A $1,000 fine and a written

warning has been recommended by Fayetteville city officials for Hooters

restaurant after an underage drinking incident last month.

Four employees of the restaurant

were arrested Sept. 14 after it was discovered that one of them served

alcohol to the other three, who were underage. It was also learned that

the general manager of the restaurant had been sitting at the table just

prior to the arrival of police officers, city staff reported at Wednesday

night's City Council work session.

City Manager Joe Morton made

the recommendation for the fine and warning and informed Hooters corporate

officials that it would be voted upon at the council's Oct. 18 meeting.

He also said that Hooters would be allowed to appeal the recommendation

at that time.

However, the restaurant will

not be doing so. An attorney for Hooters sent a letter to Morton saying

that the chain "takes seriously its responsibility to ensure that

every server and manager is competently trained in the responsible service

of alcohol, and you can rest assured that we will not tolerate any irresponsible

service of alcohol."

A Hooters representative told

the council Wednesday night that the manager and all four employees were

fired as a result of the incident. Also, at the request of council members,

he briefly covered the orientation process for Hooters employees, which

he said includes training on service of alcohol.

"You were lucky,"

said Councilman Larry Dell, adding that if this incident had taken place

a year earlier, it would have led to an automatic 30-day suspension of

the restaurant's beer and wine license.

That portion of the city's

ordinance was amended within the past year after feedback from local merchants,

some of whom were caught in a citywide sting operation nearly two years

ago that resulted in 20 of the city's 39 licensed vendors of alcohol receiving

citations.

Mayor Kenneth Steele emphasized

that the city takes violations of this kind very seriously, but he added

that Hooters' recent actions, including the firing of the parties involved,

mitigated the matter somewhat.

Police Chief Johnny Roberts

added that these arrests were not the result of a sting operation, but

another employee phoned police and reported it. "That means the message

is getting across to some employees," he said.

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