Danny’s liquor license renewal not voted on

Published 12:00 am Thursday, June 18, 2009

Editor’s Note: This article incorrectly identified when the city and Danny’s owners discussed a list of suggestions to improve alleged problems at the business.

Six months ago the bar’s liquor license was denied by the Vidalia Board of Aldermen, but the list of suggestions was not discussed until February.

Vidalia — Six months ago, the liquor license for Danny’s Lounge was not renewed because certain city conditions were not met. Tuesday night, the story was the same.

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The City of Vidalia and Danny’s representatives have been discussing the bar and noise and violence problems that stem from it for a year.

In February, city and Danny’s officials ironed out several requirements Danny’s must meet for it to have its liquor license renewed.

On Tuesday, owner Sandra White requested the license renewal, and Mayor Hyram Copeland said the requirements were never fully filled.

The request never even came to a vote.

Alderman Ricky Knapp made the motion to renew the license.

“It failed due to a lack of a second,” Copeland said.

The requirements the two entities have discussed include hiring certified guards for security, installing a metal detector, not allowing purses and bags to be brought in and shutting down at 2 a.m. to keep any illegality at bay.

Additionally, the parking lot would need to be cleared by 2:30 a.m. and monitored.

And much like what happened in December 2008, White left City Hall without permission to serve alcohol in her business.

She said she is considering approaching the city with different ideas to get her business up and running, but she hasn’t acted on anything yet.

“I haven’t decided what I’m going to do,” she said.

White said she was hoping for the liquor license for the rest of the year, and she said at the end of the year the business could be re-examined by the board of aldermen.

Copeland said White asked if she could come back to the board of aldermen with some ideas and if they would be receptive, Copeland said the board agreed they would be willing to further discuss the business.

He said meeting with White and continuing the open lines of communication is pertinent before any decision is made by the board.

Tuesday’s meeting was a special call meeting, and the board of aldermen also received a copy of the 2009-2010 budget.

Vidalia’s fiscal year begins July 1, and Copeland said every year, a few weeks before the budget needs to be adopted, each alderman will get a copy of the budget to review.

“If there are no issues with it, then we’ll adopt it for this coming year,” he said.

Copeland said no major changes were made in the budget, and it will be adopted June 30.

“We’re looking forward to another good year,” he said.