Restaurant, bar owners plead for help

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Opinion column

by Murrel Bland

Melissa Nead said it best.


“My back is against the wall and a knife is at my throat.”


Nead, the co-owner of The Dotte Spot Bar and Grill, explained her desperate situation to the Legislative Committee of the Kansas City, Kansas, Area Chamber of Commerce Friday, Jan. 8, as it met via Zoom.


Nead said the 10 p.m. closing in Wyandotte County has cost her business when bars and restaurants in neighboring counties, such as Johnson County, can stay open until midnight.


Nead said she has been very careful to follow all of the mandates that the Health Department has required during the coronavirus pandemic such as keeping the capacity to 50 percent and wiping down tables.


Other bar and restaurant owners made the same pleas. Similar complaints also were heard at a meeting of the Economic Development Committee of the Unified Government Commission Monday night, Jan. 4.


The chamber issued a news release stating that it supports extending the hour of operations “to align with neighboring counties.”


Mayor David Alvey said he hopes that, working with the Health Department, a way can be found for restaurants and bars to extend their hours.


In other action, the chamber’s Legislative Committee presented its 2021 Legislative Agenda. Many of the items were those carried over from previous years.


The chamber supports a business and residential property tax system that phases in radical increases. A multi-year floating average, similar to that used by agriculture, has been suggested.


The chamber supports a “comprehensive pipeline” of high-quality education from early learning to post-secondary.


The chamber opposes any increase of the state sales tax rate and lowering the food sales tax.


The chamber supports the expansion of Medicaid to serve an estimated 120,000 low income Kansans. This would leverage federal funds.


The chamber supports federal legislation that would streamline the forgiveness process for amounts of $150,000 or less in the Paycheck Protection Program.


Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is executive director of Business West.

To see an earlier story about restaurant and bar owners, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/restaurant-and-bar-owners-say-theyre-on-the-ropes-because-of-early-closing-times/

Restaurant and bar owners say they’re ‘on the ropes’ because of early closing times

Health Department to re-evaluate 10 p.m. closing time

Several restaurant and bar owners in Wyandotte County told a Unified Government committee on Monday night that they were on the ropes because of an earlier closing time aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19.

Stacy Damron, the owner of the Coach Lite Club at 2103 S. 34th St., told UG commissioners that small mom-and-pop bars are the ones that are hurting, and some are not getting any revenue at all. Yet they have to pay electric bills, mortgage and tax bills, he said.

Restaurants and bars were ordered by the UG Health Department to close by 10 p.m. on Nov. 20 in order to slow the spread of COVID-19, which was increasing in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Area counties tried to order the same closing time across the area, but Johnson County opted instead to close at midnight.

When asked by commissioners if they had applied for a UG grant for small businesses, Damron said they tried, but they were told that the UG ran out of money before they got there.

Commissioner Tom Burroughs, chair of the Economic Development and Finance Committee, encouraged him to apply for a grant again, so that they can be put on a list for the next available funding.

Alan Howze, UG assistant administrator, said they are awaiting additional guidance about funding from the stimulus bill passed at the end of the year.

Earlier in the meeting, Shaya Lockett, small business liaison in the economic development department, reported that the UG was able to distribute more than $1.3 million in COVID-19 relief to businesses in Wyandotte County.

The UG received 133 business applications and awarded 90 grants to the businesses, from the different areas of the county. Seventy of the businesses had 25 or fewer employees, she said. The funding was from CARES Act funds, from UG economic development small business grants, and Alt-Cap funding, she said.

Melissa Nead, co-owner of the Dotte Spot Bar and Grill at 8123 Parallel Parkway, told the commission it has been a tough year for small businesses, and especially tough for the restaurant business.

The small woman-owned business has about 10 employees, all of whom live in Wyandotte County, she said.

They have complied with all the guidelines and mask-wearing, and have taken half the tables out of service in the dining room, she said. They are following reduced capacity mandates, she added.

But with the earlier 10 p.m. closing hour, they are watching their customers walk across county lines and spend their money in Johnson and Leavenworth counties, she said. In Leavenworth County, some places are open until 2 a.m.

While she understands why the health order was put in place, “it is killing us,” she said. They can’t see paying rent, taxes, licenses, utilities, insurance with such limited operating hours on top of capacity and social distancing requirements, she said.

“The clock is ticking for many small businesses in Wyandotte County.”

Melissa Nead, Dotte Spot Bar and Grill

“The clock is ticking for many small businesses in Wyandotte County,” she said. “They are all on life support now.

“We need help from the UG and need it fast,” she said. She asked for the 10 p.m. mandate to be changed to midnight so they can compete in the metro area.

Kim Pond, owner of the Red Eye Bar at 6102 State Ave., asked that this closing time issue be put on a future UG Commission agenda and voted on.

While the restaurants and bars lost all the major holidays in 2020, beginning with St. Patrick’s Day, the Hollywood Casino got to stay open, Pond said.

Pond said the biker bar does a lot of charity work for the community, holding motorcycle runs to raise funds. But there were only a handful of charity events this year, she said.

People are leaving Wyandotte County with Wyandotte County money, spending it in other counties, Pond said.

