Council erases $1k of unpaid city bills at bowling alley

By Anna Jauhola
After months of varied discussions, an incomplete Hallock City Council made a decision on how to assist on an overdue bill.
Last year, after Stacy’s Kitchen closed, the owner of the bowling alley was left with multiple bills, including overdue city utilities. Johnson Oil Co. owns the building and had been renting it to the restaurant owner, Stacy Koble. Todd Johnson approached the city, according to Councilor Kevin Waller, and asked if the city could help relieve some of the burden.
“There were times that utilities were shut off or needed to be shut off,” Waller said.
“Twice,” interjected Mayor Dave Treumer.
“Yeah, they were taken care of and turned back on. The city decided our stance is that we don’t want to be in the business of putting businesses out of business. And we worked with Stacy’s Kitchen.”
He noted others worked with the business as well, but in the end it was a losing battle. There is a city ordinance that states if a renter incurs overdue utilities, the owner of the property is liable for those. Waller argued that the city kind of put the owner in this position by trying to keep a business going.
The bill accrued by Stacy’s Kitchen for city utilities alone is over $7,000, which include water, sewer and gas. The council wasn’t entirely sure if it was $7,200 or $7,800.
Waller suggested the city waive a percentage of the total amount and originally moved to waive 15%. The council discussed waiving the late fees of $580 and the unpaid sewer bill of $341. If the council waived those two fees at $941, that’s approximately an 11% reduction.

To read the whole story, see the March 11, 2026, edition of the Kittson County Enterprise