Patrons of Irish Bred Pub, located at 1115 Church St. in downtown Covington, will be able to enjoy alcoholic beverages outside the restaurant after a unanimous vote by the Covington City Council earlier tonight.

Jack Philips, owner of the Irish Bred Pub and The Cork Boutique, located at 1109 Church St., presented the outdoor dining request for his restaurant to the council.

Currently, Irish Bred Pub is a non-smoking restaurant inside and outside. The addition of outdoor seating on the back sidewalk of the building, on Elm Street, would help better accommodate customers who smoke, Philips said.

While the council unanimously approved the decision for the restaurant, Philips’ second request for The Cork Boutique had a different response.

Philips requested outdoor tastings of beer and wine to be added for his business.

Currently, the city ordinance specifically allows two-ounce tastings inside the business. City Attorney Frank Turner said the council would need to consider revising its ordinance to allow for the outdoor tastings.

With Mayor Ronnie Johnston breaking the tie, the council voted 4-3 to allow the city attorneys to work on writing up the ordinance change. The change in ordinance would still require a first and second reading by the council before its official approval.

City amends county agreement

Newton County requested a change in its intergovernmental agreement with the City of Covington regarding the use of the town Square located in the center of downtown Covington. In the proposed agreement, the county specified its right to use the Square.

City Manager Leigh Anne Knight said city staff agreed to the majority of the county’s changes. However, in the proposed agreement the county stated it would either self-provide or pay the city to provide traffic control, trash pickup and other reasonably necessary services.

Knight said the Covington Police Department (CPD) has always been the department to manage the traffic control of downtown Covington. The streets surrounding the town square are specifically city property.

Therefore, the city council unanimously voted to send the proposed agreement back to the county with the specification that CPD would always manage the traffic control for events on the Square.

Vinyl siding ban denied

Councilman Chris Smith made the motion to deny the proposed vinyl ban in the City of Covington. His motion was unanimously approved by the council.

Smith informed the council he had received phone calls from vinyl representatives about the proposed ban during last week’s council work session.

The proposed ban was originally tabled by the council in its Oct. 3 meeting.