By Chad Frey
Newton Kansan
Whether or not a statute regarding how much food must be sold by a business selling liquor by the drink would be suspended in Harvey County is a decision for voters to make, not only according to the statute in question but also in the mind of more than one county commissioner.
“I would be for going ahead and preparing a resolution and leaving it up to the voice of the people in November,” said Randy Hague, county commissioner. “… I don’t think there is a better way to decide if this should happen in Harvey County, I don’t believe there is a better way to decide that than to leave it up to the voters of the county. … If you leave it up the voters, you know that is the will of the people.”
The state statute in question requires that businesses serving liquor by the drink to generate a minimum of 30 percent of sales from food.
Initially the state began moving forward with the rule in 1986, when a constitutional amendment was placed on the ballot. That amendment went into effect for counites that voted in favor it at that time. That measure failed in Harvey County.
The measure was placed on the ballot in Harvey County again in 1996, when it passed 8,119 to 6,064. Prior to that vote, liquor by the drink was not allowed in the county.
That creates a stumbling block for some businesses, and nearly led to the closure of Sandhills Brewing Company of Hutchinson in 2022.
One year later Reno County voters overwhelmingly chose to get rid of the rule.
Nearly half the counties in Kansas have removed the rule, including Sedgwick, Butler and McPherson counties.
“I think we have some people that are wanting to make a very large investment in our community in a microbrewery that do not want to do it if they have to rely on 30 percent food sales,” Hague said. “Then they have to put a full-blown kitchen in, hire a whole bunch more staff. People are driving out of our county to go to these things the way it is now.”
The resolution passed the county commission on a 2-0 vote, with Becky Reimer abstaining from voting. Reimer said she chose to not vote because of a lack of time to review the measure.
Resolution 2024-24, to place exempting the county from the state requirements on the ballot, was brought initially to the commission during the public comment section of the July 30 meeting. The commission voted on the measure less than two hours later.
Time was short, to have the measure placed on the ballot in November required a decision before August 6, which is the current primary that will set the ballot for November. The statute requires a 90-day notice to place a measure on a general election ballot, rather than 60 days as required by other ballot questions.
“Any other option would put this … at earliest in the election two years from now,” said Rick Piepho, county clerk.
That action will place the measure on the November general election ballot.
Schroeder said even though he supported placing the issue on the ballot, he will vote against the resolution at the polls.
“I will be voting against it at that time,” Schroeder said. “… I said I would support [the resolution] because I like the democratic process.”
In other business the commission:
• Approved a conditional use permit for Kevin Lambert to operate an automotive sales dealership at 8527 S. Spencer Road.
• Adopted the 2024 Kansas Region G Hazard Mitigation plan.
• Approved the purchase of solid-state storage drives for data storage.
• Approved a funds subrecipient agreement with Peace Connections for a Consider Kansas Food Action Network Communities grant.
• Approved an agreement for catching up leases and selling Building V at the Newton City/County Airport.
• Approved moving forward with an engineering agreement with HNTB for final design services for runway 8-26 at the Newton City/County Airport. The work for the runway will be paid mostly by FAA funds and will be performed in 2025.
• Received a second quarter financial report.
