Whiskey River’s violations could impact alcohol license

     Typically, when the Monticello City Council's consent agenda includes approval of an establishment's alcohol license, it's approved right along with the rest of the consent items. But during the Aug. 19 council meeting, Council member Jake Ellwood requested the alcohol license for Whiskey River to be considered separately.

   Police Chief Britt Smith informed the council in advance of the situation involving the owner of the establishment.

   "I reached out to the ABD (Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division) regarding some of the concerns you see in my summary letter," Smith told the council. "Our intent is not to purposefully deprive the owner of Whiskey River their liquor license. However, we want to make sure that some of the issues we've identified here in the last six months are addressed and resolved."

   Smith did not wish to elaborate on the specifics of these "issues" when asked following the council meeting.

   He has met with the investigator of the ABD, who was in Monticello a few days prior to the council meeting. The ABD will take it upon themselves to conduct an inspection. Following that, the investigator, Smith, and the owner will all meet to "go over what the sanctions could potentially look like should we have any more of these violations," explained Smith.

   Smith discussed with the investigator whether the council should deny, approve, or table the alcohol license. The ABD's recommendation was for the city to approve the license "and allow (them) to continue to conduct their investigation and potentially move forward with any sanctions in the future.

   "It is unknown at the moment what those sanctions might possibly be," added Smith.

   From his standpoint, Smith said he is seeking "the educational component, making sure that he (the owner of Whiskey River) is aware of what the requirements are so there is no misunderstanding or confusion of what the law says."

   Smith said if any sanctions are imposed, those would be at the discretion of the ABD.

   "These violations are very much what they are," he told the council. "And the ABD will handle everything moving forward."

   Council member Josh Brenneman asked if the violations against Whiskey River stemmed just from the last six months or longer.

   Smith offered that there had been prior violations, typical of as establishment such as this, but "nothing that had amounted to the regularity of the issues that we've been seeing.

   "Once in a while we have a little issue that we have to address," he continued. "This year, these were more regular occurrences."

   The council approved the alcohol license.