The Alexandria Beer Board, made up of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, will hold a meeting on Tuesday, January 27th to consider two applicants requests for a beer permit.
Kenneth Clayborn has applied for a permit to sell beer at his business C & C Market on Highway 53 and Bobby Simpson has filed an application for a beer permit at a business location on Highway 70.
The beer board meeting will be held following the regular city council meeting at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 27th at the Alexandria City Hall.
Mayor Ria Baker says this is the first time the Alexandria Beer Board has ever met to act on an application. “This will be a new experience for us all. I do have some people from the state that are supposed to come and explain to us, prior to the meeting in like a workshop session, what we’re supposed to do. I want everybody on the board to know what they can do, what they cannot do, and how this is supposed to work.”
“We’ve got two applicants that want to put beer in their businesses. They’ve already jumped through all the hoops as far as what those codes say. Now it’s just a matter of going before the board for a vote on their permit.”
The Alexandria City Council is made up of Aldermen Eddie Tubbs, Maureen Tubbs, Derrick Baker, Charles Griffith, Shelia Clayborn, and Tony Tarpley.
The following are the city regulations concerning the beer board and the sale of beer in Alexandria.
8-201.Beer board established. There is hereby established a beer board to be composed of the board of mayor and aldermen. The mayor shall be the chairman of the beer board.
8-202.Meetings of the beer board. All meetings of the beer board shall be open to the public. The board shall hold regular meetings in the city hall at such times, as it shall prescribe. When there is business to come before the beer board, a special meeting may be called by the chairman provided he gives a reasonable notice thereof to each member. The board may adjourn a meeting at any time to another time and place.
8-203.Record of beer board proceedings to be kept. The recorder shall make a record of the proceedings of all meetings of the beer board. The record shall be a public record and shall contain at least the following: The date of each meeting; the names of the board members present and absent; the names of the members introducing and seconding motions and resolutions, etc., before the board; a copy of each such motion or resolution presented; the vote of each member thereon; and the provisions of each beer permit issued by the board.
8-204.Requirements for beer board quorum and action. The attendance of at least a majority of the members of the beer board shall be required to constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting business. Matters before the board shall be decided by a majority of the members present if a quorum is constituted. Any member present but not voting shall be deemed to have cast a “nay” vote.
8-205.Powers and duties of the beer board. The beer board shall have the power and it is hereby directed to regulate the selling, storing for sale, distributing for sale, and manufacturing of beer within this municipality in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
8-206.”Beer” defined. The term “beer” as used in this chapter shall mean and include all beers, ales, and other malt liquors having an alcoholic content of not more than five percent (5%) by weight, except wine as defined in Tennessee Code Annotated, § 57-3-101(a)(20); provided however, that no more than forty-nine percent (49%) of the overall alcoholic content of such beverage may be derived from the addition of flavors and other non-beverage ingredients containing alcohol.
8-207.Permit required for engaging in beer business. It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, store for sale, distribute for sale, or manufacture beer without first making application to and obtaining a permit from the beer board. The application shall be made on such form as the board shall prescribe and/or furnish, and pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated, § 57-5-104(a), shall be accompanied by a non-refundable application fee of five hundred dollars ($500.00). Said fee shall be in the form of a cashier’s check payable to the Town of Alexandria. Each applicant must be a person of good moral character and he must certify that he has read and is familiar with the provisions of this chapter.
a. Application for certificate of good moral character1. Before
any character certificate, as required by Tennessee Code Annotated, § 57-3-208
or a renewal as required by § 57-3-213 shall be signed by the mayor, or by any
aldermen,2 an application in writing shall be filed with the city recorder on a
form to be provided by the city, giving the following information:
(1) Name, age and address of the applicant.
(2) Number of years residence in the city.
(3) Occupation or business and length of time engaged in such occupation or business.
(4) Whether or not the applicant has been convicted of a violation of
any state or federal law or of the violation of this code or any city ordinance, and
the details of any such conviction.
(5) If employed, the name and address of employer.
(6) If in business, the kind of business and location thereof.
(7) The location of the proposed store for the sale of alcoholic beverages.
(8) The name and address of the owner of the store.
(9) If the applicant is a partnership, the name, age and address of each
partner, and his occupation, business or employer. If the applicant is a
corporation, the name, age and address of the stockholders and their degrees of
ownership of stock in the corporation.
The information in the application shall be verified by the oath of the
applicant. If the applicant is a partnership or a corporation, the application
shall be verified by the oath of each partner, or by the president of the
corporation.
b. Applicant to agree to comply with laws. The applicant for a
certificate of good moral character shall agree in writing to comply with the
state and federal laws and ordinances of the city and rules and regulations of
the Alcoholic Beverage Commission of the State for sale of alcoholic beverages.
