Bell Buckle may allow brown-bagging

Wednesday, January 9, 2008
By Brian Mosely

Bell Buckle's board passed the first reading of an ordinance that would make "brown bagging" legal again.

"Brown bagging" is the practice of a customer bringing his own bottle of wine or liquor to a restaurant to consume with a meal.

The repeal was introduced by Alderman Mark Felices, who stated that he did not want to "change the character of the town," but that it was a bad law because there was no way to enforce it.

Bell Buckle does not currently have a police department or municipal court.

Felices also said the current law infringes on the rights of customers and businesses and that the decision to allow it should rest with the business owner.

He also noted that one business had already moved from Bell Buckle because customers were not allowed to bring alcohol to enjoy with their meal. The practice is legal in neighboring Wartrace.

The repeal will go through one more reading and a public hearing next month.

A public hearing was held before the meeting to discuss applying for this year's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).

Alderperson Jenny Hunt said that the town is in a good position for a water grant to deal with the many leaks that have plagued the system, but the board chose to wait on a report from Joe Richards, who is performing an leak detection survey since last month.

The board is looking at asking for a $300,000 grant. Hunt said that Bell Buckle has a "per capita" problem due to the town's low population, which places it further down on the priority list.

Water manager Ronnie Lokey stated that Richards has located six service leaks and two fire hydrant leaks during the survey, and the repairs have saved an estimated 1,166,400 gallons a month.

Lokey also said that the amount of water the town has been buying is dropping due to the repairs and water loss was down six percent from last month.

"We expect to see a lowering of this number in the next billing cycle," he said.

The board took no action on a request to remove a speed bump on School Street after other neighbors asked that it remain.

Water system employee Randy Johnson was approved for a raise to $16 an hour and a bonus of $250 after passing his Grade III Waste Water Treatment Plant Operator test.

Comments

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You have got to be kidding me. Why all at once everyone wanting to drink. The little town of Bell Buckle has been ok for a lot of years without the "brown-bag" I work at a liquor store and know what kind of damage this will do. Vote to keep it out.

-- Posted by Linda faye on Wed, Jan 9, 2008, at 10:25 AM

i agree. i live in bell buckle and do not want to see "brown-bagging" going on when i go to the cafe. i don't agree with drinking, but at least keep it at home if you are going to do it. don't bring it out in public where you will be driving home from your meal...do you want that wreck on your conscious? there are many people walking from store to store...lots of outsiders...so the last thing our town needs is a reputation of drunkards running off business. if the local store owners were smart about it, they would agree.

-- Posted by Christian Dad on Wed, Jan 9, 2008, at 12:57 PM

Vote to keep "brown bagging" out..it is a shame some people cannot enjoy a meal at a family restaurant without a drink! There are a lot of children that enjoy eating out also...think of them..

-- Posted by ss1015 on Wed, Jan 9, 2008, at 3:44 PM

I have started a blog on this is anyone would like to participate. I am not surprised that the issue has come up, but the justifications used in the report above, surprise me.

Our leaders should be more concerned about what WE who elected them want, NOT the customers who come in to town. They have been coming for many years without alcohol and seem to enjoy themselves. W

-- Posted by stevemills on Wed, Jan 9, 2008, at 5:19 PM

I have started a blog on this topic for anyone who wants to participate. It will be quickly obvious that I am not for expanding the use of alcohol in BB, but let the debate begin.

-- Posted by stevemills on Wed, Jan 9, 2008, at 5:21 PM

It's funny the people that didn't want the store in bell buckle to sell beer now want brown bagging. It's no suprise though I mean look who all this is coming from.

-- Posted by bell buckle09 on Wed, Jan 9, 2008, at 8:10 PM

Brown bagging does not allow anyone to bring alcohol anywhere at any time. It allows drinkers to bring alcohol to private businesses that have invited the drinkers to bring it and only at the times that the private business owner allows. Brown bagging is permitted under Tennessee law. It is legal throughout the state in almost every town and city. A town has the authority to override state law if it chooses. But why overide state law if we have no cop to enforce the override. If bell buckle wants to start telling private business owners what they can do on their own private property then at the very least it should have a cop and a judge to enforce the rule. But last time I checked this was America and not China and a man (or his guests) could still have a drink of his own beer on his own private property.

-- Posted by andy33 on Thu, Jan 10, 2008, at 7:39 AM