Thirsty Perch renews push for liquor license

IOLA – Local establishment Thirsty Perch is renewing its push for a liquor license as a court appeal is ongoing.

Thirsty Perch is a bar and grill on Water Street, though for the past year the business has operated only as a restaurant after losing its liquor license. The Iola Village Board is expected to take action on the establishment’s new liquor license application at its upcoming meeting at 5:30 p.m. on June 9.

The business announced the new application on social media, urging community members to contact their village trustees and advocate for the establishment’s return. In the post, the owners stated that while their previous license dispute is “still stuck in the courts,” the new application year offers the village an opportunity to “reset.”

Thirsty Perch lost its Class B liquor license last June when the village board voted unanimously not to renew it following a public hearing. The business, which opened in 2017, is co-owned by Steven Steeber and Sherri Miller.

The board’s decision centered on Steeber’s criminal convictions, which included a guilty plea for resisting or obstructing an officer and false swearing on a license application, both misdemeanors.

The resisting conviction was tied to a Dec. 3, 2023, traffic stop and arrest. Body camera footage shown during last year’s hearing captured Steeber, who is a double amputee, initially refusing a deputy’s commands to exit the vehicle before the deputy pulled him to the ground.

At the time of the board’s consideration of the liquor license application last year, Steeber had only been convicted of resisting or obstructing an officer in connection with the Dec. 3 incident. About a month after the application was denied, court records show he pled guilty to traffic violations for operating left of center, reckless driving and disorderly conduct with a vehicle. A charge of operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration was dismissed.

Separately, at the time Steeber submitted last year’s liquor license application, he was facing a misdemeanor first-offense operating while intoxicated charge stemming from a March 19, 2023, incident. He was convicted of the charge in August 2025.

The false swearing charge pertains to a 2024 liquor license application for Thirsty Perch. According to a criminal complaint filed in August 2024, Steeber submitted two inaccurate applications that omitted his pending charges and citations before finally including the information on a third attempt.

In a June 2025 letter to Thirsty Perch, the village wrote that Steeber’s conviction for false swearing relates to the licensed activity “because the conviction related to falsifying his 2024-25 renewal application for a Beverage Operators License and other documentation he signed related to the Thirsty Perch’s 2024-25 Alcohol Beverage License renewal application.”

The village also wrote that Steeber’s conviction for resisting an officer relates “because it occurred while he was intoxicated, having recently left a licensed premise, and his behavior surrounding the offense showed an inability on his part to monitor his own consumption of alcohol, bringing into question his ability to monitor the consumption of others, which is an important duty of licensed servers.”

During the 2025 hearing, the village board offered a compromise to temporarily approve the liquor license if Miller agreed to remove Steeber from the limited liability company by Oct. 1, 2025. Miller refused the offer, telling a reporter she would not take away Steeber’s business after he had lost his legs.

The liquor license for Thirsty Perch expired on July 1, 2025. The business has remained open and continued serving food while filing a petition for judicial review. The Waupaca County Circuit Court upheld the village’s decision last August, finding the board’s actions were supported by evidence and were not arbitrary or unreasonable.

The decision and order by Judge Vicki Clussman states that a municipality issuing licenses may refuse to renew a license for cause and notes that state statute precludes individuals who have arrest or convictions records from being issued a liquor license.

Thirsty Perch and Steeber are now appealing that decision, arguing in legal filings that the village violated their constitutional due process rights by sending a notice on June 10, 2025, stating a motion to deny the license had “passed,” alleging that the village board effectively predetermined the outcome weeks before the public hearing took place.

According to village meeting minutes, the board voted June 10, 2025, not to renew Thirsty Perch’s liquor license and then notified the owners of their right to a public hearing. Following the June 26, 2025, public hearing, the board voted to uphold the nonrenewal decision.

The village maintains the nonrenewal was handled with full due process and that Steeber’s offenses are substantially related to the licensed activity of serving alcohol and judging the intoxication of others, according to legal documents.

The village held a working board meeting last week and went into closed session to discuss Thirsty Perch’s new application. Clerk Laura Krogwold said no vote was taken at the meeting.

Krogwold said the liquor license process is mandated by state law.

“The village board is obligated to follow and enforce state law,” she said. “They will do so at the June 9th village board meeting, where all liquor license applications will be handled.”

While Wisconsin law gives municipalities the discretion to deny a liquor license due to criminal convictions, Police Chief Paul Zierler said at the hearing last year that the village relied on local bartender license approval guidelines, which dictate that major alcohol-related crimes within the past decade result in “no license to be issued or nonrenewal.”

Following last week’s meeting, Thirsty Perch issued a lengthy statement on social media criticizing the village’s handling of the liquor license process.

According to the post, the village clerk cited two ordinance violations during the discussion. Thirsty Perch stated that one violation was later reduced and resolved with the payment of a fine and that owners were told it would not count against the business’s liquor license. The second violation involved a bartender who allegedly left a gate open on a Sunday, according to the post.

Thirsty Perch owners said in the post that there is no ordinance preventing them from reapplying, said paperwork errors should not disqualify them from operating the business and alleged inconsistent treatment compared with other local establishments. They also encouraged residents to contact village trustees in support of reopening the bar.