Montgomery City Council members deliberated on an alcoholic beverage ordinance, public utility easements and repairs on Buffalo Springs Drive bridge during Tuesday evening's meeting. All council members were present with the exception of Position 1 Council Member Jon Bickford. To view Tuesday's agenda in its entirety, click here. 1. Ordinance allowing public consumption of alcohol approved An ordinance allowing public consumption of alcoholic beverages during special city-mandated events was approved during Tuesday evening’s meeting. The ordinance repeals a 1989 alcoholic beverage ordinance that prohibited public consumption of alcoholic beverages on public streets, sidewalks or alleys. City officials were surprised to learn of the 1989 ordinance and said it was not discovered until recently that popular Montgomery events, such as the weekly Sip-n-Stroll Farmer’s Market, were out of compliance with Montgomery law. The proposed ordinance presented to council members originally would have allowed public alcohol consumption to be permitted in designated areas—which would be Montgomery’s historic downtown and Cork This! Winery—every day of the week within a time constraint and with the understanding that two Montgomery police officers would patrol the area. Some council members and citizens did not approve of this draft, with one resident saying that permitting public consumption of alcoholic beverages in downtown Montgomery would liken the area to Austin’s Sixth Street. Ultimately, an updated ordinance was approved with the understanding that council members may update or amend the ordinance in following meetings. Specific events were documented as events in which alcoholic beverages can be consumed in designated public areas, including Freedom Festival, Wine & Music Festival, Antiques Festival, Sip-n-Stroll, Lone Star First Saturday and Christmas in Montgomery. The ordinance passed with a 3-2 vote; Position 4 Council Member Rebecca Huss and Position 5 Council Member Dave McCorquodale voted in favor of the ordinance, and Position 2 Council Member John Champagne and Position 3 Council Member T.J. Wilkerson voted against. Mayor Kirk Jones broke the tie. 2. Approval of feasibility study for extension of and utility easement on Pond Street Consideration of a Pond Street utility easement and road extension for the incoming Westmont Square development left council members again divided. The request was made to increase parking for the commercial development. The council's vote allows a feasibility study to be conducted surrounding the Pond Street area, since the land belongs to the city. Huss expressed concern for potential unintended repercussions of extending Pond Street’s easement, thus blocking a large drainage system in the area. Champagne, Wilkerson and Jones voted for the Westmont Square development to study the feasibility of this particular project; Huss and McCorquodale voted against. 3. City officials discuss Buffalo Springs Drive bridge and canal City engineers presented an update on the Buffalo Springs Drive bridge and canal, which suffered extensive flood damage last spring. Approximately $1.6 million is needed to repair the bridge, with the city seeking aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Requesting federal funding means the city must meet all requirements before receiving the funding. At the suggestion of the new FEMA team, city engineers evaluated the option to use steel sheet piles to build a wall of steel sheets along the Buffalo Springs bridge embankment instead of a concrete slope. However, engineers concluded sheet piles would cost roughly $300,000 and not be beneficial for Montgomery. It was decided that Montgomery would deny FEMA’s most recent embankment suggestion. Champagne called the Buffalo Springs bridge repair an “exemplary showing of how things should not be done.”