The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By: Shirley Linder, Quill Editor
The Village of Stronghurst held a special board meeting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, February 12 for the purpose of going over the liquor ordinance.
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Brendan Schaley leading in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mayor Schaley then opened the meeting by saying, I called this meeting to discuss or at least go over the liquor and gaming ordinance we have on the city municipal code and I'm going to cover the Illinois criminal law manual that covers the liquor and gaming section for that. We are going to do a little bit different for this meeting and probably for meetings here on out.
Public comments are going to have 3 minutes to make your statements and then no more after that. Sometimes our meetings get a little chatty and go in the wrong directions and we can't stay on path.
This meeting we are sticking strictly to the agenda. Hollie is going to keep track of the 3 minute period. We are not going to play 50 questions, what if, hypothetical situations, nothing like that.
Informational meeting, totally cover the rules and regulations for liquor and gaming in Stronghurst so after today nobody else can say I didn't understand that or I didn t know that rule was in there even though we have talked about this for the last year and a half and handed out I don t know how many copies of this thing. After tonight there ain't no more. Got it?
A roll call of guests brought forth no comments or questions.
Mayor Schaley checked that all board members had a copy of the Village of Stronghurst Ordinance No. 13, March 2018, and asked Sara Evans of the Feedlot Grill and Rob Root of Rivals on Main, if they both had a copy, which they did.
Mayor Schaley then proceeded to read the ordinance section by section.
A few of the highlights included:
It was noted Rivals on Main had the only license to sell liquor on Sunday.
It was noted closing time would be at Midnight with last call at 11 p.m. at which time they could only order one drink per person. It was also noted the building must be cleared of patrons by 12 o'clock, not 12:10 or 12:15. If Chief of Police Arbry Vancil checks at 12:20 the place needs to be empty with all lights off.
Blinds on the windows are being permitted due to a sun problem but they cannot be closed completely. Sara stated she had removed her blinds. Rob said he would only lower his a little leaving 3 ½ visibility.
Ordinance Section 30 says: Revocation; Power of Liquor Commissioner: The President, as liquor commissioner of the Village, shall have the power to suspend or revoke any liquor license hereunder for violation of any section of this chapter, as specified in 235 Illinois Compiled Statutes, and all other powers granted to him in the aforesaid chapter of the Illinois compiled Statutes, subject to the restriction and procedures contained therein.
Section 31: Any person violating any provisions of this chapter shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars ($200.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for a first offense and for each offense thereafter not less than three hundred dollars ($300.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00)
Thirty (30) days is the maximum they can get for suspension if they have a bunch of mess ups, according to the Illinois code book.
At this point Mayor Schaley stated, That's me (liquor commissioner) and I'll tell you right now and I think everybody on this board knows, I don't do anything willy nilly by myself just because I can, If it ever comes down to suspending or revoking someone's license I'm not going to do it on my own. I'm going to ask the guidance of everybody sitting at this table. I think even though the buck stops here I want everybody to weigh in on a severe penalty like that.
The Illinois code book: Allowed to enter or to authorize any law enforcement officer to enter at any time on any premises licensed here under to determine if any provisions of this act or any rules or regulations adopted by him or by the state commission have been or are being violated and have time to examine said premises or said licensee in connection therewith.
Mayor Schaley said, Police officers can walk through your place& flat out& period! If you don't believe me, the State of Illinois says they can!
"Some may not like it, but it keeps things under control. But when they want to walk through they can and they will. I know you can t control your people, but I expect them (officers) to be treated in a respectable manner.
"I don't need Arb coming through the door and somebody jumping in his face saying you don't belong here, blah, blah, blah. Because they do, and I won't put up with that very long.
Sara Evans said it was her understanding if she were in her business doing book work and an officer knocked on the door she had to let him in so he could check she was alone on the premises.
Schaley said, "that is correct they may enter at any time."
Mayor Schaley also read some ordinances on gaming, what is legal and what is illegal.
It was brought out any citizen may fill out a complaint against either establishment if they think the ordinances and rules are not being followed and they will be investigated.
Each board member was given an opportunity to speak and the general consensus was each business owner needed to know and follow the rules.
Mayor Schaley said he was going to end it this way.
I've got along pretty well with Rob in the past. I've got along with Sara in the past and I've had multiple conversations with both of them in the last couple of weeks. I have not slept very well, Rob has not slept very well over some things and I felt like we needed to come in here and hash some things out and get it straight."
He said, "Lots of hearsay going on, a lot people talking about other people. People losing friendships over something that's really not necessary I've gone to Sara's place, I've gone to Rob's place and will probably continue to go to both places."
Schaley went on, "I hope everybody in here and everybody around town still frequents both places and makes it work out.
Present at the meeting were:
Mayor Brendan Schaley; Trustees: Mike Bohnenkamp, Jerry Nortrup, David Vancil, Bruce Caldwell, Shane Reed, and Amanda Kane:
Employees: Hollie Allen, Arbry Vancil;
Guests: Attorney Mariah Wallace, Sara Evans, Rob Root, Mike Swisher, Brad Flatt, Donna Pindell, Theresa Moulton, Dannie Moore, Cory Fox, Dustin Smith, Lori Taylor, Shirley Linder.