Report from City Council Meeting

by Ginny Dugan -- Two different requests for liquor licenses were approved by the Fallon City Council at its March 2^nd meeting. Councilwoman Kelly Frost presided over the meeting in the absence of Mayor Kenneth Tedford, Jr., who was recovering from recent surgery. The first request was an application submitted by Taylor deBraga for a drinking establishment liquor license for Stone Cabin Coffee, LLC, located at 480 East Williams Avenue in Fallon. DeBraga was listed on official documents as the owner of the business. A drinking establishment liquor license is described as a privileged license that allows the licensee to sell or provide alcoholic beverages from a fixed and definite place of business for consumption upon the premises only. DeBraga’s application had been reviewed by Police Chief Kevin Gehman, Deputy City Clerk Elsie Lee, City Engineer Derek Zimney, and Legal and Administrative Director Robert Erquiaga and was recommended to the Fallon City Council for approval. It was clarified by deBraga that only beer and wine would be offered and served and that business hours on Friday and Saturday would be extended to 9 p.m. She also indicated that special events, such as a bridal shower, may be scheduled at the business in the future. In November of this year Stone Cabin Coffee will mark four years of operation in Fallon. The second request for a drinking establishment liquor license came from Kathy Fouss, owner of Memorie Boutique to be located at 31 South Maine Street in Fallon. Once again, Police Chief Gehman, Deputy City Clerk Lee, City Engineer Zimney, and Legal and Administrative Director Erquiaga had reviewed Fouss’ application and recommended its approval. Councilwoman Karla Kent asked if the use of alcoholic beverages at Memorie Boutique was intended for special occasions only. Fouss replied in the affirmative, adding, for example, that champagne may be served at an arranged event at the business when it would be closed to regular customers. Liquor would not be sold at Memorie Boutique, she stated. Featuring clothing, home accessories and gift baskets, Memorie Boutique will operate in the location where Etched in Stone formerly did business in downtown Fallon. In other business, Police Chief Gehman gave the department’s monthly report which included the following information for January 2020: (1) there were 836 calls for service and/or total reported incidents; (2) larceny and domestic battery continue to have the highest number of occurrences (18 and 8, respectively); arrests for misdemeanors rose to 34 when compared to the average of 21.7 for the six months from July through December 2019; traffic citations numbered 58 while traffic warnings tallied at 302; and seven traffic accidents involved public property while nine involved private property. Police Chief Gehman said that police officers and volunteers were active during the month of January. Detective Sergeant John Fransden completed indoctrination training with 17 newly assigned sailors at NAS Fallon; Officer Christopher Bloomfield and the Explorers assisted with serving food to local citizens at Epworth United Methodist Church in Fallon and also assisted custodial staff with their duties at the Churchill County Middle School; an Operation Juice Box event took place at Lahontan Valley Elementary School with approximately 150 juice boxes distributed to students as they left school to go home; and Volunteers in Police Services (VIPs) donated 68 total hours to the police department as they assisted with administration, patrol, school zones, Operation Juice Box, and Helping Hands visits. In addition, School Resource Officer Jacobs assisted a Churchill County Middle School instructor with her forensic science class during its fingerprinting lesson; conducted districtwide door checks; assisted Lahontan Elementary kitchen staff by handing out over 330 ice creams to students at lunch; and created trophies for teachers “who are observed going above and beyond to keep the middle school safe.” Police Chief Gehman reported that comments from citizen surveys were all positive. Councilman James Richardson thanked the police department for the escort that its officers provided the Churchill County High School basketball team after its recent 45-42 state championship win over Elko at Lawlor Events Center in Reno.  Councilwoman Kent also offered her thanks to the police department for its presence at the regional game to help ensure “that tempers didn’t flare in that very competitive environment.” During the agenda item, Council and Staff Reports, Jane Moon, Director of Tourism and Special Events, expressed her gratitude to Councilwoman Frost for welcoming back the Nevada Farms Conference to the City of Fallon. It was held at the Fallon Conventions Center and Western Nevada College on February 20-22, 2020. While he did not have any item to report, City Attorney Mike Mackedon added his congratulations to the Churchill County High School basketball team for its “blowout” over Elko. Councilman Richardson pointed out for the record that this was the second state championship that the high school team had captured and that its victory was covered by ESPN and others. The next meeting of the Fallon City Council is scheduled for Monday, March 16, 9 a.m., at City Hall, 55 West Williams Avenue, Fallon. The public is welcome to attend.       Never miss a meeting or community event – keep an eye on the community calendar at https://www.thefallonpost.org/events/ If you like what we’re doing, please support our effort to provide local, independent news and contribute to The Fallon Post, your online news source for all things Fallon.