During Monday’s Executive Committee meeting the council opted to table discussions regarding the open container waiver ordinance.
The motion came from council member Jimmy Messick. He said he, and city committees and fellow council members, needed additional time to further look into the matter.
“I haven’t had time to do the research nor gather all of the information that I feel comfortable with in making a decision at this time,” he said.
Messick motioned to table the discussion at the meeting and wait for the city’s committees to bring back their recommendations before the council, in which the ordinance will be voted upon.
The council voted in favor of Messick’s motion.
Currently, event organizers can still request an open container waiver for an event from the council, Messick said.
“Somebody can come in here and request it and we would then have to consider whether or not to approve it,” Messick said.
A couple of downtown business owners attended the meeting to voice their concerns about the policy.
Deb Pruitt, owner of Boomerang Pizza Kitchen in downtown Milton, questioned whether the council received input from the business owners on the matter.
“I have just had never had anyone from the council come up to me and say ‘what do you think about this?’ and I am right downtown,” Pruitt said. “It affects the events we have downtown and it affects our cash flow.”
Council member Mary Ellen Johnson said the motion would allow the council to further research the issue.
“Personally, I have had some phone calls and some emails and none of those were businesses,” Johnson said. “The motion that was offered would certainly give us some time to consider all of those things, because we want to be fair.”
Mayor Wesley Meiss agreed.
“I consider this to be a major decision,” Meiss said.
Meiss said the council has sufficient time to research the issue, due to the first ‘Bands on the Blackwater’ event being scheduled in April.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton: Council tables open container policy discussion