JANESVILLE — A proposed ordinance change that would have routinely given the Janesville City Council final say on the issuance of temporary special event alcohol licenses, failed in a council vote Monday night.
The vote was 2-5, with council members Paul Williams and Heather Miller, who proposed the change, the only supporters.
Under the current ordinance, the city’s Alcohol License Advisory Committee has final say on temporary special event licenses, not the council. The city clerk’s office issues temporary event licenses on the recommendation of the committee and the police chief.
Williams and Miller said the change would have allowed for additional discussion of alcohol license requests, and they said the council should have final say on the issue of such licenses.
Williams noted in an interview earlier this year that the existing ordinance already allows the council, on a case-by-case basis, to give further review to a license request, and to choose to take final action on it. The ordinance change would have made council review and approval a routine part of the process.
The council went on Monday night to discuss making an separate ordinance change that would require a public hearing be held before Alcohol License Advisory Committee, prior to temporary special event liquor licenses being issued.
The council voted unanimously to ask city staff to gather more information upon which it might base a future decision regarding that.
Also proposed Monday night, and sent to city staff for more information, was a better-defined timeline for the city to follow when issuing a license.
At Monday night’s council meeting, City Manager Kevin Lahner called the proposed ordinance change unnecessary. Lahner said the current process has been working and the change would add an unneeded approval layer. He recommended denying its passage.
“The current procedure works as it is designed and the authority granted to the ALAC should continue. The board has two city council members and a cross-section of the community, and the temporary licenses are given a fair hearing. Seeking another approval is inefficient and not necessary,” Lahner said.
Janesville resident Tammy Brown wrote in a public comment that she didn’t see the proposed change, to require council approval of temporary liquor licenses, to be efficient way of doing things and said the council should leave the process as-is.
On the proposed addition of a public hearing, Miller said that she thinks that if an event may have a significant impact on the community, such as with alcohol proposed to be served at the Rock County 4-H Fair, local residents have a right to share their concerns with the Alcohol License Advisory Committee.
In an annual reorganization following the April 2 election, Williams was not reappointed to the Alcohol License Advisory Committee after 16 years serving on it. He said he has been trying to help keep Janesville safe by following state statutes.
Council President Dave Marshick responded that he was trying to give other council members a chance to sit on various committees.
Council members Miller and Marshick were appointed to the committee.
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