City Of Cookeville will exempt the Putnam County Convention Center, the new Putnam County Fairgrounds, and indoor events at the Leslie Towne Center from obtaining a Special Events Alcoholic Beverage Permit.
Mayor Laurin Wheaton said the city’s municipal code previously prohibited any alcohol on any city streets and city properties, with the exception of the outdoor portion of the Leslie Town Centre and Tennessee Tech. Wheaton said there are a significant number of events from non-profits that do include alcohol.
“If having alcohol at an event is a way that they can sell tickets and do it safely, we did not want to keep that form happening,” Wheaton said. “And I thought that was a great way to mkae sure that we are supporting the local non-profits, the events, the Leslie Town Centre, and the convention center.”
Wheaton said the new additions should have been included in last year’s change. Wheaton said non-profits will still have to follow state statutes when hosting events.
“There are state statutes that they have to apply for, and there’s also city permits that they have to apply for, things like that,” Wheaton said. “But it was kind of conflicting with what we had put forward and what the state said in terms of alcohol permits, you know, selling individual drinks and stuff like that, and so we’re kind of just making it all line up to where they don’t have to get this special type of permit to do the alcohol because we’ve kind of exempted hem from that, and they just have to follow the state statute.”
Wheaton said the city will ensure that alcohol is served legally at these venues.
“The best way to continue to do what we’ve already been doing is communication,” Wheaton said. “You know, we have great communication with the Convention Center. We have great communication with the Leslie Town Center. So just making sure everyone knows what’s going on. We’re all squared away. It’s been running smoothly already, and this way we’re just going to keep it going with the Convention Center and the Leslie Town Center.”