SoundCorps, an organization that is dedicated to growing the music industry in Chattanooga, in conjunction with The Honest Pint, will be putting on “St. Paddy’s on the Parkway” on Saturday from 6-11:59 p.m. This is the ninth annual event that will take place this year at 35 Patten Parkway. There will be two stages, one inside and the other one outside. Half of Patten Parkway will be closed from Saturday morning to get the event set up. A section of southbound Lindsay Street will also be closed during that time. Stratton Tingle, executive director of SoundCorps, told the City Beer Board that he is expecting about 1,000 people. Tickets are on sale for $15 and will increase to $25 if bought at the gate.
A beer license was approved by the beer board at the Thursday morning meeting for Quincy Jones, owner of Good Eats BBQ at 1817 Market St. This restaurant has been open without selling beer until now. With the new beer permit, it will be able to sell beer both to accompany food while dining in as well as selling it to take out.
The residents at Rockbridge Oaks, a senior living facility at 6698 Palms Court in East Brainerd, will also be able to order beer in the dining room. Attorney Justin Tyler representing the owners, was told that the people serving the beer must be professionally trained in beer sales by the Hamilton County Coalition, the approved trainer for the city of Chattanooga Beer Board. If the business also has a liquor license from the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, their training can be used instead.
VFW Post 1289 has recently moved from its previous location after the rent increased significantly. The organization that has been active in Chattanooga for 92 years bought a building at 2193 Park Dr., Unit ,1 and is in the process of moving. The change in address requires that a new beer license be obtained even though the VFW had a permit at the previous location. It will not be used for another couple of months until the move is complete.
Family Dollar #22891 at 4749 Highway 58 has been open but this location, along with the other 14 stores in the Chattanooga area, have not been selling beer. This is the first location that has applied for a permit to sell beer but other stores do around Tennessee. More locations will follow in Chattanooga, as the stores begin to sell more groceries, said Attorney James Balli, representing Family Dollar Stores of Tennessee, LLC. He told the board that employees will be sent to the recommended trainer for beer sales, but that the company also has its own training program. The stores all have hand-held scanners at the registers, nationwide, to check the legal age of the customer. This location is next door to a day care center, but the distance requirement of 200 feet is satisfied.
The convenience store SAI Quick Stop at 6800 Shallowford Road has changed owners and names. The new owners will retain some of the previous employees, but despite having experience, and in-house training, all employees will be required to be professionally trained in beer sales by the Hamilton County Coalition.
Since the city of Chattanooga started using the cloud based software OpenGov which is made to handle municipal business, many holders of beer permits in the city have not been getting renewal notices, and have failed to renew their permits. Roberta Long, interim assistant city treasurer, said that all beer license holders were mailed a letter instructing them to register with the new software, when OpenGov first started being used. Those who did register, do receive renewal letters but if not registered, they do not get them. It is the permit holder’s responsibility to register, she told the beer board.
Vice Chairman Vince Butler asked for the system to do a search for expired permits and for those businesses to be notified by mail. The beer board can inform permit holders about the new Dallas’s Law when a business renews their license. Otherwise, some bars are not aware that it even exists. Chairman Monica Kinsey requested that the renewal dates begin from the day that the beer license is approved.
Brandon Ratledge with Conley’s Towing spoke to the wrecker board members saying that for the next several meetings, he has plans to give them a sheet of educational information relating to the wrecker industry. The topics will change every two weeks and will be things that the wrecker owners have concerns about, but he said the material he will provide will be from a factual standpoint. The first, handed out on Thursday, was about the volume of calls. At the following meeting he would like to discuss to topics and answer questions.
Mr. Butler suggested for him to tell the board what he thinks needs to be changed or added and what could be done to fix it. He noted that the wrecker board can only make recommendations, but that it is the Chattanooga City Council that will be able to actually act to make the changes.