Smoke shop hit hard after sale to minor

What seemed like a routine retail tobacco license suspension turned into lengthy discussion during Tuesday's Cloquet City Council meeting, but the end result was the same.

Lakeshore Tobacco Vapor was fined $200 and its retail tobacco license suspended for 10 days, after the local smoke shop sold a tobacco product to a minor - who had been engaged by police for its twice-a-year compliance checks - for the second time in two years.

The fine and suspension are detailed in the city code, but the owner can request a public hearing to contest the citation.

Attorney Greg Gilbert and Lakeshore Tobacco owner Aysar Sadi argued against the suspension, in particular.

"The young man who did it, checked the ID and for some inexplicable reason, sold it anyway," Gilbert told the council. "Despite all the safeguards and training, that kind of stuff happens."

Gilbert argued that the 10-day suspension would be a hardship on the four staff members who depend on the smoke shop for their livelihood.

Sadi explained they sell CBD products as well, which many customers use for health reasons.

"We're not just a tobacco shop, some would say we're essential," he said, adding that his greatest concern was first for his employees who would be out of work, and, second, for customers who depend on the shop's products for physical and mental health problems, including seizures, anxiety, chronic pain and sleeping aids.

"We want our customers to live their best lives," he said.

His business trains staff that their No. 1 priority is to not sell to minors, he said, adding that they have a calendar next to the till that workers use to check ages. "We understand the negative effect for minors; I'm 100-percent against tobacco for minors," said Sadi, who also has smoke shops in Duluth and HIbbing, and one opening up in Grand Rapids soon.

Councilors were not convinced. Ward 4 councilor Kerry Kolodge asked what happened to the employees who sold the tobacco products the last two times. In a long answer that was sometimes difficult to hear because it was an online meeting, Sadi said they were both fired immediately.

"Did either of them ask you to reconsider?" Kolodge said.

In response to a question from at-large councilor Lara Wilkinson, city administrator Tim Peterson clarified that the city is only suspending the tobacco license; the business can remain open and sell other products that are not covered under its tobacco license.

The councilors voted unanimously to impose the fine and suspension as written in the city code.

The punishments for further violations are increasingly severe. If a business sells tobacco to a minor three times in a 24-month period, the license is suspended for 90 days. A fourth violation will result in a one-year suspension and a fifth violation would mean permanent revocation, according to city code.

In other matters Monday, Cloquet city councilors approved the lease of three all-wheel-drive SUV vehicles for approximately $52,800 over the next three years. Two are standard models and one is a hybrid, which costs about $66 more a month, but should save the city $3,190 in fuel per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 22,560 pounds.

Police chief Derek Randall said the department has purchased or leased two new vehicles a year to maintain its fleet but didn't buy any in 2015, 2016 or 2019. The fleet is aging. Patrol vehicles often operate 24/7 and mileage accumulates quickly, and costs for maintenance grow at the same time.

The new cars will be used by the marked patrol division, and two of the outgoing cars would be assigned to the school resource officer and a detective, and one would go to auction.

Ward 2 councilor Sheila Lamb asked Randall if he would like to change the entire fleet to hybrid in the future. He said yes, but added that he needs to see if hybrids hold up to the demands of the job and the environment here, adding that he likes the idea of being "a good steward of the environment and saving money."

Councilors also scheduled a virtual public hearing for 7 p.m. Feb. 2 on a proposed Americans with Disabilities Act transition plan for the city. The plan represents $1.2 million of improvements to bring the entire city into compliance with the ADA. The plan is federally mandated and must be developed in order to qualify for certain funding streams. Find the 63-page plan in the Jan. 19, 2021 council agenda packet at cloquetmn.gov or see the city's public notice on Page 18 of this week's paper

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Council considers time change

Instead of holding increasingly rare work sessions at 5:30 before a 7 p.m. City Council meeting, councilors are considering a change suggested by city staff. Instead of starting the meeting at 7 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month, they will begin earlier, at 6 p.m. Then it's not such a long stretch of time between the end of a normal workday for staff and the start of that evening's meeting.

Public hearings will be held later in the meetings, to give residents time to get there - or dial in to a Zoom meeting - and work sessions, when needed, may even be scheduled on different days, said city administrator Tim Peterson, who initiated the conversation at the Jan. 5 council meeting. Peterson also suggested the council feel free to have many of the discussions previously held in work sessions during the formal meeting.

"There might be a perception of greater transparency if we have discussions during the meeting, because historically work sessions weren't broadcast," at-large councilor Lara Wilkinson said, adding that she approved of trying a new time for a year.

The meeting times won't change until March at least, because the council cannot legally discuss a rules change and incorporate it at the same meeting.

-Jana Peterson