TONOPAH -- Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley made the motion Tuesday to suspend the liquor license of Paddy's Pub for 90 days.

Then while the gasps were audible from the pub owners in the audience, she added a second motion, that the suspension be held in abeyance for six months.

Paddy's Pub's owners will be asked to appear for another show cause hearing in six months before the county commissioners, sitting as the licensing and liquor board.

Nye County Sheriff's Department Capt. Bill Becht sounded more conciliatory this time. Though Becht mentioned the 51 police calls to the premises in almost all of 2007, he said the owners have met several times with him trying to correct the problem.

"He's taken a very active role in trying to correct these problems," Becht said, who participated in the discussion by videoconference from Pahrump.

Bar general manager Russ Rodgers said he took over the business, which had a rough reputation, a year ago.

"Our first step was to change the name because we wanted to bring a new feel for this pub. Within a week of purchasing it, my first step was to go down to the police department to ask them, 'What can we do to clean this up?'" Rodgers said.

Rodgers said he implemented a dress code, closed back and side doors, installed a security camera, hired three security officers and posted signs in the bathrooms warning patrons they would be permanently banned from the premises for fighting.

"There may have been more calls than any other bar in town, but we do have a rather large volume of customers," Rodgers said, adding he counted 120 customers on a recent weekend night.

But Eastley noted the 51 sheriff's calls to the bar from Jan. 1 through Dec. 15, 2007, far in excess of other establishments. Becht said there had been another six calls during January 2008.

After consulting with Nye County Chief Deputy District Attorney Ron Kent on formulating the motion, Eastley made her initial motion, which said: "Substantial evidence has been presented to show that the operation of this business has dropped below the standards of Nye County Code."

"Our resources are tight. Obviously 50 calls per year would account for one call per week," she said.

Rodgers wanted to protest many of those calls were for incidents that didn't turn out to be anything substantial, but Eastley said that discussion had concluded.

Rodgers said he was considering another measure, not to keep the bar open 24 hours per day, as some of the incidents occurred late at night. Eastley wanted that in the motion, but Becht noted Rodgers was volunteering to take that step.

Commissioner Butch Borasky warned the bar owners: "You understand that a liquor license is a privileged license and we are empowered to protect the health, safety and welfare of all the citizens of Nye County, and we cannot have this kind of behavior spilling out into the public. You need to clamp down even harder if you want to keep going with the club the way it is."

He told Rodgers, "The number of assaults need to go down and they need to go down quickly."

Meanwhile a suspension remained in effect on the liquor license held by owners of Su Mesa Restaurant east of there on Calvada Boulevard, who won't be able to serve beer with the tacos after sheriff's deputies raided a party with underage drinkers Jan. 25.

The owners were told to appear at a show cause hearing Feb. 19.

Becht said officers were confronted by a large group of people, along with several juveniles, many of which were intoxicated. One individual was losing consciousness and had to be hospitalized, he said.

"One person was uncooperative, said it was a private party and they (the owners) didn't need them (the deputies)," Becht said.

Attorney Harry Gensler, representing Su Mesa owner Maria Zepeda, said it was the first incident where sheriff's deputies were called to the business in the four years Zepeda held the liquor license.

"There certainly were some juveniles there as well as people between 18 and 21," Gensler said. He said Zepeda brings music in once each month to provide entertainment for the local Hispanic community who otherwise have to go to Las Vegas.

"She does understand she is responsible for the actions of her employees. She is contrite. The reason she asks me to be here is she wants you to know how serious she is about her actions," Gensler said.

Gensler told Borasky Su Mesa owners won't have extended hours any more and will be more diligent on checking identification, though he acknowledged there are sometimes problems identifying fake IDs.

"Every bar has a problem with juveniles trying to get in," Becht said. But he added, "She didn't want our officers in there and attempted to prevent them from doing their duties."

The liquor board voted to issue a license for the State Line Saloon, which will be reopening in Amargosa Valley, and a package liquor license for the Country Store next to it on Highway 373 at the California state line. The consent is pending approval by the Amargosa Valley Town Board.