The Austin City Council is looking for ways to prevent a mess from accumulating around downtown bars.

The council discussed ways to address litter during its work session Tuesday night after citizens voiced concerns about cigarette butts, chewing tobacco and broken beer bottles plaguing a few Austin street corners.

Planning and Zoning Administrator Holly Wallace said a few citizens had concerns about littering in the downtown area, namely where most of the bars are located.

“We made recommendations to put in lighting, anti-littering signs, talking to neighbors, try to determine some ways to keep the area from attracting people who are going to be standing there, throwing cigarette butts on the ground,” Wallace said.

She added that those who made the complaint were also talking to their neighbors to work something out.

Wallace said they also looked at things from an enforcement standpoint, such as possibly ticketing people for leaving their cigarette butts behind or for a nuisance issue because the cigarette butt receptacles are in that area.

Council member Judy Enright suggested property owners clean up their part of the street in the morning.

“We have containers, it just doesn’t matter, they’re going to do it,” she said. “They own the property, they should go out and clean it up each morning. Some studies show people are less apt to leave a mess if an area looks tidy.”

Mayor Tom Stiehm agreed and said the owners should make sure their area is cleaned up.

Council member Janet Anderson added the Spam Museum is opening this spring and the littering problem needs to be addressed.