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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,April 18, 2011 <br /> Page 20 <br /> Steve Burwell, Fairview Wines and Spirits <br /> Mr. Burwell reminisced on his firm's recent compliance check and his personal <br /> embarrassment in that failure. However, Mr. Burwell, in taking full responsibility <br /> for that failure and its consequences, referenced the minimal failure history over <br /> the last twelve (12) years, representing a five percent (5%) failure rate. Mr. Bur- <br /> well noted that this failure rate would be considered good or 95% successful in <br /> other situations. Mr. Burwell displayed his collection of licenses taken over the <br /> years; and assured Councilmembers that they were doing their jobs; and opined <br /> that the off-sale liquor firms should not be penalized to the point of creating fi- <br /> nancial hardship. Mr. Burwell questioned what the community-at-large was <br /> doing to address and stop underage consumption, the ultimate goal of all parties. <br /> Councilmember Pust noted the adoption by the City of a Social Host Ordinance. <br /> Discussion among Councilmembers and Mr. Olson and Mr. Burwell included es- <br /> timated potential income loss for a license suspension on a weekend or holiday <br /> (estimated at $1,000 — $3,000) compared to a much less significant profit on a <br /> weekday, such as Monday; suspension and closure of an off-sale simply causing <br /> their patrons to find another off-sale during that suspension and not addressing the <br /> actual problem; and the potentially catastrophic results for a family from only one <br /> failure in selling to underage consumers. <br /> Further discussion included responsible persons for underage drinkers, or adults; <br /> how to control those people; personal experiences of Mr. Olson and Mr. Burwell <br /> and their strong encouragement of their employees to remain diligence versus the <br /> lax nature and high turnover staff at restaurants and bard who are only interested <br /> in more sales to increase their tips, not in being diligent. <br /> Councilmember Willmus questioned the rationale of the City Council in revising <br /> the original ordinance, and their intent, whether to be punitive or to avoid recur- <br /> rence. <br /> Mayor Roe advised that, as one of the drafters of the ordinance as a Task Force of <br /> he and Councilmember Pust, the intent was that the first violation had teeth to <br /> avoid recurrence; and while discussions on a two-tier approach were held at that <br /> time, it was the majority consensus that everyone should be treated the same. <br /> Councilmember Willmus opined that the City Council was discussing two com- <br /> pletely different business models. <br /> Mayor Roe noted that a different analogy could be that the financial impact was <br /> the same, and that the penalty not be less for someone less able to pay. <br /> Councilmember Pust questioned Mr. Olson and Mr. Burwell on any changes in <br /> their business practices from the first to the current ordinance. <br />