09-27-2023 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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101191110 CITY COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 27, 2023 safety concerns and the Council has every right to take into account what it heard at those prior hearings. Kwapick asked if the police incidents mentioned included the underage compliance checks. Mr. Battina replied that he would assume that is what the proactive visits were. Kwapick commented that it is not made clear as to what those proactive visits were, as it could have been to check storm damage. Mr. Battina explained that it is a proactive visit and not a response to a violent offense or 911 call. Kwapick commented that part of the reason the renewal was denied was because of three failed checks and he could not find that in the packet provided by Mr. Battina. T. Miller commented that those would not be documented as a 911 call report. Mr. Battina commented that there was no evidence presented at the hearing about the compliance checks. T. Miller commented that the Council are not attorneys and therefore the information is not presented in that manner. She stated that those things were discussed and were part of the record of those meetings. She stated that they discussed the fact that Mr. Nelson is not in the building managing the store as well as the failed compliance checks. She stated that the information is there, but perhaps not completed in the way it would have been presented to a court. She noted that those items were a large part of the discussions leading up to the decision. Mr. Battina commented that the City Code says one thing and he does not believe that the Council followed that Code as there was nothing about a conviction presented. There were no further comments from the public. Upon motion by Fischer, seconded by T. Miller, the public hearing was closed. Ayes (5). Nays (0). Motion adopted. Gutierrez commented that on the dates where they discussed these issues, the Hookah Hideout demonstrating a lack of willingness to address the issues noting that Mr. Nelson stated that he was not responsible for the parking lot and that he had difficulty hiring staff that was able to follow the rules. She stated that Mr. Nelson also cited not living in the area and demonstrated a lack of willingness to create a safe environment. She noted that once Mr. Nelson could see that the Council could revoke the license, he came back with a different attitude. She stated that demonstrates that he cannot be trusted as his story changed. Mayor Fischer agreed noting that in the first hearing Mr. Nelson openly admitted that he did not believe that anything that happened outside his business doors was his responsibility, but in the second hearing there was much more willingness to do what was necessary to maintain the license. 0