Tuesday, OCTOBER 28, 2025 |

Photo – Rawlins City Hall – Bigfoot99 file photo

Rawlins officials are considering eliminating the public hearing requirement for catering permits.

During the October 21st Rawlins City Council meeting, Councilman Steve Sanger introduced a plan to change the way the city handles 24-hour alcohol catering permits. When a liquor license holder wants to serve alcoholic beverages at a special event held off-site, the business owner must apply for a 24-hour catering permit from the city.

Councilman Sanger explained that under the current system, the governing body must approve all catering permit requests during a public meeting. As a result, when an application is submitted between regularly scheduled meetings, a special session is required to review the permit.

Councilman Sanger said it’s unreasonable to expect the governing body to hold multiple meetings just to review catering permit applications. After researching online, Councilman Sanger said he found a 2010 resolution from the Board of Carbon County Commissioners that appears to authorize the County Clerk’s office to approve or deny catering permits without intervention from the Board.

Among other provisions, Resolution 2010-08 states that the County Clerk is authorized to issue 24-hour malt beverage and catering permits.

At the October 21st meeting, Councilman Sanger said the county follows the same state statutes governing the licensing of liquor and malt beverage sales as the City of Rawlins. The Councilman asked why the city couldn’t adopt a similar resolution.

Rawlins City Attorney Pinita Maberry-Nave was not present at the meeting to answer Councilman Sanger’s questions.

The Councilman continued, saying the state statute doesn’t clearly specify if a county or municipality can delegate liquor license duties to the clerk’s office. Given that Carbon County has followed the practice for 15 years without repercussions from the state, he said the City of Rawlins may be able to do the same. Councilman Sanger added that authorizing City Clerk Lynn Shearer to approve or deny 24-hour catering permits would ease the burden on the governing body.

Councilman Sanger clarified that Clerk Shearer would only handle 24-hour catering permits. Annual liquor license renewals would still require authorization by the City Council. The Councilman said the resolution would enable the Clerk’s Office to issue catering permits without requiring the governing body to convene a special meeting.

Vice Mayor Darril Garner expressed support for the idea, saying it would save time for both the governing body and city staff, who are responsible for organizing and advertising the special meetings. However, to avoid the appearance of impropriety, Vice Mayor Garner said the resolution should clearly define the standards the clerk must apply when issuing the 24-hour catering permits.

Interim City Manager Matt Hall recommended drafting a resolution with a clearly defined checklist that applicants must complete to avoid having their permit denied, ensuring all submissions are treated fairly. Councilman Bruce Seilaff suggested having the Chief of the Rawlins Police Department involved in the application review process as well.

After additional discussion, Mayor Jacquelin Wells recommended having City Attorney Pinita Maberry-Nave review the resolution to ensure it complies with state law. Once that is complete, the governing body can revisit the matter.

The post Filing for Catering Permit May Change in Rawlins first appeared on Bigfoot 99 Radio.