City leaders discuss alcohol sales

Package sales of beer and wine in the city limits was one topic of discussion when the Clarendon Board of Aldermen met last Tuesday.

Alderman Ann Huey said she asked for the topic to be put the board’s agenda after some citizens asked her about it.

“I think it would be a way to bring in extra money,” she said. “We could have the income here, and it’s not like people aren’t drinking.”

Alderman Larry Hicks said he approached several citizens about the topic after learning it was going to be on the agenda.

“I believe you might could get it in a package store, but I don’t think on-premises consumption (in restaurants and bars) would ever pass,” Hicks said.

Alderman Will Thompson said he would never support any effort to make alcohol sales legal in the city.

“I will not support it. I cannot support it. I don’t drink, and I am dead set against it,” he said. “Just look at the lives it destroys.”

Thompson said he did not think ill of anyone who has an opposing opinion on the issue, but he said he opposes alcohol sales “with every fiber of my being.”

Alderman Kyle Davis said he “would like to be able to go to Allsup’s and get a six pack,” but he also said he thought the matter would never pass local voters.

Huey and Hicks agreed that they believed the measure could pass if it were limited to package sales in stores.
Mayor Chris Ford shut discussion of the topic down, saying he felt the issue did not need to be coming from the Board of Aldermen but from the citizens.

“If people want it, they need to present a petition,” he said, and the board agreed with that position.

In other city business, aldermen met with City Attorney Jim Shelton, who presented information on the legalities and processes of annexation. The process to expand the corporate limits of the city takes about 90 days from start to finish and involves several steps, Shelton told the board.

“We probably need an official survey before we do anything,” Shelton said. “Everything refers to that.”
City Administrator John Webb agreed with Shelton.
“We need an accurate map anyway,” Webb said. “Let’s start there and then look to see if there is an area that could be developed to build up Clarendon.”
Also on last week’s agenda, aldermen:

• Approved a contract with TxDOT to tap the state’s waterline running west from the city to service the Clarendon College Livestock & Equine Center with the city gaining ownership of the line.

• Passed a resolution certifying funding for the match of a Transportation Enhancement grant that would revitalize the downtown area. The match for the $440,220 grant is expected to be $88,044, and the Clarendon Economic Development Board has expressed its interest in providing $50,000 for the match.

• Directed Webb to review applicants for City Secretary and present a recommendation to the board at a later date.