Aragon City Council fails to pass resolutions to place alcohol referendums on nov. ballot

The path for Aragon voters to possibly vote on two alcohol referendums in the November election has hit a snag.

After placing resolutions on first reading at their June meeting regarding Sunday alcohol sales and the sale of distilled spirits inside the city limits, the Aragon City Council failed to take the next step to formally put the questions on the Nov. 2 ballot at its meeting on July 15.

Each resolution was brought up in the meeting and council member Daniel Johnson made a motion each time to approve the resolution that would allow Aragon to move forward with each referendum.

However, both motions were met with silence when Mayor Debbie Pittman asked for a second. With no second from present council members Judd Fee or Buddy Tanner, the motion died and was not voted on.

Pittman, who said last month that the council had looked at putting the questions to voters as a way of attracting more business to the small city, said after the meeting that the two resolutions could be put forward at another meeting of the city council.

Time is running short for that as the Polk County Elections Director Brande Coggins has said her office would need all ballot questions ready before Aug. 30 to give them enough time to prepare them and have all absentee ballots printed.

The Aragon City Council is scheduled to have its next regular meeting on Aug. 19 at 6 p.m.

By state law, Sunday sales would only be allowed in Aragon from 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. if the referendum passes. Many surrounding cities already allow Sunday sales.

If it gets on the ballot, this would be the fourth time Aragon has asked voters about Sunday sales. The last time was in 2015 when the measure lost 42-22. The second time, in 2012, Aragon gave voters the option and it was voted down by just 12 votes. The first time it came up it was defeated by four votes.