Council debates alcohol on square; hires another officer

    A Main Street Washington event planned for August occupied the Washington City Council at its regular meeting Wednesday night. Main Street Director Amy Vetter had informed the council at an earlier meeting that her organization had planned a downtown party for Aug. 7 titled ?Celebrate Your Senses.? The council voted to approve the request for the party with the exception of the location of the proposed beer tent, which will be discussed at future meetings. 

    Vetter requested to have all of the streets around the square closed for the all-day event, which will take place on a Saturday. She said Main Street plans to haul in 30 tons of sand to be placed on Iowa Avenue for sand volleyball and horseshoe competitions. She also requested a liquor license to allow beer on the square. Vetter said the southwest quadrant of the square would be blocked off for a beer tent. She said that alcohol consumption would be closely controlled at the event to ensure it remains family-friendly.

    ?We ask to put up a double fence so we can have a controlled service area [for alcohol] during the day,? said Vetter. ?This will keep people from bringing coolers in their trunks and drinking alcohol out of their own cars. To deter underage drinking, everyone will be identified and provided a colored-wristband depending on their age.?

    Councilman Mike Roth said that he supports the event but that he doesn?t see how alcohol can be allowed on the square, because there is a city ordinance explicitly prohibiting it. 

    ?The ordinance clearly states that we cannot have an alcohol service area in the square,? said Roth. ?I would rather see it in the street some place. I understand people may feel disconnected, but the ordinance is the ordinance and we have to respect that.?

    Vetter told the council that the Main Street Committee met last week to see what kind of a view residents would have of the bandstand if the beer tent was on Marion Avenue.

For the full story, see the June 17 edition of The Washington Evening Journal