The Brookings City Council has again delayed its decision this week on whether to give the city’s final unrestricted liquor operating agreement to BraVo’s on a temporary basis.

Officials had planned on allowing the local eatery to use the license until this summer, when new state restaurant liquor licenses become available.

Owners of the Shamrock, the city’s newest events center, want to serve liquor at their business as well, and officials thought they had a way to let both establishments pour drinks before this summer.

The city was going to enter into a temporary lease with the Shamrock until July so the business could be designated as a public convention hall and get permission to sell liquor on an event-by-event basis.

City Attorney Steve Britzman said that plan had been OKed by the state Department of Revenue.

But the arrangement was tabled by the Council at its Tuesday meeting – at the request of Shamrock owner Mike Bailey Sr.

Bailey Sr., who operates the events center with his wife and son, said he doesn’t know if the Shamrock will qualify for the new restaurant licenses, so he didn’t want the lease agreement. Instead, the Baileys also want Brookings’ only remaining operating agreement.

“Based on a preliminary review by our lawyer of the restaurant license, there is a definite question mark as to whether or not our facility will qualify as, to quote (Senate Bill) 126, ‘a full-service restaurant.’ …

Challenge ahead

“It also appears that the event license that’s currently being discussed is going to be challenged, so there’s some question that when it comes to July whether or not we’ll have anything.”

The Council then voted 6-0 to table the lease agreement. Council member Ginger Thomson was not at the Tuesday meeting.

Next up was the group’s decision on the giving the unrestricted operating agreement to BraVo’s on a temporary basis. That action was tabled at the Council’s April 11 meeting, and the group decided this week by a 5-1 vote to keep it tabled.

Mike Bartley was the only Council member voting against the move.

Mayor Scott Munsterman said he wanted more answers on what Senate Bill 126, the legislation that created the new liquor licenses.

“We probably need some direct conversations with the Department of Revenue on what they will approve.”

Bartley said the new restaurant licenses have nothing to do with giving BraVo’s an operating agreement until this summer, and he was disappointed the group again delaying action on the issue.

“We have a license to issue. It’s an unrestricted operating agreement. We came to the conclusion that after SB 126 passed, we would issue that operating agreement as a Council.

“We didn’t issue it. We got into this argument about SB 126. … SB 126 is an absolutely separate issue. We’ve got a lot of things to work through there, but is doesn’t stop the issuance of this license this evening, and we just killed it one more time based on what’s going to happen with (SB) 126. It really doesn’t matter what happens with (SB) 126 as it relates to this issue.”

Tim Reed was one of the five Council members who voted to keep the decision on the last operating agreement tabled, but he added that he was frustrated by the results of Tuesday’s meeting.

Plans derailed

“Heading into tonight, I thought we were going to be able to issue two licenses. That was my goal. It’s a point of frustration to where I was afraid we would not make the right decision.

“There was the concept of having some risk for Shamrock for a few months, and we did have BraVo’s say they’d give that license back, and we could make a decision at that point. … I guess I’m just disappointed that the two parties can’t come together and figure out what the best way of going forward is.”

Editor’s note: Mayor Scott Munsterman is planning on submitting a column to The Brookings Register soon discussing the liquor license issues the City Council is dealing with now. Look for it in the next few days on the Register’s opinion page, A4.



Contact Jill Fier at jfier@brookingsregister.com.