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MINUTES <br />CITY COUNCIL <br />MAY 25, 2011 <br />congregate in the parking lots and then problems are likely to occur. <br />Nelson stated that the people leaving a hookah bar are not intoxicated. If <br />they are talking in the parking lot, they are likely trying to decide where to <br />go next, or will likely just leave and go home. <br />The City Administrator reported that the Cities of St. Paul and St. Anthony <br />have had problems with some hookah bars. The Administrator indicated <br />that St. Paul has assigned a detail to the hookah bars, and St. Anthony has <br />banned sampling. With reference to the police reports provided by Mr. <br />Nelson, the Administrator noted that those reports span a five -year period. <br />Lincoln Pawn has averaged 4.4 calls per year, and these calls can stem <br />from the discovery of stolen items. The Administrator noted that the <br />license fee for a pawn shop is $8,000 per year. He also noted that Lincoln <br />Pawn is required to have an expensive software program in place to <br />identify stolen items. With regard to the City's on -sale liquor <br />establishments, those businesses pay license fees in excess of $4,000 per <br />year. The City Administrator indicated that if repeated problems occur at <br />an on -sale liquor establishment, the City does not ignore those issues. The <br />Administrator pointed out that the tobacco license fee is $250 per year. <br />The Administrator indicated that the Council is trying to be proactive on <br />this issue and prevent problems from occurring. <br />With regard to the St. Paul police reports about people sitting in the <br />parking lot of a hookah bar, Nelson indicated that it appears that these <br />people were not customers, but merely sitting in a parking lot. The City <br />Administrator replied that that may be the case. He noted that the police <br />calls Nelson submitted for MGM Liquor Store were for that particular <br />address, and noted that MGM Liquor Store recently moved and has not <br />been at that address for five years. The Administrator commented that he <br />did not want to understate the issue of police calls, but noted that many <br />properties have multiple tenants and calls can range from false alarms to <br />serious calls. The Administrator indicated that over time there will be <br />police calls to any business. <br />Blesener asked Nelson his suggestions for the ordinance amendment. <br />Nelson indicated that the City of Brooklyn Park has a special program for <br />tobacco license holders and provide for a half -price license fee if the <br />licensee agrees to three items from a list. McGraw indicated that that <br />program has been in place for a number of years and is aimed at <br />businesses that sell tobacco. When this program went into effect, there <br />were no hookah shops in existence in that city. <br />Nelson indicated that the Columbia Heights ordinance seems to be <br />working fine. <br />13 <br />