Omaha council delays evidentiary hearing on Crush Ultra Lounge liquor license to Feb. 11

The Omaha City Council on Feb. 11 laid over an evidentiary hearing on a resolution to cancel the Class C liquor license held by Crush Ultra Lounge, voting 7-0 to schedule the hearing as the last item on the council's Feb. 11 regular agenda.

Attorney Bill Bianco, representing Crush Ultra Lounge, asked the council for a continuance after saying his team received a large amount of evidence the morning of the meeting. "We have a box of evidence, and I also have a CD, thumb drive with 20 hours of evidence. So it will take us some time to go through that, and we would appreciate, you know, a few weeks to do that," Bianco said.

David Grauman of the City of Omaha Law Department told the council the city had "no objection to the continuance," calling the request reasonable given the volume of material. The council president set the hearing as the final agenda item on the Feb. 11 regular meeting, which begins at 2:00 p.m.

The council recorded a roll-call vote approving the continuance 7-0. Members recorded as voting yes were Melton, Roe, Begley, Harding, Hugg, Johnson and the council president.

City attorney representation explained the Feb. 11 session will be an evidentiary hearing under city code. "This is an evidentiary hearing, so this is different than the hearing we conducted related to the long form application," said the city attorney's representative, who referenced city code section 15-33-3. He described the expected order: the licensee (Tony Pham or his attorney) will present witnesses and evidence, followed by community witnesses, then city officials such as Omaha Police officers; counsel and council members may cross-examine witnesses and parties may offer rebuttal.

Bianco said Tony Pham, the owner of the establishment, was present and that the defense needs time to review body-worn camera footage and other materials the city provided. A city attorney later said any tavern reports, incident reports or other relevant materials that come to light would be supplemented into the record and that the city would notify Bianco if additional items became available.

The council also confirmed the continuance falls within the 30-day window required by the previously passed resolution that set the matter for hearing; city counsel said no amendment to that resolution was necessary.

The council adjourned after taking the continuance vote. The evidentiary hearing on the resolution to cancel the Class C liquor license for Crush Ultra Lounge is scheduled as the last agenda item on the Feb. 11 regular meeting.