Wanted: Bidders for two liquor licenses BY DANIELLE MEDINA Correspondent BRICK TOWNSHIP - A souring economy may be the reason no one bid on the two available consumption liquor licenses, Township Administrator Scott M. Pezarras said. "People might not want to tie up that amount of money for a year," he said. Bids for the two licenses, at a minimum of $475,000 each, were due at the Township Clerk's Office by 10 a.m. on Feb. 13. "We had a lot of interest in the consumption licenses, but no bids were submitted," Pezarras said. "We'll have to call people who expressed an interest and try to find out why." The Township Council's Business and Finance Committee can choose not to rebid the two licenses and hold them in its repository or rebid them at a lower minimum bid, Pezarras said. "But there has been a lot of activity and interest in the two new retail distribution liquor licenses still available, he said. Minimum bids of $475,000 each are due in the Township Clerk's Office at 10 a.m. April 1. The bids will be opened on April 15. Councilman Michael Thulen said at the Feb. 12 council caucus meeting that he was in favor of putting restrictions on the bids in terms of the size of a store a retailer can build. "We don't need a Home Depot of liquor," Thulen said. "I don't have a problem with competition. I have a problem with super box stores." Thulen suggested placing a 10,000-square-foot limit in the bid requirements on the size of the store a retailer could build. "That's larger than anything we have in this town," Thulen said. But council President Ruthanne Scaturro disagreed. The council put restrictions on liquor license bids two years ago that dealt with size and distance from other retailers. "The last time when we put restrictions on it, we didn't get a bid," she said. "If we restrict the bids, it would restrict businesses unfairly," Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said. "This is a free market system. It wouldn't be a good thing for our town." Acropolis said that the size of the stores might be limited when the development applications go before the Planning Board or Board of Adjustment. "The establishment would have to meet setbacks and other criteria that will limit the size of the store," the mayor said. Council members approved the sale of the retail licenses by a 5-1 vote. Scaturro, council members Joseph Sangiovanni, Brian DeLuca, Anthony Matthews and Kathy Russell voted yes. Thulen voted no, and Councilman Daniel Toth abstained because of a conflict of interest.