8.4.26 License Committee — Agenda Packet

City of Fort Atkinson City Manager's Office 101 N. Main Street Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 LICENSE COMMITTEE MEETING IN PERSON TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2026 – 6:30 PM CITY HALL – SECOND FLOOR If you have special needs or circumstances which may make communication or accessibility difficult at the meeting, please call (920) 397-9901. Accommodations will, to the fullest extent possible, be made available on request by a person with a disability. AGENDA 1. Call meeting to order 2. Roll call 3. New Business a. Review and possible action relating to an Alcohol Beverage License Application for Rock River Heritage Inc dba Fort Atkinson Club Community Center, for use at 211 S. Water Street East for a RESERVE "Class B" Intoxicating Liquor and Class "B" Fermented Malt Beverage license (Ebbert, Clerk/Treasurer/Finance Director) 4. Adjournment Date Posted: July 31, 2026 CC: City Council; City Staff; City Attorney; Fort Atkinson Chamber of Commerce; Fort Atkinson School District; News Media Notice is hereby given that a majority of the Fort Atkinson City Council may be present at this meeting at the location and time indicated above to gather information about any subject matters on this agenda over which they have decision-making responsibility. This may constitute a meeting of the City Council pursuant to State ex rel. Badke v. Greendale Village Bd., 173 Wis.2d. 553, 494 N.W.2d 408 (1993), and must be noticed as such although the City Council will not take any formal action at this meeting. Visit us online! City news and information can be found at www.fortatkinsonwi.gov, and be sure to follow us on Facebook @FortAtkinsonWI. Page 1 of 19 City of Fort Atkinson City Manager's Office 101 N. Main Street Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 MEMORANDUM DATE: August 4, 2026 TO: Committee/Commission/Board FROM: Michelle Ebbert, Clerk/Treasurer/Finance Director RE: Review and possible action relating to an Alcohol Beverage License Application for Rock River Heritage Inc dba Fort Atkinson Club Community Center, for use at 211 S. Water Street East for a RESERVE "Class B" Intoxicating Liquor and Class "B" Fermented Malt Beverage license (Ebbert, Clerk/Treasurer/Finance Director) BACKGROUND The State of Wisconsin regulates alcohol licensing for local governments through Chapter 125. There are three classes of Licenses; Class A, Class B and Class C. The difference between Class A and B is where alcohol is authorized for sale and for consumption. Class A generally offers sale of alcohol on- site with consumption off-site (e.g. grocery or liquor store, gas station or convenience store). Class B allows for on-site sale and on-site consumption (e.g. Restaurant, Bar, Bowling Alley, Tavern). Class A can easily be remembered because alcohol is consumed Away from the premises. Likewise, Class B you consume on-site, for example Bar. A license is a privilege granted by a municipality to a person (e.g. natural person, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation) that authorizes the sale of alcohol beverages for a specified time period (licensing period). The governing body of the municipality may, but is not required to, issue retail liquor and beer licenses. The municipality may refuse to issue retail licenses if it uses good judgment and does not discriminate between applicants. Table 1: Type of license, beverage and where consumption is permitted. Type of License Type of Beverage Consumption Location “Class A” Intoxicating Liquor Off-site Class “A” Fermented Malt Off-site “Class A” Liquor: Cider Only* Cider Only Off-site “Class B” Intoxicating Liquor On-site Class “B” Fermented Malt On-site “Class C” Wine only On-site Reserve “Class B” Intoxicating Liquor On-site Page 2 of 19 Temporary Class “B” ** Fermented Malt On-site Temporary “Class B” ** Wine On-site *The 2015-17 Wisconsin State Budget (2015 Act 55) provides that municipalities shall issue a “Class A” liquor license if both of the following apply: • The “Class A” liquor license application is for sales limited to cider products only. • The application for a “Class A” liquor license holds a Class “A” beer license for the same premises. 