Waseca bar owner cries foul over different closing times

Some nights, typically late in the evening, Troy Tuma sees groups of patrons get up from their stools at his American TapHouse & Grille in Waseca and drive away to surrounding towns.

They're leaving, he says, so they can go to bars that are open later than his.

Bars in Waseca must close at 1 a.m., but city councils in some towns down the road have agreed to let their bars stay open until the state limit of 2 a.m.

It's a policy that Tuma contends is unfair. He has asked the Waseca City Council for a change, to no avail.

"The town is just dead because everyone goes to the next town," Tuma said. "If we were able to have 2 a.m. … that temptation to leave town would be eliminated."

The state Legislature began allowing bars to stay open until 2 a.m. in 2003, for an extra license fee. But in places where local ordinances specify closing times, city councils or county boards must also approve the change. Many have stuck with traditional 1 a.m. closing times.

Tuma, who moved to Waseca to be with his girlfriend, co-opened the bar over the summer. He said he noticed customers leaving to drive to other towns nearby, including most recently Janesville, 10 miles away.

"Some of the communities in the area close by have it, so I guess we didn't want to be an island that didn't have it," Santo said.

But Waseca leaders had little debate over Tuma's request, Mayor Roy Srp said. It was unanimously opposed.

"If there were an effective argument in support of it, I've never been known to close my mind," Srp said. "So far no one has presented one to me."

Tuma contends the city's bar owners are losing money by closing an hour earlier than others. He also says a 1 a.m. closing time puts more drivers who have been drinking out on the roads, instead of staying in town where they can walk home from the bar. He said he believes some customers are making plans to begin their nights in neighboring towns knowing they can stay out later there.

"They want to continue their fun," he said. "It's only one hour but it means so much to the entertainment-type economy."

Frank Ball, executive director of the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association, said that he hasn't heard many complaints from bar owners, though.

"There's not a groundswell of people that are saying that they want it but they can't get it," he said.

Bryan Turtle, owner of Turtle's Bar & Grill in Shakopee, said he chose to switch to a 2 a.m. closing when the option became available there, but not all bar owners in his town made the change. He now gets some customers walking over when other bars close at 1 a.m., said Turtle, who is also the president of the beverage association.

"I'm all about businesses having as many options as they can," Turtle said. "But I also understand city councils' desires to please the residents."

In Janesville, Brenda Harris, who co-owns the Tropics Bar with two others, said they asked for a 2 a.m. bar time and since they got it they have seen a 20 percent increase in revenue on weekends, including food and game fees. The bar gives rides home to patrons who have had too much to drink, she said.

In Waseca, Mayor Srp said that city officials discussed the 2 a.m. option but that he didn't believe an extra hour would drastically affect the bottom line for bars.

As for the argument that people are driving drunk: "It's very unfortunate, but there's people out there all the time that are driving, get out of a bar at 8 o'clock in the evening and go to another town and shouldn't be," Srp said. "There are rules and regulations and requirements to cover that. … We're counting on those laws to be enforced and be in effect."

Srp said that in the eyes of Waseca officials, changing the city's bar closing time simply didn't feel necessary.