Alcohol Board Denies License for Leesburg Freedom Express
Posted
Jordan Fouts-
Kosciusko County Alcoholic Beverage Board Thursday denied Greg Cobb’s license request for the Leesburg Freedom Express. Cobb, a managing member of Freedom Oil, requested the license in order to sell warm beer and cold wine in the recently renovated convenience store on Ind. 15. The license was formerly held by the Katie’s Kwik Mart across the street, but revoked after drug charges were filed against the owners in February. The three board members voted against letting the Freedom Express have the license, arguing that there are other places to buy alcohol in the town and that they feared it would make it too easy for minors to buy alcohol. State Excise Officer April Tackett voted in favor. Cobb told the board his store is well equipped with security, including 16 cameras, and remarked that it’s safer than a liquor store. He also noted there aren’t as many alcohol licenses in town as they think, after the Kwik Mart lost its and a license held by a now-defunct grocery store was put in escrow. “We are the grocery store in Leesburg. There’s no grocery store there now,” Cobb said. Board members acknowledged that the state Alcohol and Tobacco Commission has a history of overturning such decisions of theirs. The state board’s next meeting is June 16. Also Thursday, the county board approved license renewals with violations for the Tippecanoe Lake Country Club, which had a $1,000 fine for sale to a minor during an excise officer visit last summer; and for the Wawasee Golf Club, which had a $500 fine for an underage sale. They initially tabled a renewal with violation for Downtown Eatery and Spirits, since no business representative attended, but later approved it after realizing the business had only received a warning. They approved a license renewal for Claypool Inn but could not yet approve a transfer request for owners Danny Warner and Pat Blankenship because they had not received or displayed a public notice of application. They also tabled a transfer request for The Frog Tavern and SS Lillypad II for the same reason. And licenses were renewed without violations for Huntington Street Bar and Grill, Oak and Alley, Little Bighorn Golf Club, VFW 1126 and Wilby’s Gas and Goodies.
