The last call for serving alcohol in Braselton just got a little later.
On Monday, the Braselton Town Council amended its alcohol ordinance to extend servings hours for Fridays and Saturdays to 2 a.m.
Previously, an inn or restaurant in the town limits could serve alcohol Mondays through Saturdays, from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m., and Sundays, from 12:30 p.m. to midnight.
The extra one hour of service may boost the spirits at Bottom of The Cup, which asked the town council to amend its alcohol ordinance.
An owner of the Spouts Springs Road restaurant and bar explained in an email to town officials that patrons are leaving around 1 a.m. and traveling to Gwinnett County.
That county allows restaurants to sell alcohol until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, according to the email.
The Bottom of The Cup has its strongest hour of sales from 11:45 p.m. until alcoholic drink sales stop at 1 a.m.
It is estimated that the business is losing up to $4,000 a weekend to nearby restaurants in Gwinnett County, according to the email. That would equal an excise tax revenue loss of $6,000 a year, as well.
Braselton still allows resorts with more than 100 rooms to sell alcohol until 3 a.m., Mondays through Saturdays. Chateau Elan requested the change to the town ordinance to extend alcohol serving times at inns in 2006.
Council member Richard Mayberry asked that the proposal to extend alcohol serving hours be tabled until June, but his motion didn’t move forward due to a lack of a second from another council member. The change was approved unanimously.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the Braselton Town Council:
•approved an intergovernmental agreement with Hoschton to provide code enforcement services. Braselton has a full-time code enforcement officer, who has been furloughed a half day a week. Hoschton will pay Braselton $40 an hour for using its code enforcement officer on an as-needed basis. Hoschton would have to provide a written request to Braselton to use its code enforcement officer for services. Braselton will not be held liable from its code enforcement officer handling services in Hoschton.
•approved a special event permit from Jeffrey’s Sports Bar and Grill to serve alcohol outside of its establishment on Sunday, June 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. By town regulations, the restaurant can’t start selling alcohol until 12:30 p.m.
•approved a transmittal resolution of the town’s 2030 comprehensive plan. The plan will be reviewed by the Northeast Georgia Regional Commission for hearing and review before being sent back to the town for final adoption by an October deadline.
•awarded a bid of $339,500 to BRI Utility Construction, Inc., Lawrenceville, to replace an older, industrial park pump station on Ga. Hwy. 124. The town will use part of a $300,000 ARC grant to fund the project and use the remainder to possibly fund another wastewater pump station project. Braselton also has a $390,000 loan from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) available for the project, but is asking the agency to lower the town’s share of the funds to $300,000. Braselton received 11 bids for the project.
•awarded a bid of $69,500 to Utility Asset Management, Inc., Byron, for the second contract for the Chateau main wastewater pumping station project. Contract 1 for the project, which was awarded to BRI Utility Construction in March, includes major sewer line changes to the pump station located at Chateau Elan. Contract 2 includes rehabilitation of the existing wet wells and manholes. Braselton received two bids for the project.
