What a way to spend St. Pat's Day: They debated wet and dry issue in CM

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Many Carrier Mills residents spent St. Patrick's day debating the future of alcohol in the village.

The question will be decided, at least for now, after the polls close April 7. Carrier Mills has been "dry" over 60 years.

Tuesday night, about 60 people gathered at the Municipal Building to learn and give opinions about the prohibition referendum. Due to the way the ballot question is worded, a "yes" vote is to keep the status quo; a "no" vote is to permit the sale of alcohol.

People in favor of overturning the sale ban pointed to tax revenue from sales, freedom of choice for consumers and growth of the village. People in favor of prohibition referred to the village's dicey history with alcohol, social problems stemming from alcohol use and nuisances like litter.

Wet

It is possible Casey's General Store would apply for a liquor license if prohibiting alcohol sales is overturned at the referendum. Casey's Regional Manager Steve Huhman said his stores have seen few problems stemming from alcohol sales.

"We don't have any more violence at the stores that do have (alcohol sales) as the ones that don't," Huhman said.

Casey's tries to make it difficult for minors to purchase alcohol, Huhman said. Cash registers require a date of birth for age-related products like alcohol, Huhman said. The company also has a zero-tolerance policy regarding its employees.

"If someone doesn't take our policy seriously, they don't have a job with us," Huhman said.

Bob Stillwell, representing Concerned Citizens for the Betterment of Carrier Mills, said the village will stand a better chance at economic growth if restaurants and stores are permitted to sell alcohol.

"If you look around you, the village of Carrier Mills is only a skeleton of what it was before," Stillwell said.

There are already problems with alcohol and drug abuse in Carrier Mills, Jay Willsey said.

"I don't see where they are going to get any drunker if they buy it here instead of going to Harrisburg," Willsey said.

Dry

Mike Syers, representing First Baptist Church of Carrier Mills, said alcohol wasn't handled well when it was sold before -- after national prohibition ended through World War II. Lee Parks, who ran a popcorn stand downtown as a youth, remembered that period vividly.

Parks said. Carrier Mills had four police officers who broke up fights frequently on the weekends and often found themselves covered in blood or "you know what else," Parks said.

There were no public restrooms downtown and no indoor plumbing in the taverns, "And I saw men and women do their thing on the streets out there, and maybe the Fire Department would hose it down the next day," Parks said.

Parks recalled women carrying ice picks in their purses for safety.

"You're going to foul this town up; it's been messed up before," Parks said.

Greg Prince said the tax revenue gains some people see from alcohol sales are a mirage. If the village has the same license fees as Harrisburg and ends up, for example, with one liquor store with a $2,000 license, one bar or restaurant with a $1,250 license and one private club with a $500 license, with sales taxes of $10,000 from $1 million in liquor sales, then total annual revenue will be $13,750.

If the village needs to add two shifts of police coverage per week due to alcohol sales, then projected expenses for salaries and benefits would be $12,980.

The village would only be ahead $770 per year under that scenario, Prince said. Prince acknowledged things could work out differently but in any case, projected revenues aren't going to be very high.

The board's steps

Mayor Louis Shaw explained what the Village Board will do if voters decide in favor of alcohol sales. First, the village board will consider an ordinance allowing licensing and the rules under which licenses will be issued.

"That ordinance may or may not be patterned on Harrisburg's," Shaw said.

The liquor ordinance, or ordinances, will set license fees, types of licenses, the number of licenses, sections of town where alcohol may and may not be sold, hours of operation and Sunday hours or Sunday closing.

The mayor becomes the liquor control commissioner.

Any increase in police coverage would be determined by necessity, Shaw said.

The Village Board has not taken an official position on the matter. There appear to be people on the Village Board on both sides of the issue.