02-10-10 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 10, 2010 The Council began discussion of the tobacco fines, with the Clerk noting that State Statute sets the minimums for these fines which are imposed for the sale of tobacco products to minors. The Ramsey "hobacco Coalition has informed the City that its fine fora 3`d offense is more lenient than the State minimum, therefore, must be modified. The Council discussed the various options at length, and the consensus was to modify the City's current tobacco fine schedule for third violations substituting "plus 7 day suspension" for "or 5 day suspension" and for fourth violations to result in a revocation of the tobacco license. As a result, the fifth violation would be eliminated. If allowed by State Statute, the Council also agreed that a 36 month look-back period should be allowed. 'T'hat would allow for a violation to be considered a first violation should the business not have any violations within the preceding 36 months. The City Administrator then reviewed the comparison of alcohol fines, and reported that the City of Roseville is in the process of updating their fine schedule. Keis felt that the City's alcohol violation fine schedule should be at least as tough as the tobacco fine schedule. Blesener agreed, and indicated that he would support an alcohol violation fine schedule similar to the City of Maplewood's with a 36-month look-back period. The Council noted that suspensions or revocations of licenses appear to occur at an earlier violation level for tobacco than for alcohol The City Administrator noted that for most businesses selling tobacco, tobacco sales will be a small part of the overall revenue stream and the business would likely be open if tobacco sales were suspended. In the case of liquor establishments, sales of alcohol are typically critical to the business' operation. Therefore, a license suspension likely shuts down the entire business. The Council discussed the impact of fines, license suspensions or revocations on businesses that sell alcohol to minors, noting that there may be extenuating circumstances in some instances that warrant some consideration. The City Cleric pointed out that any business that has a tobacco or alcohol violation may request a hearing before the City Council. Therefore, the Council has that opportunity to consider the circumstances that resulted in the violation. McGraw noted the various types of liquor violations that the City of Roseville is considering in amending their Code, and suggested that Little Canada may want to consider something similar. It was suggested that the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department as well as the City Attorney review the Roseville violation schedule and provide comment to the Council. The Administrator summarized that the consensus was that the alcohol fine levels used by the City of Maplewood seemed acceptable to the Council with the addition of license suspensions at certain violation levels, 3