Sunday alcohol sales now authorized in Troy

Published 3:00 am Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Local residents will likely be able to purchase alcohol Sunday for the first time since citizens passed a referendum on the issue on October 10.

The city council held the final reading of the ordinance enacting Sunday alcohol sales Tuesday and the full council unanimously voted in favor of the new policy.

“I really appreciate the input of the council on this particular ordinance,” said Marcus Paramore, council president. “Everyone spent a lot of time and effort on this.”

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The ordinance sticks mostly to the language of the referendum, allowing alcohol sales on Sundays after noon both on and off premises.

There is one exception included in the ordinance that was added after the referendum though. Lounge Class 1 permit-holders (which includes bars) will not be allowed to start selling alcohol until 2 p.m. and will have to end sales at 10 p.m. The ordinance also sets that those businesses will have no cutoff time on New Year’s Eve, the Fourth of July and New Year’s Day if those holidays should fall on a Sunday.

The council had considered other parameters for the ordinance at their meeting immediately following the referendum, including the possibility of not allowing lounges to sell on Sundays at all and the possibility of pushing the start time for all businesses to 1 or 2 p.m.

Paramore said feedback from the council and residents factored into the decision to place the limitations on bars and lounges.

City Clerk Alton Starling said the ordinance would be in effect by Sunday, December 3 if published in the newspaper by Thursday, which he said he expects to happen.

In other business, the council:

• Approved an agreement at no cost with PowerSouth to cross PowerSouth’s power lines in a project to supply power to the Environmental Services Department’s new baler.

• Approved an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation for Troy to relocate some overhead power lines for an ALDOT project on a culvert between Spurlock Iron and Metal and Best Western on U.S. Highway 231. The expenses to move the utilities will be reimbursed by ALDOT.

• Approved an advertising agreement with Troy University to sponsor the Troy Trojans bowl game pending bowl selection on Sunday.

• Tabled an agreement on a fence along Alphonsa Byrd Drive that would have installed chain link fence with slats to help improve aesthetics in the area while also improving safety. Wanda Moultry, District 5 councilmember, asked to look into the cost of a privacy fence that might better conceal the area from the view of the street. Mayor Jason Reeves said that fence type would likely be more expensive and would not last as long because of the material.

• Reeves thanked the council for their work on an economic development project – which is currently under the codename “Project Glue” – and informed them that a “772 notice” would be running in the newspaper soon revealing more information about the project. Amendment 772 of the Alabama Constitution allows municipalities and counties to recruit industries for the purpose of economic development.

• Announced the change of the Christmas parade from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, December 4.

The next regular meeting of the Troy City Council will be held on Tuesday, December 12 at City Hall. The executive committee is currently scheduled to meet upstairs at 4 p.m. and the council will convene in the City Council Chambers at 5 p.m.