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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 15, 2018 2 Ted Brausen, Brausen Enterprises/Arden Hills Shell, explained he has been at this location for 50 years and loves Arden Hills. He indicated he has always appreciated the fact that Arden Hills allows him to run his own business. He questioned why the City was getting involved in an issue regarding personal rights. He anticipated that those under 18 would travel to another community to make their purchases which will affect his business regarding the purchase of gasoline,pop and other convenient sale items. He stated he was concerned about the sale of tobacco to minors but recommended the tobacco sale age be regulated by the State and not by individual cities. Councilmember Holden questioned how much of a loss in sales Shoreview stores have had since they changed their tobacco age. Mr. Brausen commented he has a friend in Shoreview and noted the friend's tobacco sales were down 4% to 5%. He believed that the proposed change was not the right move for the City. He explained the flavored tobacco issue was another concern. He commented further on the updates that would occur at his Shell station noting he would be investing $2.5 million in his site. Steve Rush, Holiday Stationstores, stated he has one store in Arden Hills. He thanked Ted for hitting many of his concerns. He explained retailers are not the source of tobacco products for underage individuals. He reported his store does a great job training its employees to ensure sales do not occur to minors, noting all individuals under 40 were carded. He commented the proposed ordinance amendment would be a costly expense to his business due to the computer software changes that would be required. He feared that the proposed age change would cause confusion amongst his employees that work at several different Holidays throughout the metro area, given the fact some stores would continue to have a legal age of 18. He indicated a flavor ban including menthol, would be devastating. He commented further on the trickle-down effect a flavor ban would have on overall sales. Mayor Grant asked how the Holiday store on Highway 96 was doing. Mr. Rush explained he was a lawyer and lobbyist but understood this store did quite well and wanted things to remain as is. Susan Sindt, Simply Vapor, explained she owned an e-liquid cigarette manufacturing company that has been in operation since 2010. She reported her product was sold at a tobacco shop in Arden Hills. She discussed vapor products with the Council and indicated vapor products were a safer alternative to cigarettes. She commented on the appeal of flavored vapor products and described how an age change would impact the vapor market. She encouraged the Council to consider how flavored vapor products help smokers make a life change. She stated flavors keep people away from combustible tobacco. She noted 18 was and has been the age of consent for quite some time. She discussed the State and Federal changes that were occurring in this industry. She suggested the Council allow people to make their own healthy decisions and recommended the Council not change the tobacco purchase age to 21. Mr. Brausen encouraged the Council to consider where it should stop and where personal rights should start. He suggested the City not overstep in the operations of local businesses. Councilmember Holden asked if Mounds View was considering a change.