05-25-11 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MAY 25, 2011 cigarettes, loose tobacco, cigarette or cigar lighters, and tobacco - related devices. If that qualification is not met, than the businesses would be eligible for a General Sales & Display Tobacco License rather than a Tobacco Store License. The City Attorney replied that that was correct, in order to qualify for the exemption under the Clean Indoor Act that allows for sampling, 90% of the gross revenue must occur from tobacco sales and the sales of tobacco - related devices. That 90% is set out in State Statute. The City Attorney again reviewed the proposed definition of sampling in the City's ordinance amendment. He again noted the hours of operation mirror those that off -sale liquor stores are subject to under State Statute, and noted the similarity between liquor stores and tobacco stores as liquor stores are also allowed to provide samples. The City Attorney noted that there is no limitation proposed on hours of operation for businesses carrying the proposed General Sales & Display License as these businesses sell products other than tobacco products. The general license would apply to such businesses as gas station/convenience stores, drug stores, liquor establishments, etc. The City Administrator reported that he recently attended a meeting of the Ramsey County Tobacco Coalition. A number of jurisdictions attended this meeting. It was reported at the meeting that the City of St. Anthony recently banned the sampling of tobacco products and adopted the model ordinance recommended by the League of MN Cities and the Public Health law Center. The City of St. Anthony has two hookah businesses in existence and experienced problems at these businesses from a number of different fronts. St. Anthony also felt that allowing sampling at tobacco stores only was not a level playing field, therefore, sampling was banned altogether. The Administrator reported that at the meeting it was discussed that the City of St. Paul has a number of hookah bars, some that are well run and others that are not. It is unlikely that St. Paul will ban sampling, but they are talking about alternatives. The Administrator also noted that the Indoor Clean Air Act bans smoking in bars, and noted that the Legislature had to tighten this statute given some of the creative means that bars were using to avoid compliance. There has been some discussion relative to the sampling issue as it relates to tobacco stores, but it is unlikely the Legislature will address that issue this session. The Administrator noted that with regard to the issue of sampling, the Council has some options. Those include leaving sampling as defined by State Statute, defining sampling more tightly, or banning sampling completely. He noted that some of the police departments represented at the recent Coalition meeting expressed concern with enforcing sampling provisions. Blesener asked the Ramsey County Tobacco Coalition (RCTC) to describe hookah smoking. Katie Engman and Betsy Brock, RCTC, described how tobacco is smoked utilizing a hookah. Brock noted that the health effects 9