At a Friday meeting where the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen were scheduled to conduct a public hearing on a proposed downtown nightclub, the board instead discussed repealing an ordinance passed last year that restricted alcohol sales at grocery and convenience stores.

Charles Ross had secured a hearing for Friday, but beforehand withdrew his appeal to the board requesting permission to operate a nightclub above Burger Village at 1220 Washington St. However, during a public comment session following the meeting, when resident Tommie Rawlings urged the mayor and aldermen to once again allow alcohol sales 24-hours a day, Mayor Paul Winfield responded, “Amen.”

“We’re losing sales tax revenue; people are driving across the bridge or going to the county,” said Winfield, later adding he expects the issue to come before a public hearing before the end of the year. “Another ordinance I would like to look at is the one put in place that prohibited beer being sold from ice chests.”

Under former Mayor Laurence Leyens, the board voted in March 2008 to outlaw single beer sales from ice chests in convenience and grocery stores. The ordinance also ended alcohol sales at the businesses from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and 2 a.m. to 11 a.m. Sundays. It was the first time the city passed a law limiting the sale of beer and light wine at convenience and grocery stores.

The tighter ordinance came at the request of then Police Chief Tommy Moffett and Deputy Chief Richard O’Bannon, who provided 2007 statistics citing late-night drinking as a factor in an increase in crimes — particularly DUIs, fights and homicides. Winfield disputed that claim.

“Buying a beer is not going to promote homicides or violent crime in our city,” he said.

South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman disagreed with Winfield on all accounts, doubting fewer sales taxes are being collected from beer sales in the city and defending the findings of the former police chiefs.

“I would like to the see the actual numbers of what’s being sold now versus what was being sold (before the ordinance), and I would bet you there isn’t 2 cents difference,” Beauman said. “We haven’t had once incident at Clay and Mission (66); we haven’t had one incident at Clay and Cherry; we haven’t had one incident at Belmont and Drummond since that ordinance was passed. Not one — and we were getting those four times a night, every night.”

North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield — who voted in unanimous support of the tighter regulations last year with Leyens and Beauman — said it wasn’t the extended beer sales that were creating more crime, but after-hours loitering. With restricted hours on sales, he said many convenience stores are no longer staying open all night and loitering has not been as much of a problem. Nonetheless, Mayfield said he would not rule out a change back to 24-hour sales.

“I’m all for looking at this again. But, before I’d make a decision, I would have to discuss it with the store owners and find out how much of an effect this would have on them,” Mayfield said.

Winfield said if loitering was causing more problems than the all-night beer sales, the emphasis should be on the loitering and not the hours or fashion in which beer is allowed to be sold.

“If we do go back and amend that ordinance, I’m going to expect the store owners to step up to do their job of controlling their lots,” the mayor said.

*

On the agenda

On Friday, the board:

• Approved Aug. 17 meeting minutes.

• Proclaimed Oct. 9 Arveta Avant Day in honor of the city’s oldest employee, who celebrates her 80th birthday next week. Avant is the Vicksburg Senior Center’s assistant director.

• Approved requests for the following radio advertisements from WVBG 105.5 FM: for the fifth Annual Christmas Caroling Contest, two months of advertisements at $695 per month; for the Mississippi and Miss Outstanding Teen Scholarship Pageants, one month of ads at $495.

• Executed a grant agreement for the fiscal year 2009 Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Grant, which will provide $6,000 for enforcement and education. The grant requires no local match. The board also authorized an agreement for professional services with Dean Anderson to be the education coordinator for the grant. Anderson will be paid $2,160.

• Accepted a grant of $5,655 for the fiscal year 2009 Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant. The grant requires a 50 percent match, and will provide for 15 new vests for the police department.

• Accepted a letter from Charles Ross withdrawing his appeal concerning a proposed lounge and grill above Burger Village, 1220 Washington St.

• Executed a right-of-way instrument agreement with Entergy Mississippi Inc. to place poles at the Central Fire Station, 1630 Walnut St.

• Adopted budget amendments: in the general fund, street department, a decrease of $3,000 in the supply category, and an increase of $3,000 in the street department, capital category, to replace welding equipment.

• Authorized Director of Buildings and Inspections Victor Gray-Lewis to cut and clean properties at 1601 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and 1104 3rd St. North.

• Approved a $12,780 requisition to Segway Inc. for the purchase of two patrol style personal transport vehicles for the police department.

• Approved an alternate parade route for the Downtown Halloween Parade, set for Oct. 31.

• Tabled a request for advertisement from the NAACP Clinton Branch for its 27th annual scholarship banquet.

• Approved a request from the police department to place four vehicles into unmarked inventory.

• Approved allocating $18,775 to the Southern Cultural Heritage Center.

• Approved allocating $17,500 to the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District.

• Approved payment of a $1,485.26 invoice from the Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport in Mound, La.

• Approved the following additions to the employee driving list: Jervae Hardin in the animal control department and Marie Thompson in administration.

• Approved the claims docket.

In closed session, the board:

• Approved one employee transfer in the fire department.

• Discussed a litigation matter. 

The board is set to meet next at 10 a.m. Oct. 19 in room 109 of City Hall Annex, 1415 Walnut St.

*

Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com