The council took the action in response to a public outcry over a business that city officials claim was operating without proper permits.

With the Social House II discussion temporarily out of the way, residents and elected officials are now focusing on city’s decaying police department headquarters, located in an annex on the east side of City Hall.

The council took short-term action Monday by agreeing to remove $1.9 million from the city reserve fund for a temporary fix to address the most serious of the long-standing “environmental issues” in the historic structure.

Inspectors in February delivered a report declaring conditions in the annex unsafe.

The council now must decide whether to move forward with the proposed construction of a new, $12 million police headquarters.

Residents speaking on the subject at the public portion of Monday’s meeting advocated an overhaul of the existing headquarters, a project that could cost upward of $25 million.

A decision on whether to proceed with a new building was postponed for two weeks after council members Terry Crow and Paulette Carr complained that the Friday notification of a pending vote didn’t provide ample time to consider the measure.