The Belfry will operate under OLCC suspension

The popular community venue The Belfry will not be able to serve alcohol for 55 days starting December 20, under a settlement agreement with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

The settlement resolved two violations regarding a lapse in the Sisters venue's liquor liability insurance from November 2014 to February 2016. According to OLCC spokeswoman Christie Scott, that is a category-one violation that could have resulted in revocation of The Belfry's license. A second violation involved a false representation on paperwork that indicated that The Belfry had insurance when it did not.

Angeline Rhett, owner of The Belfry, told The Nugget that the insurance on her other business renewed automatically and she had assumed that the same was the case for the liquor liability at The Belfry. She said she thought she did have insurance when she provided incorrect information to OLCC. She also said that she had not been informed by her insurance company of the lapse, and neither had OLCC.

The suspension could have been appealed, but Rhett chose to accept it and move forward. Rhett emphasized that she takes full responsibility for the lapse.

"Yes, there are extenuating circumstances, but in the end it's my business and I accept responsibility for dropping the ball," she said.

Scott noted that OLCC did not shut the venue down, and Rhett said there are still events set for the period of suspension.

"We have a yoga retreat, we have maybe a couple of workshops and couple of movies," she said. "We're going to be doing some work inside the building."

Desserts and coffee will be available.

"We just can't serve alcohol," Rhett said. "I am sincerely sorry if it has negatively impacted anyone and will work even harder to continue to keep The Belfry up and running for all of our community events."