Rincon is looking at ways to make sure businesses in the city have their licenses and to see if they can make the process easier for current license holders.

“Anything we can do to make our application process better is wonderful,” Council member Paul Wendelken said.

Wendelken said the city is able to send out water bills and should be able to send out license renewals. City clerk

Wanda Hendrix said the city sent out letters last year, but half of them came back.

“It turned out not to be their mailing address but their service address,” she said.

Council member Scott Morgan said using water bills to determine business license addresses, since commercial customers have a different rate, also may not work. His firm has moved into an office in Rincon, but their water and sewer bills are paid by the landlord.

Wendelken also worried that the city doesn’t have licenses on hand for all the businesses in the city and that some businesses may not be aware they are in the city limits. Morgan said the city could get a grip on the number of businesses in the city through the list of commercial water users.

City officials have told businesses in the Food Lion shopping center that they are within the city limits and need city business license. City Manager Donald Toms said the most difficult to check would be the businesses operated out of homes.

“We need to mail a notice to every person who received a business license in ’07,” Wendelken said. “There’s got to be a better way to track down those businesses. Some of them may be out of business. To me, it’s not fair to the ones who tried to do the right thing.”