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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20071105 - VII-1j~ d` To: Manor Hicks and Cih- Councilmembers From: Melanie Mesko Lee Date: October 30.2007 Re: Liquor License Violation Council Action Requested: Consider imposing a civic penalty to the Vermillion Bottle Shop for violations of their liquor license (illegal sale to minor). Background Information: On September 22, 2007, an illegal alcohol sale was made by- an employee of the Vermillion Bottle Shop. Please see the attached summary- by Police Chief McMenomv regarding the circumstances of the events on September 22. The Vermillion Bottle Shop has recently had hvo other i-iolations of its liquor license. On September 12. 2007, the Hastings Police Department conducted alcohol compliance checks. An employee of the Vermillion Bottle Shop sold alcohol to an underage individual at that time- A $300 civil penalty was administrativeh~ issued in compliance «-ith guidelines established by the Citc- Council. Additionally, the sale to an underage indiz-idual on September 12, 2007 was made by a 16-year-old employee. On October 1, 2007, the Cir<- Council conducted a hearing to consider an additional civil penalty. A $7~0 civil penalh and a hvo day license suspension teas imposed at that meeting. The penalty- has been paid and the suspension was sen ed on October 19 and 20, 2007. Attached you will find the folio«~ing information: • Chief McMenom~'s memo regarding the circumstances of the illegal sale on September 22, 2007; • A copy of the letter to the licensee regarding the hearing scheduled for the November ~ Council meeting; • A copy of the penalty guidelines adopted by the Cih' Council. The o~~ners of the Vermillion Bottle Shop have been notified of the hearing to consider a civil penalty and their opportunih- to speak before the Ciri-Council and present any testimony- they feel relevant. If the licensee chooses to dispute the facts of the case, it is the City-Attorney's recomrnendationthat no action be taken at the November ~, 2007 Council meeting and that a hearing be scheduled for November 19, 2007 w-here the officer involved in the incident can be present- If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. HASTINGS POLICE DEPARTMENT MEMO TO: Mayor Paul Hicks Hastings City Council Members FROM: Chief McMenomy ~,'`~ DATE: October 29, 2007 SUBJECT: Vermillion Bottle Shop Liquor Law Violation Details The purpose of this memo is to document information provided of a liquor law violation done by the Vermillion Bottle Shop. On September 22"d, 2007 a Hastings Police Officer was on routine patrol traveling in the area of the Vermillion Bottle Shop liquor store. The Officer had a law enforcement student ride along with him in his marked squad car that evening, and at approximately 2130 hours (9:30 pm) while driving by the Vermillion Bottle Shop,. Officer Evans and the ride along observed a male coming out of the Vermillion Bottle Shop liquor store carrying a case of Bud Light beer. They observed the male put the beer into his vehicle and then drive away from the parking lot of the Vermillion Bottle Shop liquor store. The ride along with Officer Evans recognized the male as someone he had gone to Hastings High School with and believed that the male was not of the legal drinking age of 21 to be purchasing or possessing alcohol. Officer Evans checked his squad com~uter on the name of the male, JST, and found that his date of birth was March 2" , 1987. Therefore the male was only 20 years of age. Officer Evans then initiated a traffic stop with this male who did coni'irm his identity as being JST wi#h a date of birth of 03/02/87. The male acknowledged and admitted to Officer Evans that he did just purchase a case of Bud Light beer from the Vermillion Bottle Shop liquor store and that the female employee did not ask for any identification from him at the time of his purchase. The beer was confiscated by Officer Evans and the male was issued a ticket for underage possession of alcohol. The male would not provide any further information in regards to the employee working in the Vermillion Bottle Shop and advised he did not wish to give a recorded statement about purchasing the case of beer from the Vermillion Bottle Shop. Officer Evans then went to the Vermillion Bottle Shop to possibly identify the employee that was working and sold the alcohol to this underage person. There were two female employees working at the bottle shop that night. Their names are Youa N. Xion, date of birth 05!14/85 and Sirinya Paj Xiong, date of birth 09/12/81. Officer Evans advised in his reports that both of the female employees were uncooperative and neither one acknowledged that they were the one that had sold the alcohol to the underage person and would not give a statement admitting the offense. The Vermillion Bottle Shop does have a video surveillance system and when asked if we could review the video surveillance they stated that their video cameras were not working in the store. Officer Evans also advised in his report that while there, there was another younger looking