COON RAPIDS, Minn. - The Coon Rapids City Council voted 5-2 last week to require prepay at the pump, a move that intended to thwart gasoline theft, reports the Minnesota Tribune.

The city became the first in the state to require prepay, an ordinance that will begin August 1 to allow operators to prepare for the change.

"It's a good day in Coon Rapids," station owner Jerry Charmoli told the newspaper. However, many station owners who attended the City Council meeting were not supportive of the plan, noting that they would have liked more time to address the problem themselves.

"It's detrimental," Stephen Linn a new Holiday station commented, noting that the ordinance will change business costs and profits "dramatically" because credit card fees would increase, while inside purchases would decrease and the average fill rate would decrease.

"I think they [retailers] deserve more time," Council Member Jerry Koch, who voted against the ordinance, commented. "Let them work on their businesses themselves."

Mayor Tim Howe also voted against the ordinance, notes the news source, because retailers were already working to reduce fuel theft.

According to the newspaper, fuel thefts peaked in the city at 535 in 2006. There were 481 fuel thefts in 2011.