BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – At Brookville Borough’s meeting on Tuesday night, GetGo – located on Allegheny Boulevard, in Brookville – received approval to serve alcohol.
The next step is for the state Liquor Control Board to approve the transfer of a license that is currently located in Young Township at the Pizza Hut located off Route 119, south of Punxsutawney. The license is set to expire on July 31, 2017.
There were no public comments for or against the transfer of the license.
The only thing many members of council hoped would happen is that the beverages sold at the GetGo would be bought from local distributors, but there were no promises that would happen.
GetGo – Giant Eagle’s version of a convenience store – wrote to the borough at the end of March requesting a resolution from the borough approving the inter-municipal transfer of a Pennsylvania “eating place” liquor license from outside Brookville.
Giant Eagle has an agreement to buy the liquor license from the Pizza Hut.
Giant Eagle said in the letter to the borough that it will operate a restaurant inside the store and sell beer and wine for consumption inside the store and “to go.”
The letter also stated that GetGo will have a separate entrance, but the interior will connect to the grocery store.
On Tuesday, attorney Paul Namey, of Flaherty & O’Hara in Pittsburgh, which specializes in beverage alcohol law, and Giant Eagle Senior Corporate Counsel Dani Kazienko, gave a presentation and answered questions from council members about what the GetGo location will offer.
Namey said the GetGo on Allegheny Boulevard will seat about 30 people. No liquor will be sold. Beer will be sold first, in four-, six-, and 12-packs, and later, wine, but only by the bottle.
He explained Giant Eagle’s 100 percent carding policy.
“It doesn’t matter how old or young you look, you will be asked to produce photo ID for proof of age,” Namey said. “Also, a big part of the training our employees must have is identifying minors in groups that may include adults trying to buy alcohol for them and those who are inebriated and not allowed to buy alcohol.”
Kazienko talked about how the alcohol would be sold.
“The vast majority of our purchases are take out. Very few people actually stay in the store to consume it,” Kazienko said. “If someone bought a sandwich and wanted to have a bottle of beer with it, the cashier would remove the cap and give it to the buyer.”
“You couldn’t buy a six-pack and sit down to drink it with your food.”
Namey explained that 17 GetGo locations have already been approved for liquor licenses, and they have not had any PLCB violations.
“We don’t want to put too much of a burden on the local police, but we haven’t seen any problems,” Namey said.
Chief of Police Jason Brown said he didn’t anticipate that working with GetGo would be a problem.
Near the end of the council meeting, Borough Manager Dana Shick reported that another request was made to have a hearing regarding the transfer of a liquor license to a borough business.
The Opera House Cafe, located on Main Street, made the request for a public hearing to transfer a license from Zimm’s Sports Bar in Reynoldsville.
The hearing is to give the public a chance to made its feelings known.
If the borough approves a resolution, the state liquor control board must approve the license transfer.
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