Richfield City Council Hears Report of Another Incident at Jun Bo Restaurant

While renewing liquor license was not originally part of the Richfield City Council agenda Tuesday night, a fight that broke out early in the morning March 5 prompted a special report from Director of , Barry Fritz:

According to Fritz, Richfield Public Safety received a tip that an incident at the restaurant was a possible and, in an attempt to be proactive, the department had more patrol in the area on the evening of March 4 and the morning of March 5. Public safety officers entered the club around 12:45 a.m. for a routine check and soon after. Richfield called for back up from the airport and Edina Police departments and then as the dust began to settle officers decided to shut the establishment down for the rest of the evening.

After hearing the report, said, “I think [last weekend’s incident is] just another example of why we have an issue of whether or not this liquor license should be renewed."

The restaurant has a history of a high number of incidents dating back to its beginning in 2007. Most recently, a public safety report showed the restaurant had a total of 163 police calls between October 2009 and September 2010. As a result, when it came time for the council , the council split on its decision to renew or not—Wroge was not present at the meeting to cast a fifth vote.

Currently the restaurant is operating under a temporary liquor license, which was granted by the council when it couldn't reach a decision. The restaurant also has two items pending in the court system: One regarding failure to pay sales/use tax and the other regarding liquor sale percentages.

After more discussion Tuesday night, the council decided it would revisit the issue and make its decision at its April 12 meeting in hopes that the restaurant’s legal proceedings have finished.

In other business, the council approved the following items:

• All consent calendar items;
• An ordinance amending vacation leave approval;
• Resolutions approving contracts with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49, the Police Supervisors Law Enforcement Labor Services (LELS) Local 162 and the Police Officers and Detectives LELS Local 225 for a period of Jan. 1, 2011 through Dec. 31, 2011;
• Resolutions approving 2011 Management and General Services salary compensation plans effective the first full pay period in Jan. 2011.

The next city council meeting is at 7 p.m. March 22 at Richfield City Hall.