Bowling alley awarded 6-month beer permit

After what was probably the longest beer board meeting on record, Shelbyville Lanes now has a beer permit. A six-month probationary beer permit.

"Your problem is that you were too honest and it hurt you," said board chairman Ricky Overcast to owner Kim Manley at a special called meeting of the Shelbyville Beer Board Monday night.

He said the board's previous two decisions to deny his earlier applications had been based on beer sales reported to have been made without a permit.

"I don't have an ax to grind. I'm not the villain in this situation as the paper has tried to paint it," he said.

The special called meeting took place Monday night and involved a lawyer from the Tennessee Municipal League, a lawyer for Manley, hours of accusations and counter accusations, and, at one time, the threat of police action.

Manley's attorney, Richard Dugger,a former Shelbyville city attorney himself, drew fire from current City Attorney Ginger Shoffner after he repeatedly suggested the TML attorney, Brant McMillan, was violating his client's Constitutional rights.

McMillan had asked Manley if he sold beer on the day the police visited the bowling alley, responding to complaints Manley was selling beer without a permit.

"This is the second time my client's Constitution rights have been violated," Dugger said. He maintained that when Manley responded to that question in previous meetings and in a letter of apology he wrote to the beer board, he was being asked to confess without having been charged or read his Miranda rights.

After the third or fourth outburst from Dugger. Shoffner interrupted and told him that another such outburst would result in his eviction from the proceedings. A police officer was summoned and remained until the end of the meeting.

Dugger apologized to the board and both attorneys.

History

Manley bought the bowling alley on Dec. 1, 2009. He told the board the previous owners had given him permission to operate under their permits and contracts had been approved. He said he did not know the beer permit was not in their name, but in that of Gerald "Buzz" Ballard, the manager who was let go shortly after Manley took over operations.

Betty Lamb told the board Ballard turned his permit in and said he was not granting Manley permission to operate under it. Manley was not notified of this, and still thought he was working under the previous owner's permit, he said later.

He was not given a citation by the police. Sgt. James Wilkerson told the board that he thought Manley was polite and cordial and it was simply a misunderstanding.

Manley was denied a beer permit the next week based on the accusations, and again at the January meeting.

At the February meeting, the board voted to rescind all previous decisions made about Manley's application until more information could be gathered and the special meeting was called.

He said, she said

At the special meeting, a public comment portion allowed different points of view to be heard. There were at least four speaking in favor of Manley's business, including Maurice Armstrong, who said he was there on behalf of all of the senior citizens, about 60, who bowl in the Wednesday morning league. Speaking against Manley were three women, including a former employee of Ballard's and one former employee of the bowling alley who had been fired by the new owners.

Those two were also called as witness during the fact-finding session.

"This was lopsided from the beginning," protested Dugger when called upon to make a closing statement. He had not been allowed to question any of the witnesses or call his own.

The board agreed to hear from more witnesses, who went on to refute the claims made by the previous witnesses of illegal beer sales and illegal drug use by the owner.

The board finally voted to allow Manley the permit -- on a six-month probationary period.

"You will still have to come back and reapply in six months," warned one board member.