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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20100216 - VIII-C-1To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Melanie Mesko Lee, Assistant City Administrator/City Clerk Date: February 9, 2010 Subject: Mississippi Belle -Liquor License Violation REQUESTED ACTION. The Cit<- Council is requested to conduct a brief hearing at the Februar<- 16, 2010 Cit<- Council meeting to determined if a liquor license ~-iolation occurred and if so, whether an administrati~-e penalt<- should be imposed for the ~-iolation. Amara, Inc. is the corporation doing business as the Mississippi Belle. The licensee should be gi~-en an opportunit<- to address the Council about the ~-iolation and the penalt<- to be imposed. If the licensee wants to present witnesses to testifi- on its behalf or pro~-ide other e~-idence, that should be permitted. After the Council has heard any e~-idence, it needs to make a decision on whether to impose a penalt<-, and if so, what penalt<- to impose. The Council's decision should be in the form of a written Resolution and I am enclosing a draft Resolution which would allow for a monetary- penalt<-, a license suspension, or both. If the Council decides to impose a license suspension, the dates of that suspension would need to be identified. A copy of the Resolution must be mailed to the licensee. BACKGROUND INFORMATION. On or about January 7, 2010, the Cite of Hastings ~~~as notified that the liquor liabilit<-insurance for Amara, Inc., d/b/a Mississippi Belle, was cancelled effecti~-e No~Tember 20, 2009. The licensee ~~~as notified and indicated they would pro~-ide an updated certificate of insurance. The Cit<- received a ne«~ certificate of insurance with an effecti~-e date of January 15, 2010. Ho~~°ever, from the documentation that has been pro~-ided, it appears there was a lapse of the required liquor liabilit<~ insurance from Nom ember 20, 2009 through January 14, 2010. Valid insurance is a condition of the issuance or continuation of the liquor license. State law requires that a liquor licensee pro~-ide proof of this insurance to the Cit<-. The licensee ~~~as given written notice this matter would be considered by the Cit<~ Council on February 16, 2010. The Cit<- is not a«~are of any prior liquor license ~~olations in~-olving the Mississippi Belle ~~~ithin the last ten years. Presumptive penalties for alcohol compliance check failures in the Cit<~ Code do not apply to this situation. As the City Council is aware, the City received notice that Amara, Inc., d/b/a Mississippi Belle has filed. for bankruptcy protections in bankruptcy court. The licensee has pro~-ided a summary describing the histon-and their confusion with billing matters that lead up to the cancellation of the prior insurance coverage, but again, as of the date of this memo, the licensee has not pro~-ided a certificate of insurance that shows co~-erage was in place for the lapse period referenced abo~-e. The last time the Cit<- dealt with a liquor license ~-iolation for allowing liabilit<-insurance to lapse in~-ol~-ed the Coliseum Sports Bar and Grill in 2007. The gap in the insurance for that ~-iolation was about 36-days. The Cit<- Council imposed a $1,000.00 ci~-i1 penalt<- but no license suspension for that ~-iolation. State law allows the Cit<- Council to re~-oke the license, impose a suspension for up to si~t<- (60) days, impose a ci~-i1 fine not to emceed $2,000.00 per ~-iolation, or to impose a combination of suspension and a ci~-i1 fine. Based on the past practice of the Council, staff belie~-es it would be appropriate to impose a ci~-i1 fine for this first time ~-iolation. Also, the Cit<- Council has been notified that Cit<- Attorney Dan Fluegel has requested that he not participate in this process as the licensee has raised the possibilit<- of a conflict of interest as a result of past legal representation. In the e~-ent a legal question is raised at the meeting which cannot be answered by Cit<- staff, the Cit<- Council may table the matter and the question would be referred to an outside Cit<-Attorney for a response or appearance at the continued hearing, if necessar<-. CITY OF HASTINGS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA RESOLUTION 02- -10 A RESOLUTION MAKING FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND DECISION IMPOSING CIVIL PENALTY UPON AMARA, INC. DB/A MISSISSIPPI BELLE BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Hastin~~s. l~linnesota, as follows: WI~REAS, a hearing was held by the City Council pursuant to Hastings City Code Section 111.10, and Minnesota Statute § 340A.415 on Febniary lh. ?0 I ~, at which test>lnony and written evidence were received; and WI~REAS, was present and`«~as afforded the opporh~nityto and did participate in the hearing on behalf of Amara,'lnc. d/b/a Mississippi Belle. NOW, THEREFORE, based upon the evidence and testimony the City Council of the City of Hastings, makes the following: FINDINGS L Amara, Inc., d,'b,'a Mississippi Selle, I 0 12"~ Street East, Hastings, Minnesota holds an on-sale intosicatin~ liquor license issued by the City of Hastings. 