Health officials struggle with enforcement of epidemic orders

Video Footage:

Royal Scot Bowling Alley Walkthrough, Dec. 11

Royal Scot Bowling Alley Walkthrough, Dec. 12

The holiday spirit was in full swing over the weekend at Royal Scot Golf & Bowl.

The bowling alley lanes were running. There was laughter and mirth. Attendees chomped on food served up in plastic trays while slurping from white styrofoam cups.

Other than seeing the occasional face mask, one could be forgiven for forgetting about the pandemic inside the alley.

Mid-Michigan District Health Department Officer Marcus Cheatham has not forgotten about it. He’s just limited on what he can do about Royal Scot, 4722 W Grand River Ave., just inside Clinton County.

He said he is trying to strike a balance between cracking down on businesses that are “actively spreading disease” during a pandemic and weighing the financial concerns that drive those businesses to ignore state health orders.

“People think I can just go in and chain their doors shut,” he said. “I can’t.”

Cheatham said he has been struggling in recent weeks to garner compliance from Royal Scot, among others. Since last month, it has been warned, issued cease-and-desist orders from state and county officials and had its liquor licenses suspended.

Still, the building has been alive with activity. City Pulse recorded video on Friday and Saturday that shows ongoing violations of the epidemic orders that Royal Scot has already been accused of violating. The only order it appeared to follow this weekend was its liquor license suspension.

The footage was just days after Michigan reached the grim milestone of 10,000 COVID-19 deaths and the nation moved closer to 300,000 deaths — a mark it hit by Monday afternoon.

Staff eventually asked two City Pulse reporters to leave the building on Saturday afternoon while crowds with Stand Up Michigan’s “Refuse to Obey” tour circled in on the bowling alley.

A spokeswoman for the Michigan Liquor Control Commission identified Todd and Adam Kwiecien as owners of Mr. K Enterprises LLC, which is doing business as Royal Scot. A man who identified himself as “Mr. Kwiecien” declined to comment on the scene on Saturday.

Attorney David Kallman, which represents Royal Scot, also didn’t return calls this week.

Cheatham recognizes that Royal Scot has continued to flout public health orders, ultimately contributing to the “tragic” spread of COVID-19 in Clinton County. He also tried to reframe the debate with some additional empathy for businesses struggling to survive amid the pandemic.

“We’ve faced such intense hostility from a portion of the population that it has been difficult to do anything meaningful to stop COVID from spreading,” Cheaham explained last week in an email to City Pulse. “The places we are talking about are not just businesses struggling to survive, who we want to help. These places are actively spreading disease to other people.”

State records show that Mr. K Enterprises received a Payroll Protection Plan loan of between $350,000 and $1 million on April 15, allowing the business to retain 93 jobs. Those records also show that the business had between $1.68 million and $4.8 million in payroll expenses last year.

On Tuesday, Todd Kwiecien, represented by Kallman, agreed to settle a complaint brought against it by the Liquor Control Commission on Dec. 4. The agreement extends a 45-day suspension of its liquor license and includes $1,500 in fines related to violations of state orders.

That suspension could begin this week, but the business still stands defiant of cease-and-desist orders from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, which closed its indoor dining on Dec. 1 and then ordered the business to cease all food operations on Dec. 7.

Failure to comply with either order is a misdemeanor punishable by 90 days in jail and fines of up to $2,500. Royal Scot requested a hearing related to those orders. It hasn’t been scheduled.

The Michigan Public Health Act empowers Cheatham to shutter businesses and other locations that are deemed a threat to public health. The pandemic, however, has blurred the boundaries.

With political pushback against governmental actions to slow the spread of the disease, Cheatham finds himself walking a tightrope between enforcing the laws and protecting his staff from harassment and, potentially, violence should those efforts meet continued pushback.

“To go forward with a local order, we need the support of a judge, of law enforcement and we all need to be willing to risk having our lives disrupted and families threatened,” Cheatham added.

Renee Canady, CEO of Michigan Public Health Institute, contends that public health officials — like Cheatham — still have an ethical and legal obligation to take action against a business that is “actively spreading disease,” regardless of any fear of retribution for enforcing those rules.

Clinton County Sheriff Lawrence Jerue said on Monday that his office, in consultation with the Clinton County Prosecutor’s Office, was waiting to take action against Royal Scot while the state agencies — including MLCC, MDARD and MDHHS — follow-through with their “civil remedies.”

“It’s very fluid and seems to change from order to order,” Jerue said of the state mandates. “We’d certainly proceed with criminal violations if that is tested through the court.”