City Council approves delivery of beer only in the city
Published 12:12 am Monday, April 13, 2020
- File Photo Elizabethton City Hall
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
With current social distancing orders in place for both the city and county, the regular-scheduled monthly Elizabethton City Council meeting was held via teleconference on Thursday evening with the board addressing seven items of new business.
One key business item addressed for on and off-premise permanent beer licensing holders was the unanimous approval by the Council on first reading to allow for those businesses to deliver beer without food orders.
The board will attempt to have its second reading during the upcoming week.
The resolution would allow for those establishments to sell and deliver beer within the city limits only during normal operating hours permitted by city code. Those businesses would have to send in a request for a temporary 30-day permit to deliver beer only with no other alcohol to be allowed.
Only employees of the establishment would be allowed to deliver the beer in properly sealed containers in any vehicle of choice. The employees would have to be over 21 and when delivering the beer, the employees would be responsible for checking ID’s to determine if the purchaser is of age.
All permits would expire on June 30, 2020.
In other business, the board voted in a narrow 4-3 outcome to decline an agreement between the Elizabethton Church of Christ and the Elizabethton Police Department for Special Duty Police Service to provide one police officer for security during Sunday morning and Wednesday night services.
During discussions, Councilman Wes Frazier said he didn’t feel that this agreement would be a good thing to enter into because what the city did for one they would have to do for all and there were not enough resources available to accommodate all the churches in the city should they request the same service.
If the agreement had been approved, the church would have footed the bill for the services provided per the set hourly rate established by the City Council in 2014 for Special Duty Police Service agreements.
The Council voted to approve a bid by Kendall Vegetation Services to trim trees for Hampton Substation breakers #224, 234, and 244 and Okolona 264.
Kendall’s bid was $999,200 and was approved unanimously with a 7-0 vote.
A resolution was also approved for the City of Elizabethton to enter into an agreement with Whaley Construction, LLC for the construction of the bridge over Southside Road in Elizabethton.
The project is state-funded and will come at no cost to the city. The bid from Whaley Construction was $432,842.35. The agreement gives Whaley Construction 120 days for completion after TDOT returns the documentation with signatures.
Council also gave approval for Mayor Curt Alexander to sign the necessary documentation for the Elizabethton Public Library to receive a $2,400 TOPS (Training Opportunities for the Public) grant that was awarded to the library at the beginning of March.
The funds will allow the library to provide a wide array of computer training classes to the public.
