City considers curbside liquor sales

Walmart wants to include liquor in its curbside pickup option in Medford

Under a plan approved at Monday’s city council committee of the whole meeting, curbside shoppers at the Medford Walmart will soon be able to include liquor and beer as part of their orders.

Walmart came to the meeting requesting an amendment to their retail liquor license to include the designated pick up area outside the store. Shawn Foreman, a representative and manager of Walmart addressed city concerns.

“There is a company wide policy that if anyone comes through the store and/ or the curbside pick-up, and they appear intoxicated, that purchase of alcohol is immediately taken off of the transaction,” Foreman said.

“There will be supervision at all times with the person who is selling, and who is trying to purchase the alcohol,” he said.

City clerk Ashley Lemke explained that anyone selling alcohol would have to go through the same licensing process.

“Anyone who has the intent to sell liquor, would have to go through a course in order to obtain their operator’s license. This license is valid for two years, and will have to be checked regularly to make sure their license is up to date,” Lemke said.

Foreman assured the council that the area will be under video surveillance continuously. Alderman Christine Weix, asked, “If there was some way Walmart could bring someone in internally, to go undercover to test the employees on what to do if the customers are underage.”

Foreman said that would be a good thing to consider sometime in the future. Foreman also made clear that this agreement does not include tobacco products and the customers would still have to pay for their cigarettes and other tobacco products inside the store.

Council members voted to recommend the plan and to bring it to the full city council for final approval.

Fiber optic cable

WANRack LLC has been working on incorporating fiberoptic cables throughout the Medford area.

According to City Coordinator Joe Harris, they have come across a glitch in the plan where they were unable to go along the highway bridge on Hwy 64 over the Black River. Harris suggested they would go across Hwy 64 to access the pedestrian bridge, by the Millpond dam.

“They would run a conduit along the bottom of the bridge, paint it brown, to be able to match as best they can, then run the cables across the highway and then come back through and connect the two ends.” Harris explained.

Alderperson Gregory Knight expressed concern with the plan.

“What if some of the floorboards need replacing along the bridge? Would the conduit get in the way of replacing the boards if need be?”

Harris assured the board that they have worked with their engineer to assure that the conduit wouldn’t be a problem if repairs have to be done. He also said the city would not liable for any damage of these cables if repairs need to be done. Council members recommended approval of the plan.

In other business council members: _ Recommended granting W.E. Energies an easement to access Gowey Abstract and Title Co. The reason for this, there was a garage that the owner wanted to install gas heat. The city needed to allow a 12 foot easement to make this possible. Harris explained how “They used the ramp off of main street to access the gas line, and the project is now underway.”

_ Recommended redistricting city wards to balance out the population between districts. The borders must be finalized by October 24.

_ Recommended renewing a three-year lease for police department space in the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office. The police department leases 1,436 square feet of office space and 450 square feet of garage space.

_ Received an update from Harris on electric/ utility around town. They are doing light pole replacement. “In June, 50 street lights were ordered, as of now, there are 8 completed,” Harris said.