Seem’s a bit strange that the county board would want to weigh in on an issue concerning the City of Bemidji. The 2 am opening has been an option for bars outside the city for years and now its a big deal. Some cities such as Funkley here in Beltrami County have had 2am bar closings for years. I haven’t heard of a big crime wave in Funkley due to their bar closings….
So the county commissioners want to know what the business model is to support the 2am bar closing in Bemidji. Well here it is. Right or wrong…whether you agree or disagree…bottom line is the City of Bemidji has borrowed money to purchase the Southshore property. The money borrowed last year has interest of about $180,000 per year. While money borrowed was at a low interest rate…the loan needs to be “refinanced” as no lots have been sold this past year. This means another year of interest and another year of property being OFF the tax rolls. The Operations and Maintenance costs (O and M) for the Event Center is being budgeted at about $338,000 (naming rights gained $200,000 of this back). Part of building the Event Center on the South Shore was to stimulate development of the land around it. Estimated benefit to the city with events and surrounding jobs and development was to be $8 million dollars to $13 million dollars per year. This realistic gain will only be realized with the development of this land.
So we’ve paid $185,000 in interest this year. A bar/restaraunt and a $6 million dollar development could have been opened and on the city tax rolls already, but we are still deciding about the 2am OPTIONAL closing time. So this year at least another $185,000 in interest will have to be paid.
The business model seems pretty clear. Make the land SELLABLE! If your house is for sale and you do not sell it, you make it more attractive by planting shrubs or painting it. If we can make this land more sell able by giving someone an OPTION to stay open till 2 am…. we should do it. If the county is so concerned on the city’s business plan for the Southshore, maybe the county WANTS to help pay for the $185,000 in interest. Remember, with the city’s population at 13,741 that means each man/woman and child has paid $13.46 this past year for the empty land by the events center. This $185,000 paid last year and again this year is money that COULD be going towards our city police budget, or our city’s street maintenance, or even towards our parks.
Bottom line, while its commendable that our new mayor Mr. Larson is willing to talk to the county board about the 2am option, its really none of their business. I’m fine if someone is against a plan as long as they have an ALTERNATIVE. If our mayor is against the 2am closing, what is Plan B? The business plan adopted by the city was to build an multipurpose event center AND to develop the Southshore of Lake Bemidji. We cannot build lumberyards and hardware stores on the property, it is zoned and suited for hotels and restaraunts. If we’re worried about drinking, maybe we should shut the city liquor stores down at 8pm…I am sure we can find crime statistics to support more crime after 8pm…must be the liquor stores!
We’ve done only half the job mr. mayor. All we want is to give the project every opportunity to be SUCCESSFUL. Don’t hinder the Southshore’s development. And let Beltrami County take care of the things it does best…. like parks, land, roads, bridges and timber. Lets not have multimillion dollar projects being held up for moral reasons from the 30′s. This is too important and is costing us both time and money.
The best solution would be to go back in time five years and not build the events center. I would be surprised if the city doesn’t end up trying to suck the county into paying for this boondoggle.
