The Chattooga County Malt Beverage Board met on Monday evening to decide the fate of 7 stores in Chattooga County that had their beer licenses pulled by Sheriff John Everett during a recent sting. The stores lost their license because they allegedly sold alcohol to minors.Chairman of the Malt Beverage Board Greg Espy said that the board did not have the evidence nor had they seen the evidence from the Sheriff’s department. Some of the store owners and operators at the meeting said that they had been allowed to see video of the incidents, while others said they were not shown any evidence by the Sheriff’s department. Sam Reece, owner of the Community Shop, said that he would like to see the evidence, but Espy stated that the board was only able to make a ruling on the license and did not have any evidence to show the store owners.There was a lot of discussion about the disparity between the City of Summerville’s beer and wine ordinance and the county’s. Stores inside the city limits of Summerville were allowed to pay a fine and get their license back last week. Both Chairman Espy and board member Bremp Warren said that they would like to see the county’s ordinance match the city of Summerville’s ordinance. Espy referred any further questions about changing the ordinance to Chattooga County Commissioner Jason Winter’s office.The board voted to give the store owners the minimum penalty for first time offenders, a two week suspension that began the day the licenses were pulled – Monday July 20th. Espy said the store owners could pick up their beer license "first thing next Monday morning at the commissioner’s office."
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