Revelers at the annual weeklong Swedish Days summer festival will have to drink up a little faster this year.
The City Council this week amended its ordinance on outdoor alcohol, ordering that no sales be allowed 15 minutes before the close of the festival. A last call will be issued a half-hour before closing.
“These changes are a step in the right direction,” said Police Chief William Kidwell, who proposed after Swedish Days 1993 that alcohol sales be stopped one hour before closing. “We’ll have to see how things go in 1994 to see if this has any effect.”
Kidwell said he proposed the change as a preventative measure, not in response to any problems police experienced.
“There has to be some sensitivity to the people who live in and around downtown,” Kidwell said. “There is a lot of crowds and noise all night that they have to endure.”
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Swedish Days typically runs Tuesday through Sunday during a week in late June. The festival usually remains open until 11 p.m. on weekdays and until midnight Friday and Saturday.
In other action, the City Council unanimously approved a special-use permit allowing the Sugar Grove-based Waubonsee Community College to teach classes in rooms at the closed Sixth Street School.
The council also endorsed a proposal for Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles to enter a three-way contract with a solid-waste disposal company.