ROCHELLE — Anyone wanting to purchase alcohol on Sunday mornings in Rochelle won't have to wait so long anymore.

Following a request from the owners of the new restaurant Salt 251 that they be able to sell alcohol to guests at Fairways Golf Course when they open at 7 a.m. on Sundays, Rochelle City Council members voted 6-1 on Monday night to allow liquor sales for all establishments beginning at 6 a.m. on Sunday mornings.

Mayor Chet Olson said that the liquor commission reviewed the request and sales hours, and recommend that Sundays be treated just like the other six days with alcohol being available for sale beginning from 6 a.m. to close.

"I thought grocery stores and convenience stores couldn't sell liquor until 11 a.m. on Sundays, so does this mean a change for those businesses too," asked council person Kathy Hollonbeck.

"Yes," replied Olson. "It was too hard to carve out different times for different types of businesses, so in order to create a level playing field we decided to make the change across the board. It will be up to each business if they want to sell alcohol earlier."

Following more discussion the council voted in favor of the recommendation to allow liquor sales beginning at 6 a.m. on Sundays. Hollonbeck cast the lone no vote.

"I remember when we voted to allow businesses to sell liquor on Sundays at 11 a.m. and there was a lot of discussion about it," she stated after the meeting. "I just think we could have differentiated and easily carved out different hours for businesses like the restaurant at the golf course, rather than change everything."