2015 Act 55 provision also defines ‘cider’ to mean any alcohol beverage that is obtained from the fermentation of the juice of apples or pears and that contains not less than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume and not more than 7.0 percent alcohol by volume. “Cider” includes flavored, sparkling, and carbonated cider. ** Temporary Class “B” Fermented Malt and Temporary “Class B” Wine – these licenses are issued throughout the year to lodges, societies, bona fide clubs, chambers, non-profit, etc. Table 2: Combination of Licenses License Combinations Type of Beverage(s) Consumption Location “Class A” and Class “A” Intoxicating Liquor and Fermented Malt Off-site Class “A” and “Class A” Liquor: Cider Only Fermented Malt and Cider Off-site “Class B” and Class “B” Intoxicating Liquor and Fermented Malt On-site Class “B” and “Class C” Wine Fermented Malt and Wine On-site Reserve “Class B” and Class “B” Intoxicating Liquor and Fermented Malt On-site Temporary Class “B” and Temporary “Class B” Fermented Malt and Wine On-site Table 3: License fees (maximum amount allowable by State Statute is being charged) Type of License License Fee “Class A” Intoxicating Liquor $500.00 Class “A” Fermented Malt $100.00 “Class A” Liquor: Cider Only No fee. Page 3 of 19 “Class B” Intoxicating Liquor $500.00 Class “B” Fermented Malt $100.00 “Class C” Wine Only $100.00 Reserve “Class B” Intoxicating Liquor $10,000 (one-time) Temporary Class “B” Fermented Malt $10.00 Temporary “Class B” Wine $10.00 A combination Class A license (intoxicating liquor and fermented malt) would total $600.00. A combination Class B license (intoxicating liquor and fermented malt) would total $600.00. Table 4: Existing Quotas (03/19/2026) License Quota Licenses Issued Licenses Available “Class A” Intoxicating Liquor 16 - 1 per 750 residents 16 0 Class “A” Fermented Malt 17 - 1 per 750 residents 17 0 “Class B” Intoxicating Liquor 25 - 1 per 500 residents 25 0 RESERVE “Class B” Intoxicating Liquor 5 - $10,000 one-time fee 4 1 DISCUSSION Rock River Heritage, Inc dba Fort Atkinson Club Community Center located at 211 S Water Street East has applied for a RESERVE "Class B" Intoxicating Liquor and Class "B" Fermented Malt Beverage license. A Reserve license above the quote exists as the City Council approved the purchase of the license from the Town of Ixonia in 2024. A reserve license carries a one- time license fee of $10,000. The annual renewal of a "Class B" Intoxicating Liquor and Class "B" Fermented Malt beverage license is $600.00. The premise description provides that alcohol will be consumed in all areas of the building and patio. Records will be stored in the Main Floor office; alcohol will be stored in the Main Floor Kitchen. Three additional layouts of the facility are included in the packet. Staff requested the Fort Atkinson Club provide a business plan or model highlighting how an alcohol license could benefit the operations of the Club. A Reserve License remains as a reserve license. Should any Reserve license be surrendered or returned to the City, the license will remain as a Reserve and be eligible to be reissued at the $10,000 one-time license fee. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS Page 4 of 19 Alcohol license fees for the submitted application will be pro-rated from the month of issuance to expiration. Such Class B license from September to June is $500.00. The Reserve license fee is a one-time expense of $10,000. Publication fee for new applications is $100.00. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends the License Committee recommend that the City Council approve the Alcohol Beverage License Application for a RESERVE "Class B" Intoxicating Liquor and Class "B" Fermented Malt Beverage License for Rock River Heritage, Inc dba Fort Atkinson Club Community Center for use at 211 S Water Street East contingent upon payment of licensing fees and having licensed operators. ATTACHMENTS 1. Rock River Heritage - Fort Atkinson Club Community Center Alc Lic App_Redacted 2. FAC Liquor License Business Plan Page 5 of 19 Page 6 of 19 Page 7 of 19 Page 8 of 19 Page 9 of 19 Page 10 of 19 F � � � � � ------ ------ -- ------ ------- ----- -- - - - - --------- ---- 1\ D D l STORAGE 207C ,/\ __ �n lvC I b ii? '; co N P'I N I STORAGE ,J I' 207□ I 47"-6" - '=, LJ THEATER 51'-6" - rr- - 1 STORAGE 207E I � EXIST. STAGE � ' ' L ________________ ..J LOUNGE 208 206 206A CLOSET _J L CLOSET STYLER2� v= / � FiFI· TAf � 2 4 l [gJ - 0RESTROOM HALL V 203 202 � c 7 r, I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I STAIR l F 201 r-.ro-.----.-� I It I I I I! I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I l Vt_� 210 kg'- � �IE ST ROOM 209 �A r ELEVATOR LOBBY 205 ELEVATOR SHAFT FLEX- SPACE 201A Page 11 of 19 Page 12 of 19 Page 13 of 19 Business Plan Rock River Heritage, Inc., d/b/a the Fort Atkinson Club Community Center 211 S. Water St. E. • Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 • July 2026 Executive Summary Rock River Heritage, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) d/b/a Fort Atkinson Club Community Center (the FAC), a multi-purpose community center housed in a renovated historic building on the Rock River in downtown Fort Atkinson, Wis. The FAC respectfully submits this business plan in support of its application for a “Class B” intoxicating liquor and fermented malt beverages license. We seek to provide beverage service, in the manner of an in-house caterer, at two defined categories of events: a subset of our own public programs, principally patio concerts, chamber