“Everybody is losing money,” she said. “A lot of places are going to close down due to the loss of income.”

Blake Lostal, owner of the Colonial Club, 322 N. 5th, said the club has had to let six employees go and can’t bring them back.

He mentioned that churches and casinos were not required to follow the same restrictions as bars and restaurants.

“This is not a fair playing field,” Lostal said. “We just want to be fair.”

He suggested changing the closing time to midnight.

“Let us make some money, survive and get through this.”

Blake Lostal, Colonial Club

“Let us make some money, survive and get through this,” Lostal said.

He wanted to know when the vote was going to be on this issue. No vote on it was scheduled on Monday night.

Vicki Kobialka-Freeman, owner of Kobi’s Bar and Grill, 113 Oak St., Bonner Springs, said the business has been there for 33 years, and with COVID-19, this year has been bad for everyone, with every business suffering.

The 10 p.m. closing time is an important issue to Kobi’s, as Johnson County bars that stay open until midnight are only minutes away, and Leavenworth County bars also are only minutes away and can stay open until 2 a.m.

The time restrictions are driving customers and businesses away, she said.

The bar has had to lay off about half of its normal operating staff since March, she said. Some staff were hesitant to return to work, and some customers went to other places that did not have time restrictions.

Kobi’s has been in compliance with all the COVID-19 mandates, she added.

Based on the numbers from the past two quarters, they will probably have to close their doors one or two days a week, she said.

The losses will not only affect the small businesses, but also the counties and states, she said.

Juliann Van Liew, director of the UG Health Department, said, “This is awful. We agree that this is awful.”

These are not decisions that they take lightly, she said. They are not trying to be punitive or target certain businesses, she said. They are trying to make the best decisions they can with the information they have, she added.

“We absolutely hear you and we are going to commit to re-evaluating this among ourselves and with our fellow jurisdictions in the Core 4.”

Juliann Van Liew, UG Health Department director

“We absolutely hear you and we are going to commit to re-evaluating this among ourselves and with our fellow jurisdictions in the Core 4,” Van Liew said.

Dr. Erin Corriveau, deputy health officer for Wyandotte County, said she was grateful that businesses were sharing their experiences.

She also echoed that they hear the businesses and said they will take it back to Friday’s directors meeting.

They initially went to a 10 p.m. order to create a consistency around the metropolitan area, and the inconsistent area is Johnson County, she said.

“We’ve already reached out to them, and are having conversations with Johnson County as well,” she said. They will commit to continuing those conversations, she said.

They want to create some consistency in the community, she said.

Currently, those who are in their 20s and 30s make up the most COVID-19 cases in Wyandotte County, Dr. Corriveau said.

“Whereas it’s true that we don’t see many people dying or hospitalized in that age group, unfortunately it does just propagate the spread of the virus, and the virus is the real issue here,” Dr. Corriveau said. “We are still continuing to see severe illness and death from the virus. So we continue to worry about any cases that come up in our community, and are trying to tamp that down.”

The economic and mental health effects of the virus also are on their minds, and they will take this information back this week to their colleagues from other jurisdictions for a better look at it, Dr. Corriveau said.

Dr. Allen Greiner, Wyandotte County health officer, said they really appreciate the information.

They know it has had a devastating effect. He said they are trying to balance getting the community back to normal, against moving ahead with things that might be risky. They want to continue to balance things, he said. They would like to be like places in the world that have been able to return to business as usual, he added. They will work on it and encourage the metropolitan area to get back on the same page, he said.

Commissioner Burroughs said continued mask-wearing, social distancing and hand-washing will ensure that they can push back against the virus as much as possible.

Van Liew said the vaccines are the other part of the solution, and the UG has set up a site to give COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as they are possible.

The UG Committee meeting is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGu8Mt0Ipqk.

Waiting week waived for unemployment benefits in Kansas

The waiting week is being waived temporarily for unemployment benefits in Kansas, according to Gov. Laura Kelly.

Gov. Kelly on Monday announced a new executive order for temporary relief from the waiting week requirement.

“Kansans who have a lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19 cannot afford to wait a week to receive the unemployment benefits they need to make rent payments or feed their families,” Gov. Kelly said in a news release. “This executive order will be crucial in our state’s ongoing response to the pandemic and to ensuring unemployed Kansans can access their benefits as soon as possible.”

The “waiting week” is a required non-payable week that typically needs to be served on new benefit years. The executive order temporarily waives the waiting week requirement for all claimants. For states that have temporarily waived the waiting week requirement, Congress will federally fund 50% of the first week of compensable regular unemployment until March 14, 2021.

The order is currently in effect and remains in force until rescinded or until the current statewide State of Disaster emergency expires, whichever is earlier.

The executive order is online at https://governor.kansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/EO-20-71-Executed.pdf.

Some of the federal unemployment benefits expired on Saturday, but then were extended when the federal bill was signed Sunday. Earlier Monday, the Kansas Department of Labor stated on social media that it was awaiting guidance from the federal government regarding federal unemployment extensions, and it could not issue payments until the guidance was issued, and that could take up to two weeks.