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<br />City Attorney Goodrich stated that he does not have an answer on whether the City can use <br />Letter of Credit money for this purpose. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig stated that if it isn't possible to use the Letter of Credit money, he would <br />also have a hard time spending money for this purpose. <br /> <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that he will bring this back for discussion at a future work <br />session once some of these questions have been answered. <br /> <br />2) Ralph's Pawn Shop Update <br /> <br />City Attorney Goodrich stated that earlier this year, the police department determined that there <br />were violations of City Code and possibly State law in the operation of the pawn shop. He stated <br />that owner, Todd Jerdin, has been notified of the violations. He noted that the violations were <br />mainly with the proper process in taking property in and logging it correctly. He stated that the <br />goal is not to have the business be a repository for stolen goods. He stated that the Council <br />authorized the City to retain a Hearing Examiner to conduct the public hearing in this case, <br />which took about a half a day. He stated that this public hearing was transcribed by a court <br />reporter and although the owner was advised that he had the opportunity to have an attorney <br />present, he waived that right. He stated that there was testimony by various police officers and a <br />zoning person from the City and the owner had the opportunity to cross examine the witnesses. <br />He stated that after the transcript was prepared, each party had the opportunity to submit <br />proposed findings of fact and conclusions oflaw, which the City did and the owner did not. He <br />stated that he is developing a case for the May 27, 2008 Council meeting, but wanted to update <br />the Council tonight on the case. He stated at the Council meeting he will present formal findings <br />of fact and ask the Council to adopt them. He stated that it is the recommendation of the Hearing <br />Examiner that the license for this business be revoked. He noted that the May 27, 2008 Council <br />meeting is not a public hearing and cautioned that if the owner is allowed to speak that he <br />shouldn't talk about the facts of the case or his excuses of why the violations occurred. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jeffrey asked if the license was revoked if the business would close <br />immediately. He asked how the merchandise would be gotten rid of in that case. <br /> <br />City Attorney Goodrich stated that it would be shut down immediately, but the owner would <br />have the right to appeal at the District Court level for a Temporary Restraining Order. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig asked why staff was so adamant about this situation. <br /> <br />Police Chief Way stated that there have been stolen goods taken in and not signed for correctly. <br />He stated that there is a system called Automatic Pawn System (APS) and over 160 law <br />enforcement agencies subscribe to this system. He stated that 88 stores enter information into <br />this database. He distributed copies of a sampling of the APS violations by this owner. He <br />stated that they met with Mr. Jerdin on numerous occasions and worked with him on the proper <br />procedure to follow, but he continues to operate the same way. Chief Way stated that in one <br />instance, he received a call from a police department that had gone to the shop and looked on a <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / May 20, 2008 <br />Page 3 of8 <br />