The topic of voting again on alcohol sales in Cedar Bluff raised some questions from some members of the community during the January 11 meeting of the Town Council. Upon the request of the mayor, Council Member and local attorney Evan Smith, shared information with the Council and constituency present at the meeting regarding the legality of such a referendum.

According to Smith, litigation regarding alcohol sales in Cedar Bluff dates back to cases brought in 2003 and again in 2005.

As a result of this litigation, the Attorney General has become involved in the latest matters.

Smith said a consent decree had been reached among the parties to place the alcohol litigation on an administrative document until November 2010. This would give the Town of Cedar Bluff the opportunity to hold another referendum regarding alcohol sales. He said that the legislature has passed a separate piece of legislation, which would essentially make arguments in this lawsuit moot.

Pursuant to this agreement, for the Town of Cedar Bluff to have a referendum, a petition must be signed by 30 percent of those persons who voted in the last general election stating that they want the sale of alcohol in Cedar Bluff. This petition must be filed by the town at least 30 days prior to the next scheduled election.

Once the petition is filed, the town can place the issue on the ballot for a vote.

Smith said according to some recent case law in Walker County, the general election for a municipality can be defined as any one of the elections held by a municipality whether it be a primary in June or the general election in November.

The recommendation from Smith to the Council was that it is vitally important that the mayor communicate with the legal counsel involved in the case from the beginning. Smith said, “If it is the wishes of this administration to attempt to get a referendum together and a vote together, I would suggest we start with communicating with those folks and let them guide us and direct us along the way.” Mayor Ethel Sprouse responded by saying, “I have been under the general assumption that it is the wishes of this council to have the referendum. Is that still the decision of the council? Everybody want to have a referendum?” she asked, at which point the council concurred.

According to Councilman Smith’s response to one question from the audience, this issue would only be on the ballot for those in the municipal corporate limits of Cedar Bluff and not on the ballot for others in the county or state. Another concerned citizen raised the question regarding the issue coming up for a vote again since the initial complaint was that the vote was not legal in the first place because of the population restriction. Smith responded to that question by stating, “The legislature just recently enacted House Bill 2009-56. And what it supposedly did was…it amended the state’s general law regarding local alcohol sales to allow municipalities with 1000 or more residents to hold a local option election and thereby quote ‘go wet’. This means that the Town of Cedar Bluff now has an undisputed means to authorize the sale of alcoholic beverages within the corporate city limits if it wishes to do that.”

If, upon the advice of legal counsel and meeting the petition requirements, the Town of Cedar Bluff so desires, the vote for alcohol sales in Cedar Bluff can be brought to the people again in June or November of this year.