Alcohol again will be permitted this summer at some events at the West New Castle Street Plaza.

City council Tuesday night discussed an agreement to have Butler Downtown host three concerts at the plaza this summer.

As part of the agreement, the nonprofit will be allowed to have a vendor serve beer to visitors. Councilman Bill May said the vendor will follow all regulations by the state liquor control board, and will be able to monitor to tell if people have had too much to drink.

Drinks also will be served in uniquely colored cups to prevent people from bringing their own.

City council in June voted to actively enforce a ban on alcoholic beverages at the plaza following a complaint from Police Chief Ron Brown that people were causing problems at the concerts due to alcohol.

The move was criticized by multiple business owners and the Butler Downtown group, who argued that the ability for those in attendance to have a limited amount of alcohol was important to the atmosphere of the concerts.

May said Tuesday that attendance was cut in half at the concerts following the enforcement of the ban.

“We need to attract businesses to want to come downtown,” May said. “One of the ways of doing that is to have an active downtown.”

May said that most people at the shows in the past couple years have been responsible, and that it was a few individuals who caused problems.

He said some people would bring coolers of liquor or beer and drink too much at the show.

By having a vendor serve the beer, the city doesn’t think that will be a problem.

The city will send two police officers to the concerts, who will be paid for a minimum of four hours on overtime.

Butler Downtown will cover the cost of one of the officers, which is about $1,000 for all three shows.

Bob Dandoy, a member of Butler Downtown, said the nonprofit will work closely with the city and its police to let them know when the events are and what will be going on.

He said the unique cup idea will help prevent people from bringing their own drinks.

“It’s not like we’re going to announce it’s purple cup week in advance,” he said.

Mayor Tom Donaldson supported the agreement.

“We’re doing this to help the businesses on Main Street,” he said. “So the businesses need to participate in these nights.”

Dandoy said there are no set plans for the concerts, but said the nonprofit hopes to have them on the last Fridays of the summer months to help boost end- of-the-month income for shops.

Brown said the police will follow the guidance of council, but asked organizers to make sure everything is in compliance with liquor control laws.

The Main Street Program is not officially part of city government, although it does receive $10,000 from the city each year.