons to openly carry alcohol within its districts.

The rules included: no glass bottles, a uniform amount of liquor in all drinks, a cup with a clearly printed logo on it, no alcohol in parking lots and fees for events on public property within the district, among others.

The legislative act and a proposed city council resolution would mean that patrons could only carry alcohol openly if it was purchased at an establishment in the district. Bowie also proposed a rule that would prevent patrons carrying liquor into the district.

Selma’s proposed entertainment district’s boundaries would comprise Water Avenue from Arts Revive to the Old Depot Museum.

The committee uniformly agreed garbage cleanup was an important factor to consider before creating the district.

David Hurlbut, owner of the former Harmony Club, proposed a crew of people clean up the entertainment district soon after its closure.

“It would be just like a cleaning crew in New Orleans,” Hurlbut said. “Just for argument’s sake, if they start at two, the next morning it would be spiffy and nice for tourists.”

After rules are decided, Bowie said the council would approve the entertainment district for a trial run.

“If we do it wrong the first time, we wouldn’t get a chance to do it again,” Arts Revive director Martha Lockett said.

As part of a trial run, Lockett described an idea that would place a walking museum tour on Water Avenue.

She said displays and exhibits would be placed in various buildings in the district.

“It would be anything that has to do with Selma, from agriculture to Craig Field to Amelia Boynton to Bush Hog,” Lockett said.