concerts, our gala, and art exhibition openings; and the private rental events, such as weddings, celebrations of life, showers, and milestone birthdays, that our community already hosts in our building. Alcohol will be sold and served exclusively by trained FAC staff who have completed the Wisconsin Responsible Beverage Server course and who hold, or are in the process of obtaining, operator licenses issued by the City of Fort Atkinson. The mission of the FAC is to keep the Fort Atkinson area vibrant, inclusive, and welcoming with cultural and learning experiences open to everyone who calls this place home. Every dollar of net proceeds from beverage service will be reinvested in free and low-cost community programming such as free community meals, art classes, FACTalks, social dances, concerts and other community programs. Organization and History The FAC has operated continuously since 2013, when the historic building it occupies was renovated and reopened as an independent, multi-purpose, nonprofit center serving the residents, neighbors, and visitors of Fort Atkinson, Wis. The building itself is a downtown hub along the Rock River, and our vision for it is deliberately broad: a place where people of all ages and backgrounds come together through education, arts, Page 14 of 19 wellness, business, community events, and other activities, while celebrating the history, culture, and heritage of the area. We are dedicated to fostering an environment of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we work intentionally to ensure that everyone who walks through our doors feels welcomed, respected, and valued. Programming: A Two-Part Model The FAC operates on a two-part model, and the two parts sustain one another. The first part is our own programming, and its breadth is documented in our 2026 calendar: well over one hundred community programs this year, nearly all of them free. These include monthly free community meals; monthly First Friday social dances with free ballroom instruction; monthly kids’ nights and family programs; weekly MahJongg lessons and open game times; our FACTalk and FACTaste educational series on topics ranging from wellness and menopause to prairie restoration and substance misuse prevention, the latter presented with the Jefferson County Drug Free Coalition; art classes, including a recurring series taught with UW- Whitewater students; art exhibitions and openings; a playwriting group for teens and adults with disabilities; chamber concerts, patio concerts, and open mic nights; and free meeting space for community groups, including weekly Narcotics Anonymous meetings and a point-in-time dinner for neighbors experiencing homelessness, hosted with the Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin. All of these programs are free or low cost by design, because access and inclusion is central to our mission, vision and values. The second part is facility rental. We rent our spaces for weddings, baby showers, birthdays, funerals and celebrations of life, and other private gatherings. Rental income is a vitally important revenue stream: it is what allows the first part of the model, the free and low-cost programming, to exist. The scale of this activity is documented in our booking records. The 2026 calendar to date includes approximately forty-five private rental events, among them weddings, bridal and baby showers, graduation parties, retirement parties, celebrations of life, class reunions, nonprofit meetings, and holiday parties, with attendance ranging from ten to one hundred fifty guests and rental revenue of approximately twenty-seven thousand five hundred dollars. Of these, thirteen events, including four weddings, a retirement party, a fiftieth class reunion, and our own annual October gala, already have requested alcohol. We expect to book additional events this year and expect requests for alcohol at events to increase substantially when a full liquor license is obtained. A detailed event calendar is available to the Committee upon request. Plan for Alcohol Service Under the requested license, alcohol service at the FAC will function in the manner of a catering operation rather than a bar. There will be no standing barroom, no regular drinking hours, and no service outside of scheduled events. Specifically, beverage service will occur in two settings. Page 15 of 19 First, at selected FAC-produced events, principally concerts and art exhibition openings, guests of legal drinking age will be able to purchase beer, wine, and mixed drinks from a staffed service station for consumption on the premises during the event. This is not untested ground. A number of our own programs, including our gala and our Americana event have included alcohol service and sales, conducted under caterer’s licenses or temporary licenses obtained event by event through the City. The FAC has managed that service without incident. The