A mistake by the Ames Police Department has left some City Council members questioning their decision to renew a liquor license of one Campustown bar.

The liquor license of Winstons/Tazzles, 126 Welch Ave., was renewed under incomplete information regarding the actual number of minors cited on the premises, officials said.

Whenever a liquor license comes up for renewal, the records division runs the address through the computer. Winston’s/Tazzles are two separate bars even though they are in one building, but in 1993 they had their names combined on one liquor license, said Ames Police Sgt. Jim Robinson. “They ran one name and not the other,” Robinson said, that’s how the clerical error occurred.

The Council was told only four minors were cited on the premises in the last year. When the police rechecked those numbers, 79 citations from July of 1995 to this March were listed under the correct name of Winstons/Tazzles, Robinson said.

Robinson said this is a very unique situation and the first time this kind of error has occurred.

Councilman Ted Tedesco said there is a chance the renewal would have been reconsidered with the correct numbers. “We should review it,” he said.

Mayor Larry Curtis said the mistake “is not going to change what we decided.” All the Council can do now is ask the people to come in and review their record and ask them about their methods of underage drinking prevention. There is no magic number. Whether the Council renews a liquor license depends on the circumstances, Curtis said.

If there continues to be a large number of violation then the management is not working to prevent minors on the premises, Tedesco said.

Chuck Hill, co-owner of Winston’s/Tazzles, said they have improved over the years, but fake IDs are a link to the number of minors cited on the premises.

“It’s a little bit of a problem. We check everybody’s ID at the door,” Hill said. “The police try to teach us, and we try to keep everybody trained to look for fakes, but it’s not always easy. I think we have done a good job and I think the City Council will agree.”

Despite the mistake, Hill said he thinks the bar has a good reputation for the number of citations.

“We have full capacity of 296 almost every Friday and Saturday night and the police are here every night. I think it’s pretty good for the number of people,” Hill said.

Robinson said “it is not the bar with the most violations in the area.”