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City Council <br />Meeting Minutes <br />February 19, 2019 <br />Page 8 of 9 <br />Councilmember Loo asked Chief Hayes what his concerns might be about enforcement <br />as the sheet provided this evening shows a lot of enforcement. Chief Hayes the Police <br />Department enforces but he is concerned what the additional expectations would be if <br />there are no restrictions on alcohol use in the parks. He stated he likes option two for <br />allowance within some parameters. <br />Mayor Pro Tem Lipton asked what other enforcement tools the Police Department has. <br />Chief Hayes stated the Police Department enforces the State open container law. It is not <br />a crime to be intoxicated, but the Police Department will address it if a people are unable <br />to care for themselves. Public drunkenness is not a crime in itself, disorderly conduct is. <br />Mayor Pro Tem Lipton noted people bring drinks to the Thursday night concerts. He <br />asked if that is permitted. Muth stated it is not a part of the special event permit; the only <br />permits for liquor are for sales and service. Those are only available to non-profit groups. <br />Mayor Pro Tem Lipton stated it would be nice to have a way to allow it for such events as <br />right now we are turning a blind eye to illegal behavior. <br />Councilmember Keany stated he favors option two for some allowance with parameters, <br />perhaps limit the hours it is allowed or limits on the types of alcohol. <br />Councilmember Loo stated she would like to see something from review that allows some <br />options. Councilmember Maloney agreed. <br />Councilmember Stolzmann stated we should decipher between bad behavior and its <br />causes. We all seem to know people are doing this and we are not enforcing it. If we just <br />want feedback from people we can enforce and learn people want to drink in the parks. <br />Councilmember Leh asked if we have a problem at all. No one seems to want option <br />three but now we have rules which are not being enforced. He asked if we really need to <br />make a change; probably not. <br />Mayor Pro Tem Lipton stated given limited staff time this should not be a huge project, but <br />if we can address things like the Thursday night concerts without too much work we <br />should do it. Mayor Muckle agreed it would be nice to decriminalize this for certain events. <br />Councilmember Keany would like to include allowing alcohol for park rentals with <br />restrictions. People are doing it now without permission. He would prefer an atmosphere <br />where things are allowed rather than where we are ignoring the law and not enforcing it. <br />City Manager Balser stated any work that is done on this issue is not likely to be <br />completed in time for this summer season. <br />Public Comments <br />