At its April 16 meeting, the Kimball city council voted 3-2 to set bar hours in Kimball to be the same as state statutes allow. In November, 60 percent of Kimball voters approved of serving liquor on Sunday within city limits. It was up to the council to determine the start and stop times for it. State statutes allow liquor to be served from 10 a.m. Sunday until 1 a.m. Monday. The Kimball council could have been more stringent, but could not extend hours beyond those the state allows. After lengthy discussion between council members and bar owners, DuWayne Orbeck, Chris Jansky and Joe Krippner voted in favor of matching the state hours. Mayor Tammy Konz and Eric Loewen voted against it, favoring more restricted hours. “It’s a moral issue for me,” said Konz in discussion. Her feeling was that 10 a.m.-noon on Sunday should be church and family time. “Not everyone goes to church,” said Deb Reinert, co-owner of Triple RRR Bar & Grill. “It shouldn’t be different than the state guidelines.” Councilmember Jansky said Kimball should stick to the state guidelines. “If they want to drink from 10-12, they’re going to drink”. If they can’t drink in Kimball, Jansky said, they’ll go somewhere else. He doesn’t want to be responsible for driving business out of Kimball. Councilmember Loewen said he agrees with Konz. “It’s a moral issue.” He added later, “I like the thought that there’s one day a week that there’s no alcohol being served in town.” Randy Reinert, co-owner of Triple RRR, told the council he doesn’t go to church, and that the city shouldn’t make it a moral issue. “Morals have no business in city government,” he said. Orbeck said it’s up to individuals. “You can’t babysit an alcoholic,” he said. Krippner stated that he was “okay with the state guidelines,” and that it “wouldn’t bother him” whether they were the same or more strict. His vote tipped the scales in favor of the state guidelines, and the 10 a.m.-1 a.m. hours for Sunday liquor in Kimball. In other business, the council approved a request from the Kimball Church of Christ to extend city water westward from city limits to their church property. A feasibility study has already been done (at the church’s expense), and the church will pay the costs of installing 8-inch water lines from the city. Pastor Vern Harris indicated that they do not plan to begin the project until 2008. There was also discussion with city engineers and public works about the city’s sewer capacity. The city is under scrutiny by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). Storage capacity will be increased by raising the pond levels, which is a short-term solution while other longer-term solutions are worked on. The city will advertise to lease land on which it irrigates waste water. The city determines which crops can be planted on this land. Kimball police plan to purchase a new computer, and repair their video camera equipment. Officer John Lester has resigned. Minutes of 2007 Kimball city council meetings are again on-line at www.kimballarea.com. The next meeting of the Kimball city council is at 7 p.m. Monday, May 7. Meetings are open to anyone wishing to attend.