annual license we now request would replace this piecemeal, event-by- event process with a single license held to consistent, year-round standards, which we regard as an improvement in oversight for the City as much as an improvement for the FAC. Second, at private rental events, the FAC will provide beverage service directly, ordering, selling, and serving all alcohol through its own trained staff. Renters and their guests will not be permitted to bring in or self-serve alcohol; the FAC will be the sole provider on the premises. This arrangement gives the FAC, and by extension the City, complete control over who serves, who is served, and how. Service will be confined to the licensed premises as described in the submitted application. Hours of service will match the hours of the events themselves, ending no later than the close of each event, and will in all cases remain within the hours permitted for “Class B” premises under Wisconsin law and City of Fort Atkinson ordinance. Responsible Beverage Service We recognize that a liquor license is a public trust, and we have built our service plan around five safeguards. The first safeguard is trained, licensed staff. All alcohol will be served by a team of five FAC staff members; no volunteers and no renters will serve. Each of the five has completed the online Wisconsin Responsible Beverage Server training course, and each holds or is obtaining an operator (bartender) license through the City of Fort Atkinson. A licensed operator will be on the premises and on duty at all times that the FAC is open to the public. The second safeguard is rigorous age verification. Staff will check government-issued photo identification for any patron who appears under the age of forty, and events attended by families and children, of which we host many, will use wristbands or hand stamps to mark guests whose identification has been verified. Because so much of our programming is intergenerational, we treat the presence of minors not as an exception but as the default condition of our events, and our procedures reflect that. The third safeguard is controlled service. Alcohol will be dispensed only from designated, staffed service stations; there will be no self-service, no unattended coolers, and no carry-in alcohol at any event. Staff will refuse service to any patron who is intoxicated or who cannot produce identification, and staff have both the authority and the obligation to do so. Water and non- Page 16 of 19 alcoholic options will be available at every event where alcohol is served. Between events, all alcohol will be secured in a dedicated, locked storage room on the upper level, with access limited to licensed staff and inventory tracked through written logs. The fourth safeguard is accountability. The Executive Director, as the corporation’s appointed agent, is responsible for compliance and will maintain an incident log recording any refusal of service, any removal of a patron, and any other alcohol-related incident, to be reviewed with the board. The FAC will carry liquor liability insurance in addition to its existing general liability coverage. The fifth safeguard is a written policy. The board of directors will adopt a written alcohol service policy incorporating the practices above, and every serving staff member will review and sign it before serving. The policy will be reviewed annually and revised as experience and the City’s guidance require. Alcohol Service and Youth Programming The FAC anticipates, and welcomes, the question of how a liquor license coexists with programming built substantially around children and families: our kids’ nights, our art classes, our kids’ concerts, our free community meals. The FAC will not operate a bar. Alcohol will exist on our premises in only two states: locked in a dedicated storage room, or in the hands of a licensed operator during a scheduled event. There are no standing drinking hours, no taps, and no open barroom for a child to pass on the way to an art class. Every program designed for children and youth is, and will remain, entirely dry; no alcohol will be served, sold, removed from locked storage or given away at any of them. Wisconsin law anticipates precisely this arrangement. Under section 125.07(3)(a) of the statutes, underage persons may be present on licensed premises during times when no alcohol is being consumed, sold, or given away, provided that the alcohol is stored in a locked portion of the premises and that the licensee provides advance notice to local law enforcement. Our locked storage room is designed to satisfy that condition, and we will establish the required notification procedure with the Fort Atkinson Police Department before service begins. At events where alcohol is served and families are present, such as patio concerts and community celebrations, the statute’s framework for minors accompanied by a parent or guardian