Liquor certification: All or nothing in Fox Lake

If your favorite Fox Lake bartender isn't certified, your favorite bar may not be able to serve alcohol.

Under a move designed to stop the number of liquor violations in Fox Lake, village officials agreed to approve a law that could stop a local tavern from obtaining a required liquor license should all servers not be certified to serve alcohol.

Police chief Mike Behan said the law requires all alcohol servers complete the Beverage Alcohol Sellers & Servers Education and Training (Basset) course.

Under the new law approved Tuesday, he said, a bar or convenience store owner must turn in all Basset training certificates of bartenders and waiters on staff when trying to renew their liquor license.

If the bar does not have all the required certificates turned in 30 days prior to the license renewal date, the village will not issue a liquor license to the establishment.

"The number of violations we have has not changed from year to year," Behan said. "Plus, people come and go in the bar business and we aren't sure if they are trained. This way, we know everyone is getting the training."

There are about 40 liquor licenses issued annually in Fox Lake. On average, Fox Lake picks up about 10 liquor violations annually. Behan said he'd like to see that number reduced even further.

"We want to make sure every person selling alcohol is certified," he said. "This will go a long way to make that happen."

Behan also tried to shift the cost of Basset training to the liquor establishments, but trustees balked.

Trustee Noel Working, owner of Channel Inn on Grand Avenue, which serves alcohol, said the fee is another charge on the back of small business owners and minimum wage servers surviving on tips who are already facing a dramatic decrease in revenue.

"Business is already down 30 percent because of the smoking laws and the economy, and now you are hitting us with another charge on top of it," he said. "We can't afford to keep doing this."

Behan said the village spends about $6,000 annually to train liquor servers in town to know when to stop serving, how to stop underage drinking and other issues surrounding the distribution of alcohol.

He said when the Basset ordinance was put in place in Fox Lake four years ago, it was always agreed that license holders should eventually pick up the cost of the training class.

He said the village hosts a Basset training class about once a month to make sure everyone is trained properly in liquor distribution.

"For one 8-hour course, it costs the police department $500," he said. "We hold one about once a month."