(Photo by Michelle Dillon) At-Large Councilman Jon Grimm, center, explains during a Marietta City Council meeting Thursday evening why he made a motion to table an ordinance that would object to the renewal of the Locker Room Bar’s Liquor license, while At-Large Councilman Harley Noland, left, and Mayor Joshua Schlicher, right, listen.

Marietta City Council members voted Thursday to table a resolution that would have objected to the renewal of the liquor license of the Locker Room Sports Club, also known as the Locker Room bar, on Feb. 2.

Council conducted the first reading of Resolution No. 50 (24-25) at a meeting Thursday night and then At-Large Councilman Jon Grimm, who introduced the resolution, made a motion to table the resolution, with At-Large Councilman Harley Noland seconding the motion.

Grimm tried to discuss why he wanted to table the motion before a vote was held on it but Council President Susan Vessels told him council is not allowed to have discussion on motions to table and City Law Director Paul Bertram agreed.

Council passed the motion to table the resolution with a vote of 4-2. Ward 3 Councilman Bill Gossett and Ward 1 Councilman Michael Scales voted no.

The resolution sought to object to the renewal of Liquor Permit No. 3002204, which is held by Gajanga Enterprises Inc., doing business as Locker Room Sports Club and Patio, located at 217-219 Greene St., Marietta, based on several factors. Those included local law enforcement responding to 98 calls at the bar over the past four years and there were calls or incidents occurring in the vicinity of the bar, according to the resolution. It did not state how many calls were received for the areas near the bar.

The resolution also stated the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Division of Liquor Control, has issued four different code violations against the Locker Room in the last 10 years and that there have been “numerous incidents of ‘underage consumption’ and/or ‘underage possession’ in 2024” at the bar.

A review of the violation history associated with the Locker Room’s liquor permit, according to the resolution, shows 17 separate cases have been filed against the Locker Room since 2007, with some of the cases involving multiple code violations.

The resolution stated during the month of October four people were indicted on various charges including attempted murder and felonious assault in connection with a shooting that happened outside the Locker Room, three of whom were armed and three of whom were under age 21, and that some of the individuals had been inside the bar prior to the shooting.

Grimm’s efforts to introduce the resolution are in part due to the Sept. 28 shooting that ended with one woman shot in the face and at least 38 shots being fired and the mother of the shooting victim and a concerned citizen both asking during an Oct. 3 council meeting for the Locker Room’s liquor license not be renewed and expressing the belief that the bar contributed to the shooting. Grimm also previously said he was seeking the resolution due to possible serving of alcohol to underage people at the bar and other issues at the Locker Room.

Grimm explained why he introduced the motion to table the resolution and why he voted to table it toward the end of the meeting.

“As everybody knows we’ve done a lot of work in investigating and looking into this issue,” Grimm said.

He sent council members an email on Thursday explaining he has felt conflicted about the course they were taking, he said.

“Frankly, while we do have (an) obligation, an important obligation, to protect the safety of the citizens of Marietta, I also realize that this action affects the livelihood of not just the owner of the establishment but his staff,” Grimm said. “I pursued this primarily because all indications that I received from the owner and staff were that either these things weren’t happening or they were not responsible for them.”

On Dec. 30 after Grimm left a Police and Fire Committee meeting where the resolution to object to the renewal of the Locker Room’s liquor license was discussed, he had a conversation with Locker Room owner James Eastwood, according to Grimm.

“He explained a few things to me, things that had been brought up in committee before but then I explained to him that if I had a feeling that he would accept responsibility and accept responsibility to help improve the situation, increase the security, take steps to make sure that minors aren’t sold to, make sure that violent situations don’t erupt, that if he were to take responsibility for that I would feel better,” Grimm said.

Eastwood gave a sincere reply to that and said he understood council’s position and that he would take responsibility, according to Grimm, so Grimm decided to table the resolution to give Eastwood a chance to improve the security and situation at the Locker Room.

He is going to look to Eastwood to come to Police and Fire Committee meetings and let council members know his plans to increase security and on a regular basis Grimm will review progress and make sure that improvements are being made, he said.

Grimm was the only council member who commented on the resolution during the meeting, but after it Ward 4 Councilwoman Erin O’Neill provided an emailed statement on the resolution and its tabling.

“Throughout this whole process, my primary concern has been the lack of a clear procedure or framework for how we, as a council, handle situations like this,” O’Neill said in her statement. “Opposing the renewal of a liquor license is a serious and significant step, and without an established process to guide our decisions, I worry that our actions could appear inconsistent or unfair.”

O’Neill was glad council had the opportunity to table the resolution, she said, because while there are valid concerns about the Locker Room, council was asking the state to take drastic actions without exhausting all other options to deal with the concerns locally and because the resolution relied heavily on “ad hoc discussions” and “anecdotal evidence” instead of a standardized process.

O’Neill wished more members of the public had taken the opportunity to express their concerns and that Eastwood had more in-depth answers to council’s questions and concerns about what safety measures he will be implementing, she said, and she encouraged the public to become more involved the conversation about the Locker Room.

O’Neill said.

No one associated with the Locker Room spoke during the meeting, but after it Eastwood spoke briefly about council’s decision to table the resolution.

“I feel great,” Eastwood said.

He said he plans to “just continue communication between myself and council to make sure everything is going well.”

The resolution would have needed to be passed and submitted to the Ohio Liquor Control Commission by Thursday in order for a hearing to be held on the objection to the renewal of the Locker Room’s liquor license, but after the meeting Grimm explained what else council can do in the future,

“We can bring it off the table,” Grimm said. “It does delay, it would delay until next year. I just thought that was a concession we would be willing to make.”

Grimm discussed tabling the motion to with the city law director before he decided to make the motion to table, he said, and the city law director assured Grimm there are actions council can take in the future.

The next city council meeting is 7:30 p.m. Jan. 16 in Room 10 of the Marietta Armory.