At last Thursday's Tyrone

Town Council meeting, there was an item on the agenda that was merely

a formality, but it preceded a much deeper discussion of a still-controversial

issue.

Owners of the new Publix, which

is set to open Dec. 11, applied for a wine and malt beverage license,

which would give them approval to sell beer and wine and make them like

every other grocery store. There was zero controversy and it was approved

rather rapidly, but the subject of liquor came up several times during

the meeting and it may come up more and more as time goes on.

The meeting opened with public

comments and both David Nebergall and his wife, Nancy, addressed the town

council about their concerns now that the liquor-by-the-drink ordinance

has passed in Tyrone. Nebergall gave the council members a visual aid

of one of his concerns, as he placed close to a dozen beer cans and bottles

that he collected around his property in a two-week period in front of

the council.

"This is proof of open

container violations and, if they were thrown out after being consumed,

a DUI as well," said Nebergall. "Drinking is a personal decision

and I wouldn't tell anybody they can't do it, but we have to

share the roads. I'm afraid that the more available that we make

it, the more problems will occur."

Nebergall also discussed how

to prevent DUIs and wondered if police officers at every establishment

that served liquor by the drink or bartenders taking the keys of people

who ordered drinks were ways to stop it. He closed his comments by asking

a question of whether another petition could get another vote to get liquor

that question.

Nancy Nebergall followed her

husband and talked about more dangers of driving under the influence.

She stated that she once heard a statistic that one of every two people

in the audience would die in a drunk driving accident. She then stated

that she had lost several loved ones in accidents caused by drunk drivers.

Nebergall also wondered where money for a DUI task force would come from.

Ginger Blackstone took the

podium next and spoke in favor of the passed liquor by the drink. "I

supported this because I didn't want Tyrone to get inundated by things

like McDonald's and Captain D's," said Blackstone, who

stated she had faith that the council would be very diligent of what goes

where. "I don't want to see this go back and forth every year,

where one year we have liquor by the drink and one year we don't.

If people cared, they voted."

David Nebergall made one more

comment during the Publix portion of the meeting, stating that he couldn't

let it go without saying something. "In an ideal world, this would

be where everybody would get their alcohol and they would consume it in

their home without taking to the road." He then reiterated his concern

for the effect of the public at large but then also stated that rejecting

Publix's request wouldn't solve the problem. He closed by stating,

"Even one drink will impair your level of judgment."

In the end, Publix got their

beer and wine license, the town is working on their liquor by the drink

ordinance and sometime within the next year a restaurant that serves liquor

dead yet, however, and it may not be for a long time.