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.