Author Archives: Bethany Wesley

Live blog from council meeting: Council approves 2 a.m. bar serving time

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The council has voted 4-3 to allows city bars the option of serving alcohol one hour later.

No discussion was held.

Bars that choose to obtain a state permit will be able to serve alcohol one hour later, until 2 a.m., once the ordinance takes effect.

Voting in favor of the change were Councilors Jerry Downs, Ron Johnson, Greg Negard and Kevin Waldhausen. Opposed were Mayor Richard Lehmann and Councilor Roger Hellquist and Barb Meuers.

My full article will be posted online at www.bemidjipioneer.com and will be in Tuesday’s Pioneer.

More to come.

A 2 a.m. question answered

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What if Bemidji does vote to extend liquor hours? And then what happens if Beltrami County then votes to prohibit alcohol sales after 1 a.m.? Does one take precedence over the other?

This has been nagging at me all day. Well, actually, since Sunday.

I was going to just wait until tonight’s council meeting, but after discussing it with a few conversations with people smarter than myself, I decided to find out for certain.

This is what I learned: If the city approves the 2 a.m. bar time and if Beltrami County, after going through its ordinance process, votes to prohibit alcohol sales at county bars after 1 a.m., both ordinances would be in effect. The Beltrami County ordinance would not overrule the city ordinance, so a city bar could remain open until 2 a.m. while a county bar would not.

Again, though, that is based on two relatively large ifs.

Stay tuned.

It’s amazing what you can learn when you read the newspaper…

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I don’t often read newspapers on weekends. I kind of take a news break for two days. But on Sunday, my family was going to, finally, finish all of our Christmas shopping. So I opened the Pioneer with the intention of just going through the advertisements and coupons.

But my eye was drawn to this story on the front page, the article I wrote on the retiring three city councilors. I saw that we had run with the story an older photo of Barb Meuers, when I asked specifically last week if we had something more recent, so I was a little perplexed to see the photo that ran.

And, as it happens, when I take one quick glance at the front page, I want to see all of the stories. So I flipped open the whole front page and saw this headline, below the fold: “Beltrami County considers 1 a.m. closing for bars.”

Um, what?

So our shopping excursion was delayed a bit longer as I read the story, written by Brad Swenson, who covers the Beltrami County Board of Commissioners, about a possible Beltrami County ordinance that would prohibit bars in the county from selling alcohol after 1 a.m.

If approved, the county’s ordinance could possibly conflict with the city of Bemidji’s alcohol ordinance. As most of my blog readers know, the city tonight is expected to hold the final reading and vote on an ordinance revision that would allow city bars the option of serving alcohol later, until 2 a.m.

Does that change anything for tonight? I don’t know. But I’m interested to hear if the council addresses it at all.

I feel let down

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I will make a full blog post at some point tomorrow. But I just wanted say that I am disappointed in the public hearing tonight, during which 10 people spoke in opposition to the proposed later bar closing. No one spoke in favor. I’m certainly not discounting anything that was said tonight – I think all of those who opposed the 2 a.m. bar closing certainly made worthwhile points – but I was really hoping for a better mix of opinions.

Sure, one could argue that there is not a lot of support for a later bar closing time and that is why no one represented that view. But I know that is not true  – I have seen the e-mails, blog comments, various blog postings. And, there is an entire Facebook group dedicated to generating local support for Zorbaz, and in tandem, the later bar closing time. So I know that is not the case.

So what happened?

Special meetings called

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The Bemidji City Council will meet Friday afternoon in two special meetings.

First, the council will convene at 5 p.m. as itself to discuss (and, presumably, approve) an amendment to state grant agreements for bonding dollars used to construct the Bemidji Regional Event Center. Then, councilors will consider approving the naming rights contract with Sanford Health for the BREC, which is expected to become The Sanford Center.

Immediately following that meeting, the City Council will convene as the Bemidji Economic Development Authority to also consider the naming rights agreement.

Yes, they held the first step toward approving a 2 a.m. bar closing…

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Maybe I have attended too many council meetings. Or maybe I just assumed (bad idea) that readers know what I know. Either way, apparently, I did not make it very prominent news in today’s Pioneer that the Bemidji City Council did, in fact, hold the first reading of an ordinance that would allow for a 2 a.m. bar closing time.

I did a preview on the council meeting for Sunday’s Pioneer, so regular readers (I thought) would be aware that the the item was on the agenda for yesterday’s meeting. And then I included a very brief note in a a very brief story in today’s Pioneer saying the first reading was held.

Why not do more?

Well, I could have. I could have included the one paragraph that the council did hold the first reading and then a whole bunch of repeated information that already has been reported before. But, really, the whole first reading took up all of maybe 2 minutes of the council meeting. In fact, it went by so quickly that I missed it, because someone had come into the meeting a few minutes late and asked me a question about the agenda packet. I actually had to re-watch the 2-minute portion of the council meeting when I returned to the office to make sure that the first reading was, in fact, held.

