Should the sale of beer and wine be allowed in Columbia on Sundays?
That’s a topic that the Columbia Board of Aldermen may consider at a later date after Mark Retcho addressed the Board Tuesday and raised the question along with several others.
“I want it to be similar to Hattiesburg. I’m not asking you that everybody be allowed to walk around Main Street and be able to drink alcohol, I’m just asking that if you go to a restaurant on Sunday for lunch that you can buy a beer or get a glass of wine from a restaurant,” he said. “I’m not sure what all their liquor laws are, but I’m sure the festivals they have over there require a waiver. We should have the same thing. We should match those people.”
Retcho told the Board the changes could bring more investment and business to the community.
“I know we have a lot of mom-and-pop restaurants around here, but the change could bring some bigger restaurants to our town, which would help it grow,” he said. “If you drive through and it just looks like two stoplights and you’re done, people won’t stop. We need to put Columbia on the map.”
Ward 1 Alderman Wendell Hammond noted that Monticello allows Sunday sales.
“We’ve discussed that,” he said. “They’re smaller than we are. We harp that we need tax revenue.”
“I’m against drunk drivers, but anything we can do to bring revenue in would help,” Hammond said. “We don’t need to stay on the back of the horse; we need to stay up close to his neck.”
Alderman-at-Large Edward Hough said that Sunday sales of beer are also allowed in Bassfield.
Ward 4 Alderman Mike Smith said people leave the county to find alcohol.
“If they want beer on Sunday, they’re going to drive to Bassfield or drive to Hattiesburg,” he said.
Retcho also addressed another issue, stray dogs.
“It dawned on me that all the people that live in Marion County or in the city limits who have puppy mills need to have a permit to sell those puppies,” he said. “When I lived up in New York, you had to have two licenses. One was a registration and one was a license. In order to get that your animal had to have shots. They couldn’t sell you a dog without having it registered and licensed.
“You cut down on a lot of dogs running free if people had to pay for them in advance instead of letting them loose. If they are registered and you found the dog you could track it back to the owner.”
Retcho said he would also approach the Marion County Board of Supervisors about the dog issue next week.
“We need to do something about animals running free,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with my neighbors letting their dog run, but dumping them is another story.”
The Columbia Board of Aldermen meets next in regular session at 4 p.m. on May 15 at City Hall.
