Cheaper Liquor Licenses May Be On Tap for West Cape May

WEST CAPE MAY — Borough Commission may reduce the minimum bid for two liquor licenses by $150,000 before they are offered for sale next month.
At an October 12 meeting, Mayor Pamela Kaithern asked Deputy Mayor Peter Burke and Commissioner Ramsey Geyer for their thoughts on setting the minimum bids for the licenses.
Two years ago, the borough offering a distribution license for a package store with a minimum bid of $750,000 and a consumption license for a restaurant with a minimum bid of $650,000 but there were no interested parties at that price.
Geyer asked what the borough plans to do with the potential $1.4 million from the sale of the licenses. Burke said a voter referendum specified the funds be used for property tax relief using a small amount each year.
Kaithern said the money would be placed in a dedicated trust.
“If we can meet our budget without making a tax increase, we don’t need the money, right?” said Geyer.
Borough Solicitor Frank Corrado said the borough was not required to dip into the fund in any given year. Kaithern said the plan was to use a portion of the fund and interest over a period of years
She said there was currently interest on bidding on the licenses from the business community.
Burke suggested reducing the minimum bids by $100,000 to $150,000. Geyer said lowering each license by $100,000 may perk some interest.
Kaithern said if the borough reduced the cost of the licenses to $500,000 for the restaurant license and $600,000 for the package store, it would still garner more than $1 million.
Commission will introduce the enabling ordinance to offer the licenses for sale at its October 26 meeting.
Borough Commission introduced an ordinance at the Oct. 12 meeting amending regulations for future liquor licenses.
Amendments to an earlier ordinance regulating liquor licensee operations:
• Live music must end one hour before liquor sales end at 9 p.m.
• Time of sale of liquor is limited to 10 a.m. to midnight, seven days per week.
• No bar only service will be permitted in West Cape May. Alcohol may only be served in conjunction with food service or for customers waiting for a table.
“You can’t just come in there and order a beer,” said Corrado.
Borough Clerk Elaine Wallace said if commission introduces the ordinance that offers the liquor licenses for sale at its next meeting, it would be in effect before bids are opened. Corrado said the ordinance should be in effect prior to the submission of bids.
A public hearing on the ordinance would be scheduled for Borough Commission’s November 9 meeting, said Wallace. The ordinance would take effect 20 days after adoption by commission.
Bid submission would have to take place after November 29, said Corrado.