By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
It’s been deemed a success. The first-ever “Beer on the Bricks” last Saturday brought an estimated crowd of 600 to 700 people to downtown Hays. But the event for which tickets to taste various micro-brews sold out in just four hours, nearly didn’t happen.
The myriad of state and local laws regarding the sale, possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages on public property required the city to lease the staging area–a parking lot–to the Downtown Hays Development Corporation which was completely blocked off from the surrounding area.
“Our local Kansas Alcohol Beverage Agent (ABC) told us that it is likely the option of leasing public property to a private entity in order to include alcohol at an event will not be allowed in the future,” Assistant City Manager Jacob Wood told city commissioners Thursday night during their work session.
“When property is leased, a special event permit is not allowed. This means the event would fall under other alcohol
licensing requirements that are more stringent than what is allowed under a special event permit,” Wood explained. He reviewed three options available to the city that would allow alcohol on public property:
• Approving an ordinance that would exempt specific areas permanently
• Approving exemption ordinances for special events on a case by case basis
• Approving an ordinance that would give the City Manager administrative authority to exempt public property for special events
Commissioners agreed the third option was the best after Mayor Eber Phelps asked City Manager Toby Dougherty if he wanted to make those decisions.
“I don’t have a problem with that,” Dougherty replied, “and you guys (city commissioners) can always override the city manager.”
“Let’s say the DHDC came in and wanted to have Brews on the Bricks next year and the city manager declined it. There can always be an appeal to the city commission to modify the ordinance,” he explained.
That answer satisfied Phelps’s concerns.
“What I was looking at was one person being given that authority and he might deny somebody. Then we might get this whole quandary, difficult situation at hand,” Phelps said. “But you’re saying there is a mechanism in place where they can come talk to the commission….I like it.”
Vice-Mayor Shaun Musil, who had asked for the discussion several weeks ago, pointed out the city manager would have insight into why a request might be denied.
“For example, let’s say something comes up and you just know it wont’ work for our police department to be able to manage it because they’re short staffed or something else is going on. You would know that more than we would,” Musil said.
The property lease scenario has only happened a couple of times in the past 10 years that Dougherty could recall.
Public parks in Hays are exempt from the state law. An ordinance passed by the city commission in the 1970s, according to Wood’s research, allows alcohol consumption in city parks.
“I want the commission to know what a great job city staff, the parks department and Police Chief Don Scheibler did for us,” DHDC President Sandy Jacobs said. “This event would not have happened if they hadn’t decided it was going to happen.”
The agenda item will move on to next Thursday’s regular city commission meeting.
Commissioner Henry Schwaller was absent from the work session.