Local Video
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| City may choose a liquor store proposal next month |
By: SUZANNE ROOK, Senior Reporter
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Posted: Friday, November 14, 2008 10:28 pm
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After years of study and discussion, the city could next month have a new site for its liquor store.
A decision could be a welcome relief for advocates of the project, including the store’s manager, Steve DeLong, who believes a new, larger store could boost revenues by up to 25 percent annually.
Last year, $120,000 in store revenue went into city coffers. Larger profits could mean more money for the city, said DeLong.
The current Fifth Street store, built in 1957, has little parking, city staff say it can’t accommodate the ever-increasing array of beers, wines and spirits, and needs as much as $300,000 in maintenance. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration this summer weighed in on the store’s safety, saying that the city must actively pursue a new building, make repairs estimated at $100,000, or face stiff fines.
The council in November 2007 agreed to restart the liquor store site selection process, after a failed attempt to find land for the shop the prior spring.
The seven site proposals received last week have been reviewed, Interim City Administrator Joel Walinski said Wednesday, but will undergo further assessment before being whittled to one.
The News requested a list of the proposed sites, but hadn’t yet received the listing. There is no budget for the project, which will be constructed using bond revenue repaid with liquor store profits.
Once a preferred site is selected, Walinski said, he’ll present that proposal to the council for its approval. That meeting isn’t expected until December, he said, and will be a closed-door session.
City staff will review and grade the proposals, as will the Northfield Enterprise Center, the Economic Development Authority’s Infill Committee and commercial development consultants, Donnelly & Associates.
A new liquor has been discussed for at least eight years. The project got new life after Mayor Lee Lansing’s 2004 election as Lansing pushed the project, both publicly and privately. For a time last year, the city council considered building a new store on land owned in part by Lansing’s son, but decided the property was too costly. Last month Lansing was charged with abusing his office, in part, for behind-the-scenes efforts to promote the roject and for concealing ownership in what was thought to be his son’s property.
— Suzanne Rook can be reached at srook@northfieldnews.com or 645-1113.
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There are only six weeks left in this administration, which has been tainted by the mayor's attempts to manipulate this project and remains under the cloud of the mayor's legal charges.
The council should allow the staff to continue evaluating the information, but should delay the discussion and decision until the new council and mayor take office in January. The council should be able to act quickly then, so this isn't a demand for a long delay. A month or so won't change the situation, but it will give everyone the chance to start with a clean slate and make a decision that can't be tied to the ugliness of the last four years.
I could not agree with AnneBretts more. The council should wait until the new members are seated. Not having the lame duck mayor involved will add transparency to the process.