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HANNIBAL, MO. -- The future of the former Murphy Motors building in downtown Hannibal may be decided soon.

On Wednesday night the council heard from Bill Martin who detailed plans to turn the building into a brew pub that would feature a micro-brewery.

Martin and his business partner Lance Smith have been looking at this location for several years.

Martin says by the time he and his partner were ready to put their plan for the property into action, the city had already purchased the building.

So he spoke to Mayor Roy Hark and City Manager Jeff LaGarce to see what plans the city had for the property and if they would be open to a possible option.

"From there they decided to open it up to the public to see of other people had other ideas they would like to propose and we happened to be the only proposal submitted at that time," Martin said.

Besides the micro-brewery, the building would also feature a small grocery store, a historic furniture display and outdoor seating with excellent views of the river on the second floor.

Hannibal Mayor Roy Hark says that although several people spoke to the council about possible ideas for the site, only Martin and Smith came forth with an actual plan.

Mayor Hark says it is important the entire process be kept as transparent as possible and that's why the council decided to table voting on the proposal Wednesday night.

"His attorney's, although I think they agree in principal with what we're doing , they had some questions and we wanted to see what their questions were and we just wanted to make sure that everybody was on the same page," Hark said.

The council is expected to vote on the resolution to sell the property to Martin and Smith at the next Hannibal city council meeting.