Lawndale

The Chamber of Commerce, in an emergency board meeting Tuesday, decided it would not be economically feasible for the group to manage the city’s annual fair because the City Council on Monday eliminated beer sales at the event.

As a result of the chamber’s decision, the city will scale back the event from two days to one, City Manager Paul Philips said. The tentative date is Sept. 29.

The council had previously approved a “beer garden” requested by the chamber, which was managing the fair with an $8,000 budget as part of its contract with the city. The chamber’s fair chairman, Don Bubar, had said that the beer garden was the only way to make the festival profitable.

Bubar told the council last week, however, that liability insurance for the event, with the addition of the beer garden, could run as high as $7,000. That triggered new council discussion on whether permission for the beer garden should be rescinded and whether the city should reclaim management of the fair.

In addition to eliminating the beer garden Monday, the council voted to cover the event through the city’s liability insurance.

The city has always had a one-day Fun Fair each year, but the chamber had hoped to make this year’s fair a two-day event.