cus#omer at the store. He did inquire of her how old she was and she did prove she was 21 years of age. She also advised that she was not asked for any identification at the counter, and stated that she never gets ID'd at the Vermillion Bottle Shop. Due to the fact that we were not able to determine which employee was the one that sold the alcohol to the underage person, JST, we are not able at this time to pursue any criminal charges against that employee for selling alcohol to a minor. We do feel a liquor law violation still occurred as the Officer did observe an underage person leaving the Vermillion Bottle Shop with a case of beer and in fact the person did admit that he did purchase the beer there and was not asked for any identification. If you recall this is the third recent liquor law violation and offense committed by the Vermillion Bottle Shop. On September 21St, 2007 the Vermillion Bottle Shop failed an alcohol compliance check in which the council took administrative action agains#. A second offense related to that compliance check failure involved having an underage person working and selling alcohol at the Vermillion Bottle Shop, which resulted in a second administra#ive hearing and penalty taken by the City Council against the Vermillion Bottle Shop. This third offense and violation occurred ten days afterthe compliance check failure. It is the position of this Department that another administrative penalty and action betaken by the City Council against the Vermillion Bottle Shop for the continued violations of the Minnesota, and City of Hastings, sale of liquor law violations committed at that location. if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you. MCM/mjc CITY OF ~~ October 26, 2007 HASTINGS CITY HALL 1014th Street East Vermillion Bottle Shop Hastings, MN 55033-1955 Attention: Tong See Xiong and Xai Lor 651-480-2350 2103 Vermillion Street Fax: 651-437-7082 Hastings, MN 55033 www ci.hastings.mnus cityhail@ci.hastings.mn.us Department of Re: Illegal Alcohol Sale Building Safety 651-480-2342 Engineering/ PlanninglHRA/HPC Dear Business Owner: 651-480-2334 I am writing to you regarding a recent illegal sale of alcohol at the Vermillion Bottle Shop. On September 22, 2007, the Hastings Police Departmeirt observed an underage individual leaving the Vermillion Bottle Shop. The Public Works underage individual confirmed that he purchased alcohol from the Vermillion 1225 Progress Drive Bottle Shop_ This is the third violation (illegal sale, sale by a minor 651-480-6185 employee, illegal sale) by the Vermillion Bottle Shop in less than one month_ Parks ~ Recreation The City Council has adopted guidelmes for civil penalties for illegal liquor sales 92010th Street West ~ the City ofHastangs_ These guidelines are attached_ Previous penalties have 651-480-6175 included a civil penalty of $300 for the illegal sale on September 12, 2007, and a $750 civil penalty and two day license suspension for the sale by an underage minor on September 12, 2007. Both penahies have been paid and the two day Police license suspension will occur on Friday, October 19 and Saturday, October 20, 150 3rd Street East 2007. 651-480-2300 The sale of alcohol to an underage individual is in violarion of both Hastings City Code Chapter 111 and 1ldinnesota State Statute 340A503. Therefore, the City Fire Council will consider action on imposing an additional civil penalty on the li5 5th Street West Vermillion Bottle Shop at its November 5, 2007 City Council meeting. 651-480-6150 As a licensee, you may demand a hearing be conducted under sections 14.57 to Civic Arena 14.69 of the Minnesota Administrative Procedures Act, provided the City is not 2801 Red Wing Boulevard required to conduct the hearing before an employee of the Office of 651-480-6159 Administrative Hearings. Please be aware that the civil penalties may include a financial penalty of up to $2,000, a suspension of the license up to a maximum of 60 days, or any combination of the two. Aquatic Center 901 Maple Street 651-480-2392 The City Council meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at Hastings City Hall, i01 Fourth Street East, Hastings Minnesota. You will have an opportunity to address the council artd present any testimony you feel relevant The council will then determine ~ ar what penahy, will be imposed. If you have questions, please contact me at 651-480-2326. Sincerely, CITY OF HASTINGS ~~~~~~~~ Melanie Mesko Lee Assistant City AdministratorlCity Clerk Cc. Dave Osberg, City Administrator Mike McMenomy, Police Chief Dan Fluegel, City Attorney HASTINGS CITY COUNCIL RES`OLUTIONNO. I2 3-00 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HASTINGS ESTABLISHING GUIDELINES FOR CIVIL PENALTIES FOR ILLEGAL LIQUOR SALES IN THE CITY OF HASTINGS DECEMBER 4, 2000 Council member Johnson introduced the following Resolution and a second was made by -- Council member Blueness and moved its adoption: WHEREAS, Minnesota Statutes Section 340A.503 and Hastings City Code Chapter 3.01 provide that it is a gross misdemeanor to sell, barter, furnish or give alcoholic beverages to a person under twenty-one