Brownwood Independent School District officials discussed their intent to file another protest of the issuing of the alcohol sales permit at the Food Plaza convenient store located at 2800 Southside Drive.
A hearing held on August 19th by appointed judge and County Commissioner Larry Traweek ruled that the store could continue to sell alcohol after both the City of Brownwood and Brownwood ISD filed protests with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Traweek said that he based his ruling off of a previous court ruling regarding the same issue over a year ago. BISD Superintendent Dr. Reece Blincoe said that the latest hearing responded to the city’s protest but not the school district’s.
“In the second hearing, our protest was never ruled upon and never addressed,” Blincoe said.
Blincoe also said that although the judge in the second hearing said that the city and county were notified of the protest hearing, the school district was never notified as required.
“We were never notified, and we should be notified, that alcohol sales were going to be given,” Blincoe said. “The reason we had to be notified is because it’s not just a Texas Alcohol Beverage control code, it’s the education code. Our education code 38.007 states that they have to notify the schools as well and they didn’t.”
Blincoe said that this time they will seek a ruling directly from the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission.
“I think for the first time it’s going to be heard out of this county and, in my opinion, out of either conscious or subconscious bias,” Blincoe said. “And I think if you just get it out of this town and let somebody that has deep knowledge about these procedures and about these laws have a ruling on this, I think this will be the first time we get a fair ruling on this in my opinion.”
With the school board’s blessing, Blincoe said that the school district’s attorneys will draw up the paperwork to file the protest which is required to be submitted to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission no later than September 21st to be considered for a protest. Blincoe said that the cost for the last attempt at a protest will not cost more than $1000.
The City of Brownwood opted last week not to file a new request for a re-hearing on the issue. City officials felt that the chance of winning another protest hearing was unlikely.
Currently, the city has an ordinance prohibiting the sale of alcohol at a business that is within 300 feet of a public school. The Brownwood Independent School District property which houses the administrative offices and the Brownwood Accelerated High School is located at 2707 Southside which is catty-corner to this Food Plaza location.
The Food Plaza location secured an alcoholic sales permit from the TABC after winning a protest hearing last year in court. Representatives of the city of Brownwood did not attend this initial hearing last year because they said that they never received notice of the hearing. The original judge in the case said that notice was given to the city through the chief of police.
