Draft beer may flow by Sept. 1

FLORENCE -- Draft beer drinkers will be able to have their first taste from the tap in the Shoals by Sept. 1 if city council members pass an ordinance Tuesday.

Florence sought permission from the state Legislature to sell draft beer. The legislation passed May 30, but the council must pass an ordinance authorizing businesses to begin selling draft beer.

The issue is expected to be on the agenda for Tuesday's council meeting, but city leaders probably won't allow draft beer to be sold until Sept. 1, largely because local distributors say they won't have needed equipment in place before that time.

Mayor Bobby Irons said discussions with distributors led to an initial Oct. 1 date.

Councilwoman Angie Pickens, who introduced a resolution for the council to seek state legislation on the issue, said the Sept. 1 date is a compromise between her and the mayor.

"I wanted July 1 or Aug. 1," she said.

Irons said that when he spoke with the distributors again, they said they could possibly make a Sept. 1 deadline.

"We need to be fair to our local distributors because they are the ones who have been doing business here," he said.

Irons said the council could change the Sept. 1 date and move it up to July 1 if they so choose.

"But I'm not in favor of that," he said.

Both Cotton Johnson, general manager at Shoal's Distributing, and Marty McCain, sales manager at Supreme Beverage, said they discussed with the mayor the issue of pushing back the date. Both businesses are in Muscle Shoals.

But some council members say they should have been contacted about extra time to get ready for the change since they are the ones who vote, not the mayor.

"I don't think it's city council's job to cater to any specific businesses," Pickens said.

The local businesses have the rights to distribute beers such as Budweiser, Miller and Coors in the Florence market, so other companies that carry those brands would not be able to sell in the Shoals.

But if an ordinance were to go into effect sooner, distributors such as Alabama-Crown Distributing Co., headquartered in Birmingham, could bring draft imports, such as Newcastle and Guinness, to the area.

"We definitely have an interest in coming to the Florence area," said Whitt Dukes, sales supervisor for Alabama Crown in Huntsville.

"We could do it once the ordinance goes into effect. We have the equipment and everything ready," he said.

Johnson, general manager at Shoals Distributing, wants the ordinance to go into effect at a later date because it will give the local companies the opportunity to prepare.

"That way, everybody gets to start on the same page," he said.

Johnson noted that his company employs 28 people in the Shoals and both he and his local competitor, Supreme Beverage, have been in the market since 1982.

"They (competitors) have no investment in our area," he said, referring to other companies.

Supreme Beverage sales manager Marty McCain said that it would cost close to $500,000 to get their systems ready.

"We already have a place to cool it (draft beer). We need more trucks and equipment for line cleaning," he said.

Pickens said local distributors "knew this (draft beer) was coming" after a two-year fight to bring draft beer here.

Council President Leland Howard thought that once the state Legislature passed the bill, draft beer sales would go into effect immediately.

"I don't know why it was done this way," he said.

State Rep. Tammy Irons, D-Florence, said that the Legislature must authorize local governments to do certain things.

The next step after authorization is for the local government to implement, she said.

Rep. Irons said that it was proper procedure for the authorization to come back to city council for a vote on an ordinance date.

Pickens said that she was "very disappointed" that the council must approve an ordinance for a resolution that they already voted in favor of unanimously.

Once the date is set, local business owners can finish preparing their bars for draft.

Restaurants such as Rosie's Mexican Cantina learned of a September to October timeline for draft sales from their distributors.

The restaurant is interested in bringing in different import beers for their new draft system.

"The wait isn't affecting us real big," said Thomas Witten, manager at Rosie's in downtown Florence. "We're going to be ready for it when the ordinance comes."

Some business owners expressed frustration about not knowing when they would be able to sell draft beer.

"There's been massive confusion about when we will be able to get draft beer," said Jason Brinley, owner of Brinley Brothers, also in downtown Florence.

"I would love to be able to have it in time for the Handy festival," he said.

The business is interested in running a 36-tap system specializing in imports and microbrews.

Brinley desperately wants the chance to have draft beer in time for football season in early September.

"It would make a big impact," he said. "Restaurants can build so much football clientele at the beginning, but if draft beer doesn't come until the middle of the season, people will be used to sitting at home with their friends."