Not that that is unusual. Most (not all) first readings of ordinances are held without discussion. Sometimes there are ordinances that prompt discussion or debate about definitions or terms (i.e. ordinances that govern the allowance of keeping chickens and farm animals). But, generally, most debate does not occur until the second reading, during which the council holds the public hearing on the proposed ordinance.

So come Dec. 6, I expect more debate. From both the public and the council.

And, really, that is what Councilor Kevin Waldhausen has been seeking from the beginning of this most recent 2 a.m. discussion. Whether you agree with him or not, Kevin all along has said he wants to see the ordinance process through to give the public a chance to voice its opinions.

Sure, the public could have before voiced its thoughts in letters, e-mails and phone calls during the previous work sessions that discussed the 2 a.m. bar closing time. But never before (that I am aware of) has the ordinance process on the proposed change been held. Never before was a formal public hearing held.

And that is slated for Dec. 6.

- Bethany

Plendl Environmental (curbside recycling) update

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One of the more fun city stories I have written in recent years was the effort by then-Bemidji State University student Trevor Plendl to start his own curbside recycling business, Plendl Environmental L.L.C.

I wrote a story on the business in July 2009, when he then had 16 customers. Today, he has more than 400.

My interest was again piqued this afternoon when I saw the company listed on the Bemidji City Council’s consent agenda for Monday, when the council will likely approve an agreement that will allow Plendl Recycling to pick up recyclables in the city limits.

City Manager John Chattin writes, “Council action will be a move in the direction of legitimizing the entire realm of existing operation or activities.”

Plendl Recycling filled a void left in 2007, when the city of Bemidji opted to discontinue its curbside recycling program.

- Bethany

More follow-up on 2 a.m. bar closing time

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First off, this is, mostly, related to a the editorial in today’s Pioneer. So if you haven’t read it, you might want to do so before you read any further. Just a thought.

Bemidji City Councilor Kevin Waldhausen, who is currently championing the current effort to have the city consider extending bar closing times from 1 to 2 a.m., called me this morning and pointed out that the editorial misstates previous council action on the 2 a.m. time.

The editorial states, “After voting twice against allowing Bemidji bars to stay open until 2 a.m. …”

Kevin questioned this morning whether this was accurate.

Yes, the council this year has twice before considered action on the 2 a.m. closing time, but it, technically, had only voted once on the issue (before Monday). The council voted 4-2 in February to no support a request from Zorbaz owner Tom Hanson to push back the bar closing time from 1 to 2 a.m. In April, the council was asked by developer Drew Olson to reconsider the February motion, but the council chose not to do so. To be clear, the council chose not to do so by overall consensus – no formal vote was taken during that April meeting.

That said, after Kevin and I finished our phone call, I remembered that there may have been one other vote taken on the issue by the council.  In 2003, after the 2 a.m. extended hours were made a possibility, the council considered – and rejected – the possibility of extending liquor sales from 1 to 2 a.m. Was that a formal vote, though, or just discussion? According to the minutes of the July 7, 2003, meeting, the council “expressed a lack of support for the 2:00 a.m. bar closing based on the increased cost to the city for law enforcement.”

So to sum up, to the best of my knowledge, Kevin is correct and two formal votes have not been taken to reject the 2 a.m. bar closing time.

- Bethany

BREC and property taxes

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Hopefully, this isn’t “old news” – it took me a little while to find the time to write this up.

Councilor Barb Meuers said last week, during the council’s budget work session, that some councilors have repeatedly stated that the Bemidji Regional Event Center’s operations would not raise property taxes.

Her statements addressed the 2011 city budget , which include a $300,000 operating subsidy for the BREC.

“This is why I’ve been voting no all along,” she said.

City Manager John Chattin and Mayor Richard Lehmann disagreed with Meuers, saying that they, all along, have said that the facility would lose money.

So, since then, I’ve done a little research – and this is what I found: (Note: All emphasis added by me, just today.)

- June 10, 2008, Bemidji Pioneer, “South Shore Redevelopment: Project scrapes by,” written by me. (This article detailed the 4-3 vote to approve the funding plan for the south shore redevelopment.)

‘While (City Manager John) Chattin said city staff have developed a plan that would be utilized without raising property taxes, Meuers said she could not put the residents’ property taxes on the line.”

