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After a 3-2 vote by the Dacula City Council, city residents will retain the opportunity to vote on Sunday liquor by the drink sales this November.
The council initially passed the referendum on June 2, but later learned the vote was held too early to place the referendum on the November ballot.
“We’d already approved this referendum in a previous council meeting, but we were outside the time limit that the election superintendent has to call the election,” Mayor Jimmy Wilbanks said.
State law requires council approval of referendums on Sunday liquor by the drink sales to be held no sooner than 120 days prior to the election.
The referendum, which will allow voters to decide if Sunday sales of liquor by the drink will be permitted in restaurants within the city limits between the hours of 12:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., passed in June by a 2-1 vote with council members Gregory Reeves and Sue Robinson voting in favor of the referendum and councilman Wendell Holcombe voting against. Councilman Tim Montgomery was absent from the June meeting.
This time, Montgomery was present and cast his vote in opposition along with Holcombe. Robinson and Reeves voted in favor resulting in a tie. Mayor Wilbanks cast the deciding vote to allow the voters to decide on Nov. 8 whether Sunday liquor by the drink sales will be permitted.
The Sunday package sales referendum passed by council in June was not affected.
In other business, council authorized the city to advertise for construction bids on the Second Avenue road project.
The $125,000 project calls for creating a two-way entrance at the intersection of Second Avenue and Dacula Road. The roadway improvements, which will cover approximately 335 feet of Second Avenue between Dacula Road and the Dacula Pharmacy, will be funded with SPLOST proceeds. As part of the project, a sidewalk will be added along the north side of the street and curbs will be installed. Motorists will be able to turn from both directions off Dacula Road onto Second Avenue, but will only be able to turn right off Second Avenue onto Dacula Road. The construction should take approximately three months to complete.
The council also approved a $4,140 bid to seal coat the parking lot of Dacula City Hall.
Kristin Ball
8:48 am on Friday, August 5, 2011
I would love to see the bridge at winder Hwy and traffic light reworked for better traffic flow. Every year it gets worse as school goes back in session
Kristi Reed
8:59 am on Friday, August 5, 2011
Hi Kristin - Here's some information about that intersection: http://dacula.patch.com/articles/draft-tsplost-project-list-released
Roger Hale
9:14 am on Friday, August 5, 2011
It's always interesting to see government people approve liquor issues and then be so against smoking. I smoked for 20 years and have been quit for over 20 years with no health problems to me or my kids. Now drinkers on the other hand can end up ruining their family with their "disease" or killing and maiming people via accidents on the roadways. But I guess government folk feel that death is better than possible damage from second hand smoke. I've always believed that I would be safer meeting a driver on the road under the influence of a Camel than one under the influence of 2-5 liquor drinks or a six pack of Bud. That's why my life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness wish as always been that government officials meet their fellow drinkers head on someday. Would be a sort of karma payback I think. No, I'm not trying to be cruel. I just wish government officials would put public safety ahead of the tax revenue they'll collect from the sale of liquor in their jurisdictions. And no I'm not a non-drinker, but if I do have a drink, it's at home and never driving and it's got be be special reason, not just because I've had a bad day or want to get a buzz on.