Hunka Bunka to have
say in license renewal
Borough also to begin deliberations on Krome nightclub Thursday
SAYREVILLE — The borough plans to hold a hearing Thursday on the renewal of Hunka Bunka Ballroom’s liquor license.
The meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Borough Hall, Main Street, is the final of three local nightclubs to be heard for the renewal of its liquor license for July 2000 to July 2001.
The meeting is open to the public, and the Borough Council will sit as jury and deliberate at the meeting.
According to officials, liquor licenses are generally renewed automatically in the borough every year in July. But several incidents at the club over the past year prompted police to dispute the renewal of the Jernee Mill Road establishment, according to police officials.
In May, the club, along with Club Abyss and Krome, the former Club Bene, was a location for a sting operation called operation XTC. Led by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, the weekend raid ended in the arrest of 32 club patrons and employees for the illegal distribution and use of the drug ecstasy.
During deliberation for Hunka Bunka, the Borough Council will likely consider several options.
As it did for Club Abyss and Krome, the borough could do one of the following: place stipulations on the renewal of the Hunka Bunka liquor license; deny the renewal of the liquor license; not place any stipulations on the license at all and automatically renew the license.
On Thursday, the Borough Council is also expected to begin deliberations on findings discussed during the disciplinary hearing regarding the liquor license renewal of Krome.
Last week, the Borough Council heard testimony regarding charges brought against the club from borough police.
According to police, the club violated terms of the license when it operated in an improper manner on several occasions in August and October when it allegedly allowed patrons to fight and loiter around the premises.
Also, residents who live near the club testified giving various accounts of loitering, noise, littering and public urination.
The club has denied that it has allowed improper conduct.
In October, borough police filed 21 charges against the nightclub in connection with several alleged incidents in August and October.
Among the alleged incidents was an Oct. 8 incident where a 22-year-old New Brunswick man was arrested after he allegedly shot four to five times in the air with a .22-caliber automatic handgun in a parking lot full of patrons just outside of the Route 35 nightclub.