A pre-hearing negotiation with the owner of a Porterdale restaurant laid out guidelines to follow if he wants to keep his alcohol license.

James Stalvey Jr. was called to Tuesday’s Porterdale City Council meeting for his failure to file distilled spirits excise tax returns and to pay excise taxes for Jimbo’s Grill at the Mill by the lawful deadline. He paid taxes on the restaurant’s alcohol license for the months of January through June on Aug. 1.

The Council gave Stalvey six stipulations he must follow during a 12-month probation period.

“If he breaks any of the stipulations, his alcohol licenses, all of them, will be revoked,” said Megan Reid, city clerk for the City of Porterdale.

To avoid an automatic revocation of his alcohol licenses, he must:

- File his returns and pay the 3 percent distilled spirits excise tax returns by the 10th of each month starting in September

- Pay with cashier’s check, cash or money order

- Pay court costs of $300

- Pay $150 in late fees for the past six months

- Have an audit prepared by a CPA at his own expense for the first six months of the year pertaining spirits sales, to be submitted by November 1

- Have an audit prepared by a CPA at his own expense for the year’s end pertaining to distilled spirit sales, to be submitted by March 1, 2015

Reid said Stalvey was “very agreeable, he understood. He said he would do it to keep his license open.”