A resolution by the Silver Bay City Council to purchase a new truck for the Silver Bay Fire Department failed this week because one councilor voted against the measure - citing the council's vote last month to remove Bent Paddle Brewing Co. products from the city liquor store as a reason.

Councilor Carlene Perfetto voted no on the measure to purchase the pumper/tender, saying it was because of the council's March decision to remove Bent Paddle products from the Silver Bay Municipal Liquor Store and Lounge because of the Duluth brewery's membership in a coalition opposed to copper mining in the region. Perfetto also cited what she said was the council's micromanagement of department heads, specifically liquor store manager Tom Byrnes.

The fire truck measure failed despite a majority of the council voting for it; a policy established last year requires a unanimous council vote on any resolution regarding the fire department. That's because three of the five council members - Shane Hoff, Richard DeRosier and Dustin Goutermont - serve with the fire department.

Hoff, DeRosier and Goutermont all voted to remove Bent Paddle products from the liquor store.

"It is not the council's job to micromanage the department managers, that's (the city administrator's) job," Perfetto said.

Perfetto went on to say that she considered the council's Bent Paddle decision the most extreme effort to interfere with the operations of a city department she's seen during her 12 years as a councilor. Perfetto said she also objected to the council ignoring the unanimous vote of the Silver Bay Liquor Control Commission, which had supported keeping Bent Paddle products in place and leaving it up to consumers to decide what they want or don't want to buy.

Perfetto also said that if the council reverses course on its Bent Paddle decision, she would vote for the truck purchase. She supports the purchase of the truck, she said - but couldn't vote for it because of the council's recent actions.

In a written statement Saturday, Hoff said he was "very disappointed that one councilor would hold the local fire department hostage over a totally unrelated vote that didn’t go their way. The responsibility of all councilors is to vote for what the people of the community want and in this case it was more of a personal vendetta than serving the public."

Purchasing the $213,000, 2,000-gallon pumper tender required the council to have a reading of the purchase resolution and then a vote at a separate meeting. Instead of waiting for the next scheduled council meeting, they met Monday to approve the payments so the truck order could be placed sooner.

Silver Bay included funding for the pumper purchase in its annual budget, and the council called the special Monday meeting in hopes of ensuring that the truck would be delivered yet this year.

On Friday, Perfetto contended the new pumper wasn't a critical acquisition.

"According to what I've gotten from the city, it is just simply an opportunity to replace an older piece of equipment," she told the News Tribune. "I would never jeopardize my town's safety. ...

"I spent 24 years in public safety service. I'm not stupid. I know what equipment is. I know what it does. I know what's needed. And while this would be very nice, because anything new would be, it is not like they're not going to be able to put out a fire without it. That's the opinion that I got from some higher-ups than me," Perfetto said.

Hoff said that the department's current tender is still usable, but "is reaching the end of its useful life and reliability will become an issue.

"We were planning on replacing it before that happens in a critical situation," he said Saturday. "The new unit would be a pumper tender (as opposed to just a tender), giving it added flexibility when firefighting."

After receiving a strongly worded email from a Silver Bay resident unhappy about Bent Paddle's membership in the Downstream Business Coalition, the Silver Bay City Council voted 3-2 on March 7 to remove all Bent Paddle products from the municipal liquor store's shelves. The coalition is a group of 68 businesses opposed to proposed copper mining projects in Northeastern Minnesota, including the PolyMet project near Hoyt Lakes. They say mine waste could damage the environment and cause such economic harm that it would outweigh the benefit of new mining jobs.

The city liquor commission recommended the city leave such a decision up to consumers, saying that the liquor store manager decides what to stock on the basis of sales; if a drop in sales warranted removal of Bent Paddle products, it would be done for economic, not political, reasons. The commission also noted that even though Bent Paddle has been removed from a number of liquor stores on the Iron Range, those were privately owned - not municipal - operations.

At a March 21 meeting, after the council had faced criticism for its Bent Paddle vote, Hoff said the council's action was for economic reasons, not political, and that sales of Bent Paddle at the city liquor store had averaged $245 per month - or about 0.3 percent of the total sales.

"There was also a risk of a boycott" of the store and lounge if Bent Paddle remained on the shelves, Hoff said at the time. Revenue from the lounge and store helps pay for the city's parks and recreation projects, and "when we are talking $245 in monthly sales, all it would take is a few people to boycott the lounge to negate that sale" and potentially reduce money for parks.

Peter Passi of the News Tribune contributed to this report.