Supervisors grant liquor license after initial denial

After not selling alcohol for more than a month due to a recent citation, a Carson City convenience store is getting another shot.

Thursday, the Carson City Board of Supervisors, convened as the Liquor and Entertainment Board along with Sheriff Ken Furlong, approved an appeal and granted a packaged liquor license to Chandan Mehta as the liquor manager for Janu Enterprises doing business as Lucky Market 2 at 262 W. Winnie Lane.

On Feb. 7, Community Development Director Hope Sullivan, acting as the liquor hearings officer, denied the liquor license application following the Carson City Sheriff’s Office’s recommendation. CCSO conducts background checks on applicants, and Mehta was cited in December for selling alcohol to a minor while his liquor license application was still pending.

Furlong made the motion to grant the license Thursday stating Mehta had taken responsibility for the misdemeanor offense.

“It is obviously pretty challenging that you get a citation while the sheriff’s office and health department are doing the background checks to certify. What worse timing could possibly have happened?” said Furlong. “But without a statement from Mr. Mehta, I stand here very impressed that he has addressed all aspects of why we’re here today including his responsibility to the courts, his responsibility to the community.”

In a letter to the board, Mehta said he installed a new register system “that does not let any employee sell alcohol/21-plus products without scanning the individual’s ID.”

Supervisor Stacey Giomi was the lone vote against granting the license. He’d made an earlier motion with a condition the new register system be maintained and continually used; however, he later withdrew the motion.

Board members discussed whether any licensee cited for selling to a minor should have to use such a scanning system. They discussed updating regulations to include the requirement but decided in the case before them, Mehta had taken necessary steps to rectify his mistake.

“I don’t know of a store that doesn’t have one,” Furlong said of the scanning systems.

Furlong said the city, however, sees different types of events involving liquor.

“Can you imagine this getting muddy in the bar. ‘Do I have to run this guy’s ID card for every drink?” he asked.

Mayor Lori Bagwell wanted more vetting on the issue. She also thought Mehta not being able to sell liquor since Feb. 7 was a fair penalty for the previous violation.

“I think we know what we all want to accomplish,” she said. “Hopefully we have impressed upon the applicant: Don’t sell to a minor because it won’t be good for you … It’s just not going to turn out well if we see you again.”

In other action:

• Supervisors approved a new policy, tested last year, regarding special events in the city.

Among other things, the policy addresses road closures for events and offers a menu of streets downtown that can be closed through the Public Works Department. The list includes the 3rd Street parking lot and sections of Carson, Curry and Telegraph streets.

Supervisor Stacey Giomi made a motion that in part addressed street closure requests not on the list.

“In those cases, those will come to the Board of Supervisors,” he said, “and they must be filed 45 days in advance of the date of the event.”

Sandra Owens, owner of the Tap Shack on Rice Street, had testified the street closure options alienated businesses not in the downtown area. Owens said she’d requested closure of Rice Street for an event but was not allowed to move forward with the application.

“That’s how it came across to me as a business owner, that my business was being … It wasn’t being treated fairly,” Owens said, adding a smaller event without street closure was approved.

Bagwell said unlike the downtown area, Rice Steet is a mixed residential zone. She said neighbors have complained about events there in the past.

“When you look to say, ‘close Rice Street,’ it is not the same as Telegraph. That is all business, not residential,” said Bagwell. “When we were selecting the menu, Rice Street was discussed, and we did not choose to put Rice Street in the menu.”

Giomi maintained the Board of Supervisors should hear off-menu requests because it gives both event organizers and neighbors a public forum.

“Yes, you should have a right, in my opinion, to request a closure of a road in front of your business. I think anybody should have that right to request that,” he said. “But, equally, people should have, in a public forum, the opportunity to say why they don’t think that’s a good idea.”

• Supervisors unanimously approved new insurance contracts as benefits for city employees, including a one-year renewal with Anthem for health coverage with an overall rate increase of 7.3 percent as well as a one-year contract with Renaissance for dental coverage with a 4 percent increase.

In the 2025 tentative budget, yet to be approved, the city budgeted for a 7.5 increase in benefits.

Kevin Monaghan of LP Insurances Services negotiates contracts for the city and said several factors have driven up rates, including inflation.

From last year to this year, the loss ratio for the city for health insurance climbed from 79 percent to around 93 percent, he told the Appeal. The loss ratio is the percentage of premiums being paid toward claims and reflects profitability of insurers. For example, a percentage above 100 would mean insurers are paying more in claims than collecting in premiums.