COOS BAY — Mak’s Old City Hall Lounge is getting at least a temporary reprieve in its battle to keep its liquor license.

An administrative law judge previously recommended the Oregon Liquor Control Commission cancel the license due to serious and persistent problems at the bar. But those plans are on hold after the local OLCC inspector discovered an audio recording of a meeting with Mak’s licensees that he thought had been lost.

A bar employee said the tape may have comments suggesting an OLCC inspector didn’t want a night club in the area.

The OLCC will probably ask for more time at its Aug. 20 meeting so the law judge can review the recording, said Christie Scott, an OLCC spokeswoman.

“Staff feels it is the right thing to do to open the record,” Scott said.

The recording is from an intervention meeting between OLCC Inspector Gary Francis, former Coos Bay police Chief Eura Washburn, police Capt. Gary McCullough and Mak’s licensees on Dec. 28, 2007.

Mak’s had sought to get a copy of the recording from the OLCC, but was told it had been lost, said Jericho Clark, a cook at Mak’s and husband of licensee Melanie Clark.

Following media inquires, Francis re-examined his computer files Thursday and discovered a downloaded copy of the recording, said Scott.

“He remembered that when he had transferred it to a CD, he put it on his computer,” she said.

Clark said he was glad to hear the recording was found because there may be comments that could help Mak’s case.

The most serious charge against the night club is the number of times police have responded to alcohol-related calls. Coos Bay police have documented more than 85 responses to Mak’s and the surrounding area in the past year, more than all other Coos Bay bars combined.

But those numbers are deceptive, Clark said. Many calls involved minor disturbances outside the bar, and by the time police showed up, the bar’s security had resolved the problem. He estimated there have been about 10 calls regarding problems caused inside the bar since it opened.

“Something’s going to happen every now and then, but I think we do a pretty good job,” he said. “Nobody has told me they didn’t feel safe here.”

Capt. Cal Mitts of Coos Bay Police Department said bar owners are just as responsible for acts outside the bar as those happening inside. They have a responsibility in serving alcohol to make sure their patrons aren’t served  so much that their behavior results in crime.

“I have seen what it is like in there,” he said. “They are alarming problems. Serious and persistent problems.”

Clark said the owners have taken steps to ensure a safe environment.

Anyone who causes a problem at Mak’s is barred for life, and the owners hired an EMT to help determine when patrons have had enough to drink.

Clark said there are more than 30 people who are on the no-enter list, including a minor who used her older sister’s ID to get in and buy a drink. Police showed up and found the under-age girl. The OLCC has listed the violation as part of its case against Mak’s. The older sister isn’t allowed in the bar either.

“Everyone did everything in their power to make it a safe environment,” he said.

Clark’s already making plans to leave the area because of the problems Mak’s has had with the police. He noted that no one from Mak’s attended the City Council meeting July 7 when the council recommended denial of its license because the only point to the meeting seemed to be to besmirch their reputation.

“The law judge already made his decision,” Clark said. “That meeting was just to deface my wife and her friends.”