Buhl voters quietly and decisively did away with one of the last vestiges of Prohibition-like booze laws on Tuesday when they approved Sunday on-sale liquor sales in licensed establishments.
The vote ends decades of dry Sundays for the central Iron Range community of 1,000 residents along U.S. Highway 169.
The question - “Shall the city council be allowed to issue on-sale licenses to restaurants, clubs, bowling centers, and hotels for the sale of intoxicating liquor at retail on Sundays?” - passed by a 308-to-139 vote margin, or 69 percent to 31 percent.
“It was a pretty big margin. But there really wasn’t much opposition,” said Michael Buchanan, city clerk. “In fact, I don’t think I heard one word about the (referendum) question during the whole election. It wasn’t controversial at all.”
The referendum result is good news for the city’s two taverns - Billy’s Bar and the Hideaway, both on State Street, the city’s main drag.
Buchanan said the bars had been losing Sunday business, especially during football season, to nearby cities. Buhl sits about halfway between the Hibbing-Chisholm and Mountain Iron-Virginia areas.
Mark Frahm, co-owner of Billy’s Bar, said the Sunday ban on bars being open dates back to at least the 1950s. He said a referendum to end the ban failed in the 1980s, but he’s glad it passed this time.
“I don’t think I’ll be open every Sunday, but it’s nice to have the option for football games; the Super Bowl and other special events,’’ Frahm said.
Buchanan said the city council still must pass a new ordinance to allow the Sunday sales. That could happen at the council’s next meeting, and the two bars could be open on a Sunday later this month.
Some 447 of the city’s 600 registered voters cast ballots on the liquor question.
Sunday liquor store sales remain off-limits across Minnesota due to a state law prohibiting off-sale liquor on Sundays.
RECOUNT COMING FOR BUHL MAYOR
While the Sunday liquor sales referendum wasn’t close, the Buhl mayor’s race sure was.
Longtime incumbent Craig Pulford lost by one vote to challenger Shari Swanson, 212 to 211, with 27 write-in votes cast.
Buchanan said there will be a recount of the ballots cast in the race, probably next week.
