Council moves forward on beer measure

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Although they had a lot of people looking over their shoulders – a roomful of people, to be exact – Van Wert City Council members were unanimous in their decision to

move forward with legislation allowing an exemption to the sale of beer at the Van Wert Regional Airport during the Wheels-N-Wings Festival in May.

Moreover, the only Council member to dissent during a non-binding advisory vote after the first reading of the legislation wasn’t against the sale of beer, per se, but felt the law banning alcohol sales on city-owned property should be looked at.

“First off, we don’t have a resolution from the airport board,” Second Ward Councilman Kirby Kelly said of his decision to vote “no” during the advisory vote. “Secondly, I’ve got a problem granting specific exemptions to a law.

“If the law’s not valid any more, we need to change it, rework it,” Kelly added. “If the standards that established that back in the ‘70s are no longer applicable, then let’s change it and let’s move forward, but let’s do it using our brains.”

The measure would be up for a final vote during the March 14 City Council meeting.

One person not giving up on quashing the exemption is local minister Paul Hamrick. Hamrick, who is pastor of First Friends Church, remains adamant in his objection to selling alcohol on public-owned property.

Although Hamrick is against beer sales on city property on principle, he also states that those involved in the Wheels-N-Wings event should make sure they have enough liability insurance to cover a possible problem arising from alcohol sales at the airport.

“It’s always good to get people involved in government,” Hamrick noted. “We’ve had nice, friendly disagreements and it’s okay to disagree. We can still disagree and like each other.”

Meanwhile, the local pastor said that, while the beer sales issue wasn’t his only reason for deciding to run for City Council, he did admit that the issue hastened his decision to file petitions for city office.

“It led me sooner than I wanted to,” Hamrick said.

A much larger issue for City Council to chew on came earlier in the evening when city officials took another look at permanent appropriations for this year.

City Auditor Martha Balyeat gave Council members an update on budget numbers, noting that the net difference between the temporary appropriations and permanent appropriations was an increase of $134,332.

One positive this year is that revenues in January were up $43,000 over a year ago, Balyeat said, while adding that expenses continue to be lower than revenues this year, just as they were in 2010.

While the permanent appropriations measure does meet the reserve requirements city officials hammered out last year and also includes money for Main Street Van Wert, Van Wert Regional Airport and the city parks department, Balyeat stressed that funding cuts to the local government fund – or a decision to end that funding vehicle – as well as other decreases in revenues could again affect funding of those discretionary items.

Council voted unanimously to prepare legislation authorizing permanent appropriations during last night’s regular meeting.

Council members were also unanimous about another issue, but this time they were unanimously against it. All seven members of Council voted “no” on legislation that would have rezoned a North Franklin Street property from R-2 (medium density residential) to B-1 (home business).

Council had cited the property owner’s failure to attend a public hearing or Monday night’s City Council meeting to answer questions on the matter.