NYM council vote ends in 2-2 stalemate regarding city-owned liquor store

A potential move of the city-owned off-sale liquor store to the Highway 10 corridor has been put on hold—at least for now.

During its regularly meeting last Tuesday night, the New York Mills City Council found itself in a rare 2-2 tied vote concerning the adoption of a recommendation of an outside consultant concerning whether to leave the off-sale liquor store downtown in the city hall building, or move it to the former Seip Drug store space that also houses Mills Country market on the east side of the store. 

Voting in favor of approving the recommendation of the consultant, who stated the city should not move the liquor store, were Marsha Maki and Eric Hammond, while Richard Grotheer and Jerry Nesland voted against adopting the recommendation to remain in its current location. NY Mills Mayor Latham Hetland was not in attendance last week.

“It is a great idea to move it down there, we just don’t have the money and capabilities right now to do it,” said Hammond.

Maki agreed with Hammond in moving forward with the consultants recommendation.

“We just can’t afford it at this time without possibly putting additional burden on our taxpayers,” she said.

Part of the crux of the consultant’s report was an estimated $750,000 cost associated with moving the liquor store to Highway 10. Consultant Brenda Visnovec, who was the former Lakeville and Savage Liquor Operations Director and MMBA Independent Consultant, attributed the costs to $275,000 for coolers, $200,000 for additional inventory, $40,000 for shelving, $85,000 for signage and $150,000 for operating cash. The city could bond for the amount of money the consultant laid out in her program over the course of 20 years. 

Visnovec stated in her report the city would need to accumulate an additional $800,000 in revenue to cover the costs she said were needed to move the liquor store. She also stated in her report the average sale made by customers at the city-owned liquor store was just $12 over the past 12 months, something she said would likely increase if there were more options available. 

However, Mills Country Market owner Tim Muehler questioned a number of points made by Visnovec in her report. Some of the questions revolved around the need for an estimated $78,000-85,000 monument sign, putting $150,000 in operating cash needed for an already existing business and accounting for $200,000 in inventory when the liquor store is already up and running. 

“Do you need all of that?” he asked the council.

Muehler also stated both the grocery store and nearby Casey’s convenience store see an uptick of 40 percent during the summer months with all of the people stopping in town from Highway 10. He said the city should be able to recoup its costs in moving the off-sale portion of the liquor store due to additional customers and sales from having more product available to the public.

“We have been here for nine years guys, I see the traffic,” he said. “(Casey’s) relies on the summer traffic and tourism, a 40 percent increase, I’m telling you I don’t think there is a problem here.”

A few people in attendance also spoke in favor of moving the liquor store and the potential for additional sales with a larger and more prominent liquor store, which could also lead to additional funding for the city. 

Muehler said when his family purchased the grocery store the average sale was $17 per customer. Today, Muehler said that number has seen a steady rise through not only the increased cost of groceries, but customers coming back to purchase more items that have been made available at the store, something he said could happen at a larger liquor store in town. He also cautioned the city council that the loss of the pharmacy in town, and the lease payment that Seip Drug provided each month, could affect their ability to keep the grocery store doors open. 

“I don’t have a big store to pull from to get extra cash. I have a little pot of money and going into the winter it is getting worse,” he said.

Despite voting against the recommendation of the consultant, Grotheer said he struggled with getting another bond and going more into debt to move the liquor store. 

After hearing the concern from council members, Muehler even offered to get a loan to purchase the walk-in cooler at a cost of $200,000 to ease the financial burden on the city to move the liquor store. Even so, the motion on whether to move the liquor store or not essentially died when the vote was tied 2-2 with no majority on either side. 

Following the meeting, Muehler said anyone who is interested in leasing or potentially purchasing the space once occupied by Seip Drug Store can contact him at Mills Country Market.