NEVADA — Cold medicines and kegs are both one step closer being under new restrictions after Tuesday’s Story County Board of Supervisors meeting.

The board approved the second readings of ordinances to place restrictions on both.

The medicine ordinance would require pseudoephedrine, used in making methamphetamine, to be in a locked case or behind a counter. Sales of pseudoephedrine-containing products would be limited to two packages per person per day. Transactions would be recorded in a log.

The keg ordinance would require the purchase of a keg to be registered and documented.

Supervisor Jane Halliburton said the ordinances were introduced as a result of growing concerns about meth manufacturers and underage binge drinking.

A third reading of the proposal is needed before the ordinances become county law, Story County Attorney Stephen Holmes said. If approved, the law would be published and implemented April 22.

The final meeting for approval of the ordinances is scheduled to be held in the Ames City Council Chambers. The board chose Ames for the location of the final hearing to encourage public feedback and debate.

Halliburton said the Legislature is also meeting to hear proposals for similar bills regarding control of drugs containing pseudoephedrine.

If enacted, both county and state laws would give retailers better control over pseudoephedrines.

“If approved, the [state] ordinance would not pass until July 1,” Holmes said. “The ordinances in the Statehouse are just as restrictive, if not more so, and would supersede the county’s.”

During the session, Supervisor Don Toms raised concern about the state’s ability to supersede county law. He said he worried retailers carrying pseudoephedrine would have to adapt to new standards twice.

Holmes said most stores affected by the proposed law already have the ability and space to accommodate such changes, and he does not predict the costs to be high.

“Retailers understand there is some inconvenience involved, but they want to be a part of the solution,” Halliburton said. “Meth is not only a danger to those using it, it’s dangerous and expensive to clear up [when labs are found] and taxpayers are paying in many, many different ways.”

Unlike the proposed drug restrictions, the keg sale ordinance does not prohibit keg sales in any way; it just requires them to be registered, she said.

The board’s focus is to make it more difficult for kegs to be used inappropriately, like for underage drinking, and should not be interpreted as being directed toward students, Halliburton said.

“The problem can’t be attributed to university needs, but should be reviewed at a countywide level. [The ordinance] needs to be looked at as a law enforcement tool, not as a solution,” Halliburton said.

According to the 2005 Health and Quality of Life Assessment, sponsored by the Story County Community Coalition, the number of binge drinkers in the county is 7.7 percent higher than the U.S. average.

“We’ve had no [feedback] from students, clearly one of the reasons we wanted a public hearing in Ames,” Halliburton said.

The board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 515 Clark Ave.