2. On or about Januar~~ 7, 2010, the Cite of Hastings received a certificate of liability insurance from State Auto Insurance Companies evidencing that the liquor liability insurance police namin~~ ~nara, lac., d/b/a Mississippi Belle, was cancelled effective November ~0. ?009. ~. On or about January 1 ~. ?010, the City of Hastings received a certificate of insurance for liquor liabil it~~ coverage naming Amara, Inc. d/b/a Mississippi Belle as the insured ~t~ith an effecti~~e date of January 15, 2010. No certificate of insurance has been prodded by Amara, Inc. covering the period from November 20, 2009 through Januar~~ 1 ~, ?010. 4. Representatives of Amara, Inc., d/b/a Mississippi Belle did not contest the accuracy of the written materials and did not provide an additional certificate ofinsurance showing liquor liability insurance coverage for the period of November 20, 2009 through January 14, 2010. CONCLUSION L Amara, Inc., d/b/a Mississippi Belle failed to maintain liquor liability insurance coverage as required for its on-sale intoxicating liquor license for the period of November 20, 2009 through January 15, 2010 as required by Minnesota Statute § 340A.409 and Hastings City Code § 111.09. ORDER IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, pursuant to Minn. Stat. ~ ~=t0.a.~ 1 ~ and Hastings City Code § 111.10, that Amara, Inc. d/b/a Mississippi Belle is subject to the follow>J~~~ sanctions: (1) A $ civil penalty, and (2) A suspension of the on-sale into~catin~, liquor license for days, on 2010. The civil penalty must be paid within 30 davs of the date of this Order. Failure to comply with this order will subject the licensee to fiirther sanctions. By order of the City Council of the City of Hastin~~s, [~~linnesota, Febniary 16, 2010. Paul J. Hicks, Mayor ATTEST: Melanie Mesko Lee, City Clerk Melanie Mesko-Lee February s, z4i4 Dear Melanie: This letter is in addition to the attached correspondenceldocumer~tation #rom our insurance agent, Dan Lindsay and the previous insurance company (State Auto} regarding our insurance coverage with them. As you will see im that correspondence, everyone im their department at State Auto seemed confused about ghat we owed, and the dates we owed by, As you can see, the only cancellation listed for November 24"', 2449 was for the business auto policy, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the coverage for the business itself, that was in effect until December 27, 2003. (also it was only $i 63 owed for that portion itself and was paid off several months earlier) . Whey state we only paid $98.38 pia the web, which is correct in September because that is what it stated on their site that we owed and we contacted our agent at that time for this as well and he told us to calf them directly so we did, and they stated we had overpaid and because they changed the amount of our premium because our sales were cut in half from the previous year, so our amount we paid decreased. thus when we spoke to them on the phone about this amount, they said that was a correct billing amount. We paid it, and then the following month September and f?ctober we owed a zero balance. Then things were fine until November, when we received notification that we owed $37.71 to pay off the entire policy in full for the remainder of the year, that seemed feasible and we did so online, 1Ne are attaching a copy of that payment as well as all other payments made by us in November and December The confusion seemed to escalate for State Auto beginning in November, when suddenly their billing statements begin to change and we contacted our agent immediately and no one at State Auto understood what was happening either, so they said not to worry about it because we had paid the $37.71 as we were instructed to have coverage for the remainder of the year The policy was in effect until December 27~' and that we overpay every year ewe have always owed no money forthe last couple months for overpayment and are also issued a credit towards the first couple months of the following year.) We #ully expected that to be the ease as well and after talking to many different people and being given many different amounts, we were confused but it seemed from the amount showing on the computer screen when we would log into our a€count via State Auto, that the situation had been corrected because in December it had a balance of only $275, which although we disagreed with greatly, was better than the $i 704, or $9 544£ or $$9 8 they had tried to tell us we owed, and it seemed the situation was finally taken care of and we made the payment on December 7, 2408 for the $252.33 just to avoid any more confusion because we figured we'd get that reimbursed to us anyway, and didn't want to risk a cancellation of our policy. Then nearly a month later we received a notification of a cancellation and our agent contacted us and also told us that we had been canceled. this date was either January 6~' or 7~'} I still have the card we received on January 7~' stating we had a certified letter waiting for us at the past office, 1 am attaching a copy of that card as well showing the date it was given to us, which undoubtedly would show that were canceled, but had no knowledge of that. Upon this, we discussed this frustrating and confusing situation with our agent, and also had gotten a phone call from the City of Hastings as well noti#ying us we were already canceled. ~!e were very concerned and our agent began to look #or different coverage immediately #or us with a different company The coverage effect date was January i 5, 2414 which is only a week after we were notified of having no coverage. 