Liquor Control Board - December 19, 2018 Minutes
LIQUOR CONTROL COMMITTEE MEETING
December 19, 2018 1:30 P.M.
Present: Commissioner Piepkorn, Commissioner Gehrig, City Auditor Sprague, Grant Larson, Environmental Health,
Absent: Police Chief Todd
Others Present: Assistant City Attorney Nancy Morris; Rick Carik, Rick’s; Dustin Mitzel, Happy Harry’s, Duane Litton, Duffy’s; Dave Erickson, Bulldog Tap; Jim Swanick, Empire; Carol Schlossman, Downtown Neighborhood Association, Other members of the media, concerned citizens and other members of the industry.
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 November 21, 2018. There were no additions or corrections to the minutes of November 21, 2018. Moved by Gehrig, seconded by Larson to approve the minutes of the November 21, 2018 meeting of the Liquor Control Board all voted in favor, motion passed unanimously.
2. A. The first application to be considered today is for the issuance of a Class “F” alcoholic beverage license to Touchmark at Harwood Groves LLC d/b/a Touchmark to be located at 1200 Harwood Drive South.
Moved by Gehrig, seconded by Larson to approve the issuance of a Class “F” alcoholic beverage license to Touchmark at Harwood Groves LLC d/b/a Touchmark to be located at 1200 Harwood Drive South, all voted in favor, motion passed unanimously.
B. The second application to be considered today is the transfer of a Class “C” alcoholic beverage license from Men’s Hair World LLC d/b/a Hair Salon located at 1801 45th Street South Suite L1 to Men’s Hair World LLC d/b/a Men’s Hair World to be located at 1801 45th Street South Suite L1.
Due to a poor background check primarily in the credit history the Police Department is recommending denial of the license transfer. The applicant is encouraged to remedy the credit issues and reapply for the license.
Moved by Sprague, seconded by Larson to deny the transfer of the Class C alcoholic beverage license from Men’s Hair World LLC d/b/a Hair Salon located at 1801 45th Street South Suite L1 to Men’s Hair World LLC d/b/a Men’s Hair World to be located at 1801 45th Street South Suite L1. Motion to deny is approved unanimously.
3. Grant Larson introduced Carol Schlossman, Downtown Neighborhood Association, to discuss Point Of Last Drink (POLD). Ms. Schlossman presented a slide show, the following are excerpts from her presentation.
Why POLD? POLD is a tool that provides information on a licensee’s performance, it provides oversight and accountability, currently there isn’t easy access to information on patterns or trends. License holders have increased accountability and transparency with data driven causes for dialogue. Many states and 38 cities in Minnesota have implemented POLD and have seen reductions in binge drinking and DUIs.
What does POLD do? POLD generates data driven trends and patterns of information, identifying hot spots for over service. It spurs follow up discussion to identify causes. It identifies patterns and is not focused on one event. POLD engages solutions to mitigate negative behavior.
What are POLDs results? Nationally where POLD is implemented there are reductions in DUI and other alcohol related calls for service. Changes in behavior will reduce health care costs.
How does POLD work? At the point of arrest for an alcohol related incident, Police will gather information, most of the information is currently be collected, just one additional piece of information is asked, the place where the person last consumed alcohol. POLD is data driven, it tracks patterns looking for hot spots, it links behaviors to outcomes and opens a dialogue, it identifies the “why’s” and engages in solutions. To affect changes establishments will adjust food sales, change their hours, review specials and pricing.
Next Steps for POLD? Accept POLD as a best practice, Police research, creation of ordinances.
Currently, the City of Fargo oversight is lacking, licensees are only required to attend a one hour annual meeting. Although compliance checks are required, they are not being conducted as frequently as called for in the ordinance. The same can be said for server training, establishments are required to have server training but only about half of liquor establishments are meeting the requirements.
Commissioner Piepkorn questioned how much extra work would be necessary to implement POLD. He feels those stopped won’t answer truthfully. Ms. Schlossman commented the trends will become apparent and POLD will collect data, currently information is not collected in a way that allows easy access to the data. Server training and compliance checks are not reliable. Piepkorn said compliance checks are difficult with the fake ID’s that are out there.
The next step needs to be for Police to research where POLD is working and where it is not. After that there should be internal department discussions and finally we could write the ordinance. Any solution should seek to be community wide, Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo. Larson said Police and Health should collaborate on solutions. Piepkorn said we need retailers comments too.
Duane Litton, Duffy’s said he has a unique background, he was in law enforcement for 14 years followed by 12 years as the bar owner. He said his dram shop insurance limits what he can do as a bar owner. Mr. Litton commented we should enforce what is on the books now, we don’t need the additional level of record keeping POLD would add.
4. Sprague commented there was an incident on December 8th regarding consumption after hours on a licensed establishment. Jim Swanick, Roundup Saloon, said there was an incident at his bar; the employees involved have been terminated. Drinking after hours is against the law and his establishment should set an example for others. He said after the incident this summer at a different bar, he posted the results of the City action and notified his employees that drinking after hours would be a terminable offense. Piepkorn commented how much is at stake for bar owners. Sprague said the normal procedure is to send a letter to the licensee reminding them of the ordinance and giving them 30 days to get every employee to server training and that should there be another occurrence in the next 18 months further license sanctions would follow.
Moved by Gehrig, seconded by Larson to follow establish procedures and notify the license holder of the requirement for server training and the 18 month period of probation. Motion passed unanimously.
There being no further business to come before the Liquor Control Board, the meeting was adjourned at 2:15 p.m. The next regular meeting will be held Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. in the City Commission Room at old City Hall.