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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,March 24,2014 <br /> Page 44 <br /> their transactions were over $100 and anything below that would require them to <br /> virtually record every transaction. Mr. Johnston advised that most of their pur- <br /> chases are new, and questioned if the City was even aware of their small business <br /> before considering this ordinance, as theirs was a tight knit niche-type business <br /> and not a big franchise store. Mr. Johnston reviewed the nature of their inventory, <br /> most coming from an attic, or off the street from members of the community that <br /> they'd known for years even before opening their business six years ago, but fa- <br /> miliar faces to them. <br /> Mr. Johnston advised that they didn't feel they needed to be part of the proposed <br /> ordinance. Mr. Johnston stated that often, a customer will make a purchase off <br /> the shelf in their store, and if not what they need, will turn around and resell it or <br /> trade it back to them; and with ownership changing possession that quickly, how <br /> would they track an item that quickly from a sealed box presented back as a sec- <br /> ond hand good; opining that such transactions further supported the need to have <br /> such purchases exempted. <br /> Brian Banf, Play It Again Sports <br /> Having been in operation for several decades, and forced to close his Coon Rapids <br /> operation of 15 years as a direct result of that city's adoption of an APS and relo- <br /> cating to Roseville, Mr. Banf spoke in opposition to including second hand goods <br /> in the ordinance. <br /> Elizabeth Elkins, Half Price Books, 2481 Fairview Avenue <br /> Ms. Elkins provided written comments as a bench handout at tonight's meeting. <br /> Ms. Elkins noted the operation of this store featuring family-owned books in Ro- <br /> seville since 2007, with many small items exchanging hand there. Ms. Elkins ad- <br /> vised that neither the referenced letter sent out by Chief Mathwig to businesses in <br /> February of 2014, nor a notice of the meeting in March of 2014, had been re- <br /> ceived by her. <br /> If this ordinance is adopted, Ms. Elkins advised that the costs and repercussions <br /> would be astronomical for any number of reasons (e.g. investigation fee for li- <br /> cense holders, license application submission, annual fee in addition to the <br /> $10,000 bond, transaction fee, leased space, digital camera purchase, high speed <br /> internet connection, computer equipment, and additional labor). Ms. Elkins re- <br /> viewed various sections of the proposed ordinance to support her concerns and as <br /> it related specifically to used books, video games, and other items they carried. <br /> Ms. Elkins stated that she found the proposal offensive, since they already record- <br /> ed driver's license numbers, to which the Police Department should have access <br /> to acquire needed information. <br /> Ms. Elkins also expressed concern in the perception of attempting to over-regulate <br /> business through restriction of store hours, license restrictions if property taxes <br /> went unpaid and impacts for business owners leasing their store space, cash trans- <br /> actions or store credits to exchange for merchandise, and holding times. <br />