City Council extends Sunset Date for bar closing hours

Jehad Abbed, News Editor

The Charleston City Council voted Tuesday to extend the Sunset Date to Oct. 1 for the ordinance amending the City Code regarding bar closing hours.

Bars were obligated to close their doors at 1 a.m. until the council approved a trial period allowing city bars to close as late as 2 a.m.

The trial period began April 1 and was set to last until Aug. 1 when the council would be expected to make a decision as to whether 2 a.m. should be the permanent closing time for city bars.

Mayor Brandon Combs was elected to office June 30 after the seat became vacant following the death of then mayor Larry Rennels the week before.

“Since Larry’s passing, I haven’t had time,” Combs said. “(City Attorney Rachel Cunningham) and I were going to sit down and talk with all the liquor license holders to discuss that and how it went. So we are holding this off until Oct. 1 of 2015 just to give me some extra time.”

The council approved three resolutions Tuesday evening including two concerning the issue of closed session council meetings.

These resolutions authorized the release of closed session meetings and the destruction of audio or video recordings of closed session meetings.

The third resolution approved a mutual aid agreement for ambulance billing with Oakland.

The council first action item of the meeting was approving a proclamation recognizing the week of August 2-8 this year as National Farmers Market Week.

Aug. 4 is the next City Council meeting.

Jehad Abbed can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]