-  The June 9, 2009, minutes – the meeting from which the above article was written (just in case someone wants a source other than my reporting…):

“Chattin reviewed possible sources to cover operating deficits without raising property taxes which include: 1) sale of naming rights ($75,000 to $150,000 annually); 2) charge for parking during events; 3) increase ticket surcharges; 4) dedicate savings from the creation of an airport authority to the center; 5) dedicate a portion of the $150,000 savings from reorganization of the wastewater treatment facility; 6) reassess the need to continue city arena operations (Chattin noted that the City arena loses over $100,00 annually plus ongoing capital needs); 7) develop the old fairgrounds site, with the county and split lease revenues; 8) find additional opportunities for advertising revenues, i.e., scoreboard, sponsorships, etc.; 9) lease any unused office space; 10) increase the current hospitality tax to cover promotional costs included in the budget; and 11) pursue corporate pledges.”

- Jan. 11, 2008 Bemidji Pioneer, “Financial strategies planned to not affect taxpayers,” again, written by me:

“The event center project team, which consists of representatives from city staff, Headwaters Regional Development Commission and the design team, has developed funding strategies for the events center that do not rely on taxpayer dollars.”

- From the city’s Frequently Asked Questions about the BREC, which were released in September 2008.

First set of FAQs: Question: “I’m told the BREC will operated at a deficit. how will the city cover that cost?

“Convention, Sports, and Leisure, our consultants, suggest that an operating loss is inevitable for this facility. However, there are many possible revenue streams identified by CSL that could mitigate those losses. We should also consider the economic impact to our region generated by this facility and what that is worth. The city operates many facilities, none of which make a profit (except for our liquor stores). Parks, arenas, streets, and other facilities all have a cost associated with them. So will the BREC. It will be the city’s goal to operate the facility as efficiently as possible and minimize any loss. City staff have also identified other revenue sources and expenditure reductions that could help cover operational deficits. The goal is to prevent, or minimize, any increase in property taxes.“

Second set of FAQs:

Question: “How will the city pay for … deficits?

“Possible sources to cover operational deficits may include, but are not limited to, the following:

“Airport contribution – As the airport moves towards a stand alone taxing authority, the city could reallocate its $180,000 annual contribution to BREC operations.

“Arena – The future of the City Arena should be examined. The Arena has annual operating deficits of $90,000, plus on-going capital requirements.

“Sell/Lease old fairgrounds property – Jointly develop site with Beltrami County and split the sale or lease revenue.

“Sale of Naming Rights/Parking Fees/Ticket Surcharge/Budget Mandates – These opportunities are described in detail in the CSL report and could generate from $80,000 to $303,000 annually.

“Property Taxes – Should all other funding sources fail to cover operational deficits, the last resort, and least favorable remedy, remains property taxes. The extent of tax increases, if any, would depend on how revenue sources and operational projections materialize”

OK, back to present time.

I have a few thoughts.

The oft-referenced CSL study details anticipated deficits for the BREC. But one should note that the operational assistance needed is quite different when one considers the early start-up years versus later years (i.e. after year five), when the BREC is stabilized.

The CSL study, done in April 2008, shows an expected base stabilized deficit of $436,000.

As Councilor Ron Johnson noted lasted Monday, the city now is anticipating needing only about $300,000 for assistance in 2011, which is in line with the best-case scenario CSL presented.

Projections at this point are “conservative at best,” Johnson said, noting that  budget figures do not include any revenue brought in from naming rights (which are still planned to be sold); include non-sold-out hockey games, (when many already have sold out); and there is a community fund available, totaling about $70,000, to assist with deficits.

Further, Johnson argued at the BREC would generate additional development, such as the two planned hotels in the area, that would help relieve any tax burden.

More on Clarence Lossing

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There is another piece to the Clarence Lossing memorial story that I wanted to get into Wednesday’s paper but was not able to do so. (I didn’t get the information in time.)

But I want to include it here, to give some attention to the city of Blackduck. Blackduck Mayor Scott Palmer on Aug. 16 signed a proclamation proclaiming this coming Saturday, Aug. 21, to be “a day of honor, dedication, and remembrance of all our fallen soldiers.”

Here is the test of the proclamation:

“City of Blackduck, Minnesota, Proclamation

“In observance of the Clarence Lossing Memorial Dedication

“Whereas, the Clarence Lossing Family has constructed a memorial beside the grave of their beloved son, brother and fallen solider, and

“Whereas, the Clarence Lossing Family and Friends shall dedicate the memorial on Aug. 21, 2010, and

“Whereas, the dedication shall include the remembrance of Clarence Lossing and will include the remembrance of all fallen soldiers from our community, and

“Whereas, the City of Blackduck recognizes and supports this memorial dedication of Clarence Lossing and the remembrance of all fallen soldiers from our community;

“Now Therefore, the Blackduck City Council does observe August 21st, 2010 as a day of honor, dedication, and remembrance of our fallen soldiers.”

***

Also, to be clear, the memorial for Clarence Lossing begins at 2 p.m. at Lakeview Cemetery in Blackduck. The group is meeting at noon at the Blackduck American Legion and there will also be a Legion dinner 5:30-8 p.m. at the Legion.