Published: July 04, 2009 09:03 pm      

Alcohol sales part of Eton’s growth

ETON — Between taking shots at the pool table, Gary Thomason explained why The Sports Zone is his favorite place to relax.

“It’s a good environment,” the Eton resident said as rock music boomed out of speakers and muted televisions broadcast sports events. “They don’t tolerate no trouble, and they have great food — I’d put their food up against any major steakhouse. And if you have too much to drink, there’s free cab rides.”

Thomason said the Zone is “the nicest facility we have here in Eton — I think it’s good for Eton.”

David Bradley of Chatsworth concurred.

“It’s something to do after work, have a beer,” he said. “I usually come by on Fridays. It gives people somewhere to go. I like to come here because it’s closer to the house.”

“We offer designated drivers if someone has too much to drink,” said Mike Ali, who co-owns the bar at 3359 Highway 411 N. with his brother, also named Mike Ali.

The grill and bar employs one person full time and five people part time.

“A lot of people think this is like a pub or bar place,” said the other brother Mike. “But I like to think we’re more like a family place. We do not serve alcohol to underage persons, and we have security outside on busy nights. I feel like we’re contributing to Eton and Murray County, and to the local economy.”

Eton voters approved a liquor-by-the-drink referendum in 2004. Billy Cantrell has been mayor since July of last year after a special election, and has served on the City Council since 2002. He said the income from alcohol sales in the form of taxes and licenses goes into a general fund and is disbursed to the city’s police, fire and public works departments.

“Some of it goes into special events like our (car) cruise-in, movies in the park and country fair,” he said.

The license for package sales is $5,000 a year, and the license for pouring costs $2,500 a year. The amounts are pro-rated depending on what month a business opens.

City officials say the alcohol sales have brought other costs. They are partially responsible for an increase in driving under the influence charges, said Police Chief Brent Hooper.

“DUIs have gotten worse since The Sports Zone opened (last December),” he said. “More people are sitting in there drinking and then driving. But we’ve also hired a new police officer (Sgt. Todd Pasley) who has been concentrating on DUIs for about a year and a half.”

Eton police cited six drivers for DUI in 2005 and again in 2006. In 2007, the citations for DUI dropped to five, then jumped to 14 in 2008 when Pasley came on board. The figure is at 12 DUIs so far this year.

“It’s obvious not all of them are coming from The Sports Zone,” said Hooper. “We’re catching a lot of people who are just driving through town who’ve had too much to drink.”

Cantrell said “five or six” DUIs could be attributed to patrons leaving the Zone since it opened, but added some people are driving and drinking “from one place to the other” in Murray County and are getting caught in Eton.

“I’ve taken a personal interest to see what the effect The Sports Zone has had on the community,” he said when asked how he could track the DUIs. “They’ve brought good food into the community and distilled spirits to those who want that. But I’ve also watched the other impact like DUIs closely. I’ve asked (the police) the next day how they happened, and learned that some of the arrests were made at 2 or 3 in the morning after The Sports Zone had closed. Some of them have left to go somewhere else like Dalton or Chattanooga and then come back into town to get their vehicles.”

Cantrell said he and council members have advised the police officers to “pay attention” to drinking and driving.

“They’ve (Sports Zone) got three security people down there, and they instruct the waitresses to watch people,” he said. “He’s barred people who’ve gotten rowdy. You will always have a little bit of that, but our officers know we don’t want anybody drinking and driving — we don’t cut any breaks for that.”

Still, Cantrell said the sale of alcohol “helps set ourselves up for growth and dollars coming in, plus it provides something for the public.”

He said the foundation for that growth occurred in 2003 and 2004, when sole commissioner Tyson Haynes (currently the mayor of Chatsworth) pushed sewer service into Eton. The move helped carpet manufacturers get away from using septic tanks and also made it possible for two new schools to be built three miles west of town at the intersection of Highways 225 and 286.

“That gave us sewer service for retail as well,” Cantrell said, “and helped bring in businesses that gave the town a better look, like at the strip mall (on Highway 286).”

Other businesses that have moved into town in recent years include Davenport Realty, Donny’s Barber Shop, Fortner Investments, Living Well Pharmacy, Lucky’s Coffee Shop, Murray Mountain Medical Center and Subway.

“The new owners of the (Mountain Spirits) liquor store are getting more aggressive with their marketing,” Cantrell said. “For example, they’ve done a wine-tasting. But serving alcohol in Eton is not a tremendous source of revenue.”

The only other restaurant serving mixed drinks in Eton is El Pueblito, which also has a Mexican restaurant in Chatsworth. Cantrell said Eton will have a Super Savers opening this fall. The grocery store chain signed a contract to build on May 28.

“They tell me the tentative opening date is October,” he said. Fatz Cafe, a chain of eateries in the South, has also looked at Eton but not made a commitment to build, he said.

“They’re keeping an eye on the economy,” Cantrell noted, “but they haven’t said no. Fatz sees us being able to pull from the whole county if they locate in Eton.”

Since 2002 Eton’s budget has grown from $180,000 a year to around $1.3 million, he said. He attributes much of that to the sewer line extension from Chatsworth.

“Around here, we weren’t diversified enough to handle this hit (to the economy),” he lamented. “We don’t bring a lot in from property tax, so my vision is to see more businesses come in and share that burden. Every little bit helps.”

The city also receives monies from franchise fees, ad valorem taxes on inventory, and various other fees and fines from probationers.

Cantrell noted that the owners of Mountain Spirits and The Sports Zone “give back into the community.”

“Even though they live out of town and are owned by people who didn’t grow up in this country, they are constantly donating to our local events and even into the Secret Santa program,” he said. “Some of our locally owned businesses don’t even do that.”



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By the numbers

Eton’s intake from alcohol

Distilled spirits tax:

2005 — $7,735

2006 — $12,947

2007 — $13,951

2008 — $13,385

2009 (January through May) — $6,056



Distilled spirits license

2005 — $10,917

2006 — $10,000

2007 — $7,500

2008 — $5,833

2009 (January through May) — $6,874