I think it goes beyond a business model. We should be very concerned by the reasoning of the county, and now the new city leaders to rethink the 2:00am closing decision. According to the county, reducing the closing time to 1:00am instead of 2:00am is justified to reduce crimes relating to alcohol. Really? Does the city police or sheriff’s department ask those arrested for alcohol related crimes WHERE they consumed their alcohol? I would like to see THOSE stats. With increased liability over the past couple year, bar owners are much more aware of someone who has had too much to drink. The Bemidji bars have gone so far to offer free rides home. They seem to be doing their part. Let’s talk about the whole issue of alcohol which is far greater than an extra 60 minutes of bar time. Let’s also talk about 9:00am liquor store openings and cold individual beer cans sold at the checkout counter. Ask anyone who is volunteered for an adopt a highway ditch clean up and ask them what makes up most the litter. They will tell you a lot of beer cans and beer bottles. I live on a busy county road and that makes up the majority of the trash in my ditch. Those cans are not bought at the local bar at 2:00am when the off sale ends at 10:00pm. This new action by the County is concerning. What is next? Are we going to have Gander Mountain close at 5:00pm daily to curb gun and knife violence? Wal-Mart is open 24hrs. Can you buy a gun or knife there at 3:00am? Maybe we should restrict those sales. Bemidji is a “Fit City”. Are we going to ban the sales of Big Mac’s or Whopper’s after 6:00pm to curb obesity in our city? What about smoking? Are we going to restrict the sale of cigarettes in the county? Sounds crazy, but how far can the city and county go with their involvment in business. The reality is, we could do all those things and it still would not have any impact on crime or the health or our city. They are huge issues of society that will not be impacted that easy. The problem of alcohol in our county cannot be impacted by and extra 60 minutes. If it were that simple, based on the county commissioners rational, we would make all bars close at 11:00pm and have Hodapp cut his law enforcement staff by 50%. Let me see the county and Sheriff Hodapp put that in front of the commissioners. The DWI limit was reduced to .08 a couple years ago. It became very political and states were forced to make the change. This was supposed to have some huge impact on Drinking and Driving. Turns out it had little or no impact at all on death related fatalities and DWI’s. Some people drink and drive regardless of the legal limit. Same thing with bar closing. People choosing to break the law will do so no matter what time the bar closes. Sad, but very true.
Maybe the Sheriff’s Dept. and the liquor establishments need to take a look at the Happy Hours and 2-fers. How many bars in town offer 2-fers and at what times? I think they are trying to get the college crowd, so they offer free drinks. This is much more harmful than an extra 60 min. when most of them are home already.
Mike, you’ve done some great blogs regarding the southshore and the 2 a.m. issue. This is the best of all! Great comments from Jimmy as well. The southshore needs to be exposed to the residents. Whats happened with this development along should have citizens outraged. Instead, we have a few NIMBYs turn this into a political and moral mess. It’s black and white and will likely have no emotional or social impact on the city-its just pure economics…just ask our pal Mike!
I challenge the leaders of the county and city to:
One, do their homework regarding the extension of bar hours. Serious homework too, not just unofficial polls from senior citizens. They are legalizing marajuana now all over the US. I dare a councilor, or legislator, to bring that up, then maybe 2 a.m. won’t be such a big deal.
Second, look at the cost of this southshore project!!!!!!! Carrying deals get ugly over time which Mike documented. But, even if its only costing $185,000 per year in interest it’s literally costing much much more while depreciating in value whether the city thinks so or not. Even now, it’s not the hot item it was 6 months ago. As time passes it could get real ugly. The city should have done EVERYTHING within their control to make this development with Zorbaz work. There aren’t a lot of people taking risks right now. Bottom line, there has never been a plan. I’ve heard first it was the city, now it’s a broker from MSP, and somehow a local development agency, Headwinds (?), is also involved. Cities should never assume this role. Maybe they should sell it all the good old boys of Bemidji and let them do boring everyday projects that will bring nothing to this town.. Its looking more and more like this could happen.
Good post Mike. You know, I am slightly confused, the county has had a 0200 bar closing for some time, now suddenly that that city adopted the same they change direction? One of the reasons they are using includes the rush from the earlier closing bars to the 0200 bars . . . that didn’t seem to be a problem when the reverse was true. And if it is true wouldn’t it be easier to leave their closing time as it is? In the recent sheriff race, the decrease in d.w.i related traffic fatalities in the county was proudly listed as a reason to keep our current sheriff and now suddenly the late bar closing is creating risk and danger . . . how can it be both ways? The statistics quoted were generated during the time that 0200 bar closing were in place. I am so confused! Aside from all that confusion, it is time we move on and develope the South Shore. We have a company that is willing to brave the current economic environment and spend money in Bemidji. Lets get together as a city and show them some gratitude for investing their treasure in our city! Oh, by the way, we just booked a trip to Miami, guess what their bar closing time is? 0500!
