Council recommends liquor license for Celtic Smoke Shop after public hearing; manager absent

After a public hearing during the April 7 Columbus City Council meeting, the council voted to recommend that the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission approve an application from NYC Tobacco LLC doing business as Celtic Smoke Shop for a retail Class D liquor license at 232220 Third Street, with Ibrahim Almansab listed as manager.

Attorney David Houghton, representing the applicant, told council members the proposed hours of operation for the business would be "9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily." Council members asked about age-verification and training for staff. An applicant representative (not identified by name in the transcript) described the store's point-of-sale ID scanner: "We have a point of sale and we have, like, a machine where you could just scan the ID in it and it tell you for over 21 or under 21. Like, they give you a red light if under 21 and a big green light is older than 21." The application's listed manager, Ibrahim Almansab, was not present at the hearing.

After hearing from the applicant and receiving no public objections, the council closed the public hearing and moved to recommend approval to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission. The motion to recommend the license passed by voice vote.

The council record shows the city acted by recommendation; final licensing authority rests with the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission. The council did not record any conditions tied to the recommendation in the meeting minutes, and the transcript does not show training details beyond the point-of-sale scanner description provided at the hearing.