Council recommends Nebraska liquor board approve Class M bottle-club permit for G and T Billiards Unlimited

The Scottsbluff City Council voted to recommend that the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission grant a Class M bottle-club liquor license to T and A Investments LLC, doing business as G and T Billiards Unlimited, and to name Terry Schaub as the license manager.

The recommendation, made by motion and approved by roll call, came after roughly an hour of public hearing and questioning of the applicant, during which council members and city staff raised concerns about supervision when the manager is off-site, how the business will prevent underage drinking, parking shortfalls and how compliance checks would be handled.

Applicant Terry Schaub described the business as a membership-based billiards facility he opened in September and said the concept began as a “simple fun little business.” He told the council his membership agreement bars bringing alcohol into the premises between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. and prohibits minors from obtaining memberships; minors may enter only when accompanied by a parent or guardian. “I opened this as a simple fun little business, and now because of a liquor license, it's turned into more than I anticipated,” Schaub said. When asked about a criminal matter in his background, Schaub said, “That's pending.”

City staff and police presented background on similar bottle-club permits in Omaha and said those examples had not produced frequent problems. Staff said the Liquor License Investigatory Board had gathered information and presented it to police, but “didn't feel like they had enough information to make a decision,” and assigned the police department to investigate the Scottsbluff application further.

Council members pressed on several operational details. Fire and building inspections gave the property a certificate of occupancy for 49 people; staff noted the business currently has five on-site parking spaces but would need about 10 to meet requirements. Staff said street parking that backs onto the street cannot be counted toward the required on-site parking and that parking issues would be addressed separately as part of the certificate-of-occupancy process. Schaub said he intends to use mobile credentials rather than a physical fob for member access, and that he enforces a one-strike policy for misconduct and revokes membership after violations.

City staff also discussed how compliance checks would work for a membership-only operation. Under the statute discussed in the hearing, member lists and applications are treated as records that cannot be released without a court order; staff said operators have kept a locked file on-premises to make records available to officers during compliance checks.

After discussion, a motion to recommend approval of the Class M bottle-club permit and to name Terry Schaub as the liquor license manager carried on a roll call vote (Solomon: yes; McCarran: yes; Stricker: yes; Vidlak: yes; Phillips: yes). The recommendation goes to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, which has final authority to issue the license.

The council introduced five exhibits into the record: the applicant’s application, the city council checklist, a written statement from the police chief, a written statement from the city clerk and a written statement from development services.

Because the city’s action was only a recommendation to the state liquor authority, the license is not final until the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission acts. The police department investigation and any outstanding certificate-of-occupancy and parking issues remain outstanding items referenced during the hearing.