Two Ames bars had their liquor licenses renewed at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, but not without controversy.

Paddy’s, 124 Welch Ave., and Sips, 126 Welch Ave., are under the same liquor license and have a total of 38 citations, all for minors on premises.

“It is a bit too excessive,” said Riad Mahayni, 4th Ward councilman.

Representatives from the Ames Police Department explained the issue.

Currently the law only requires that bars make an honest effort when keeping minors out of the bars.

“They have a responsibility to make a good faith effort to check the age of people entering their bar,” said Ames Police Lt. Mike Brennan.

This makes it hard to give the bars citations because it is not easy to determine whether a good faith effort is being made, Brennan said.

“If we could legally cite the establishment, we would,” Brennan said.

Andy White, owner of Paddy’s and Sips, said it is hard for a door person to identify the person if they use someone else’s ID compared to a fake ID.

“I don’t agree that is a lot of citations,” White said.

He pointed out that in the past, police checked bars one or two times a month, but more recently they have been checking around four times a week.

“Campustown has become a very difficult place for a minor to get into a bar,” White said.

Paddy’s and Sips have strobes lights on the back doors that help the employees identify people sneaking in. They also have ID scanners.

“There’s no other technology that I can add right now,” White said.

In some cases, Ames police officers are unable to identify if a person is using a fake.

“It looks like they are making an effort,” Brennan said. “Some doormen are better than others.”

This is a serious issue, Mahayni said.

He said a solution may be raising the consequences for minors on the premises of a bar.

“I don’t want to fault you for running a successful business,” said Dan Rice, 1st Ward councilman.

Although the City Council renewed Paddy’s and Sips liquor licenses, it is planning on meeting with bar owners and Ames Police to discuss ways to improve, and what other college town liquor citations are like.

The council also discussed the Wi-Fi feasibility study and the deer ordinance.

For more information go to Cityofames.org or call (515) 239-5205.