Bangstad revocation hearing adjourned abruptly

At a contentious public hearing Wednesday that descended into chaos, the Oneida County planning and development committee abruptly adjourned without taking any action on the possible revocation of Minocqua Brewing Company’s (MBC) administrative review permit (ARP).

Acting committee chairman Mike Timmons adjourned the meeting in the middle of MBC owner Kirk Bangstad’s testimony, after Timmons repeatedly warned Bangstad to stick to the issues of his alleged permit violations and possible revocation, after stating that Bangstad’s testimony about property history and other businesses were not relevant to the issue at hand. 

At one point, Timmons admonished Bangstad “one more time”; Timmons then asked Tyler Young of the Oneida County sheriff’s office to remove Bangstad. Young declined to do so. 

Timmons finally called for a five-minute recess, but Bangstad kept talking. Bangstad also refused to move to the hallway to talk to his attorney in Madison, who was waiting to counsel him by phone, saying he “would prefer to finish my statement.”

Timmons was chairing the meeting in the absence of committee chairman and county board chairman Scott Holewinski, who was out of the country.

The short-circuited hearing was a triumph of sorts for Bangstad, if a temporary one: If the permit had been revoked, he could not have operated legally. 

Bangstad still has an application for a conditional use permit pending, which would, if approved, allow him to operate an outdoor beer garden at the Front Street location. That hearing is scheduled for next week on August 2 in Woodruff.

At the June 28 meeting in which the zoning committee directed county zoning director Karl Jennrich to schedule the hearing, Jennrich discussed with the committee “complaints received with allegations of violations of the Permit Conditions,” according to the meeting minutes.

“Evidence was obtained and enforcement letters sent,” the minutes state. “The property owner responded and corrected the violations. Complaints were again received with subsequent violation allegations and two (2) more letters were sent to the property owner. Staff investigated the allegations and informed the property owner of the ARP being placed on an agenda to discuss amending, suspending, or revoking ARP #2201108.”

A complete story on the revocation hearing will be appear in Tuesday’s paper.

Richard Moore is the author of “Dark State” and may be reached at richardd3d.substack.com.