|
|
|
||||||
|
| Voters to decide local alcohol options Nov. 2 Wednesday, July 28, 2010 Carolea Hassard After a failed attempt earlier this year to hold an election on alcohol sales here, the Citizens for Progression Committee succeeded last week in getting it on the ballot.
In November, Springtown residents will be asked to “legalize the sale of beer and wine” and allow “the legal sale of mixed beverages in restaurants by food and
beverage certificate holders only.” Voters’ answers will be simple: “For” or “Against.” Because the committee gathered enough signatures to call for an election, city council was required by law to pass a resolution and did so at its regular meeting last week.
The special election will be held on Nov. 2 and is open only to Springtown residents. Progression member Tracy Lee said her committee collected 254 signatures on its petitions. “In retaining the signatures again we received great support and actually turned in more with the second signing,” Lee wrote in an email. “Of course there were people that relocated and couldn’t re-sign, but we picked up new ones to replace those. “We were going to get an even 300, but it was hot!” she added. “I decided we had a sufficient number of signatures to satisfy the requirements set forth by the state.” The committee’s first attempt failed after the Parker County Elections Administration discovered in March – the day the election would have been called – that Springtown’s city limits extend into Wise County. County election administrator Robert Parten said he was unaware of the discrepancy. He said that of the maps filed with the North Texas Council of Governments, the 911 addressing office and his own office, none showed the city lying in two counties. However, First Baptist Church pastor Hal Kinkeade received a boundary map from mayor Doug Hughes which showed that the city extends slightly into Wise County. He showed it to the elections office and asked if the petitions were valid. They were not, because one county cannot hold an election for a city that lies in two counties. Instead, the city must handle the paperwork for both counties and administer the election itself. In this case, that is a job for city secretary Jhanna Bogan. So the committee started over, this time going through Bogan rather than the county. In the meantime, city council has passed several ordinances regulating the sale of alcohol. The two ballot proposals include allowing beer and wine sales at grocery and convenience stores, and allowing mixed-drink sales at restaurants. Neither proposal will allow liquor stores or bars to open here, Lee said. For more information call the committee at 817-458-1356. |