applies, and our own safeguards, the wristbands, staffed service stations, and licensed operators described above, go further than the law requires. Indeed, we would ask the Committee to consider that the license improves on the current arrangement. Today, alcohol enters our building event by event, under temporary licenses and renters’ one-time arrangements. An annual license places a single accountable licensee, one trained staff of four, a written board policy, and a locked inventory between alcohol and every Page 17 of 19 child who walks through our doors. Understood in this way, the license is a measure of child protection as much as a source of revenue. Management, Governance, and the Appointed Agent The FAC is led by Executive Director Megwyn Sanders-Andrews, who manages daily operations, staff, and programming, and who reports to the volunteer board of directors of Rock River Heritage, Inc. The board provides financial oversight, sets policy, and reviews the organization’s performance against its mission. A current list of the board of directors is included with the submitted license application. In accordance with Wisconsin law governing corporate licensees, the corporation designates its Executive Director as its agent for purposes of this license (Form AB-101, Alcohol Beverage Appointment of Agent). The agent has completed responsible beverage server training, meets the residency requirements for appointment, and will exercise full authority over the licensed premises and the conduct of beverage service there. Financial Plan The FAC’s current annual operating budget is approximately two hundred fifty-eight thousand dollars, funded through facility rentals, program fees, donations, sponsorships, and grants. Beverage service is projected to become a meaningful supplemental revenue stream within that budget, not a replacement for it. The projections below are grounded in our actual 2026 booking records and incorporate two growth assumptions drawn from our experience in the rental market. The first is that a license will increase rental bookings by up to thirty percent, because couples and families planning weddings and celebrations routinely choose venues that can provide bar service, and the FAC currently loses those bookings to venues that can. The second is that the number of events including alcohol will grow by roughly half once renters no longer need to make separate arrangements. Per-event proceeds assume an average of seventy guests, two to three drinks per drinking-age guest at typical prices, and cost of goods near thirty percent of sales. Assumption / Result Conservative Moderate Rental events per year (45 on the 2026 calendar; projected growth of up to 30% with a license) 50 58 Rental events with alcohol service per year (13 in 2026; projected growth of 50%) 18 20 FAC-produced events with alcohol sales per year (patio concerts, art openings, annual gala) 8 12 Average net proceeds per event (sales less cost of goods and service labor) $450 $700 Page 18 of 19 Net proceeds from alcohol service $11,700 $22,400 Additional rental revenue from increased bookings (avg. rental fee approx. $600) $3,000 $7,800 Total projected annual improvement $14,700 $30,200 Improvement as a share of the current $258,000 operating budget approx. 6% approx. 12% Figures are first-year planning estimates based on the FAC’s existing event calendar and will be updated annually. Start-up costs (license fees, initial inventory, glassware, point-of-sale equipment, and insurance) are estimated at $5,000 to $8,000 and will be funded from existing reserves. Accordingly, even under the conservative scenario, beverage service strengthens the FAC’s financial position; under the moderate scenario, it materially expands what we can offer. Because we are a nonprofit, the destination of these proceeds is fixed by our purpose: more free concerts, more free community meals, more art classes, more kids’ nights. The revenue does not leave the community; it returns to it. Community Benefit and Conclusion To return to where this plan began: the FAC is not proposing to open a bar. We are proposing to complete our model as a community gathering place. The families who rent our spaces for weddings and celebrations of life currently must look elsewhere for beverage service; our concert audiences ask, reasonably, why they cannot buy a glass of wine on the patio on a summer evening. Granting this license allows the FAC to answer those requests responsibly, with trained staff, written policy, and board oversight, while directing every dollar of net proceeds back into free and low-cost programming for the people of Fort Atkinson. We thank the Council and the License Committee for their consideration, and we welcome any questions about this plan. Megwyn Sanders-Andrews Executive Director, Fort Atkinson Club Community Center Appointed Agent, Rock River Heritage, Inc. Page 19 of 19