City Council Minutes 01-09-2012 SpecialMINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING — MONTICELLO CITY COUNCIL
Monday, January 9, 2012 — 5:45 p.m.
Mississippi Room, Monticello Community Center
Present: Clint Herbst, Lloyd Hilgart, Tom Perrault, Glen Posusta, Brian Stumpf
Absent: None
Others: Jeff O'Neill, Joel Jamnik
1. Call to Order
Mayor Herbst called the Special Meeting to order at 5:48 p.m.
2. Purpose of Meeting: Discuss Gambling Control authority and ordinance
Jeff O'Neill explained that the purpose of this meeting is to take a look at the status of
our gambling ordinance and address some inquiries related to gambling premises.
3. Discussion
Jeff O'Neill led off the discussion by explaining that the City recently received an inquiry
from the Monticello Youth Hockey Program regarding an application for a new gambling
premises permit. Shortly after that, Jeff received a query from Randy Vogt of Land of
Lakes Choirboys stating his concern over losing their gambling premises lease at The
Station Bar and Grill. Upon checking on the city gambling ordinance, it was found that
the old ordinance had a sunset provision and essentially there is no ordinance in effect at
this time. The City has the option of using the state statutes as a guide for lawful
gambling or they can adopt a new ordinance. Jeff O'Neill indicated that he had asked
City Attorney Joel Jamnik to draft an ordinance to replace the previous ordinance.
Brian Stumpf asked about the action taken by Council some years ago that required
gambling organizations to provide reports and spend a certain percentage of their
proceeds within the trade area. Jeff O'Neill explained that the Land of Lakes Choirboys
have been following the agreement and continue to make donations in the community
and provided reports to the City. Joel Jamnik noted that those requirements have to be
done through ordinance and that is why he is bringing forward a draft ordinance to
Council tonight. Joel proceeded with presenting the proposed draft ordinance and
pointing out specific items that Council would want to address.
Determine whether to put a cap on nrunber of sites where a single organization
can be authorized for lawful gambling within the City. Also address whether the
City wants to set a cap on the total number of gambling sites allowed within the
City.
• Determine whether Council would want to charge a gambling tax of up to 3 %.
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• Determine whether Council would want to require a portion of net profits to be
paid into a contribution fund administered by the City.
• Determine whether Council wants to establish any trade area requirements.
Clint Herbst stated that he did not really like the idea of assigning a tax or requiring
organizations to pay into a fund. He thought he might prefer to limit the number of sites
that one organization can lease for gambling. Glen Posusta said he would hate to lose
Land of Lakes Choirboys as a gambling organization in town.
Jeff O'Neill asked Joel Jamnik to talk about the "trade area" and how that would be
defined. Joel explained that a trade area, at a minimum, must include the city and all
contiguous townships. It could be defined as a larger area, if desired.
There was some discussion on how the organizations operate and the level of
contributions that should be required in the trade area.
Lloyd Hilgart stated that he is not sure about limiting the number of gambling premises.
He thinks that businesses maybe should be allowed to decide who they want to run
gambling at their establishments.
Joel Jamnik explained that Council could adopt an ordinance at tonight's meeting but it is
probably better to wait until the next meeting. Joel will draft updates to the ordinance as
Council directs and present at the next Council meeting.
Council members stated their preference to include these provisions in the ordinance: no
cap on total number of gambling premise sites, limit of three sites per organization, no
tax or contribution fund to be established, establish trade area and require 75% or more to
be expended or contributed in that area, and set up requirement for submitting annual
reports to the City.
4. Adiournment
TOM PERRAULT MOVED TO ADJOURN THE SPECIAL MEETING AT 6:34 P.M.
BRIAN STUMPF SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5 -0.
Recorder: Catherine M. Shuman NJ�
Approved: January 23, 2012
Attest: ��
CA AAninistrator
Special Council Meeting Minutes — January 9, 2012 Page 2