BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. -- The New York State Department of Health has issued an apology to a 7-year-old lemonade stand operator and are investigating why a woman who appeared to be a DOH inspector shut down his lemonade stand.

The young entrepreneur, Brendan Mulvaney, who was selling lemonade as well as water and Sno-cones at his home near the entry gates to the Saratoga County Fair, went out of business on Friday when a woman who didn't identify herself -- but was wearing a green Department of Health polo shirt -- told Brendan's parents that he couldn't operate his stand without a permit. If he did, she told his parents, they would be fined.

Spokeswoman Jill Montag said DOH is looking into the matter because the agency does not inspect children's lemonade stands.

"While we work to confirm the inspection was performed by DOH staff and the surrounding circumstances, we offer Brendan an apology for any inconvenience," Montag said. "We are working to better understand the situation but in the meantime want to assure the community that DOH does not issue permits for or oversee lemonade stands."

Who was the unidentified woman in the state DOH shirt who “shutdown” a child’s lemonade stand? https://t.co/9gQUkBUh0R via @TimesUnion — Lauren Stanforth (@TUcitydesk) July 30, 2018

The apology, issued just before 5 p.m. Sunday, was too late for Brendan because the fair was closing that night. The foot traffic the fair generates won't be back until next July. But Sean Mulvaney said his son will open back up for the Saratoga County Fairgrounds' garage sale on Aug. 18.

"If they can assure us they won't shut us down again, we will reopen," Brendan's father said.

On Sunday afternoon, before the apology was issued, Brendan's parents Sean and Jodi Mulvaney recalled the incident with the unidentified woman. Brendan's father said she came onto his lawn from Prospect Street and up onto their deck of the Fairgrounds Avenue home where his son was conducting his business.

"She didn't introduce herself, she didn't leave a card," Brendan's dad said. "She asked if we had a permit and I said 'no' and she told us we couldn't do it. Then she started taking pictures. She was rude."

Brendan, who has sold cold drinks off his family's porch for the last three years, was not happy.

"I was really mad," Brendan said.

He was disappointed too because he was saving money for a trip to Disney, a Facebook post from his father noted. He and his family also planned to donate some money to a family in need in the community. In years past, the money the family earned from fair parking and lemonade was donated to Shriner's Hospital and adopted a local family to provide them with gifts and food for Christmas.

"We are trying to teach our son good manners and to do something with himself," Sean Mulvaney said. "He wanted to make some money with a lemonade, we said sure. It's better than sitting in the house."

Jodi Mulvaney said Brendan served about 10 or 15 customers a day. The last two years, he charged 50 cents for a cool swig of the sweet summer drink, but because he increased his cup size, he boosted his price to 75 cents this year.

Before DOH clarified that it does not inspect lemonade stands, State Senator Jim Tedisco (R-Glenville) visited Brendan's shuttered business and vowed to fight on Brendan's behalf.

"When I was a kid, state bureaucrats didn't go around shutting down lemonade stands and threatening children and families with fines," Tedisco said in a statement. "These kids are trying to give people sweet lemonade and learn some important business skills but the overzealous state bureaucrats in the administration just keep giving taxpayers lemons."

Brendan's father was happy to know that DOH doesn't inspect children's lemonade stands. But is still baffled by why the unidentified woman said they needed a permit.

"It makes you wonder," Sean Mulvaney said. "Maybe she had a bad day. But this makes us feel a little bit better that they apologized."

-- Wendy Liberatore, Times Union, Albany, N.Y.