Palmetto to reconsider alcohol sales on Sundays

PALMETTO — With the prompting of a life-long resident, the City Commission decided Monday to make another try at permitting the sale of a alcohol on Sundays in the city.

During the citizens comment section of the agenda, Joe Kennedy said he was disappointed with the commission for voting down the proposed ordinance permitting Sunday alcohol sales at the June 21 meeting.

In referencing a city-sponsored survey where 70 percent of the 1,190 respondents indicated they were in favor of the sales, Kennedy said, “It’s not right for the commission to vote against the ordinance because that is what the people want.”

He said prohibiting Sunday alcohol sales is anti-competitive for Palmetto businesses.

At the June 21 meeting, changing the ordinance was defeated with a tie vote of 2-2, with Commissioner Tamara Cornwell and Tambra Varnadore voted no and Commissioners Brian Williams and Alan Zirkelbach voting yes.

Commissioner Mary Lancaster was absent.

After Kennedy spoke, Lancaster questioned why her fellow commissioners went through with the vote.

“It has always been an unwritten policy if one of the commissioners was absent and something that commissioner was interested in was on the agenda, the vote would be postponed,” Lancaster said.

She then made a motion to have the first reading of the ordinance at Monday’s meeting, but Cornwell made the point that parliamentarian rules allows only those present for the vote to bring the issue up again.

After several minutes of discussion, City Attorney Mark Barnebey suggested the commissioner vote to bring back the proposal with a new ordinance number at the July 26 meeting for a first reading, with an Aug. 16 second reading and public hearing.

Lancaster made such a motion and it carried 3-2, with Cornwell and Varnadore voting in the negative.

In other business Monday, commissioners:

n Heard City Clerk Jim Freeman report that property values in the city have dropped 17.84 percent during the past year.

This will create a budget shortfall of about $700,000 in the general fund and building department expenses if the commission keeps the same property tax rate of $4.6662 for every $1,000 in assessed property values to maintain the same budget, Freeman said.

He asked if commissioners would want to set a higher tentative tax rate July 26 while they work on reducing spending for next year, or maintain the same rate as this year.

“If you set the tentative tax rate higher, you can always reduce it later,” Freeman said, “but you can’t go higher (after it is set).

They decided the clerk should work with the current tax rate.

n Watched as Circuit Court Judge Gilbert Smith swore in former Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Rick Wells as the city’s new police chief.

Former Police Chief Garry Lowe, who retired after 29 years with the Palmetto Police Department, was given a standing ovation from the packed commission chamber audience.