MUSCLE SHOALS - Representatives from the short-term lending industry told Muscle Shoals council members they hope to be a resource for information as the city mulls a possible business license moratorium on lending businesses.

council members originally discussed the possible moratorium at its Nov. 5 meeting, but has not revisited the issue.

Curtis Pickens, a spokesman for the Birmingham-based Pickens Group, said, since the action is possible, it is wise to meet with the council and become part of the conversation.

"We represent a number of these businesses, and we thought it would be prudent on our part to come up, introduce ourselves to you all and let you know we are very willing to work with you anyway we can from a zoning perspective," Pickens said. "We'd like to have some sort of input as you may mull through this."

With Pickens were Meredith Broyles, manager of government relations for Check into Cash, and Erica Sechrist, director of government affairs for Advance America.

Prior to the meeting, Broyles and Sechrist said they were not attending the meeting as a reaction to the discussion. They characterized the visit as another chance to meet with government officials across the state.

Neither would comment on the what other cities they have visited or plan to visit.