Liquor store manager says entire project needed

Talk about it

Silver Bay Liquor Store and Lounge manager Tom “Charlie” Byrnes paid a visit to the city council Monday night to urge the members to go for the whole project regarding the city-owned facility.

The proposed renovation and upgrade project at the city-owned facility, estimated to cost around $750,000, is currently out for bid and Byrnes invited the council visit the store to see what revenue impact might be felt if an addition to the facility wasn’t completed as a part of the project.

The project proposal would replace the flooring in the building, replace aging refrigeration, air exchange, air conditioning and heating equipment, windows, redesigning the bar area, adding more floor space and additional space for a dance floor. Byrnes told the council that the 1,000-foot addition was needed due to the space that would be lost to the liquor store addition.

Byrnes felt the site could lose about 20 seats if the addition wasn’t part of the overall package.

The project has been bid out in two phases--as a total package that would include all the renovations and upgrades, and also as a project minus the floor space addition.

Byrnes had earlier called the addition “crucial” to keeping the facility a good revenue source for the city.

The council will host potential contractors for a walk-through of the site on Feb. 12. The bids will be opened on Feb. 19 and then brought to the council for consideration at their meeting later that night.

The city has looked at funding the project through available funds from the liquor store revenue fund and by financing the remainder through the Lake Bank.

In other council business:

• Jeff Anderson of Pro Source technologies and Skip Lamb, Schroeder, told the council of a state-funded program that could help property owners in the city pay for the removal of underground storage tanks (USTs). The city has no idea as to how many USTs are in the city, but a number of them likely remain since the city switched over to natural gas. Most residents utilized fuel oil before the change to natural gas.

Council members suggested holding a public information meeting to tell residents about the program.

• The council agreed to forgive the Silver Bay Golf Association (Country Club) the yearly insurance payments, since the club operates the city-owned course as a non-profit. That will mean a change to the management agreement. The council decided the city will pay the insurance costs at the facility.

The club manages the day-to-day operations at the facility while the city handles larger maintenance and improvement costs.

Tags: silverbaycitycouncil, liquorstore, tombyrnes