The Ames City Council moved once step closer Tuesday night to approving ordinances which may affect the Veishea celebrations of some students.

`The proposed ordinances, which define so-called “nuisance parties” as well as pass more responsibility to the hosts of such parties in the event of underage drinking, were proposed by the task force which was formed after Iowa State University President Martin Jischke announced his decision to put the responsibility to save Veishea in the hands of students.

Ames Police Chief Dennis Ballantine spoke during the meeting and made comments about how long the meeting was taking.

“I think it’s ironic that a discussion about Veishea weekend is the only other thing that would keep me up late at night,” Ballantine said.

After the laughter stopped Ballantine got a little more serious.

“I am very thankful to the Council for considering these; now maybe we can have people partying responsibly by giving them time to plan their parties,” Ballantine said.

The city council also considered a motion which would possibly send legislation to the state assembly requesting the ability to temporarily suspend the liquor licenses of businesses during the Veishea weekend. City Attorney John Klaus, citing references from section 123.39 of the Iowa Code, said with help of the legislature the idea might be able to work. Yet Klaus said had no idea if the legislation would even pass through the state senate or house.

Ballantine said the police have information on some establishments that could be targeted as “problem places,” and it could be beneficial if they were able to shut them down if problems arise.

“If we could just have the authority to go into a place and say ‘hey, you’re shut down’ to certain establishments until everything was over, it might help us out even more,” Ballantine said.

“It appears the state legislature wants us to do something about this celebration, and maybe they can help us,” said Ames City Councilman John Parks.

But despite comments by Ballantine and Parks, the motion failed and was dropped by the City Council.