Ephraim Stalls on Alcohol Licensing

The Ephraim village board will wait to write an ordinance until they know exactly what parts of the alcohol licenses they can dictate. Village board President Mike McCutcheon explained at the board’s May 10 meeting that they will set a public hearing after reviewing the ordinance drafted by the village attorney.

“We recognize that there is a segment of the community that would like to see this done yesterday and there is a segment that would like to see this never done,” said McCutcheon. “We are getting the tightest [ordinance] that we can make that will service these two classes of licenses.”

The board received a reply from its attorney on what parts of the alcohol license ordinance the village can affect just a few hours before the meeting began. McCutcheon felt it would be better to review the reply over the next several days before writing the ordinance and repealing the previous ordinance banning alcohol sales within the village.

“I don’t know how long this is going to take,” said McCutcheon, explaining that the board hopes to have an ordinance in place some time this summer.

Those brief words were all that was said on the three agenda items relating to beer and wine licenses.

At the start of the meeting, McCutcheon read a letter of resignation from board member Jane Olson, who was not in attendance. The village will approach an Ephraim resident about filling the vacancy and vote on the vacancy after someone has been selected.

Representative Joel Kitchens gave a short report on the state of Eagle Tower, explaining that a public meeting will be held with the Department of Natural Resources in coming weeks.

“The plan is to be exactly as it is now,” said Kitchens.

A man in the audience asked why he needed to donate to the fund started by the Door Property Owners (DPO), seeking $750,000, if the project would be funded by the state.

“If the state does it, it has to go through the budget process,” replied Kitchens, adding that a private fundraiser would ensure the project moves along faster. “Anything that moves through the state is slow.”