Seven Appleton alcohol-license holders appeared before the City of Appleton Safety and Licensing Committee on Wednesday to address “dispensing to a minor” violations that carry demerit-point penalties, and city legal staff presented options for tightening enforcement and remedies for establishments that fail to appear when summoned.

Committee Chair Chris Crowe said the appearances were meant to allow establishments to explain the events and the corrective steps they have taken. “What we ask establishments to do for these appearances is address the violation and talk about any actions that you've taken to correct it from happening in the future,” Crowe said.

The appearances included owners and managers from the Bar on the Avenue, Badger Mobile, Festival Foods (Northland store), Good Company, Hideaway Bar, Rascals Bar and Grill and one establishment that submitted a written response. Several speakers described human error and training changes after sting operations led to 80-point violations for serving underage customers.

Kyle Willenkamp, co-owner of the Bar on the Avenue at 427 W. College Ave., said a bartender “did card the person which was on camera” but “got their months mixed up,” and that he added a daily reminder on staff checklists to reduce lapses. “She was very shook up and remorseful about it,” Willenkamp said.

Satvir Singh, representing Badger Mobile, said his employee had put in a new ID scanner but was distracted and read the birth month incorrectly; Singh said he terminated that employee and that he and his brother will personally scan IDs going forward.

Bridal Pilat, director at the Festival Foods Northland store, said the company has increased role-tailored online training and expanded the number of licensed staff in the store from nine to about 16. “We're putting in a program where if you're able to sell alcohol… you're gonna get more questions more frequently on the process,” Pilat said.

Shelly Pies of Hideaway Bar described a 16-year bartender’s error captured on video and said she has held monthly bartender meetings and placed “stop” stickers on coolers to prompt ID checks. Karen Blodgett of Rascals Bar and Grill said police training helped her staff adopt a step of asking a patron’s age as an additional verification measure.

No license suspensions or revocations were decided at the meeting; the appearances were informational and intended to document corrective actions. Chair Crowe emphasized that cumulative points can lead to future licensing action: “I would just like to really point out… your point total is very close to the threshold of suspension or removal. It is very important that in the next 12 months, these businesses do not have another instance like this.”

City Attorney Berwin presented an information memo (agenda item 25-1337) outlining enforcement options and limits imposed by state law. Berwin said municipalities are constrained by the state statute that defines the look-back period for counting underage-sale citations; the statute determines when a first violation can be used as a predicate for subsequent licensing decisions. “We are locked into that look back and counting period by state statute,” Berwin said, adding that the city can change how it weighs or records points inside its own demerit system but cannot alter the statute’s timeframe.

Berwin described options the committee could consider: (1) adopt a new code section to make failure to appear a municipal violation (which could carry demerit points); (2) treat nonappearance as an enforceable violation under existing code language; (3) revise the demerit-point weights (for example, increasing points assigned once a violation becomes countable under statute); or (4) pursue a more comprehensive overhaul of the demerit system (a longer, more time-consuming project).

Alderperson Denise Fenton and Alderperson Sherry S. Hartzheim said they favor adding teeth for nonappearance so the requirement to appear has consequences. Hartzheim noted that Appleton’s numeric demerit system provides objective basis for action, contrasting it with other cities that rely on case-by-case discretion.

The committee did not take formal action on the memo; Berwin described the memorandum as a high‑level review and said specific code amendments would require further drafting and formal introduction by a council member if the committee chooses to pursue them.

The committee recorded multiple demerit-point totals on the record: an 80-point dispensing-to-minor violation was cited repeatedly; several establishments carried 160 or 200 total points under the city’s system, placing them near thresholds that can trigger suspension if additional violations occur within the look-back window.

The committee indicated it will continue to monitor compliance and may revisit proposals to penalize failures to appear or to change how underage-sale violations are counted or weighted in the demerit system. No additional penalties were imposed at the Oct. 22 meeting.