GLADSTONE — One item on the agenda during the Gladstone City Commission meeting, an application for a special event to be permitted outside the new brewery, ended up being tabled for a later date after a good amount of discussion about what its approval might mean.

A past graduating class from Gladstone High School is planning on holding their class reunion at and outside Saunders Point Brewing, which opened in December after much anticipation. The hope for the reunion date on Saturday, June 28 is that 10th Street may be closed from Delta Avenue to the alley north beyond the Rialto Center (which houses the brewery at 1000 Delta Ave.) to allow for a food truck and band along with tables, chairs and a tent. As the proprietor of Saunders Point, considered the event sponsor, Jake Mills submitted the application to request the street closure with setup beginning at 2 p.m. and cleanup at 9 p.m.

Though a social district has been proposed for Gladstone to allow drinking on the street, it is unlikely that one will be established before the event.

Understanding that this special event application may well be the first of many to come from the brewery, commissioners noted that this one could be precedent-setting – both for future events and the possible social district – and were torn on how to proceed. Though Commissioner Brad Mantela moved to approve the application and Mayor Joe Thompson supported it, hesitancy from Commissioners Steve O’Driscoll and Robert Pontius – and ensuing discussion that led to Mantela changing his mind – caused the vote to fail.

The commission, which met Monday, didn’t deny the application; they just decided more information was needed. The item is likely to appear again on the agenda for the March 10 meeting.

O’Driscoll was most vocal about his concerns, which mostly were in regards to the event being held right next to the Dairy Flo, possibly exposing children and families patronizing the ice cream parlor to public intoxication.

“Right across from his garage door is the pavilion area for the Dairy Flo, and any event happening in a closed-down 10th Street is going to be right next to kids, especially from 2 to 9 p.m.,” O’Driscoll said. “…Saunders Point Brewing is a great business, but they remodeled that end of the building while Dairy Flo was sitting right across 10th Street from them. They had to know that this was going to be an issue at some point.”

He suggested asking Mills to attend the next city commission meeting to provide some more information about how he envisioned the reunion and other special events going.

“This is breaking new ground, so a little caution is advised,” Pontius agreed.

City Manager Eric Buckman mentioned the possibility of adding a new rule to special event permits, requiring event sponsors to contact neighbors who might possibly be affected by an adjacent event.

One thing that was unclear during Monday’s discussion was where alcohol consumption might be allowed; some were under the impression that Saunders Point would be able to serve or allow people to consume adult beverages within an enclosed outdoor area, like the nearby American Legion sometimes does. This is not the case.

According to the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC), for-profit businesses are not able to apply for special licenses to allow drinking in fenced-in areas outside the boundaries of their normal operating area.

“You would have to be a nonprofit to apply for one,” a representative with the MLCC told the Daily Press. “So a brewery typically wouldn’t account for that. A nonprofit organization could apply for (a special license) to do it on a city street, but it does need to be in an enclosed area – it needs to be fenced in or have some type of barrier – and then we do have to have the local law enforcement or police department sign off on the event as well. And we would need a diagram of the area.”

This means that even if Saunders Point Brewing’s event application is approved and the street is closed down for the reunion, no alcohol consumption would be permitted on 10th Street – unless a nonprofit got involved.

However, there is a small area of sidewalk outside Saunders Point that is included in their regular operating area, and adult beverages could be consumed in that space, as they may any other time the brewery is open.

The commission decided to prepare some questions for Mills in case he is unable to attend a meeting in person.

In other business during the Gladstone City Commission meeting of Feb. 24:

– The first resolution of 2025 was for the decertification of a portion of North 11th Street that extends north from M-35 for 259 feet. Certified streets earn municipalities money for maintenance from the Michigan Transportation Fund through Public Act 51 of 1951, but the Michigan Department of Transportation requires decertification when roads are vacated – and according to the staff report from Public Works Superintendent Barry Lund, this one was abandoned when the Krist Food Mart was built.

– Downtown Development Authority Director Patricia West brought an updated list of policies for the farmers market to the commission, and noted that the media policy had been revised. Commissioners asked for a couple other adjustments, including to add more clarity to the pet policy and to expand the rule against smoking to include vaping.

– Resignations/retirements from the planning commission for both Tom Butch and Dave Woodworth were accepted. Both gentlemen’s years of service were acknowledged; Woodworth was first appointed in 1998, and Butch joined in 2016 after working as the city attorney from 1975 to 2013.

– Three new members were appointed to the planning commission: Samuel Hewitt, Michael Kennedy and Nicholas Nastoff. They will carry on the torch passed by the long-serving Butch, Woodworth, and Alger Strom, who also recently stepped down.

– The City of Gladstone’s personnel policy is being updated to reflect, among other changes, the state’s new Earned Sick Time Act, which went into effect on Feb. 21.

– City Clerk Kim Berry was pleased to report that the ballots from the November election had finally been handled for the last time. After the initial counting on election night and a recount requested by a candidate later, a procedure audit from the State of Michigan required another hand count of one of the precincts. Having just completed it on Monday, Berry said, “the results of that were perfect.”

– Budget work sessions, which were supposed to begin this week, have been rescheduled after a wave of illness swept through city hall last week. The dates will now be Tuesday, March 4; Wednesday, March 5; and Thursday, March 6 if needed. The sessions are to be from 5 to 7 p.m.