During their regularly scheduled meeting Monday night, the Waco City Council rescinded their vote to increase the business license fee to $25 for insurance companies to do business within the city.

The action comes after an examination of guidelines for insurance company fees, indicating that their license fees are based on the population of a city. In the case of the city of Waco, the policy requires continuation of their long-time fee of $15, according to City Clerk Sherry Morgan.

In the December meeting, the council approved a proposition by Waco Mayor Travis Prichard to inch up the business license fee to $25 for insurance companies, since a recent review of the books showed that the city was charging other entities $25 to provide services in town.

“We must have approximately 1,000 residents to implement an increase as part of a stipulation in place by insurance companies,” Morgan explained. “Though we’ve seen an increase in population over the years, it’s not big enough to justify an increase for the licensing fee, so we have to reverse our decision to increase the $25 fee, and return to authorization of the $15 fee that was originally in place.”

In other business, the council signed a Quitclaim Deed concerning a property they sold to Lucky Construction on 95 Atlantic Ave.

During the city’s transaction of the Waco Carriage building, a survey of the property discovered that approximately 3 feet of the back part of the structure is within the confines of the right-of-way of Commercial Avenue. The council said the discrepancy seemingly occurred before the city acquired the property; therefore, they agreed to sign the legal measure, which grants Lucky the 3-foot portion instead of taking the alternative of dismantling that particular structure. The action also allows both parties to proceed with the sell.

The council later heard an update on the city’s water and sewer lines, which councilman Bob Shealy said were in good shape.

The next Waco City Council meeting will be held Monday, Feb.1, at Waco City Hall.