years of age; WHEREAS, the City conducts regular compliance checks to insure that those establishments holding municipal liquor licenses in the City of Hastings are in compliance with this State Statute and City Code. In the event that a liquor License establishment is proved to have made an illegal sale, Minnesota Statutes Section 340A.415 authorizes the City Council to revoke the license or permit, suspend the license or permit for up to 60 days, impose a civil penalty of up to $2,000 for each vi:,La#ion or it~ripuse auy combination of --hese sanctions; anal WHEREAS, the Hastings City Council believes it to be in the public interest to establish guidelines for civil penalties to be imposed for illegal liquor sales in the City of Hastings; and WHEREAS, the City Council also believes these guidelines could be deviated from if the City.Council deems it to be appropriate in a given case. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Hastings City Council as follows: A_ The Hastings City Council establishes the following guidelines for civil penalties to be imposed for illegal liquor sales in the City of Hastings. The Hastings City Council reserves the right to deviate from these guidelines based upon the circumstances of each case. The following designated civil penalties are in addition to any criminal penalties that may be imposed by State law. 1. First Offense: Three hundred dollar civil penalty and a letter outlining the civil penalties that could be imposed if further violations occur. Instead of paying the three hundred dollar civil penalty, the licensee can purchase, install. and use in the licensed establishment, a driver's license/identification card reading device. Proof of installation must be provided to the City Clerk within 30 days after notice of the violation has been sent to the license holder by the City Clerk. 2. Seeond Offense Within Any 24 Month Period: Seven hundred and fifty dollar civil penalty and a two day license suspension which will occur on a ~ursday and Friday selected by the Council. 3. Third Offense Within Any 24 Month Period: One thousand dollar civil penalty and a five day license suspension which will include one consecutive Friday and Saturday selected by the Council. -- 4. Fourth Offense Within Any 24 Month Period: Two thousand dollar civil penalty and revocation of the liquor license. B. The City Council retains the right to impose a penalty different from those contained in this Resolution if the Council deems the circumstances warrant it. C. in the event of a new owner, the prior owner's violations, if any, will not roil-over to the new owner. The new owner will start out as having no first violations. if the new owner is related to the previous owner by blood, marriage or partnership of any type, the previous offenses will carry over to the new owner. D. when a first illegal sale is aileg~d to have occurred, documentation ofthe illegal sale shall be sent to the City Council by either the Chief of Police or the City Administrator, together with the proposed penalty called for by these guidelines. If no Councilmember objects to the proposed penalty within 7 days after the information is after the information is mailed to the City Council, then City staff will proceed to inform the liquor license holder of the penalties to be imposed pursuant to these guidelines. If a Councilmember obj ects to the proposed penalties, the Councilmember shall notify the City Administrator and the illegal liquor sale matter shall be placed on the next available City Council agenda for Council discussion. 2 E. Upon proof that a first illegal liquor sale has occurred, the Chief of Police or the City Clerk shall issue a notice to the holder of the liquor license. That notice shall be given in person or by mail to the holder of the liquor license. The notice must contain the date, time and nature of the offense, the amount of the scheduled civil penalty. This notice must also provide that the liquor license holder can appeal the imposition of this penalty to the Hastings City Council by delivering to the City Clerk a written notice of appeal within 10 days of the date of the notice. Failure to timely pay the penalty shall be grounds for additional monetary penalties or license suspension or revocation. F. If the violation is a second or subsequent violation within a 24 month period, a hearing shall be held before the City Council before any license suspension or revocation shall be imposed. The license holder shall be given notice of the hearing at least 10 days before the date of the hearing. The notice shall state the time, place and the nature of the charges. Council member .7ohnscm made a second to the foregoing Resolution. Upon being put to a vote, the following Councilmembers voted in favor of this Resolution: Council~nber Blueness, Simacek, Johnson, Hicks, Nbratzka & Mayor Werner Counci7me~nbPx Yandrasits absent The following Councilmembers voted in opposition to this Resolution: None WHERE UPON, the Mayor declared the Resolution to be duly passed. CITY OF IIASTINGS ~~ By: Michael D. Werner, Its Mayor ATTEST: .L L. . Melanie Mesko 3