The East Ridge City Council handled routine city business in its only meeting of October. The Workshop Agenda session which preceded it was anything but routine, as its members discussed amending an ordinance which would allow the sale of beer during special events on city property, including Camp Jordan Park.
Councilman Larry Sewell asked if the vote passed and beer was sold in Camp Jordan would it only be done when “no kids were involved in the park?”
City Manager Scott Miller explained that the ordinance regulating beer sales in the city was amended in the past allowing the city to issue special permits to sell beer at events anywhere except on city property. Miller, a veteran of 30 years of city administration, made it clear that the issue was “a policy decision.” He could advise the council on how he had implemented special permit beer sales in other cities. If adopted, he requested “a rigid process be established.”
“This is the cart before the horse, right now,” he said.
Councilman Jacky Cagle _ who voiced his opposition to the measure in the September Beer Board meeting which advanced the issue _ then began a long litany of why the city could not amend Ordinance 860, allowing special permits of beer sales on city property.
Cagle started with a brief history lesson on Ordinance 860 being amended in 2009 where the council inserted the prohibition of beer sales on city property. He moved on to the powers and duties of the Beer Board, saying the panel “dumped it” into the lap of the City Council.
“If they go by the beer thing, they have to turn it down,” Cagle said.
Cagle, presumably citing Beer Board policy, continuously referred to page numbers and provisions, asking how many Class 2 licenses were issued in East Ridge? Will these businesses get to sell beer inside Camp Jordan Arena? He referred to the number of tables and the number of people inside a business, again in reference to beer board regulations. Cagle referenced the regulation that prohibits anyone under the age of 21 to “loiter” where beer is sold. He referred to “Item number 10,” which prohibits the sale of beer where there is “adult entertainment.”
Cagle then said that the issue of beer sales on city property was pushed by a businessman who held a tattoo convention in Camp Jordan Arena earlier this year. He said that a “tattoo is considered an adult item,” and that anyone under the age of 21 couldn’t get one.
“You need to look on my bus,” said Sewell, who is a bus driver for Hamilton County Schools.
Cagle then argued that the City of East Ridge would not be able to obtain state grants for Camp Jordan if beer was sold there for special events. It was his opinion that the city could not give consent for private parties to use Camp Jordan.
Mayor Brent Lambert retorted that the city routinely rents the arena and pavilion to private groups.
“It may require what we do is replace (the ordinance) in its entirety,” Lambert said. “I’m willing to listen to both sides.”
Lambert asked that City Attorney Mark Litchford research what measures other cities have taken to allow alcohol sales by special permit on city property. Litchford said he could have that information in two weeks for the next meeting.
The issue of beer sales on city property will appear on the agenda at the next regular City Council meeting for discussion and possible action. That meeting is scheduled for November 9.
During its regular meeting, the council passed on second reading an ordinance that would rezone a small parcel of land at 4202 Ringgold Road from residential to commercial. Officials said the property which contains the last two remaining residences on the main commercial artery of the city will be sold and developed for businesses.
The council passed an ordinance on first reading that establishes a “library board,” in compliance with new state law. The library board, consisting of seven members, will now be responsible for all affairs of the library, including the authority to appoint a library administrator. The library board will furnish an annual report to the City Council.
The council approved a $23,000 change order from design engineers working on sewer issues at the Exit 1 reconfiguration project. The council approved the purchase of a $172,000 garbage truck and extended an agreement to dispose of city garbage at the landfill.
City Manager Miller briefed the council on details of $4.9 million the city is borrowing through the Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund for the cost of the Exit 1 reconfiguration. Miller said the city saved a considerable amount of money obtaining the loan through the bond fund as opposed to General Obligation Bonds. The total cost of the project, he said, is $6.9 million.
