Liquor Control Board - November 16, 2022 Minutes

LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD
November 16, 2022 1:30 P.M.

Present: Commissioner Piepkorn, Kay Schwarzwalter, Lydia Tackett, Robert Nelson, John Stibbe

Others Present: City Auditor Steve Sprague, City Attorney Nancy Morris, Assistant City Attorney William Wischer

Meeting was called to order at 1:30 P.M.

1. Commissioner Piepkorn called the meeting to order and asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes of October 19, 2022. Moved by Schwarzwalter, Seconded by Nelson, Passed Unanimously

2. Review Liquor Applications –
a. You Golf LLC d/b/a DogLeg North Lounge & Indoor Golf to be located at 2700 Broadway – Class I Entertainment Sprague presented this item and stated they are changing their application to a CW so they can have gaming. No issues with background check. Moved by Nelson, Seconded by Tackett, Passed Unanimously
b. 4 Star Group d/b/a Himalayan Yak to be located at 1109 38 St S- Class GH Sprague presented this item they are adding a second location looking to expand. No issues with background check. Moved by Tackett, Seconded by Schwarzwalter, Passed Unanimously

3. Police Department Monthly Report
a. General Report Chief Zibolski presented this item, he stated a Year End report is being worked on. Piepkorn asked if bar owners are cooperating and reporting issues, Chief Zibolski said he feels there is good cooperation overall. A vast majority of licensed establishments operate with no issues. Schwarzwalter mentioned the over serving issues are disturbing and maybe servers should re take server training.
b. Video from October 1st, 2022 downtown bar closing activity was shown.

4. Recommending Ordinance Changes
a. Recommend to require Owner/Manager Changes, reporting requirements, discussed at the Brown Bag meeting on 11/10/22. Chief Zibolski presented this item. First, all licensees and managers submit to an annual background check, prior to renewal. Suggested to divide future renewals over the span of 6 months. Second, require the licensee to notify the City Auditor of any manager change within 3 business days, additional 10 business days to submit the background information. Background completion done in 30 days. Penalties of a $500 for failure to report a manager change or failure to provide background information within set timeframe. Piepkorn stated that this meeting is for discussion and he wants to make sure the industry has input at the next meeting. He is supportive of this recommendation and the license holders should be responsible for staying updated. Tackett mentioned the industry should be keeping track of this already. Nelson asked if an owner can be listed as owner and manager, Sprague said that is possible. Nelson believes most of the issues we have are with Corporations and there should be a reliable contact, he agrees with these changes. Tackett looks forward to hearing from business owners and what they think a reasonable amount of time would be. Piepkorn asked if this will add extra staff time to City staff when renewals come, Sprague agreed it will cause a little bit more work but in the end it will provide better information and staff will no longer need to chase down people at renewal time. Staggering license renewals will help, discussion on how to stagger still needs to happen. Continue to next liquor control meeting.
b. Recommendation to request City Commission to direct City Attorney for license classification consolidation Sprague presented this item, a request from staff and also part of the Brown Bag meeting that consolidates the license types, requesting the City Commission to direct the City Attorney to work on Ordinance and decrease some of the clutter to simplify license types. Very early in discussions and a long-term project. Piepkorn urges being careful and change is not always better, and not make changes just to make them, thanked Sprague for his work on what he does to help with licenses and that they fit each business. Tackett does not see any harm in making a motion to get some recommendations on changes. Nelson agrees that things can be consolidated and would like to be mindful of the licenses that have equity or market value and the need to be protected. Moved by Tackett, Seconded by Schwarzwalter, Passed Unanimously

5. Other Items
a. Request from New Monte’s Inc. d/b/a Twist to change DBA to Marge’s Diner – Class FA-RZ Sprague presented this item, diner to be open 8-4 Mon-Fri, 10-4 Sat/Sun. Space will also be available for private rental. No background check necessary because owners are the same. Schwarzwalter asked if the managers are the same, Dan Hurder answered and said that he has listed himself as the manager. Current ordinance does not support having new manager’s background checks done. Moved by Schwarzwalter, Seconded by Tackett, Passed Unanimously
b. Request from Drekker to establish license premise. Sprague presented this item sections are not included in Drekker licensed premise so those areas could have catered food/alcohol, Class E Permit. Another business will be going into part of that building with their own alcohol license. Breweries are regulated under the State Tax Commission office. Piepkorn thinks this could be complicated; Nelson asked how another business could serve alcohol in the establishment. Pepkorn mentioned that the original concept was to expand Drekker but now it seems to have changed and we need to proceed with caution. Tackett and Schwarzwalter asked if the outlined areas on the map are all special event spaces, Sprague said that one section is going to be its own business with its own alcohol license and that is being presented at the next meeting. Mark Bjornson president of Drekker stated that this concept was presented 2 years ago and there have not been any changes, this was built on Drekker’s license premise, they are just relinquishing parts of the license premise. Piepkorn asked if the police are called who is responsible, Mark mentioned the insurance industry would decide responsibility when it comes to that, Drekker holds robust and thorough insurance policies. Sprague stated that an E Permit would need to be issued for an event that wants to have full alcohol in that space. He does not feel that Mark would do anything to jeopardize his facility and supports this idea. Sprague also indicated they would have a select caterer for events and expectations can be set with that caterer. Moved by Tackett, Seconded by Schwarzwalter, Passed Unanimously.
c. After a short recess, this item has been taken off the Agenda and will be brought up at the next meeting.

There being no further business to come before the Liquor Control Board, the meeting was adjourned at 2:26