LULA – On November 8th voters in Lula went to the polls and approved by 16-percentage points the sale of alcohol by the drink within the city limits of the northeastern Hall County city, a portion of which also lies in Banks County.
At Monday evening’s city council work session (two months and a day after the November general election), a first reading of the 38-page ordinance was approved for the voting session scheduled for next Monday.
Public comment on the ordinance won’t take place until the next work session scheduled for February 13th.
City Manager Dennis Bergin said the work session will begin an hour early, at 5:30 p.m., to allow citizen comment on the proposed legislation.
Some have wondered why the process is taking so long.
“There really is no boilerplate ordinance,” Bergin explained, saying his office has been studying ordinances adopted by similar communities in the same situation.
“We’ve looked to see what works in other communities; we’ve also looked to see what hasn’t worked. If we’re smart we won’t adopt policies that have to be re-visited.”
“We’re taking our time with it and we’re selective,” Bergin said of his efforts to word the ordinance correctly the first time. “They spent six hours on it in the work session.”
Bergin calls his approach conservative. “And probably that’s the right move; it kind of reflects the community values, as well.”
Bergin added, “We’re cognizant of the folks that voted for it, we’re also cognizant of the folks that were concerned and voted in opposition of it.”
“We’ll understand what worked and what didn’t work in a year and we’ll see where it goes.”
Bergin said that if all goes as planned it would probably be March 1st before cocktails are available for sale at your favorite Lula eatery.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/1/488839/cocktails-in-lula-making-slow-methodic-march-toward-actuality