Pierce County commissioners granted Joseph Goldade, owner of Larry’s Bar, Selz, a license to operate after Goldade agreed to meet requirements for hiring, health and safety.

Goldade presented the board of commissioners with reports indicating the bar had passed inspections by the state health department and fire marshal.

“Those deficiencies (noted in previous inspections) have been corrected,” Pierce County Sheriff Josh Siegler said of the latest inspections by both agencies. “The only concern I have going forward is with staffing.

“Joe,” Siegler said, “we talked about this before. You said it’s only going to be you (working at the bar) when you get a license.”

Siegler referred to former bar employees he said had not been properly background checked to work at the bar, where deputies arrested a man and woman Nov. 24 on drug charges. Deputies found the pair had also been living at the bar.

“One of the big things with the state’s attorney is, you want to know who your staff was so you could check their backgrounds and things like that. I never got that information (about employees who would work at the bar),” Siegler added. “When we spoke last week, you said once your license gets reinstated, you were going to try (operating the bar) yourself for awhile. I don’t know how long it’s feasible to run a business like that. You’re going to need help, right?” Siegler asked.

Goldade said he would operate the bar himself and he would reduce the hours the bar was open to 12 to 7 p.m.

Goldade, 84, assumed ownership of the bar after his son, Larry, died in October 2021. The arrests there brought to light issues with a deed transferring ownership to Larry Goldade from the bar’s previous owner several years earlier.

Goldade told the commission his attorney, Jerry Freuh, was in the process of getting the bar’s deed transferred to Goldade’s name. County Auditor-Treasurer Karin Fursather said the process should take “three to four months.”

Siegler and the commissioners said they had “no problems” with Goldade running the bar. However, Siegler added, “Don’t spread yourself too thin, Joe.”

“We had a meeting with townships today and we had five or six people there from Selz,” Commission Chair Dave Migler said. “None of them want that bar to close. But they agreed to the reasons why we closed it. I’m in favor of you opening it up, but if something happens again, it’s going to be harder (to open the bar) a second time.”

“I just don’t want to be in the same spot again. You want to make sure you’ve got good people working for you, Joe. I don’t want anyone to take advantage of you, okay?” Siegler said.

Siegler said law enforcement would “do some spot checks” at the bar once or twice a month.