North St. Paul commissioners back food-passport plan for Taste of North St. Paul, ask staff for cost and legal details

The North St. Paul Arts and Culture Commission on June 4 discussed converting the Taste of North St. Paul event into a restaurant "food passport" program that would encourage residents to visit participating restaurants, collect stamps and enter prize drawings.

Staff liaison Jordan Layman and subcommittee members described a plan to produce a stapled, passport-sized booklet with space for restaurant entries, bespoke stamp devices for participating restaurants and a prize drawing for completed passports. Jordan said preliminary printing options include runs of 200–1,000 booklets, and that stamp costs could run roughly $10 per personalized stamp for about 18–20 restaurants.

"If folks have that as a good reference of like what are the places to eat in North St. Paul, that'll hopefully drive business," Jordan said while presenting a demonstration passport layout.

Commissioners raised practical questions about distribution and prize rules. Members suggested handing passports out at car shows, downtown pick-up points and at participating restaurants, and discussed whether prizes should be time-limited or part of an ongoing program. Sharon Clark Williams and others stressed that the city attorney should review any prize or drawing because legal constraints can affect whether a prize is permissible.

Jordan said Ramsey County staff asked that the commission submit a records request through the county portal to obtain an official list of licensed restaurants in the city. "Ramsey County is requesting a list of restaurants that are licensed within the city of North St. Paul and apparently I need to make a freedom of information request for that," Jordan said.

Commissioners asked staff to return with firm printing and stamp prices and clarified that unused funds from the current $2,500 allocation could be reallocated within the current fiscal year but could not automatically roll into 2026. Commissioners generally signaled support for a recurring, modest ongoing allocation — roughly $800–$1,000 annually — for the passport program while asking Jordan and the subcommittee to refine numbers and seek legal guidance.

Next steps: staff will gather vendor quotes for printing and stamps, submit the county records request for the list of licensed restaurants, and consult the city attorney on prize and drawing rules before the commission makes a formal recommendation to event staff.