No beer yet at St. Charles’ Pottawatomie Golf Course

It’s not unheard of for the garbage cans around St. Charles’ Pottawatomie Golf Course to contain empty beer bottles or cans even though alcohol is not allowed anywhere in the St. Charles Park District.

That was set to change Monday night.

District officials weren’t launching a new crackdown to get rid of the beer; instead, they were going to make sure the beer came from the district itself.

District officials brought an application for a liquor license to the St. Charles city council, but the proposal failed to find the green as aldermen voted the proposal down. The prevailing concerns involved the golf course’s proximity to Swanson Pool and the overall atmosphere of park facilities in general.

The district assured the council the area where beer could be purchased would be fenced and screened off from the pool. There also would be no direct access from the beer concession area in the clubhouse to the pool area, and only beer in plastic bottles would be sold.

But the proposal, as written, didn’t prevent anyone from purchasing beer to roam around the golf course with it. That changed the tenor of the conversation from the benefits of serving beer at the course to compete with other courses that serve alcohol to a debate about the dangers of mixing alcohol into a family atmosphere.

The district tried to convince the council they could easily handle the mix. They even pointed to facilities operated by Disney as an example of how beer and family time can go together successfully. But the majority of the council wasn’t buying it.

“I think this is a chink in the armor for the whole park district,” Alderman Cliff Carrignan said. “I’m just not comfortable moving forward.”

Aldermen Ray Rogina and Ed Bessner were the only “yes” votes on the license. The park district can reapply for the license or try to persuade any of the aldermen voting “no” to reconsider in order to immediately renew the debate.

Pottawatomie Golf Course is already open for the season. Swanson Pool won’t open until June 11.