Council to discuss alcohol ordinance
In the ongoing preparations for the opening of the city’s new arts and entertainment district, another piece will come before the El Dorado City Council today in the form of a request to amend a city ordinance that regulates the sale of alcoholic beverages.
The regular city council meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. today in the Council Chamber of City Hall.
Under new business on the council’s agenda is a proposed ordinance to allow for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages on premises for the Murphy Arts District.
In addition to a variety of entertainment and art venues, the district will include a restaurant in the historic Griffin Auto building on Locust.
On June 30, El Dorado Festivals and Events, Inc., who is implementing the $100 million plan to develop MAD, applied for a state permit to dispense alcoholic beverages in what will be known as the Griffin Restaurant, 101 E. Locust.
Festivals and Events is now asking the city council to adopt an ordinance to make an allowance for businesses with a “hotel/motel/restaurant mixed drink permit” from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board Division of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
If approved, the new ordinance would list and authorize the hours for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages on premises from 7 until 2 a.m. Monday — Saturday and from 10 a.m. until midnight on Sunday, as permitted by state law.
In other business, the council will consider a resolution for the application of a grant to complete the two newest ball fields at the El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex.
The fields, which are southwest of the Dumas
Pavilion, have been under construction for a decade, with the work being completed in phases as funding becomes available.
The most recent addition was lighting and electricity — a project that was covered by a $50,400 matching grant from the state and $185,000 from the city’s one-cent sales tax for economic development.
Aldermen are also expected to hear information about the Sparta Aquifer, the area’s primary source of drinking water, and the importance of its use to the El Dorado Water Utilities.
Robert Reynolds and Sherrel Johnson, both of whom have involved in long-running conservation efforts to help maintain Sparta groundwater levels to adequately supply the area, will make the presentation.