1Ne got it in place as #ast as we were able to do so. Even the correspondence/documentation attached will show the dates of conversations to be AI=TER December, not at all were we canceled on Nouember 24~', and the only portion of the policy that they had even indicated was to be canceled, was the business auto portion of the policy. We do not dispute that there was a lapse of coverage, but we were told we were just fine by making the payments we made, and that because we overpaid throughout the year, we believed no matter how messed up their accounting department was, giving us di#Feren# amounts online so often, or over the phone, or to our agent, that we'd be fine because we always received a credit of a couple thousand dollars anyway We did not think #or a moment and had received no notice that we would be canceled at all. ~!e ace truly sorry that this has occurred but did our best to #ollow every thing that State Auto asked of us, and even now the amount they have listed onfine #or us due is not the $1774 that they told our agent we owed, but now lists it as $1144. It still changes and we do not even have coverage with them any longer, nor was any other payment made, yet the amount due changed. That is how con#using their system is. I think after seeing all of these different things, you will find that we did everything we were capable of doing to ensure coverage did not lapse #or our policy and once that was not the case, gat coverage as soon as possible. 1Ne were only opened a total of six days between December 27~' and January i 5"', as well, just to let you know Sincerely, Bill and Hope Kopp The Mississippi Belle t3an Lindsay Fresrri: Doggett, Bili [BiiLDoggett a~StateAuta.cam] Sew: Thursday, December 03, 2009 9:22 AM ~'Q; Dan Lindsay; Laura Erickson Subject: FW: Amara Beile DBA: Mississippi BeIIeIPBP2437398 02 07 FYI below just iaa case you didn't receive anything. -----Original Message----- From: PaymentServices Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 11:56 AM To: i~oggett, Bill Subject: RE: Amara Belle DBA: Mississippi Belle/PBP2437318 02 47 Good morning Bill, the insured was making payment's just fine until August. The installment amount was $818.38, we only received $18.38 via the web. This through aff the billing from that point on. The insured owes $1773.81 to take the policy to the end of the policy term, 122709. The last installment due date would have been 3.02749. The agency has the same access to the billing screen that we do, if the want a complete run down. of the billing for this term. Thank you. Lisa -----Original Message----- From: Doggett, Bill Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 10:33 AM To: PaymentServices Cc: Dan Lindsay; Laura Erickson Subject: FW: Amara Belle DBA: Mississippi Belle/`PBP2437318 02 07 Payment services, please have someone to review the request below and advise the agency accordingly. Thanks, -----Original Message----- From: pan Lindsay Emailto:danlt~corporate4.net) Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 1:25 PM To; Doggett, Bill Cc: Laura Erickson. Subject: FW: Amara Belle DBA: Mississippi Belle/PBP2437318 02 07 Bill.,. Sorry for the delay, attached is the requested °No Loss" letter from the insured. However, I must tell you that we remain quite confused regardiaag the amount owed on this account, if anything. Stour Accounting Dept E.3'an Yuszka - Payment Services Specialists just advised us land you were copied-ins only a couple of weeks ago that no funds/payments were due on this account, Yet yesterday, we again received a DI3OC effective 13/20j09 far non-payment of premium on the 33usiness Auto (which is only $163 a year anyways~ and another effective 32/08/09 for the Package. #ihat's going on in your Accounting Dept? Could you check the balance due on the account? We were informed there was no premium due and the account renews next month (12/27/09}. This is really very confusing far us and the insured. Since one of the eancellatians is effective in a couple of days, 21/20/09, we need an answer, ASAPI Thanks± Dan Lindsay Corporate 4 Insurance 7220 Metro Boulevard Edina, MN 55439 Direct ~952s 896-9519 Fax: {952} 893-3402 1 Qan Lindsay Esom: Laura E:ic4sson Sent: i'Itursday, Qecember 43, 2009 90;45 AM To: pan Lindsay Suk~ject: Amara Inc -Cancel Pending 9 2-5-09 Qa~...see at#ached pending canoe! nc~#ice from S#a#e Au#o, he owes :6439.38 by the Sth and I imagine the balance due #hat we discussed the other day, Laura Laura Erickson, CfSR Corporate ~ fnsurance Agency, dnc. 722f? Metro Bfvd. Edina, MN 55439 t)irect #952-8Q6-9299 Main #952-893-9298 f=ax #952-893-94!?2 "2UQ5 MfffAB Agency of the Year" "Tftis message may contain confrdentiaf andfor proprietary fnformationF and is intec~ded for tE~e personfentity to wftom it was or%ginaffy addressed. 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