8-3 1State law reference Tennessee Code Annotated, § 57-3-208(c).
c. Applicant to appear before board of mayor and aldermen;
duty to give information. An applicant for a certificate of good moral
character may be required to appear in person before the board of mayor and
aldermen for such reasonable examination as may be desired by the board.
d. Action on application. Every application for a certificate of
good moral character shall be referred to the chief of police for investigation and
to the city attorney for review, each of whom shall submit his findings to the
board of mayor and aldermen within thirty (30) days of the date each application
was filed. The mayor or a majority of the board of mayor and aldermen may issue
a certificate of moral character to any applicant.
e. Residency requirement. The following was amended Dec. 2008 per State Laws changing resident of the City of Alexandria to read as, resident of Tennessee.
The applicant for a certificate of good moral character shall have been a bona fide resident of Tennessee for not less than one (1) year at the time his application is filed. If the applicant is a partnership or a corporation, each of the partners or stockholders must have been a bona fide resident of Tennessee not less than one (1) year at the time the application is filed.
This section shall not apply to any applicant who has been continuously licensed pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated, § 57-3-204, for seven (7) consecutive years.
f. Applicants for certificate who have criminal record. No
certificate of good moral character for the manufacture or sale at wholesale or
retail of alcoholic beverages or for the manufacture or vinting of wine shall be
issued to any person, (or if the applicant is a partnership, any partner, or if the
applicant is a corporation, any stockholder), who, within ten (10) years
preceding the application for such certificate of good moral character, has been
convicted of any felony or of any offense under the laws of the state or of the
United States prohibiting the sale, possession, transportation, storage or
otherwise handling of intoxicating liquors, or who has during such period been
engaged in business, alone or with others, in violation of such laws.
g. Only one establishment to be operated by retailer. No
retailer shall operate, directly or indirectly, more than one place of business for
the sale of alcoholic beverages in the city. The word “indirectly,” as used in this
section, shall include and mean any kind of interest in another place of business
by way of stock, ownership, loan, partner’s interest or otherwise.
h. Where establishments may be located. It shall be unlawful
for any person to operate or maintain any retail establishment for the sale,
storage or distribution of alcoholic beverages in the city except at locations zoned
for that purpose, but in no event shall any establishment be located within one hundred (100) feet of a hospital, church or school, or any other place of public
gathering, measured in a straight line between the nearest point on the
property line upon which sits the building from which the alcoholic beverages
will be sold, stored or distributed, and the nearest point on the property line of
the hospital, school, church, or other place of public gathering.
8-208.Privilege tax. There is hereby imposed on the business of selling, distributing, storing or manufacturing beer a privilege tax of one hundred dollars ($100.00). Any person, firm, corporation, joint stock company, syndicate or association engaged in the sale, distribution, storage or manufacture of beer shall remit the tax each successive January 1 to the Town of Alexandria, Tennessee. At the time a new permit is issued to any business subject to this tax, the permit holder shall be required to pay the privilege tax on a prorated basis for each month or portion thereof remaining until the next tax payment date.
8-209.Beer permits shall be restrictive. All beer permits shall be restrictive as to the type of beer business authorized under them. Separate permits shall be required for selling at retail, storing, distributing, and manufacturing. Beer permits for retail sale of beer may be further restricted so as to authorize sales only for off premises consumption. A single permit may be issued for on premise and off premise consumption. It shall be unlawful for any beer permit holder to engage in any type or phase of the beer business not expressly authorized by his permit. It shall likewise be unlawful for him not to comply with any and all express restrictions or conditions in his permit.
8-210.Limitation on number of permits. The number of licenses for the sale of beer shall be limited to one (1). Provided that all requirements of this chapter are complied with, all existing permits for the sale of beer within the corporate limits of the city at the date of the passage of this ordinance shall continue to be renewed. A new permit may be issued to a qualified purchaser of an existing establishment in which a permit is now held for the sale of beer, and the permit used only within the establishment or building purchased.
