Residents of Kanawha County will not have the opportunity to vote on whether or not they approve of alcohol sales at restaurants, private clubs and wineries before 1 p.m. on Sundays.
The Kanawha County Commission voted in their meeting, Thursday, not to put "the brunch bill" on the ballot, largely due to Charleston's decision to use home rule to implement the law.
Commission President Kent Carper and Commissioner Dave Hardy said that they have only heard from businesses in Charleston about the bill.
"They have to come in and say that they want us to do it," Carper said about restaurants outside of Charleston who would like to serve alcohol before 1 p.m. on Sundays.
Carper said that he will put the alcohol sales to a vote if businesses outside of Charleston express interest.
Charleston got the idea to use home rule from Shepherdstown, where restaurants have been able to serve alcohol on Sundays since mid-May.
Several Charleston City Council members have expressed interest in using the home rule process, with encouragement from the Charleston Visitor and Convention Bureau.
If cities in Kanawha County want to use home rule to allow for the alcohol sales by August, they'd have to have public notice in the newspaper Friday.
Carper said that most of the establishments that would want the bill in Kanawha County are located within a home rule city.
Some Kanawha County staff raised concerns that if Charleston passes the brunch bill via home rule and the county votes the measure down, that it could create a tricky legal situation.
In other business, despite budget cuts, the Kanawha County Commission gave Coonskin Park $100,000 to replace the turf on Schoenbaum Soccer Stadium.
The county's money matches a $200,000 donation from Betty Schoenbaum, of the stadium's namesake.
Schoenbaum offered the park the money after hearing that the University of Charleston refused to donate money to fix the turf. The Kanawha County Board of Education and Charleston Catholic had already pledged donations.
The turf on the field is about nine years old, but already has deteriorated. The park has a warranty on the turf, so the company that installed it will pay for 2/3 of the installation costs.
"Frankly, the turf should have lasted longer than that," Hardy said.
Also, Thornton Cooper, one of the candidates running for delegate in the 35th district, gave a presentation to the commission about why residents in precinct 277 voted in the wrong delegate district.
Cooper confirmed what was already reported in this newspaper, that in 2014, precinct 277 was three separate precincts. The precincts were combined when Charleston redistricted their wards in 2015, despite the city not making changes to that ward.
Cooper suggested that the easiest solution would be to split 277 into three precincts again.
County Clerk Vera McCormick was not in attendance for the presentation.
"I'm disappointed that the clerk is not here," Carper said.
Finally, the county will hire Spencer Elliott to collect delinquent taxes in Kanawha County. The county only has to pay 17 percent of the bill.
Chief Tax Deputy Allen Bleigh had a large, glossy list of the top 100 highest delinquent taxes in the county to show the commission.
"That needs to be put in the newspaper and deadbeats who aren't paying their taxes need to be shamed," Hardy said.
Reach Daniel Desrochers at dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or reach @drdesrochers on Twitter.