MINUTES
WADSWORTH CITY COUNCIL
August 28, 2002
Special Meeting of Wadsworth City Council, Wednesday, August 28, 2002, at 7:00 P.M.,
in the City Council Chambers.
PRESIDING:
Robin Laubaugh, President Pro Tem
MEMBERS OF COUNCIL PRESENT:
Tom Baldwin, Shirley Casey, Walt Gairing,
Craig Hassinger, Donald Baker, and Bob
Park
OFFICIALS PRESENT:
Director of Law Norman Brague, Lt. Dave
Singleton, Detective Robert Mills
PRESS REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT:
Beau Dusz
Beacon Journal
VISITORS PRESENT:
Individuals identifying themselves as the
manager of the Sports Pub and the owner of the Rainbow Lounge were present at the
meeting
Mrs. Laubaugh called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and asked everyone to stand for
the Pledge of Allegiance and the invocation. Mr. Brague gave the invocation. Clerk of
Council Kathy Stugmyer called the roll.
LEGISLATION:
The following legislation was read for the first time and acted upon as follows:
RESOLUTION NO. 02-14 (1ST RDG.) : A RESOLUTION PURSUANT TO
SECTION 4303.271 OF THE OHIO REVISED CODE OBJECTING TO THE
RENEWAL OF PERMIT NUMBER 9334799 ISSUED UNDER SECTIONS 4303.11
TO 4303.183 OF THE REVISED CODE TO WADSWORTH SPORTS PUB INC.,
SPECIFYING THE REASON FOR THE OBJECTION BEING FOR A REASON
CONTAINED IN DIVISION (A) OF SECTION 4303.292 OF THE REVISED
CODE, REQUESTING A HEARING TO BE HELD IN THE COUNTY SEAT OF
MEDINA COUNTY AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY


Sponsored by Council Member Robert Park
Pursuant to Section 4303.271 of the Ohio Revised Code for objection to the renewal of a liquor permit
Mrs. Laubaugh had the Clerk of Council read the legislation title and then turned some
time over to Mr. Brague. Mr. Brague noted that Council members had already received
some information regarding the legislation and the procedure for objection to renewal of
a liquor permit, as part of their agenda packets. He recalled that the Ohio Revised Code
provided that liquor permits be renewed annually, allowing Council the opportunity to
object to those renewals annually. The deadline for such objections was September 3rd,
necessitating the special meeting that evening. He explained that he had become aware
that Officer Robert Mills wanted City Council to make an objection to the renewal of the
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING August 28, 2002 Page 1 of 4
Minutes prepared by Kathy Stugmyer, Clerk of Council
liquor license held by the Wadsworth Sports Pub Inc. From discussion with Detective
Mills, Mr. Brague believed that the objection was based upon substantial legal grounds
within the meaning and intent of division (A) of section 4303.292 of the Revised Code.
One of the basis for such an objection was that the applicant had operated in a manner
that demonstrated a disregard for the laws, regulations, or local ordinances of Ohio.
Officer Mills had prepared some information regarding this issue, and Mr. Brague asked
him to present that.
Detective Mills explained that, during the course of the year, there had been a lot of drug
activity and a couple of major crimes at the south end related to the establishment in
question. He read a statement:
I, myself, Detective Robert Mills, a member and representative of the Wadsworth
Police Department, would ask that the City Council members of the City of
Wadsworth consider a resolution to object to the renewal of the liquor permit
#9334799 that is issued to the Wadsworth Sports Pub Inc. at 377 Main Street in
Wadsworth, based on the following facts:
On February 21, 2002, Mr. Boyd Wellman was brutally assaulted in the municipal
parking lot located at the corner of Main and State Street. The injuries which
occurred as a result of this assault were so extensive that Mr. Wellman was in the
hospital for several weeks and then spent several more weeks in Edwin Shaw
undergoing rehabilitation. Mr. Wellman’s injuries may prohibit him from ever
being able to work again. The suspects in this case had been in the Sports Pub
drinking, after legal hours, just prior to the assault; and, at least two of the
suspects were under the age of twenty-one at the time. Two suspects in this case
have been indicted on charges of felonious assault and kidnapping, and it is
anticipated that more charges will be filed.
On June 6th of this year, a nineteen year old male went to the Sports Pub with
some friends and was served beer and liquor. This male, along with two other
males, is accused of later robbing another male as they walked along Water
Street. The victim and three suspects had all been drinking in the Sports Pub just
prior to this incident. All three suspects in this case have been indicted on
robbery charges, and their cases are still pending in the Medina County Common
Pleas Court. When I interviewed the under-age male on the night of the robbery,
he was extremely intoxicated and gave a detailed account of how much alcohol he
had consumed at the bar without being asked for an ID by the barmaid. A later
interview of the barmaid found that she had seen this person in the bar on prior
occasions.
The Sports Pub has been previously cited by the State on June 7, 2000, for sales to
minors. On August 16, 2002, agents from the Ohio Investigative Unit, which
used to be the Department of Liquor Control, conducted an administrative search
of the Sports Pub with assistance from this department, myself included.