8-211.Interference with public health, safety, and morals prohibited. No permit authorizing the sale of beer will be issued when such business would cause congestion of traffic or would interfere with schools, residences, churches, or other places of public gathering, or would otherwise interfere with the public health, safety, and morals. In no event will a permit be issued authorizing the manufacture or storage of beer, or the sale of beer within one hundred (100) feet of any school, residence, church or other place of public gathering. The distances shall be measured in a straight line from the nearest point on the property line upon which sits the building from which the beer will be manufactured, stored or sold to the nearest point on the property line of the school, residence, church or other place of public gathering. No permit shall be suspended, revoked or denied on the basis of proximity of the establishment to a school, residence, church, or other place of public gathering if a valid permit had been issued to any business on that same location unless beer is not sold, distributed or manufactured at that location during any continuous six-month period. Permit shall be issued only in areas zoned for beer sales.
8-212.Prohibited conduct or activities by beer permit holders, employees and persons engaged in the sale of beer. It shall be unlawful for any beer permit holder, employee or person engaged in the sale of beer to:
1.Employ any minor under 18 years of age in the sale, storage, distribution or manufacture of beer.
2.Make or allow the sale of beer between the hours of 12:00 Midnight and 6:00 A.M. on weekdays and between the hours of 12:00 Midnight Saturday and 12:00 noon on Sunday.
3.Allow any person under twenty-one (21) years of age to loiter in or about his place of business.
4.Make or allow any sale of beer to any intoxicated person or to any feeble-minded, insane, or otherwise mentally incapacitated person.
5.Allow drunk persons to loiter about his premises.
6.Serve, sell, or allow the consumption on his premises of any alcoholic beverage with an alcoholic content of more than five percent (5%) by weight.
7.Allow pool or billiard playing in the same room where beer is sold and/or consumed.
8.Fail to provide and maintain separate sanitary toilet facilities for men and women.
8-213.Revocation or suspension of beer permits. The beer board shall have the power to revoke or suspend any beer permit issued under the provisions of this chapter when the holder thereof is guilty of making a false statement or misrepresentation in his application or of violating any of the provisions of this chapter. However, no beer permit shall be revoked or suspended until a public hearing is held by the board after reasonable notice to all the known parties in interest. Revocation or suspension proceedings may be initiated by the police chief or by any member of the beer board.
Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated, § 57-5-608, the beer board shall not revoke or suspend the permit of a “responsible vendor” qualified under the requirements of Tennessee Code Annotated § 57-5-606 for a clerk’s illegal sale of beer to a minor if the clerk is properly certified and has attended annual meetings since the clerk’s original certification, unless the vendor’s status as a certified responsible vendor has been revoked by the alcoholic beverage commission. If the responsible vendor’s certification has been revoked, the vendor shall be punished by the beer board as if the vendor were not certified as a responsible vendor. “Clerk” means any person working in a capacity to sell beer directly to consumers for off-premises consumption. Under Tennessee Code Annotated, § 57-5-608, the alcoholic beverage commission shall revoke a vendor’s status as a responsible vendor upon notification by the beer board that the board has made a final determination that the vendor has sold beer to a minor for the second time in a consecutive twelve-month period. The revocation shall be for three (3) years.
8-214.Civil penalty in lieu of revocation or suspension.
(1) Definition. “Responsible vendor” means a person, corporation or other entity that has been issued a permit to sell beer for off-premises consumption and has received certification by the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission under the “Tennessee Responsible Vendor Act of 2006,” Tennessee Code Annotated, § 57-5-601, et seq.
(2) Penalty, revocation or suspension. The beer board may, at the time it imposes a revocation or suspension, offer a permit holder that is not a responsible vendor the alternative of paying a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) for each offense of making or permitting to be made any sales to minors, or a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for any other offense.
The beer board may impose on a responsible vendor a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for each offense of making or permitting to be made any sales to minors or for any other offense.
If a civil penalty is offered as an alternative to revocation or suspension, the holder shall have seven (7) days within which to pay the civil penalty before the revocation or suspension shall be imposed. If the civil penalty is paid within that time, the revocation or suspension shall be deemed withdrawn.
Payment of the civil penalty in lieu of revocation or suspension by a permit holder shall be an admission by the holder of the violation so charged and shall be paid to the exclusion of any other penalty that the city may impose.
8-215.Loss of clerk’s certification for sale to minor. If the beer board determines that a clerk of an off-premises beer permit holder certified under Tennessee Code Annotated, 57-5-606, sold beer to a minor, the beer board shall report the name of the clerk to the alcoholic beverage commission within fifteen (15) days of determination of the sale. The certification of the clerk shall be invalid and the clerk may not reapply for a new certificate for a period of one (1) year from the date of the beer board’s determination.
8-216.Violations. Except as provided in § 8-215, any violation of this chapter shall constitute a civil offense and shall, upon conviction, be punishable by a penalty under the general penalty provision of this code. Each day a violation shall be allowed to continue shall constitute a separate offense.
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