03-08-2004 CC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Minutes March 8, 2004 ............................. 4. Open Mike Page 2 No one appeared for Open Mike. Administration/Engineering Administrative Hearing for Elk River Gas and Convenience Store, Inc., Regarding Alcohol Compliance Check. City Clerk Joan Schmidt explained to the Council that the Elk River Police Department in conjunction with the Sherbume County Health Department had conducted an alcohol compliance check of all licensed liquor establishments within the City of Elk River on January 28. During the compliance check at the Elk River Gas and Convenience Store, Inc., 13374 Highway 10, an employee of the store sold alcohol to a person under the age of 21 years. A letter by certified mail was sent on February 13m informing the licensee of this incident and on February 25m a request was received from licensee Mai Yang for an administrative hearing. This hearing is scheduled for tonight and Ms. Yang was notified in person on February 26 of this date, time, and purpose. The Council has the authority to impose a $500 civil penalty. Mayor Klinzing asked the Council if they accepted the role of being an administrative hearing board. The Council was in agreement. Licensee Mai Yang, who is also the owner of CENEX, where the Elk River Gas and Convenience Store, Inc., is located asked the Council to reconsider and she cited the following three reasons: · The establishment had started selling beer and alcohol during that week and the employee thought that the correct age for selling alcohol was 18. · Prior to owning the business she was a social worker and agrees that we must protect our youth and will enforce this law in the future. · Since this incident, all employees were instructed to read the laws associated with liquor and tobacco, and the employees have signed an agreement indicating that they understand the consequences of selling alcohol and tobacco to minors. Councilmember Kuester asked if oral instructions were also provided. Ms. Yang responded that, yes, the employees looked at a video tape and they had a staff meeting informing them of the incident. Mayor I~inzing asked if there were any instructions before the incident. Ms. Yang replied that, yes, they had handouts. However, she felt that the employees had been given too much information because they had only started the business a short while before and had a lot of rules and policies to read and learn. Mayor Klinzing asked Police Chief Beahen if the employee is also fined. Chief Beahen replied, yes, the employee appeared in court on March 1. He was given a $500 fine with 60 days. However, this fine was deviated to $125 and if it should happen again, the employee could be fined the total amount and have to serve the 60 days.