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Lemont board restores ordinance to increase Class A-3 liquor licenses after procedural move; attorney advises trustee with liquor interest be excluded from roll
Summary
The Village of Lemont board removed and later reinstated Ordinance O-31-25 increasing the number of Class A-3 liquor licenses. Village Attorney Mike Stump advised that Trustee Forsley, who holds a liquor license, should not be called on votes related to liquor items; the board approved the ordinance after that procedure was established.
The Village of Lemont Village Board on June 23 removed Ordinance O-31-25 from its consent agenda and later voted to reinstate and approve the ordinance, which increases the number of Class A-3 liquor licenses.
The ordinance was pulled from the consent agenda after Village Attorney Mike Stump raised a procedural concern about newly elected Trustee Forsley, who holds a liquor license. Stump told the board that, under state law, a trustee may hold a liquor license but, "out of an abundance of caution" the trustee should not be called on liquor-related votes. "Trustee Forsley should be not called on and act like he's not part of the vote. He can't abstain, so the vote will only be, the trustees absent, Mister, Trustee Forsley," Stump said during the meeting.
After the ordinance was removed, the board voted to take it off the consent agenda (roll call: Trustee Justin McLafferty, Trustee Snagowski, Trustee Stapleton and Trustee Kittridge voted yes). The board then moved to bring Ordinance O-31-25 back for a separate vote with the understanding that Trustee Forsley would not be called on the matter. The motion to reinstate and adopt O-31-25 then passed on roll call (McLafferty yes; Snagowski yes; Stapleton yes; Kittridge yes). The transcript does not specify an opposing vote or abstentions for the final adoption; the clerk announced the motion approved.
The transcript does not state the ordinance's effective date or the exact new total number of Class A-3 licenses following the amendment.
The discussion about the procedural handling of a trustee with a liquor interest occurred during consideration of the consent agenda and before the formal roll call adopting the ordinance. The board recorded the procedural adjustment on the public record but did not provide additional written guidance at the meeting about how future liquor-related votes will be handled beyond not calling Trustee Forsley for those items.
Ordinance: O-31-25 (amending Lemont Municipal Code chapter 5.04, section 5.04.060(b), alcoholic beverages; increasing number of Class A-3 liquor licenses). Motion and roll-call details are recorded in the meeting minutes; the transcript indicates the ordinance was approved after the board reintroduced it and held a separate roll-call vote.
The board handled the item in open session and did not move the item to executive session. No further conditions or amendments to the ordinance were recorded in the transcript.
