Posted: 8/13/03

Upperdeck owner pushes for 2 a.m. closing

Jessica Foster
Staff Writer

The Forest Lake City Council earlier this summer voted against extending bar hours to 2 a.m. But Bo Bogotty, owner of Upperdeck and Players Beach Club, came to the city council meeting Monday night asking them to change their collective minds.

ìIíve already had two cancellations in the ballroom because weíre only open until 1 a .m.,î Bogotty said.

ìAt 1 oíclock whatís happening is weíre chasing people out of our community,î he said.

He pointed to several Minnesota communities which have switched to the 2 a.m. closing. Local businesses, he said, are losing business in that hour.

ìWhen people are leaving our community at 1 a.m. weíre taking business from our community and making it unsafe to travel,î Bogotty reasoned. ìI donít think we should be taking people out of our community and our ballrooms and banquet halls.î

Pete Paider, owner of The Forest Laker, also was at the meeting.

ìI have an interest in expanding our hours,î he said, talking about the possibility of making his food business a 24-hour operation.

ìPeople leave at 11:30 or midnight,î Paider said. ìWeíre not getting those customers anymore.î

Councilman Rick Ashbach, while saying he never has been strictly opposed to the 2 a.m. close, said the city just canít afford the expense of patrolling the streets the extra hour.

ìHow can any city strapped for cash finance changing a service unless we know the dollars are going to be there to pay for that service? Weíve got to make sure weíre not spending money we canít get back to pay for it,î he said.

Councilwoman Susan Young said the Forest Lake area is not competing with other cities for convention business, as was the argument for Minneapolis and St. Paul to make the switch.

ìForest Lake is not a convention area, thatís not what Forest Lake is doing,î she said.

In investigating the reality of police calls to bars, Young has requested a list of 911 calls to the establishments and when they are made.

Councilman John Tom Lynch said the 2 a.m. bar closing may be a statewide realityówithin the next couple of years but questioned if Forest Lake could take the change now.

ìJust because other people are doing it, it doesnít mean we have to be doing it,î he said.

The council tabled the matter until a later, unspecified date. Young said she wanted to see an inventory of 911 calls before making any change.

Street vacation

Gene Hallberg has his sights set on a section of NW 1st Street, (old highway 61) which is adjacent to Bantaís Addition.

Hallberg wants that chunk of land to improve his business and the look of the cityís northern edge.

However, the county also has its eyes on the prize as it looks to the future of commuter rail transit.

Mike Rogers of Washington County came to the city council meeting Monday night, saying the land would serve well as a layover facility.

ìAny publicly held right of way now is a lot cheaper than having to buy it back later,î Rogers said.

Young said she was hesitant to give up the land.

ìThis is something we would already haveónot something weíre going to have to buy back,î she said.

Hallberg, in an effort to make the improvements, said he was willing to take a chance on the railroad.

ìIn 20 years you could take it back; Iím a gambler,î he said. ìIn the mean time youíd still have a good looking facility. The street has been empty up there for 42 years. I think it looks horrible.î

He added the city would benefit from property taxes on the land which he estimated in the range of $20,000 annually.

ìWhy leave it like that for 20 years? It seems to me itís a situation that can be worked out,î Hallberg said.

The precise ownership of the street is not determined and the street is not on the plat.

While council said they were not interested in vacation, they wondered if leasing the land to Hallberg would be an option.

The council voted to table the issue until ownership and leasing options can be investigated.

Meetings

The Forest Lake City Council regularly meets at 6:30 p.m. the second and fourth Monday of each month in the Forest Lake city council chambers. The next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, August 25.

Budget workshops, to consider the 2004 budget, are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Aug, 14, 18 and, if necessary, 28 in the Forest Lake City Council chambers.

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