The Maple Shade Township Council last night unanimously adopted an ordinance to strengthen a law prohibiting the drinking of alcoholic beverages in public.
Mayor Joseph P. Dugan said the ordinance, an amendment to the township code, would deter drinking in parking lots, which he said was a problem.
"Young people have been drinking beer into the wee hours of the morning and leaving (the beer cans) there for someone else to pick up," Dugan said.
The new ordinance eliminated a loophole in the township code. Previously, a violator had to be caught drinking to be fined. Now, anyone who discards an alcoholic beverage container in public can be fined up to $1,000.
"It takes away a loophole that was making a lot of people suffer," Councilman Charles Ansert said.
In other business, Dugan said the council was considering a plan to move the township library from the municipal building on Main Street to the Steinhauer Elementary School on North Chestnut Avenue.
Dugan said the plan, which would create more space for the library and
allow the township police department to expand its office space in the municipal building, would be discussed with the township board of education at its next meeting.
Dugan said he hoped to begin the library renovations early next year. The township has applied for a state grant for the project, he said.