Councilman Kevin Waldhausen had a wonderful comment by asking the county commissioners if they were going to have discussions with BLACKDUCK, WILTON and FUNKLEY…all cities in Beltrami county that currently allow for a 2 am bar closing. Would be interesting to checkout the crime statistics for these areas.
Great blog entry Mike! As someone who visit Bemidji on average of 12 times a year, I would love to have the option of sitting in the bar at the hotel we stay at until 2:00 with friends (many of us who are from out of town and using the hotels, bars and eating establishments, spending our $$$). As an outsider who supports the South Shore project, if this helps sell the land and get it back on the tax rolls (ie, off the taxpayers backs), it seems like a no brainer. Plus, it seems like the 2 AM closing is optional for bars. If a bar doesn’t want to stay open until 2:00, then don’t. Where I am from there is a 2:00 closing and I am friends with one of the owners. He chose not to opt into the 2:00 hour because the money he made fromt he additional hour didn’t justify the extra fees he needed to pay. But the option is there.
Close the bars at 9:00 p.m. Maybe the city should own churches instead of liquor stores!!
Have a city wide vote on the issue, then shut up and live with it. After all, like with the building of the rink, the college students could be encouraged to vote for it, even though they don’t really live here, and will be gone by the time the consequences are a reality. I am sure the BSU folks are proud of themselves for teaching the students about their right to vote. Unfortunately at the same time they forgot to instruct them about the difference between right and wrong. If the college students are to vote, they had best hurry, as the state legislature is considering a photo ID requirement and the students may actually need to prove they live here.
This whole thing has been a fiasco from the beginning. Maybe one more infortunate decision isn’t much to be stuck with for the rest of our lives.
It will be ineresting to see how many years it takes for the college to say “Gee, it sure would be nice to have rink on the campus where it belongs”.
I think “B” could benifit from a class, say at BSU, in government. Or, at the very least, learn a bit on MN voting laws.
Dub, you have hit the nail on the head. i bet that there isn’t 10% of the students that voted on the referendum still around here. Too bad there wasn’t photo identification requirements then.
Chuck, you too need to brush up on MN voting laws. Residency is where you live 30 days prior to an election. BSU students live in Bemidji. The photo ID is a great idea. It is intended to keep illegals, convicts, and dead people from voting.
BSU students live, study and work in or community and add grately to our economy. For every student that voted for the Sanford Center that may have moved on, there are 1.2 students replaceing them, spending money in our community and helping pay for it. The volunteer hours that BSU students do in our community is staggering, and I for one an am gratful.
Being bitter is no way to go through life.
“B”. Your first sentence says it all. You should take your own advice. All of you on the wrong side of the vote just can’t let it go. I don’t know if some of you live in a cave or just don’t understand how economics really work. The colleges are huge for the Bemidji economy. Not letting college kids vote is like saying anyone over the age of 70 shouldn’t vote either. Odds are, you are not going to be around very much longer. I have a problem with old retired people making choices that will have an impact on the next 50 years of my life. All some seem to take issue with is whether or not their taxes will go up $10 on their real estate. I am worried about if there will be employment here for my kids when they grow up. I live and work in Bemidji and do not have a use for the public library. Any information I need can be found on the web. Yet the city of Bemidji Funds the Library at $100,000+ a year and the county funds the library at $310,000 a year. (the library’s audited financial statement can be found on their webpage). What kind of economic impact are we getting back from that $410,000 annual investment? If the Sandford Center were to have a $410,000 loss next year, which one of those would have a better return on the investment? It is an absolute no brainer. Ask any business owner what it is like on a hockey, concert or event night. I’m not saying we need to close the library, I am just putting it in context for all of you that are looking through a 2 inch tunnel. Sales tax revenue is increasing for the city, even in a bad economy. College enrollment is up. Sanford Center is open. More people moving to town. It’s not a coincidence.