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City Council Minutes 1995 12-14-95 (public hearing) Yorkville City Council Public Hearing 6: 30 p.m. December 14, 1995 Council Members and City Officials Present: Alderman Jones, Alderman Prochaska, Alderman Callmer, Alderman Spang, Chief Graff, Attorney Kramer, Alderman Baker, Alderman Lynch, Alderman Sowinski, Clerk Allison Mayor Johnson stated that this is an informal Public Hearing to discuss the proposed / revised liquor ordinance for the City of Yorkville. These have been distributed for review. Any concerns or comments should be discussed at this time. A vote will not be taken on this issue tonight. This will be reviewed again and most likely voted on at the first council meeting in January 1996. Attorney Kramer stated that the new ordinance accomplishes two things. One issue is to reclassify the classifications. This has not been completed in many years and many of the classifications were obscure and caused confusion. The second issue was to review the fees as the council felt that some fees may not have been equitable to everyone. This new ordinance will not increase the overall amount of funds received by the City. This redistributes the funds among the classifications. The new ordinance will be menu driven by what the functions of the establishment really are. Mayor Johnson asked those present if they wished to address the council. Richard J. Hackett of MADD, 203 N. Wabash, Suite 2118 Chicago, IL 60601 addressed the council. Mr. Hackett stated that MADD is not against the use of alcohol but promotes designated driver programs and training for alcohol servers. He briefly described the training stated that this teaches the servers to recognize when someone has had too much to drink, how to retrieve their keys from them and how to provide a ride home. Mr. Hackett also stated that they believe in limiting the number of liquor licenses issued in a city. He asked the council members to consider these factors when reviewing their new ordinance. Attorney Kramer indicated that the City of Yorkville has always had a cap on the number of licenses issued by the City. He also stated that the alcohol server program is good for the city as well as the tavern owners and could mean a reduced rate from their dram shop insurance. Mr. Greg Kraber of O.J. 's Tap stated that his bartenders do attend this type of a training. Mayor Johnson asked for further comment regarding this issue. There being none, he stated that the Public Hearing will be closed. This will be on the agenda of the December 20th Committee of a Whole meeting. It will then be brought up for council vote in the first part of January, 1996.