Rice Lake council approves liquor-license renewals, conditional approval for Billy’s, Tracy Wade payment and road salt contract

The Rice Lake City Council approved its consent agenda and several new-business motions including a set of 2026 liquor-license renewals and a conditional approval for Billy’s pending confirmation that the property taxes are paid.

Councilors moved and passed the renewal of multiple licenses (including Boomtown and other place renewals) by voice vote. For Billy’s, Tony (city administrator) told the council the business had submitted required materials but had not yet paid first-half property taxes; council approved renewal with the condition that the city will not issue the license until staff confirms taxes are paid and the state completes its approval process.

The council also approved executed claims that had been pulled from consent, including one payment for cleaning services to Tracy Wade in the amount of $360 as read into the record. A motion to approve the claims was seconded and passed; one councilor was recorded as abstaining on a separate pulled claim vote.

On public works procurement, council reviewed quotes for calcium chloride application on granular roads and discussed contractor-applied versus in-house application costs and scheduling. Staff recommended awarding the work to a familiar vendor (Legacy Custom) given scheduling and contractor capacity; council voted to approve the vendor quote and authorized purchase, with staff noting the current budget covers the request.

All approvals were made by motion and voice vote; no roll-call tallies were read into the meeting record for these motions.