Coon Rapids prepay gas law won’t change
The Coon Rapids City Council has decided to keep the prepay ordinance, which went into effect Aug. 1, as written. Internet photo.
The Coon Rapids gas prepay ordinance, which went into effect Aug. 1, won’t be changed or repealed.
The Coon Rapids City Council, at a work session Tuesday night to assess the impact of the ordinance over its first three months, decided, by consensus, that it was too soon to consider changes.
The ordinance was recommended by Police Chief Brad Wise as a means to counter the increasing number of no-pays/drive offs in Coon Rapids, which was causing a spike in the city’s crime rate.
Since the ordinance became law, there have been no gas thefts reported in the city, according to Wise.
The ordinance requires prepayment, either by credit card at the pump or going inside and paying cash, before the pump is turned on.
But there is an exception to the prepay requirement. If business owners enter into a civil agreement with customers, including providing identifying information, then customers can activate a pump prior to payment.
The work session was requested by Councilmember Bruce Sanders, who was one of the 5-2 majority that voted for the ordinance earlier this year.
Gas station/convenience store owners/operators/managers were invited to speak, but only one, Jerry Charmoli, Highway 10 Mobil, was in favor of prepay. He called the ordinance a “blessing” because from the money saved from lack of no-pays, he had been able to hire a new employee.
But other like Rick Dehn of the Marathon at Northdale and Foley boulevards, Kevin Amundson of Neighbor Stop at Quince Street and Egret Boulevard, Brad Fogerty of Kwik Trip on Coon Rapids Boulevard and Jim Hannay of the Holiday at Coon Rapids and Foley boulevards presented figures that they described as “significant” losses not only in gasoline sales, but also in-store sales because of the ordinance, not to mention customer dissatisfaction.
The handful of residents that spoke were more or less evenly split for and against the ordinance.
Sanders offered a compromise that would set up a voluntary licensing system with random compliance checks whereby gas stations would put in place equipment and procedures to get all information necessary to provide proof of an intentional no pay where the driver could be held accountable through changes in state law.
If that was done, the owner/operator could get a license from the city and no longer need to have prepay, according to Sanders.
But if not, then prepay would stay in place, Sanders said.
Councilmember Jerry Koch, who opposed prepay from the beginning, continued to call for its repeal.
Peter Bodley is at
peter.bodley@ecm-inc.com
I commend the station owners who attended and spoke about the economic harm caused by the ill advised ordinance. Are the silent owners and operators indicating their support for the ordinance?
Has the loss of sales been compared to the drive-off losses supposedly prevented by the ordinance?
What has the CRPD been doing with their their extra time and resources freed up by not having to respond to drive-offs?
The losses for most stations for far in 2 months (lost sales) have be 4 times worse than an entire year of driveoffs.
Although now a legislative minority with no record of accomplishments or success, the state GOP should begin the process to put a petroleum product prepay constitutional amendment on the next ballot.
Not only gasoline/petrol, but any product made from petroleum (formed millions of years before Noah’s Ark ever left the dock or Eve bit the apple) due to the miracle of organic chemistry. This would include plastics, food additives, textiles and fibers, pharmaceuticals and the “processed cheese product” used in the fast food industry.
Although implementation and enforcement will be difficult, these details can be worked out after approval of the amendment.
@emerging statewide Issue
I really hope that was sarcasm