Firm Warning Attached to Bar's New Liquor License
By: Jacob Long, WMBD/WYZZ-TV
Updated: September 18, 2012
BLOOMINGTON - A Danvers bar tied to a fatal crash and serving alcohol to minors is reopening.
However, it comes with a stern warning from leaders in McLean County.
"People will be watching," said McLean County Board Chairman and Liquor Commissioner Matt Sorensen.
In February, 20-year-old Nicholas Kauffman and three others were in a pick-up truck crash after drinking at Danvers Y Tap. A deputy found it upside down in a field.
Kauffman did not survive.
The bar's owner, John Irwin, voluntarily forfeited his liquor license and shut down as part of a remedy to his liquor license violation.
Irwin also had to pay a $1,000 fine.
Then Irwin's son Drake applied for a new liquor license this summer, but it was met with resistance from McLean County leaders.
They felt there was not enough separation between the father's and son's business operations.
A hearing on the matter was postponed from mid-August until Tuesday to give the son more time to provide the county with more specific information.
That information included corporate filings and the fact John Irwin was planning on turning over the business anyway before the fatal crash.
Assistant State's Attorney Pablo Eves expressed Tuesday he still had concerns about re-granting the establishment a license.
But members approved the request and warned Drake "they did not want to see him again."
Eves said, "There's a sense, a hope for a new beginning and if there isn't than things go back to the way they were, potentially it could be documented through police reports or citizen complaint."
Drake was the acting manager the night of Kauffman's death.
The bartender, 70-year-old Mary Masters, was accused of serving the minors, but she died in an ATV crash in Stanford.
Irwin contended after Tuesday's hearing he will turn things around and run a clean shop.
"Running a bar has always been my dream," he said.
However, it comes with a stern warning from leaders in McLean County.
"People will be watching," said McLean County Board Chairman and Liquor Commissioner Matt Sorensen.
In February, 20-year-old Nicholas Kauffman and three others were in a pick-up truck crash after drinking at Danvers Y Tap. A deputy found it upside down in a field.
Kauffman did not survive.
The bar's owner, John Irwin, voluntarily forfeited his liquor license and shut down as part of a remedy to his liquor license violation.
Irwin also had to pay a $1,000 fine.
Then Irwin's son Drake applied for a new liquor license this summer, but it was met with resistance from McLean County leaders.
They felt there was not enough separation between the father's and son's business operations.
A hearing on the matter was postponed from mid-August until Tuesday to give the son more time to provide the county with more specific information.
That information included corporate filings and the fact John Irwin was planning on turning over the business anyway before the fatal crash.
Assistant State's Attorney Pablo Eves expressed Tuesday he still had concerns about re-granting the establishment a license.
But members approved the request and warned Drake "they did not want to see him again."
Eves said, "There's a sense, a hope for a new beginning and if there isn't than things go back to the way they were, potentially it could be documented through police reports or citizen complaint."
Drake was the acting manager the night of Kauffman's death.
The bartender, 70-year-old Mary Masters, was accused of serving the minors, but she died in an ATV crash in Stanford.
Irwin contended after Tuesday's hearing he will turn things around and run a clean shop.
"Running a bar has always been my dream," he said.
