Minocqua reaches agreement with Bangstad

The Minocqua town board, following a closed session Tuesday afternoon, voted to accept a revocable license agreement with Kirk Bangstad, owner of the Minocqua Brewery Company.

Bangstad had filed two federal lawsuits against the town, one in August of 2023 and the other in March of this year related to access to his property at 329 Front Street in downtown Minocqua. 

In January, he signed a revocable license agreement that was sent to the town, an agreement that essentially outlines what he requires to gain access off of the northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 51, or Chippewa Street. 

The town board never took action on the agreement until Tuesday when the decision was made to go along with it. 

Town chairman Mark Hartzheim Wednesday told The Lakeland Times with the town board approving the agreement, the result is “it would drop both of those federal lawsuits.”

“The judge ruled earlier this year that the second lawsuit was pretty much the same as the first one,” he said. “He just ruled that he would combine the two cases together and they would be dealt with down the road. Our agreement would have the effect of dropping both of the federal lawsuits and any outstanding litigation based on what has happened to this point.”

Hartzheim signed off on the revocable license agreement Wednesday morning.

Bangstad still has conditional use permit (CUP) hurdles to deal with regarding that property at the county level.

Hartzheim said the revocable license agreement was presented to the town when the town board had started meetings in closed session to discuss the first federal lawsuit filed in August. 

“He (Bangstad) wanted access and we didn’t want a federal lawsuit hanging over our heads,” he said. 

Hartzheim said Bangstad’s legal team had recently informed the town’s attorney, Bangstad would be willing to drop the federal lawsuits in exchange for the license agreement. 

“Our legal counsel recommended agreeing to it,” he said. “It gives them (Bangstad) what they need to continue to work toward compliance with the CUP and gets the federal lawsuits dismissed. It kind of cleans things up for both parties, I guess.”

Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].