July 17, 2024 - Agenda Item for Legalizing Sale of Alcohol Removed From Timpson’s July Meeting
Recently Kyle Edwards petitioned to legalize the sale of alcohol, including mixed drinks, inside the city limits of Timpson. As many of you know there is a process to get this from idea to ballot. Kyle Edwards followed all of the guidelines shared with him at the onset of this process. It was his intention to have this before the city council at the regular July meeting. The agenda item had to be stricken from the agenda due to a timeline issue. From the time the initial 10 names are gathered for the application to getting the petition from city hall isn’t really a timed event; however, the next few steps are very much governed by exact timelines and dates.
Once the petition was picked up from City Hall to get the 76-plus names, the persons gathering signatures had 60 days to get them turned in to City Hall. Then the city secretary has five days to get the names verified and the petition submitted to SOS (Secretary of State). The matter then had to be presented as a Resolution for the city council to approve at a regular meeting At Least 30 days following the submission of the petition to City Hall. This 30-day period is specifically set out in the resolution and is why this matter was removed from the July 2024 regular meeting agenda. Kyle Edwards submitted more than enough names on the aforementioned petition to Misty Burgess on July 1, 2024 to be placed on the November 5, 2024 ballot. Mrs. Burgess realized when putting the information into the required Resolution template that it had not been 30 days since the names had been submitted to her. She called the SOS and the city’s attorney and was advised to strike it and have the petitioner start the process over. It was also determined that the item could not be moved to the August 2024 meeting due to the 78-day guideline that is required between council meeting and election.
Unfortunately, the next election isn’t until May 3, 2025. Therefore, in late September, the process will start again. Kyle and the people assisting him will reach out to the signers of the first application around Oct 3. The application will be turned into City Secretary, Misty Burgess around Oct 11. All signatures (76-90 names) will have to be gathered by December 10, examined and submitted to SOS by Dec 15. Following these steps a Resolution will be presented at the January 21, 2025 regular city council meeting to have the item on the May 3, 2025 city election ballot. These steps are necessary to have this matter on the ballot. The petitioners will be moving ahead with their petition and apologize for any inconvenience due to this delay.
Related Article:
Timpson City Council Regular Meeting Minutes, July 16
