Committee holds demerit-point appearances; approves multiple liquor and pet/beer licenses

The Appleton Safety and Licensing Committee on Aug. 13 heard five scheduled demerit-point appearances related to liquor licensing and approved a bundle of license applications by unanimous vote.

Committee Chair Chris Croat said five establishments had been scheduled to appear for demerit-point violations tied to sales to minors. The roster included Mill City Public House, El Azteca, Bent Keg, Lindo Michoacan and Northland Amoco. The committee heard explanations from representatives of Bent Keg, Lindo Michoacan and Northland Amoco, and received no appearance from Mill City Public House or El Azteca.

At the Bent Keg appearance, Bruce Holly, listed as the establishment’s agent, described the incident as a chaotic night during a large party and said management has taken steps to reduce recurrence, including hiring additional staff and security for large events, using ID-scanning equipment and arranging for employee training with law enforcement. "They talked about hiring bouncers for hours when we have big parties ... also they got one of these scanning machines that they're using quite a bit now," Holly said.

Pedro Juarez, speaking for Lindo Michoacan, said staffing and language barriers had contributed to the violation and described steps the restaurant has taken: translating training materials into Spanish, holding weekly staff meetings and providing checklists for employees. "We've managed to get a good team together ... we've definitely put in an extra team for us to make sure this doesn't happen again," Juarez said.

A representative for Northland Amoco acknowledged the violation and said he had already paid the fine. "I already paid," he told the committee, adding that personal issues had affected his attention on the day of the incident and that he would be more careful in future.

After completing the appearances, the committee moved to approve the remaining action items on the agenda (excluding a separate item pulled for later consideration). Chair Croat read a list of agenda item numbers covering liquor-, beer- and temporary-license applications, and the committee voted 5-0 to approve them.

Separately, the committee approved the minutes of its July 23 meeting by unanimous voice vote.

The appearances did not produce immediate disciplinary motions recorded in the transcript; the committee’s action at the meeting was to hear the explanations and proceed with consideration of license applications.

Votes at a glance - Approval of minutes from July 23: motion and second; vote 5-0 to approve. - Motion to approve the balance of the agenda (license applications listed by item numbers): vote 5-0 to approve.

The committee indicated it would follow its standard enforcement process for demerit-point matters if further sanctions or hearings are required in future meetings.