Still no vote on Lower Burrell allowing alcohol at city park events

A final city council decision on allowing alcoholic beverages at Lower Burrell park events is being pushed back again.

For the second time in two months, council tabled a vote on a proposed ordinance to allow alcoholic beverages to be served at events in city parks.

The measure would permit alcohol to be served at events in Burrell Lake Park and K-9 Officer Derek Kotecki Park only by vendors who are state licensed and serving only beverages made in Pennsylvania, according to City Manager Greg Primm. In addition, the ordinance would establish a permitting process and rules for food truck vendors who want to serve alcohol.

After being tabled at its April meeting, council tabled the proposal at the May meeting. Only three of the five council members — Mike Stanoski, David Stoltz and Ron Welker — attended the May meeting. Mayor Chris Fabry and Councilwoman Brandy Grieff were absent.

Stoltz, who chaired the meeting, said the proposed ordinance is a “pretty high-profile decision” that should have participation by council as a whole.

“I strongly feel that this should be a five-person vote,” Stoltz said in moving to table the issue.

Welker and Stanoski agreed to delay the matter to the June 9 council meeting.

Before the action was taken, Carley Logan, chairwoman of the city parks commission, which supports the ordinance, lobbied hard on behalf of it.

Logan read off a list of surrounding communities that allow alcohol to be served at social/recreational events such as New Kensington’s “Fridays on Fifth” events.

She said, as a result, Lower Burrell is viewed as being behind the times and a community “where nothing is going” on while other communities are moving forward. That view is prevalent in comments on social media sites, she said.

When the matter was tabled in April, Logan said she was disappointed when the proposal was met with “such negative pushback.”

“You would think we want to hold a citywide frat party at the park,” Logan said.

The idea, she said, is to allow people to enjoy a beer or some wine while listening to music and eating out at events such as the Music in the Park summer series at Burrell Lake Park. She argued that people attending such events are not looking to overindulge and cause problems.

“It is unlikely that serving alcohol at an event in Kotecki Park will cause a physical altercation,” Logan said.

Police Chief John Marhefka disagrees about the potential consequences, providing some of the negative pushback to which Logan referred.

Although he did not speak of the proposal at the May meeting, Marhefka previously voiced his opposition to it, saying that serving alcohol would act as a magnet in drawing a “bad element” to the parks and create problems, such as people bringing their own alcohol to the events. In addition, he contends that it will put a burden on police department resources.

Stanoski, who initially introduced the proposal, has reversed his stance and said he feels he must defer to Marhefka’s judgement.

He repeated a point that the police chief previously made, that other events have been held in the parks and were successful without alcohol as an attraction.

“The benefits still do not outweigh the risks,” Stanoski said. “I’m still going to vote no.”