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Item No: 5 Meeting Date: Sept 8, 2009 Type of Business: Work Session Administrator Review: ____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, Clerk - Administrator Item Title/Subject: Review Revisions to the Charitable Gambling Code Introduction: Staff has been aware for some time that the City’s charitable gambling requirements, buried within the chapters dealing with liquor licensing, are in need of revision. Staff asked Kennedy & Graven to review the regulations and to suggest revisions that would be consistent with MN Statutes. The proposed revisions are attached. Discussion: Presently, state law requires that the local unit of government approve premises permits for organizations licensed to conduct lawful gambling. The City does not have a say in whether a group receives a license, only where such organizations may operate. There are certain activities (identified as excluded or exempted activities in Statutes) that the gambling board does not require a license to operate. These are most often related to Bingo at community events, such as the Community Theatre doing Bingo at the Festival, or temporary events such as the Shipwreck Museum last February at the Mermaid. In the proposed ordinance, these approvals are called “local permits” and would necessitate Council action. There are a number of options the Council may choose regarding the proposed ordinance which are highlighted in yellow for your reference. 1. 518.04: Does the City want to continue to approve local permits (exempted and excluded gambling activity)? It would seem to be beneficial to know when and where such lawful (albeit exempted or excluded) gambling activity is taking place, especially if the City is requiring 10% of the net profits be paid to the City. 2. 518.06, Subd 8: Of the eight standards for denial listed, four would seem appropriate (clauses a, b, g, h) while the other four clauses (c, d, e, f) would only be necessary if the Council so determined. Clause “c” would require that such lawful gambling could only occur where an on-sale liquor license has been issued—in other words, an organization would not be able to sell pull tabs at SuperAmerica or Aldi’s. Clause “d” would prevent the Lions or another licensed organization from being at more than one location in the City. I’m not sure it would be a problem to be at more than one location. Clause “e” is a variant of Clause “d” thus only one of the two would be needed, if either. Finally, Clause “f” would prevent more than one licensed organization to conduct lawful gambling at the same location. I’m not sure this would be a problem, although it would restrict temporary gambling permits at the Mermaid (such as for the Rotary or to the Shipwreck Museum) from being approved.