Montana Athletic Club's alcohol license suspended over violations

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office dispatched officers to the Montana Athletic Club in Bigfork on Thursday to ensure the business’ compliance with a 30-day suspension of its alcohol license.

A Helena judge has prohibited the sale of all alcoholic beverages on the club’s premises for 30 days and imposed a $1,000 fine following the club’s third violation of its license in three years.

According to Sheriff’s Deputy Travis Bruyer, the athletic club failed a compliance check conducted by the Sheriff’s Office last September when officers witnessed the business selling alcohol to a minor for a third time.

Montana Athletic Club Bigfork Owner Doug Mahlum said the club does not advertise the sale of alcohol and might sell between 50 and 60 beers a year.

Mahlum said the staff member who sold the drink to the minor during a “sting operation” likely had not sold a drink before in the years she’d worked there.

However, he said all staff members undergo alcohol training and the employee responsible received disciplinary action.

“It was just an unfortunate mistake on our part,” Mahlum said. “We definitely take responsibility for the actions that we did.”

Bruyer said the compliance checks occur countywide, and officers typically conduct them randomly or quarterly with each of the holders of the 300 licenses in the county, unless approached with a complaint.

In order to check a restaurant or business’ alcohol compliance, detectives will enlist the help of a minor who will, in turn, attempt to purchase alcohol using their real ID under the officer’s supervision. If the seller makes a transaction without carding the minor or by ignoring the age on the ID, officers will confront the merchant immediately and issue a citation.

With each citation, Bruyer said both the employee who sold the beverage and the business face a fine that goes up with each subsequent citation.

Three citations warrant the suspension of the establishment’s alcohol license and a hefty fine.

Bruyer said Mahlum and the staff at the Montana Athletic Club Bigfork have been compliant with the court order and with the Sheriff’s Office.

“We’ve had our beer license since we’ve been open for 20-some years,” Mahlum said. “We actually throw out more beer than we sell.”

Bruyer said the club keeps a small refrigerator behind the counter full of beer, and officers following up on the order will make sure the fridge has been emptied and remains empty for the remainder of the suspension.

“Really, for us, I’ll take the 16 beers that are in there and lock them up and hopefully they’ll still be good in a month,” Mahlum said.

Though the violation occurred on Sept. 12, 2018, Bruyer said a backlog of cases prevented the case from proceeding to a hearing until now.

The athletic club will regain its ability to sell wine and beer to patrons over the age of 21 on May 6, following the payment of the $1,000 fine.

“We want to support businesses as much as possible and provide information,” Bruyer said. “Our checks are done countywide, and it’s just one of the strategies we use in law enforcement to try and reduce that access.”

Bruyer said the rules and regulations pertaining to alcohol licenses can be viewed on the state Department of Revenue’s website as an investigative guide.

For more information on Montana’s alcoholic beverage licenses and laws, visit https://mtrevenue.gov/liquor-tobacco/.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.

This story has been updated to correct the name of the Montana Athletic Club in Bigfork.