Four businesses appeared before the Chattanooga Beer Board Thursday morning for selling beer to minors. All of these cases were referred to the board by the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), the state board which licenses businesses to sell liquor and wine.
On Aug. 20, the TABC did a series of compliance checks on businesses that had previously violations.
When a second violation is found during a follow up check, the Chattanooga Beer Board is automatically notified. During the follow up compliance checks, at Black Creek Club, 4700 Cummings Hwy. a TABC agent observed the server checking an ID, yet beer was served to a minor undercover agent anyway. Jeffery Remington, the food and beverage manager, admitted the club had failed twice in a matter of just several weeks. He said the servers that made the sales were both 20 years old, new employees and had been let go.
Ron Smith, chairman of the board, expressed surprise saying he thought they would have more mature servers. These two were under the legal age for alcohol consumption. A pool server who wanted to pick up a second shift was the person responsible for the violation on Aug. 20. She had gone through the same training as all the servers had, said Mr. Remington. “I probably made a mistake hiring a 20 year old,” he said. He told the board of the many practices that have now been put in place to prevent this from happening again. The beer board gave a 15-day suspension that will run concurrently with and mirrors the one given by the TABC.
During the follow up visit by the TABC to Fireside Grill, 3018 Cummings Hwy., the underage undercover agent ordered a beer and was served. The first TABC violation from May 2015 was resolved with a fine of $1,000 and license suspension of 15 days. Representatives for owner Donald Breedlove said the servers who made the errors were terminated immediately and measures had been initiated to prevent a repeat of the mistake. The 54-year-old waitress who had been in the business many years made the bad sale on Aug. 20. She was a previous employee who had recently been rehired. It was surprising that she made the mistake, said the manager.
Susan Thompson, bookkeeper for the restaurant and niece of the owner Donald Breedlove, told the board that her uncle was retiring and she was there to surrender the license. However, she plans to reapply for one in November as the new owner. Assistant City Attorney Keith Resiman told her the violation must be taken care of before the license is suspended. A 15-day suspension was given that will begin immediately so the penalty will be satisfied in time for hearing the application for the new permit at the next Beer Board meeting.
Chili’s Bar & Grill, 5637 Brainerd Road, was also found guilty of selling beer to a minor on Aug. 20 during a follow-up visit from the TABC. A long list of changes to the way the restaurant and bar serves alcohol was given to the board members, including secret shoppers that operate twice a month, spot checks by managers and bartenders being required to check IDs in addition to the servers checking. The first offense on April 23 garnered a 15-day license suspension plus a $1,000 fine. The second violation received the same 15-day suspension from the Beer Board that has been issued by the TABC. Both will begin Oct. 19 and will be served at the same time.
A server at Thai Smile #3, 219 Market St., made an underage sale of beer without checking the customer’s ID. Soonthorn Soommart, representative from the restaurant, told the board that she has recently acquired 70 percent ownership in the business. She was unaware that there is a city beer code and had no knowledge of what conditions were in it. Because a beer license does not transfer to new ownership, she has been in violation by selling beer without having a valid beer permit. Board member Andre Harriman said her description of the server being “caught” sounded like it is a habit. Chairman Smith said since the restaurant is in the tourist district near the aquarium there are many young people in the area, and told the manager she needed to figure out who can be served at the door. Trevor Atchley expressed concern that there seems to be a lack of procedure for training employees in alcohol sales. The old license was suspended for 15 days starting Oct. 19 in addition to no beer sales being allowed until a new license is obtained. If the new owner has put the proper procedures in place for controlling the sale of beer, reapplication may be made at the next meeting on Nov. 5.
Thursday morning, approval was given for five special event beer permits. On Oct. 24 Chattajack, a 32-mile paddle board race will take place on the Tennessee River from downtown to Nickajack Lake starting at 8 a.m. That night from 7 p.m.-11 p.m. a party will be held for the participants and their guests at Ross’s Landing. Each person will be allowed two tickets for two beers.
The Tailgate Event, a street party sponsored by Chattanooga Brewing Co., will be held at 1804 Chestnut St. on Oct. 31. UTC has given permission to close the street in front of the business that will be cordoned off and beer tents will be set up. It will be from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. during the football game.
McKamey Animal Center will hold a fundraiser, Barktober Fest, on Oct. 29 at 3222 Ozark Circle from 5-10 p.m. This is the first year for the event which is open to the community and will have activities for children and four-legged friends. The center will be open for adoptions and party will be held in back of the building where kids and pets can trick-or-treat. A beer garden will be in a fenced in area and catering will be by Lee Towery.
On Friday night, Start Up the Block Party will be held at 16 Patten Parkway from 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Barricades will block the street off where Chattanooga Brewing will be selling beer.
Attorney Reisman told the board that the times allowed for off-premise consumption beer sales has been clarified. Sales are prohibited from 3-10 a.m. on Sundays and will be allowed to begin at 10 a.m. Other days of the week, the sale of beer is prohibited from 3-8 a.m. and will be allowed starting at 8 a.m.