Jill Schramm/MDN Tony Mueller, owner of Sports on Tap, speaks to the Minot City Council in opposition to lifting population caps on retail alcohol licenses. At left are council members Paul Pitner and Mike Blessum.

After hearing opposition to the lifting of a cap on the number of retail alcohol licenses, the Minot City Council Monday opted to postpone a decision until September.

Along with giving council members time to mull the matter, the rationale was the significance of a vote warrants the full representation of the council. The council is down a member due to the resignation of the mayor in April. A mayoral election is set for Aug. 5, and three of four announced candidates are council members. With the timing of election canvassing and the potential need to appoint to fill a council vacancy, discussion on alcohol ordinance revisions were pushed to Sept. 2.

Minot has 31 active retail licenses, plus one that’s been issued but is inactive under a contingency allowed until July.

Several of those license holders spoke in opposition to committee proposals for removing the population-based cap on retail licenses.

“If you feel the need to do that,” Capri Bar owner Lorrie Hovde said, “then reimburse them for the entire license that they paid for.

“Don’t hurt the people who have paid and are still paying for their liquor licenses,” she said.

Richard Napora with The Ranger Lounge questioned the city’s confidence that courts would uphold removing the cap and devaluing those business assets without compensation.

“This, to me, does not say a legal green light. This to me, at best, says perhaps a yellow light, meaning slow down,” he said. “This is uncharted territory.”

He also took issue with two proposals put forward by the committee for compensating license holders, saying the cost to taxpayers would be significant – over $3 million in one case.

“With those three proposals gone out the window, I believe the only real one left is the status quo,” he said. “Removing this cap, I believe, would have consequences that I totally don’t think have been fully comprehended.”

Josh Wolsky, a Minot resident and former council member, suggested capping gaming licenses, not alcohol licenses. He noted gaming has grown from a $200 million enterprise in North Dakota to a $2.2 billion enterprise.

“If we remove caps, I believe we will see a proliferation in gaming site requests because this profit incentive is just too extraordinary,” he said.

Designating the types of alcohol establishments authorized for e-tabs and gaming tables is a better option to paying significant dollars to compensate bar owners for cap removal, he said.

Jessica Klein, legal counsel for MarketPlace Foods, favored a cap-removal proposal that leaves the license value at $100,000-$150,000 but gives existing holders first right to sell if someone wants into the market. She called it a “middle of the road approach, where it’s not going to cost the city anything, but it’s still going to keep that value there for the current holders.”

Anthony Barrette, owner of The Drop Zone, questioned the motives of council member Paul Pitner, who chaired the alcohol committee, and others pushing for cap removal, suggesting they are looking to buy licenses at a reduced cost. Pitner said he would support a motion stating he can never hold a city liquor license.

“I believe in free markets and competition,” he said. “When they have the protection of the cap, that prevents competition in the marketplace. They must compete in customer service, quality and price at the end of the day.”

Council member Rob Fuller questioned the need to remove the cap when there are licenses for sale, making it possible for competition to come in.

“There’s four opportunities right now to buy a liquor license in the city of MInot if you want one. I have such a hard time hearing that we’re a barrier to entrepreneurship and growth,” Fuller said. Until the city can make the system fair to license holders who played by the rules, he can’t see removing caps, he said.

Council member MIke Blessum suggested giving the matter more time for review rather than passing an ordinance on first reading Monday.

“Some of what was brought tonight raises a couple of questions for me that I want to flesh through with someone who knows more than I do,” he said.

Pitner agreed the council needs to take its time as the committee did and look for a resolution that lies between keeping the cap and removing the cap without compensation..

“There’s a path forward, I believe – one that champions small business, empowers entrepreneurs and cuts through unnecessary red tape,” he said. “Let’s work together to craft bold, effective economic policy – policy that’s pro-growth, pro-business, pro-entrepreneurship, anti-regulation and firmly rooted in freedom. Policy that I believe serves the best interests of Minot and its citizens, not a small group.”