Sheryl Davis Kohl was sworn in Wednesday as the newest member of the Harford County Liquor Control Board.
A former state delegate, Kohl replaces Sandi Tunney, who chose not to seek reappointment after nine years on the board, the last two as chairwoman.
Kohl, the president of Beacon Staffing Services, has been an active member of the Harford County community with the Chesapeake Professional Women's Network, the Route 40 Business Association and the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce, among other organizations. She served in the House of Delegates from July 27, 2005 to Jan. 10, 2007.
She admittedly doesn't know much about the liquor board, but said she'll learn as she goes.
"I know from my past experience of being a delegate how important the board is and the licenses restaurants and businesses hold and how critical and important that is," Kohl said.
Harford County Executive Barry Glassman asked her to be on the board, she said, and she agreed.
"It's just my way of giving back and helping out," Kohl said.
As for the board, "it seems everyone wants to work and be successful," she said, pointing to a discussion Wednesday about 510 Johnnys, where the liquor board inspector saw potential issues and addressed them with licensee Nicholas Tsirlis so he could deal with them before they become problems.
"We want to see the business successful and the community have a place they can go," Kohl said.
"She comes to us with quite an impressive [resume] and I think we're lucky to have her," said Michael Thomson, who was chosen unanimously by his colleagues on the board as the new chairman. Vernon Gauss was named vice chairman.
"You have demonstrated the skill set and the passion to oversee our board here," board member Tom Fidler said to Thomson.
At Wednesday's meeting, the board members began the process of approving liquor license renewals; liquor licenses run from May 1 through April 30. The first 52 licenses were processed and "perfect," according to board administrator Judith Powell, meaning the application renewals were complete; their renewals were unanimously approved by the board.
Harford has 194 active liquor licenses and the renewals must be approved by the end of the month.
The license for Ice House Liquors in the 1000 block of Beards Hill Road could be facing difficulty in its renewal process.
During an inspection March 10, Robbins was told resident licensee Steven Stein had not been an employee of the store since August 2014. The board was never notified of his departure, Robbins said, and the license cannot be renewed with Stein still listed.
Licensees Bonnie Canavan and Kristin Canavan were found to have violated three liquor board rules: failing to notify the board of changes to pertinent information concerning the license; failure of the resident licensee to be on the premises a substantial amount of time on a daily basis; and failing to cooperate with the board.
Kristen Canavan, who lives in Baldwin, can become the new resident licensee. The problem, Robbins said, isn't adding her, it's getting the paperwork processed before the license expires April 30.
The board, which found the licensees guilty of violating the three board rules, could extend the liquor store's license for 10 days, but chose not to take any action until a renewal application is submitted.
510 Johnny's
Tsirlis, licensee for 510 Johnny's, which opened in October 2014 as a bar and restaurant in the former Belissimo building on Marketplace Drive in Bel Air, appeared before the board with his lawyer, Colleen Helmlinger, after learning his establishment was going to be the subject of a discussion at Wednesday's board meeting.
The liquor board's chief inspector, Charles Robbins, said the restaurant has done well and he's had no problems with the restaurant, but in stopping in there a few times, he's seen some things that could become problems, if they're not addressed.
He suggested more training for the doormen and servers. Several times when he's done premise checks on weekends between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. the door staff has been "mostly going through the motions" of checking IDs.
Many times they don't ask patrons to take the ID out of their wallets or they glance at it and hand it back without really making sure the bearer is 21 years old.
Robbins cited Magerk's and Looney's as the "gold star standard" in Harford County for checking IDs, and said each bar and restaurant seized four fake IDs over the weekend, and they will be forwarded to local police agencies for prosecution.
He also said the liquor board and the Bel Air Police Department provide ID training.
Tsirlis said he would talk with the staff, who are employees of an outside security firm, about paying closer attention when carding.
Robbins also said the restaurant doesn't have a fire code capacity and on recent visits, none of the doormen knew what the capacity of the restaurant is or how many people were inside.
He suggested getting mechanical tally counters to count the number of people coming and going to get "a very good approximation" of how many people are inside. He also said it would be a good idea to post a placard of the restaurant's capacity.
Harford liquor board rules do not allow any bar/restaurant to serve more than two drinks for the price of one in terms of bar specials; 510 Johnnys has been running a $5 all-you-can-drink special for women on Wednesdays, Robbins said.
The first two drinks can be included as part of the cover charge, but every drink after that must be sold.
Tsirlis said he would set a minimum drink price of $2 to eliminate the issue.
Finally, Robbins said, Bel Air Police Department has received noise complaints regarding 510 Johnnys, primarily from the Northern Maryland Sleep Disorders Center in the Atwood Professional Building.
"We will address these and nip it in the bud," Helmlinger said.
Liquor license changes
Tian Lu was approved as a new resident applicant of Lee's Hunan in the 900 block of Beards Hill Road in Aberdeen. Lu has been a chef at the restaurant for 14 year and works about 50 hours a week.
Dena Rolfes was added to the license at Rodgers House Tavern in the 200 block of North Washington Street in Havre de Grace. Rolfes, who has been with the business since it opened, is being added following the death of one of the former licensees.
Serdal Uzun was removed from the license of Lemon N' Ginger Asian Grille in the 3400 block of Merchant Boulevard in Abingdon.
Mark Bouchard and Sean Gray were added to the license as resident operators at Steelefish Grille in the 600 block of Boulton Street in Bel Air, which was also granted a wine corkage permit.
Michael Jackson was removed from the license at Acappella in the 2400 block of Pleasantville Road in Fallston, leaving Mike Rapo as the only licensee and the resident operator.
Also Wednesday, the board approved one-day beer and wine licenses for the Harford County Chamber of Commerce for April 9; St. Francis de Sales Church for April 25 and the Harford County Association of Realtors for May 5; and one-day beer, wine and liquor licenses for St. Margaret School for April 18 and the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation for May 8.