BLOOMINGTON - Drivers of limos and shuttle buses picking up people in downtown Bloomington or uptown Normal on the weekends will have to undergo the same background checks as taxi cab drivers every year.

Bloomington City Council unanimously approved an ordinance change that in addition to the background check, the vehicles will have to be inspected twice a year by the city.

Mayor Steve Stockton said the ordinance change is not about whether for-hire drivers and companies are acting responsibly but it is another level of screening drivers. By an agreement with the town of Normal, the city regulates the three taxi cab companies in the Twin Cities.

Among other requirements for a city permit, drivers cannot be convicted of a felony within the last five years. While several owners of limo services spoke before the council, they did not disagree with the additional.

"In reference to the ordinance, I understand the issue is a matter of safety and that's why we've gotten into the business," said Executive Limousines owner Robert Boatman. "We are here to provide people a safe ride home from the bars."

The ordinance also will require a $10 fee for vehicle inspections, a total of $20 for the year, and $10 fee for the background check for drivers. The fine for violating the ordinance starts at $250.

Boatman said his problem was not specifically with the ordinance but that the council was not going far enough to solve other safety problems in downtown Bloomington.

When the taverns and restaurants close on the weekends, Boatman said drivers are mobbed by people needing a ride home.

"We are left defenseless and four officers in downtown is not enough," Boatman said.

The for-hire and shuttle services started working in downtown about two years ago because of the volume of people needing a ride home on the weekends. Taxi cab company owners have said they do not mind the for-hire companies working on the weekends because there is so much demand. However, Taxi cab company owners have said the for-hire companies need to have some form of regulation that is similar to taxi cabs.

Gary Etka, co-owner of Red Top Cab Co., said the council also needs to address for-hire companies that will let people drink alcohol on the ride home. Cab companies cannot allow riders to drink while limousines that have a partition between driver and riders can.

"This is something that needs to be regulated to make it fair all the way around," Etka said.

The change in ordinance regulating for-hire and shuttle buses applies only to those that pick up riders in the central business districts of Bloomington and Normal, often called downtown and uptown respectively.

Bloomington city attorney Todd Greenburg said the ordinance does not include shuttle buses operated by hotels or limousines being operated on contract to provide services that may include taking passengers into downtown or uptown.

In other action, the council unanimously voted to spend $55,000 to redesign the city's fire station for the southwest Bloomington. The bids for the $3 million station came in $400,000 over budget and the city was unable to negotiate with the lowest bidder to lower the project costs. The opening of the station remains set for Feb. 2009.