VIENNA — At the March 6 Vienna City Council meeting, Mayor Tyler “TC” James revisited the city’s discussion about leasing the streets around the Maries County courthouse to the Vienna Chamber of Commerce (VCOC) for the chamber to host the Vienna Sausage and Wine Festival in May. At the February meeting, the council agreed to lease the street if the VCOC were liable for anything that might happen on the street during the time of the lease.

One detail James mentioned was VCOC’s plan to have a beer garden.

“I wanted to make sure everybody’s on the same page that that’s okay,” James said.

“The big problem with this is that we actually have an ordinance that it cannot be consumed on a public street,” South Ward Alderman Brenda Davis said.

James said the street would be under the lease, so he was unsure if the ordinance would still apply. He also said that VCOC planned to have a controlled entrance to the festival area to ensure drinks were not going in or out of the festival.

Police Chief Shannon Thompson said that when the Maries County Fair Board leased the park during the fair, the police still had to enforce city ordinances on the property.

“I think you’re setting a precedent you’re going to regret,” Thompson said.

Davis said she had a concern about the event happening around the courthouse square because the square is public property.

“They wanted it around the square,” James said. “I don’t think anything is written in stone yet.”

Davis asked what Visitation Catholic Church does when it leases public streets.

“They put their beer trailer on their property,” Thompson said. “It’s either behind the rectory or in their parking lot.”

“If we’re going to okay it then either (city attorney) Ross (Bush) tells us that when we word it in this lease, that it’s no longer public property,” James said. “It doesn’t fall under that ordinance. Or we need some kind of variance to say ‘Hey, this date from this time to this time, that open container thing is waived in the gated area.’ I think that makes a big difference, too. It’s not just people stumbling around all over town. It’s going to be fenced-in. There’s going to be a gate that they’re watching.”

James said he would want to know exactly how VCOC planned to monitor the gate to ensure alcohol stayed inside the designated area. He said the city would need to make it clear before signing the lease that alcohol cannot go beyond the gate.

“I understand both sides of it,” South Ward Alderman Jesse Jones said. “I think it’s great to get people in town (and) part of the main street square. Didn’t they used to do that all the time?”

“They didn’t serve alcohol,” Davis said after recalling street carnivals that included events like the big ham contest.

“It would be nice to draw people back in town like that,” Jones said.

“I am totally okay with this as long as their beer sales are set up on private property,” Davis said.

“We still have to address the open container thing,” James said. “Either it’s taken care of in the lease, or there’s some kind of variance for that day just so it’s clear.”

“I think we need to add something to the lease,” Jones said. “Otherwise, it’s kind of like you’re asking the cops to ignore the law that day.”

Davis asked how it was different from when they were younger. She said Visitation Catholic Church would host bingo nights and people would walk across the street to the other buildings with open alcohol containers.

“I’d say we’ve been lenient with one event for decades,” Thompson said. “We’ve always pushed the envelope with ignoring that one event.”

“And therein lies my issue,” Davis said. “How do you ignore that event?”

“Have we already set a precedent?” Jones asked. “Some other towns have run into this problem before. I’m just curious if we can figure out what some other towns (have done) if they have an ordinance like this about drinking in public.”

“My biggest concern is I also don’t want our city government to get a reputation of being difficult and not helping promote tourism in our town,” Davis said. “If that’s the kind of city council that we have, our little community will never grow. It will never prosper. For me, it’s all about the legalities. If it’s legal, I have no problem with it. If it’s not, then I do.”

Davis said that she would be in favor of the beer garden if Bush said the lease would cause the property to no longer be public. She said she would not vote to waive city ordinances.

“If we have to waive our ordinances, then we have opened up that slippery slope that Shannon is talking about,” she said. “How do you decide when you’re going to waive those ordinances?”

Davis cited concerns about setting a precedent that the city would need to continue for other groups.

“I want it to happen there, but I also understand that we also don’t want to waive any ordinances,” Jones said.

As the discussion came to a close, Davis made a motion to allow the beer garden if the city attorney determined that leasing the street negated the ordinance prohibiting open alcohol containers. The council voted to approve the motion.

After reviewing the language of the ordinances, Bush said he could not find anything that would cause leasing the street to negate the ordinance. The council’s vote became irrelevant, and the city will not allow alcohol on the street during the festival.

VCOC president Lisa Garro said that the chamber planned to discuss new plans for the festival at its March 30 meeting.