Pikeville to put alcohol on ballot this November
By Dennis Hill
Published in News on April 8, 2014 1:46 PM
PIKEVILLE -- Voters in Pikeville will again get a chance to cast ballots for or against the sale of beer and wine inside the town limits, as the Pikeville Town Board unanimously approved putting the issue on the November ballot at its meeting Monday night.
Town voters have rejected the notion several times over the past few decades, but officials say the town needs to permit the sale of beer and wine in order to boost economic development -- especially given the fact that the town has annexed its intersection with the new I-795.
"Nobody's going to go in there without allowing beer and wine," Town Administrator Blake Proctor said, adding that economic development experts generally agree that the sale of beer and wine is essential for retail area growth.
The sale would be retail only. No consumption on premises would be permitted.
Town Board member Robert Hooks made the motion to approve putting the issue before the voters and Town Board member Charles Hooks seconded it.
The motion was approved 4-0. Town Board member Todd Anderson was not present.
In other business, the board held a public hearing on whether to apply for a federal Community Development Block Grant. Officials with McDavid Associates, the town's engineering firm, said a preliminary hearing is required to indicate whether there is enough interest to pursue a grant.
The grants are intended to boost the living standard of low- to moderate-income neighborhoods. Cecil Madden and Rich Moore of McDavid Associates said the firm identified several areas of town in which more than half the residents are considered low- to moderate-income -- a requirement for the getting a CDBG grant.
Another public hearing on the issue will be held Monday at 5:30 p.m.
The town's chief concern is its sewer system. The money from a CDBG grant could be used to improve the town's sewer system in those targeted areas, which the engineers described as being along Railroad Street and U.S. 117. Some sewer lines in those areas date to the 1930s, Madden noted.
The board also agreed to designate the town a cancer-fighting municipality in light of the fact that it already had voted to paint the parking spaces on city-maintained streets pink in honor of people fighting cancer. The board declined a move to paint the town's water tower pink.
Following next week's public hearing, the board will meet in private session to consider applicants for the job of police chief. The position became vacant in February when former chief Paschal Tucker retired.