By Neil Doyle
BLOOMINGTON – The Bloomington liquor commission will meet Thursday to discuss the status of Cadillac Jacks liquor license.
Police performed an estimated 50 COVID-19 community compliance checks with various establishments over the weekend with an initial focus on downtown, according to a news release. Of the checks, three establishments were issued noncompliance notices as provided by state law with most adhering to the rules once given notice.
Cadillac Jacks, located at 1507 S. Main St., was observed to be noncompliant with mandated IDPH emergency rules or Illinois bar safety guidelines on four separate occasions Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The establishment was issued multiple required noncompliance notices over the weekend and, on Sunday, an order to disperse crowds was issued in accordance with the IDPH emergency rules.
“Our approach is to proactively plan for enforcement and we are dealing with problems and complaints as they come in,” said City Manager Tim Gleason. “Until such time as they increase I expect that this will be the direction I receive from Council versus penalizing the many businesses that are complying as we’ve asked.”
“The overall response by Bloomington’s bars and restaurants has been great and I want them to know that we appreciate all of the steps taken and the sacrifices made to protect our community. While we understand the difficulties they face we continue to monitor and enforce requirements because at this point the economic and physical well being of our community is at stake,” said Mayor Tari Renner, who also serves as the city’s liquor commissioner.
The city began messaging the need for adherence two weeks ago and BPD has been conducting compliance checks for masking, distancing and occupancy during patrols since that time in response to the local uptick in positive cases.
The liquor commission hearing will be held at 4 p.m. at Bloomington City Hall.
Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]
