Wise The grocer who petitioned for an election to make Brownsboro wet reiterated his position that he only wants to advance the community, urging residents to “vote their conscience” on Saturday.

“I’m certainly not advocating anybody to start buying liquor who has never bought liquor before,” Dusty Wise said. “I just thought it would help the town, really.

“When it’s all said and done, I just want to make this a good community and keep it a good community. I love it here and would not want to do anything to detriment growth.”

Brownsboro is one of three East Texas cities to conduct local-option elections on Saturday. Voters in Jacksonsville will decide whether beer and wine may be sold for off-premise consumption and at restaurants. In Troup, residents will vote on whether beer and wine may be sold for off-premise consumption and mixed drinks may be sold in restaurants.

Wise’s motivation to petition for the liquor election in Brownsboro was based on the city’s sales-tax revenue. According to state figures, that number was $126,000 in 2009, and he said people who leave town to buy alcohol elsewhere might as well spend their tax dollars in Brownsboro. The closest liquor store — Turn Fork Package Store — is about 13 miles away on Farm-to-Market Road 314.

But even in a wet Brownsboro, selling beer, wine, and liquor may be diffi- cult. Texas law allows municipal governing bodies to prohibit the sale of alcohol within 300 feet of a public or private school, church, or child-care center.

The restriction may reach 1,000 feet if municipal governing bodies request boards of trustees of school districts to set the regulation.

In Brownsboro, Y’s is within a block of a daycare center and within two blocks of Brownsboro Junior High School.

Two convenience stores are also within feet of a church and school. And Wise, a Brownsboro Independent School District trustee, has said he may not even sell alcohol at his store because he “doesn’t have room for it.”

Brownsboro Police Chief Thomas Robertson has said the city “would be better off” remaining dry, and that the Police Department would be forced to increase its budget and patrol city streets on a full-time basis if Saturday’s election is successful.

But Brownsboro City Council member Glen Vest said officials are prepared for any eventuality.

“I feel we all believe that this issue is up to the voters, and that it’s our job to do whatever has to be done in the best interest of the city once the voters decide,” he said. “If it does pass, then the council will be a few steps ahead because we have already been working on ordinances to best handle the sale (of alcohol) before it becomes available.”

Wise has owned Y’s for more than 18 years. He’s also a board member for the Brownsboro Economic Development Corporation.

Voting is scheduled for 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Brownsboro Community Center.

Forty-two counties in the state were classified as “completely wet” last November, according to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Thirty were classfied as “completely dry.”

The others, including Smith and Van Zandt counties, are partially wet.

For more on local-option liquor elections, visit sos.state.tx.us. The Texas ABC’s Web site is tabc. state.tx.us.