Numerous violations, such as illegal gambling, suspected contaminated alcohol,
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and violations with tapped beer in which cheaper beer was purchased by the keg
and then sold through premium marked taps, were found.
In the last two years, there have been documented 10 fight reports, 4 criminal
damagings, 3 thefts, 2 assaults, 2 drug reports, 1 robbery, 1 felonious assault, and
1 kidnapping as a result of underage drinking and patron actions. Numerous other
incidents have been reported but did not have formal reports made, due to victims
not cooperating, that would greatly inflate these numbers.
The Sports Pub has continued to be focal point for criminal activity for the past
two years.
Detective Mills went on to hold up a pile of papers that represented the list of cases that
had been demonstrated out of the Sports Pub, indicating that they were criminal reports.
He also showed a stack of all the incidents and calls that they’d had for the Sports Pub
involving disorderly conducts, assaults and other things that had not been formally turned
into a criminal complaint for prosecution. This year was just representative of the last
two years at the Sports Pub.
Mr. Brague indicated that, if Council did approve the resolution making an objection, the
State Division of Liquor Control would then conduct a hearing to determine whether the
permit should be renewed. There was an option as to where the hearing was held. If they
didn’t request otherwise, they automatically held the hearing in Columbus; but, the City
Council could request that it be held in the county seat, which was why the legislation
included a request that the public hearing be held in Medina.
Mr. Baker asked what the City’s role would be in the hearing process.
Mr. Brague said that the City Council would be a party in the hearing contest; so, he or
one of his assistants would be at the hearing and would present the evidence and
information on behalf of the City Council. Of course, the Police Department would
basically be preparing that. He was sure that Detective Mills would be coordinating all of
the evidence that would be presented.
Mr. Baldwin addressed Detective Mills, asking about the stack of complaints and laws
broken that he had on the Sports Pub. Did other bars in town have similar concerns or
was this an exceptionally bad one? Officer Mills said that every bar would have an
occasional call for the usual bar fight, the bloody nose, somebody on a domestic or
whatever, but not in these quantities and not in this serious of a nature. He couldn’t think
of any bar in this town that would have as many underage drinkers and generate
kidnappings or these assaults, robberies, etc. Mr. Wellman was in a coma for three
weeks while he was in the hospital, and it was unknown as to whether he would even pull
out of the coma at that time. That was why he spent three weeks at Edwin Shaw trying to
recover and was still undergoing therapy. This was as a result of people still drinking in
the bar, after it was supposed to have been closed, and underage drinkers being involved.
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Mr. Baldwin asked if he would consider this bar’s operation under legal standards to be
somewhat flagrant compared to other bars. Officer Mills said, ‘very’. He would consider
it to be, in his own personal opinion, a public nuisance.
Mr. Gairing asked how much weight the resolution, if it was approved, carried in the
hearing process. Mr. Brague explained that the resolution itself triggered the hearing and
provided for the hearing; but, at the hearing itself, the weight would be on what was
actually presented at the hearing. Mr. Baker suggested that the owner would then have
due process at the hearing. Mr. Brague agreed. At the hearing, the owner, who of course
had the right to have legal counsel, would likely participate in the hearing and would
have the opportunity to challenge everything the City would present and present anything
that he wished to present.
Mr. Park commented that he’d walked that neighborhood and had spoken to a number of
the neighbors there and the businesses. Most of what he heard, if there were any
derogatory remarks made, pertained to the Sports Pub. They specifically referenced
problems in the City’s municipal parking lot on the corner, as was mentioned in the
affidavit presented by Officer Mills. The individuals and the families he’d spoken to on
Rainbow Street felt that the other tavern down there was a ‘good neighbor’. They really
didn’t have anything bad to say about the Rainbow.
Mrs. Laubaugh asked whether this had ever occurred in the City before. She didn’t recall
such an objection being made in the five years she’d been on Council. Officer Mills
didn’t know of any others, either.
Mr. Park made a motion, which was seconded, to suspend the three reading rule. A roll
call vote was taken. Ayes: Baker, Baldwin, Casey, Gairing, Hassinger, Laubaugh, and
Park. Nays: None. Mr. Park called the question. Mrs. Laubaugh called for the vote. A
roll call vote was taken. Ayes: Baker, Baldwin, Casey, Gairing, Hassinger, Laubaugh,
and Park. Nays: None. Resolution No. 02-14 declared to have been adopted August
28, 2002.
Mrs. Stugmyer noted that the special meetings scheduled for August 29, 2002, and
August 30, 2002, would undoubtedly be cancelled, with the Mayor’s blessing. Everyone
should assume that to be the case, unless they heard otherwise.
Mr. Hassinger made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Casey, to adjourn the Council meeting.
An all-in-favor vote was taken, and all Council members present voted in favor of the
motion.
MEETING ADJOURNED at 7:15 P.M.
Clerk of Council
President of Council
Date
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING August 28, 2002
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