Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
After a discussion at the June 26 Palouse city council meeting, the agreement between the city and Palouse Tavern regarding outdoor seating is set to be adjusted.
As it stands, the open-ended 2005 Agreement For Use of Public Street allows for outdoor seating on Friday nights. However, the Beach Street space has been used for more than just those times.
Palouse councilman Cecil Floyd said the agreement will likely be adjusted to account for the reality. He chairs the city’s Streets and Sidewalks committee.
“We just want the policy to reflect what’s actually happening,” he said. “I don’t think anybody has an issue with it being used more than Friday nights. It’s just that we’d like to get it into the official policy and have it as an annual agreement.”
Palouse Tavern owners Bob and Tina Brookshier told the Gazette they were not aware the agreement was discussed at the council meeting. They said they haven’t heard of any problems regarding the matter.
“It’s pretty nice out there in the evening time,” said Bob. “It just kind of benefits everybody. Not just those who want to drink beer but the ones who just want to sit out there and eat. It gets pretty warm inside here in the summertime with no air conditioning, only fans.”
The agreement states that Palouse Tavern may use half of Beach Street for outdoor seating on Fridays from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. The Brookshiers are deemed responsible for putting up and taking down barricades around the outdoor seating.
Originally the barricades were wooden panels, then the Brookshiers used a snow fence before buying the plastic stanchions they use now.
As written in 2005, the agreement between the city and the tavern is open and does not need to be renewed each year.
Councilman Floyd told Mayor Michael Echanove he will gather more information and bring the item for discussion at the next council meeting.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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