By Steven Stilt
The Wamac City Council voted Monday evening against a change in the hours during which establishments can sell alcohol. The council opted to leave the cutoff for liquor sales at 5 a.m. rather than ending sales at 2 a.m.
Police Chief Steve Prather reported that police have responded in recent months to what he described as “fairly serious” incidents and altercations during the late-night hours. Prather added that there are no bars within a wide radius that sell alcohol after 2 a.m.
Owners of establishments that would be affected by a change in hours pushed back against the proposal, claiming that such a change would result in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars in video gaming revenue each year, in addition to costing the city of Wamac thousands of dollars in annual gaming tax revenue. The business owners also said they have beefed up security in their establishments and parking lots.
After voting down a motion to table the proposal, the council continued discussion and ultimately voted in favor of leaving the 5 a.m. cutoff in place. However, Mayor Jackie “Butch” Mathus asked the business owners in attendance to come up with written proposals about how to prevent further late-night incidents and to submit those proposals in time for the council’s next workshop on October 27th.
Also during Monday’s meeting, Kristie Blackman of Sunrise Sanitation reported that Sunrise has sold its contract for trash pickup service in Wamac to Triple-A, which is based in Odin. Blackman told the council that the terms of the contract with Wamac, which expires in July 2030, will remain the same, including the pricing. Triple-A will take over trash pickup in Wamac effective November 1st.
In other business, the council approved the purchase of an electronic ticket printer for one of the city’s police vehicles at a cost of $1,110. Council members also approved the purchase of an 8-foot by 8-foot fence, at a cost of $1,000, to surround the tornado siren located on the west side of the city.
