It was a matter of “he said / she said” that resulted in a lengthy discussion at the Thursday meeting of the Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker board meeting.
Officer John Collins of the Chattanooga Police Department was called about a disorder at “Cheap Seats” at 2925 Rossville Blvd. that allegedly occurred on Feb. 4. The complaint that he was assaulted inside the bar, from James Dunn, however, was not made until two days after the incident in which he sustained a broken jaw. In his claim, stated Mr.
Dunn, another customer known only as “Country” sat at his table and put a finger in his face to which he responded by “defending himself” resulting in a brawl and him being drug outside. The party he was with then left and went to another bar across the street.
At the time there were two police officers with dogs in the parking lot arresting Mr. Dunn’s nephew, Brandon Dunn, for drug possession. Kathy Jo Black, the proprietor of “Cheap Seats,” stated that she was aware of an argument and was yelling for them to “sit down, quiet down and shut up”, but neither she nor the police officers present saw or were told of a fight.
When asked why he had waited so long to file a report, Mr. Dunn said that “I don’t know why” and that “he hadn’t wanted to make a big deal of it until he discovered his injury the next day.”
According to Ms. Black, because of a previous violation, she has been diligent in complying with the requirement to report disorders. Forestine Haynes on behalf of the beer board, made a motion, which was passed, to dismiss the complaint against “Cheap Seats” that the fight had not been reported to the police, as required.
A ruling on beer license violations against “Skyzoo” at 5709 Lee Highway was passed until the next meeting on April 5. The business has failed to amend or supplement its application promptly of the change in ownership which occurred six months ago.
Mitsi Dawn Powell, on behalf of Skyzoo, stated that she had changed the license with the ABC board and believed that was the only thing necessary. Beer Board attorney Ken Fritz said that this type of amendment is not unusual, but that the issue now is about the lengthy amount of time it has taken to make it. Because the business is being required to appear before the Chattanooga City Council on April 20, it was decided to pass the decision of a beer license until the next Beer Board meeting after that date.
A license violation against “Southern Comfort” at 511 Broad St. was also passed until the meeting of March 15. Because of an email malfunction, the people involved were not notified of their need to be present.
Beer Board Chairman Ron Smith gave admonition to the applicants for new beer licenses, instructing that the first responsibility of employees of any establishment serving beer is to prevent sales to minors. Employees should be made aware of the configurations and colored bars on a driver’s license to indicate dates. He also stated along with the license, comes the responsibility to be accountable for controlling issues with neighbors such as littering, blocking entrances and exits, and sound systems.
Freddrick C. Perdue representing “Freddrick’s” at 1207 Dodds Ave. appeared before the board to obtain a beer license for his business which is a convenience store with a small kitchen. Beer Board member James Hobbs said since “it’s the fifth time Mr. Perdue has been on the agenda, it seems like he’d know the requirements by now.” However, there was confusion about the multiple inspections and various licenses needed from the Beer Board, the Health Department and the Fire Department. With representatives from the Hamilton County Health Department and the Fire Marshall present at the meeting, all requirements were clarified to Mr. Perdue. The application of this license was passed until the May 2 meeting, after all the necessary assessments have been made.
Approvals for licenses were granted to “Taqueria El Charrito” 5813 Lee Highway, previously “Buddy O Juniors”, “Sekisui Chattanooga” 232 E. 11th Street, in the previous location of “Table 2 Grill”, Southern Burger 1110 Market Street at Warehouse Row, and to “Daisy Food Mart” 401 Market Street.
The Beer Board meeting ended with a special event beer license being approved for “Fork and Gavel” which is a fundraiser for Normal Park Museum Magnet PTA. This event will be held March 17 at Warehouse Row.
The meeting reconvened as the Chattanooga Wrecker Board to hear applications from two businesses. Rodney Kilgore from “Monteagle Wrecker Service” 2404 Commerce Street is moving his business to Chattanooga and in addition to towing will also provide recovery service. This license was approved and his company will become the third towing and wrecker business in the rotation process used by traffic officials in Chattanooga.
Mike Simmons representing “A-1 Recovery and Auto Body”, 2110 Tinsley Place has been in business for five years. His business has relocated which put him in a different district, requiring an update to his license which was granted.
This portion of the meeting ended with a discussion of how to fairly allocate business to the three towing and recovery companies that are participating in Chattanooga’s rotation process. There are two plans currently under consideration. The first is if the owner does not specify a wrecker company, then the police officer on site will make the decision. The second proposal would be for each of the three participating companies to rotate by the week. Various other situations were questioned such as which company would be responsible in the event of two wrecks that might occur at the same time, or what to do when an unauthorized tow truck appears at the site. The ultimate goal of any policy will be to quickly remove any vehicle hindering traffic.