Laure Doering has agreed to stay on as South Haven Municipal Liquor Store manager, but she’ll spend less time working in the smokey bar. Doering submitted her resignation last month because of a smoke allergy, but she withdrew it at a special city council meeting Monday, Nov. 22, when she and council members agreed to adjust her work hours. The council recognized that it will also have to look into making changes to the building to protect the health of other employees. Doering, who has managed the municipal liquor store and bar for 10 years, submitted a letter of resignation Nov. 10. “Due to health reasons, I will no longer be able to continue to work in the smokey environment,” she wrote. The resignation was effective Jan. 1. Mayor Gene Edwards asked her to reconsider, and she withdrew the resignation at the meeting. Doering said she’s been working from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., then returning a couple of times at night, six days a week. The air is a lot better in the morning and the smoke gets heaviest about 2 p.m. when more customers arrive. She proposed to eliminate the smokiest part of the day and work from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., checking back for brief periods later. She’ll also spend some of her hours working away from the bar, either in the city administrator’s office in the city hall or at her home. Doering has been working a shift behind the bar, but the council told her not to do that any more and to hire additional bartenders. “If your health is at stake, you cannot work that bartender shift,” council member Tony Stanley said. Doering agreed to hire at least two more part-time bartenders and as many as four. A couple of air filtration systems installed in the bar earlier have probably helped, Doering said. “I’m just becoming more sensitive to it,” she said, noting it’s taken 10 years for the allergy to reach its peak. “This is going to happen to all of them” Doering said of other workers. “Even if it’s better than it was, it’s not good enough,” said council member Sandy Swanson. “To me we have to do something with that because otherwise we’re going to have health issues with everybody.” Doering said a furnace technician has told her a new ventilation system costing $4,000 to $5,000 is needed. But Swanson wondered whether the building is worth putting that much money into it. Stanley said the city shouldn’t spend anything on the building until it’s clear whether the state Legislature is going to ban smoking in bars. Doering added that a bill was introduced in the Legislature last year that proposed to limit liquor sales at municipal stores, but it didn’t pass. Council member Marilyn Gordon doubted that will happen because of political pressure against it, including the League of Minnesota Cities.
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