LAFAYETTE, Ga. - Beginning this weekend, customers and diners will be able to pick up alcohol in Walker County on Sundays.
Commissioner Shannon Whitfield amended the county ordinance for alcohol during his meeting Thursday night, allowing stores to sell beer and wine beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Sundays. The change also allows restaurants to sell drinks of beer, wine or liquor beginning at 11 a.m. on Sundays.
Whitfield's action comes almost two months after county voters overwhelmingly approved the changes on referendums. They voted to approve Sunday sales of alcohol in restaurants with 61 percent of the 21,096 votes. They voted to allow Sunday sales of beer and wine in stores with 62 percent of the 20,914 votes.
"This is more of a formality and documentation to honor the wishes of our voting citizens who voted to adopt this change into our county," Whitfield said, adding that he knows some local restaurants will open on Sundays with brunch menus. " You're going to see some positive things come from this."
Whitfield also made a couple of small changes to the county's alcohol laws. He increased the number of appointments on the Alcoholic Beverage Commission from three to five. He also tweaked parts of the license fee structure for businesses that sell alcohol.
Previously, the county charged stores $600 if they wanted to sell beer and wine. Now, the county will charge stores $500 if they want to sell beer only, $500 if they want to sell wine only and $1,000 if they want to sell both. The county also increased the application fee for new stores and restaurants, from about $92 to $150. The county also added a fee of $25 for breweries or wineries that want to offer tastings in their buildings.
Patrol vehicle purchase
Whitfield also approved Sheriff Steve Wilson's request to move some money out of various funds for the purchase of two patrol cars. The sheriff's office received about $20,700 in insurance settlements from two crashes that totaled police vehicles earlier this year.
Wilson also plans to use about $9,800 that deputies paid the department to buy the guns they previously used before the sheriff's office switched weapons, as well as about $14,700 from the department's drug asset forfeiture fund, taken from defendants on allegations that the money was used to further criminal enterprises.
Wilson estimates the two new cars will each cost about $22,500.
"We're hoping that this will come close," he said.