Kearney city council members voted 4-1 to remove the ban on off-premise alcohol sales on Sundays.

Kearney Mayor Stan Clouse says not many in the community spoke against the issue, but it still took on a spirited debate between council members.

July 12th will be the first Sunday alcohol is allowed to be sold in Kearney.

Currently on-premise alcohol sales are allowed between noon and midnight on Sundays, but off-premise sales aren't allowed within city limits.

Nebraska law allows beer or wine to be sold after 6:00 a.m. and spirits after noon unless city ordinances restrict it.

"They felt that they were at a competitive disadvantage by not being allowed to sell beer and maybe other distilled spirits on Sundays and allow that business to go just outside the corporate limits," said Mayor Stan Clouse.

Opposition says increasing the hours alcohol is available in Kearney or anywhere is a public health issue.

And as businesses are hit by the down-turned economy and owners fight to bring in more business that public health issue is taking a hit as well.

"We have seen an impact on public health issues with the economy, especially in terms of advertising. Places that haven't originally done alcohol advertising are sometimes turning to it because of the economy," said Project Extra Mile Project Coordinator Becky Burks.

Burks says increased alcohol sales could be another hit to her cause.

"No matter how youth are obtaining alcohol, the more it's available the easier it is," she said. "And as we've seen from research in New Mexico, when Sunday sales were made available fatal crashes and alcohol-related fatalities increased."

"In the hierarchy of raising a child, city government should be at the very bottom," said Clouse. "There are other personal responsibilities that come into place, but that's a valid argument and one that I think we'll consider."

"What do we allow for champagne brunches? What time? Do you do it at 6:00 a.m. or noon? What amount of opposition is there? Certainly all those thing we want to take into consideration," said Clouse.

Clouse says Kearney convenience stores have been voicing their concerns about the Sunday ordinance for a while now.

Clouse says other Nebraska communities similar in size to Kearney sell some type of alcohol on Sundays.