Selma native and Atlanta businessman Mark Peterson is in discussions with the city of Selma about potentially purchasing the historic St. James Hotel.

Not a lot of information is available on the discussions, but councilwoman Susan Keith said the city is waiting for Peterson to submit a letter of intent. Keith said Peterson is working with Wallace Community College Selma and Trenholm State Technical College to help staff the hotel and restaurant with students from their programs.

Nothing is official yet and although there’s optimism that the deal will be completed at some point, the city shouldn’t stop pursuing other options just yet.

At the most recent council meeting, council members discussed whether or not another group should be allowed to make a presentation, considering the city’s deadline had already passed.

The answer to that question is a resounding yes. The city should listen to all proposals until a solution is officially found, whether that be a deal with Peterson or a deal with some other group.

Right now the city is putting approximately $20,000 per month into the hotel to keep the doors open.

Since the city is using that much money from taxpayers each month just to keep the hotel operating right now, shouldn’t it be open to exploring all avenues to find a solution?

The arbitrary deadline like the one the city imposed for proposals shouldn’t be enough to stand in the way.

The city already extended the deadline for proposals multiple times.

Now that there’s a group that wants to present, it isn’t willing to do it again?

A final decision was supposed to be made on the hotel months ago, and yet we’re still here without a solution.

Until an agreement is officially signed, the city should welcome any group that wants to make a serious proposal about the St. James.