Committee approves bulk alcohol licenses, grants bartender license to Lindsay Adams after rehabilitation evidence

The Wausau Public Health and Safety Committee voted May 19 to accept staff recommendations on alcohol license renewals and new class B licenses and separately approved a bartender/operator license for Lindsay Adams after committee review of rehabilitation documentation.

Committee members voted to accept or deny licenses as recommended by staff, excluding the matter of Lindsay Adams so the committee could consider newly submitted evidence of rehabilitation. The batch action approved 2025 establishment renewals and three class B restaurant/nightclub applications the subcommittee had recommended: Monk Botanical Garden, Los Compadres (new owner of the former Jalapenos restaurant), and a change of ownership/operation for Oz Nightclub, which will become Emerald Nightclub. Truly’s eatery and bar was pulled from the package and will be considered at a later date. The committee recorded no opposition to the motion to accept the staff recommendations with that one exception.

After the batch vote, the committee considered Adams’s application separately. Adams submitted a rehabilitation letter from a probation/parole agent and an employer letter after the initial denial recommendation. The police chief reviewed the documents at the meeting and said Adams appears to have actively participated in rehabilitative programming; the chief recommended reversing the denial recommendation with the caveat that future conduct at renewal could change that recommendation. The committee then voted to approve Adams’s bartender/operator license. Committee members noted licenses renew annually on July 1; Adams’s approved license will proceed to the full council in June for final action.

The city attorney and clerk’s office handled packet materials and confirmed that the package included all class A retail, class B restaurants and taverns, and the 2025 renewals. Committee members asked staff to treat Truly’s as removed from the current approval list and to consider it at the next meeting. No ordinances or statutes were cited in the discussion; the action was limited to committee recommendation to council.

Votes at a glance: The committee unanimously approved the staff-recommended batch of licenses with the exception of Lindsay Adams, which was taken separately and approved. The batch included the 2025 establishment renewals and class B approvals for Monk Botanical Garden, Los Compadres, and Emerald Nightclub; Truly’s was pulled for later consideration.

The committee chair closed the item after instructing staff to forward the approved applications to council and noting the July 1 renewal date for licenses.