05052009 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Extended Bar Hours Task Force Meeting Notes April 24, 2009 Members in Attendance: City Manager Rick Menchaca, City Attorney Michael Cosentino, Assistant City Manager Laurie Anderson, Police Chief Howard Williams, Chuck Swallow- Development Services Director, Kelly Franks - Main Street Program Manager, Brian Montgomery, Sherwood Bishop, Julie Eckert-Texas State University, Allen Shy and Stephanie Reyes-Assistant to the City Manager Not in attendance: City Council Member John Thomaides, City Council Member Chris Jones, Jill Johnstone-MADD, Pete Champion-TABC, and Scott Gregson Rick Menchaca called the meeting to order and mentioned that Chris Jones had a work commitment and John Thomaides had a previously scheduled appointment so neither Co-Chair would be able to attend today's Task Force meeting. Chris and John both agreed that we should hold the meeting without them. Rick Menchaca informed the Task Force that during the April 21, 2009 discussion item, the City Council agreed to the Task Force's recommendations and asked for an ordinance to be drafted to implement 2 a.m. bar closing with 6-month, 12-month, and 2-year reviews. Staff will begin to work with Hays County to use their parking areas once the ordinance is approved on 2nd reading. As recommended by the Task Force, a link was created on the City's website where citizens can submit comments. In addition, staff has posted the list of Task Force recommendations for implementation on the website so the public can view. Rick Menchaca noted that staff is putting together a formal report of Task Force recommendations to the City Council to provide for the May 5th first reading. The report will also be available on the City's website after the May 5th City Council meeting. Michael Cosentino went over the components of the proposed ordinance and explained that businesses who currently have CUPs to allow on-premise consumption of alcohol, do not have to amend their CUPs to stay open until 2 a.m. as long as the business obtains a revised TABC permit for extended hours . He also mentioned that the way the ordinance is written, it is clear that anyone who invests in 2 a.m. closing will know ahead of time that the ordinance can be repealed at any time. Brian Montgomery asked if there is a reason the sale of wine is not mentioned in the ordinance. Michael Cosentino replied that the sale of wine is included in the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 105.5 so it is not necessary to mention wine specifically. Sherwood Bishop asked if there are businesses located in close proximity to neighborhoods that have permits to only sell beer between certain specified hours.