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Liquor Sales Referendum May Be On Nov. Ballot
KEVIN HALPERN, Courier Co-Editor Do you approve or disapprove of liquor and wine sales in the Town of Woodbury? That is a question the town’s voters may be asked to answer during this year’s November election. According to the Cannon County Election Office, it has been approached by citizens interested in finding out the steps necessary to put the question on the November ballot in the form of a referendum. Woodbury Mayor Harold Patrick said he has also discussed the matter with a Woodbury resident. Under state law, to place a referendum to allow the sale of wine and liquor on the ballot would require a petition which contained the signatures of at least 10 percent of the number of voters who participated in the last election for governor. That was in 2010. The Election Office said this week it is still researching the exact number but believes that roughly 700 Woodbury voters cast ballot’s in the 2010 governor’s race, meaning a petition with around 70 signatures would be enough to call a referendum. Mayor Patrick said that according to information he received from MTAS, the Municipal Technical Advisory Service, the town has no involvement in the referendum process. “The City has no part in the process at this point,” Dana Deem of MTAS wrote in an e-mail to the mayor. “The petitions are turned into the County Election Commission. A petition must be signed by at least 10 percent of the registered voters who voted in the most recent Governor’s election. The County Election Commission will verify the signatures and conduct the referendum. If the referendum passes, the City will enact an ordinance allow for package sales.” Deem said the town will be able to control the location of package stores through its zoning ordinance, and also the number of stores allowed.
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