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Dillsboro to vote on beer, wine
By Justin Goble
Dillsboro officials Tuesday (Aug. 30) voted to put restaurant beer and wine sales on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Action came during an emergency meeting called in advance of a Sep. 9 Board of Elections deadline.
By law, ballot initiatives must be presented to the county board of elections 60 days before the public is to vote.
According to Lisa Lehman, director of the board of elections, the ballot must now be approved by the state board.
The town was granted permission to put the initiative on the ballot after the General Assembly approved a bill sponsored by Rep. Phil Haire (D-Sylva).
Alcohol sales have had a long and controversial history in Dillsboro. In 1998, when last put on a ballot, the town narrowly rejected beer and wine sales. The issue surfaced again in 2001, but officials were unable to call a referendum within five years of a previous vote.
Proponents of the initiative argue that Dillsboro restaurants are losing business to other towns that offer beer and wine sales. Opponents argue that beer and wine sales would sully the town’s family-oriented atmosphere.
In other business Aug. 30, officials heard from Mediacom’s Maggie Blythe, who repeated what she told Sylva town officials last week.
Blythe urged the town to raise it’s cable franchise fee to 5 percent under their new franchise agreement. She said that, due to the legislature’s recent passage of 7 percent sales tax on cable service, an increased franchise fee would keep some of that money in the town.
“They’re allowing us to offset that tax with the franchise fee,” she said. “That way, the 5 percent stays in the town and only 2 percent goes to Raleigh.”
Officials are planning a public hearing on the new agreement, but no date was set at press time.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for Sept. 12 in observance of the Labor Day holiday.
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