In its first meeting since November, a committee tasked with reviewing the City of Minot’s alcohol ordinances acted Monday to move a set of options to the Minot City Council.

The hiatus in committee meetings for about five months allowed time for the city attorney to draft ordinance revisions at the committee’s request. The committee is forwarding revisions to the council that include reducing the number of retail license classes and specialty categories from 18 to five. It also is offering three options for transitioning away from a retail license cap if the council chooses to no longer limit the number of establishments based on the city’s population.

“I don’t think any one of these is a perfect solution, but they are solutions,” said committee chair and council member Paul Pitner. “I think we’ve done what this committee set out to do and have provided some options to achieve the goals of this committee.”

The revised ordinance going to the council could get an initial look possibly as soon as April 21. It includes a new category for legacy licenses that addresses elimination of the cap.

The council can choose to make no change and keep caps, remove caps with no compensation to existing license holders or adopt one of two proposals discussed by the committee last fall to ease the transition for existing license holders.

One proposal, offered by committee chairman and council member Paul Pitner, would set the city’s price for a retail liquor license at $5,000 and raise the annual renewal fee from $3,125 to $5,000. Current license holders would have the renewal fee, including any future increases, waived for 20 years.

To further address the market value of licenses, estimated at an average of $133,400, Pitner’s proposal would pay each current license holder $25,000 from the city’s economic development fund. License holders would need to execute a release of all claims against the city before receiving the funds. If they do not sign a release, the council would amend the ordinance to remove the cap, without compensation to the license holders.

A second proposal from committee member Kevin Black sets the city’s minimum fee for issuing a license at between $100,000 and $150,000. Current license holders would have first rights to sell their licenses to an interested party before the city would issue a license. All current license holders also would receive a one-time renewal fee waiver, allowing them to transfer their licenses one time for no issuance fee. Licenses purchased from the city or transferred from a current holder would no longer be transferable but would go back to the city upon nonrenewal.

“The work that this committee has done has been very laborious, very, very contentious at times and very transparent,” Pitner said.

With the committee’s advancement of a 37-page ordinance proposal, he said residents can expect a significant review phase to begin. It would include an internal review at the staff level, council review during two readings of the ordinance and an opportunity for input from license holders and other members of the public.

In addition to a legacy license, the proposed alcohol license categories would include a general on and off-sale liquor, beer and wine license; on and off-sale beer and wine license; supper club license; and nonprofit and governmental organization license, including subcategories for the airport, park district, Souris Valley Golf Course, Maysa Arena, Corbett Field, Minot State University and for military, veteran, service and fraternal clubs. The proposed ordinances include rules specific to alcohol sales at golf courses, bowling alleys and movie theaters.