PIEDMONT - Before Piedmont residents voted last month to become South Dakota's newest town, the owners of the town's Sawtooth Saloon transferred the bar's liquor license to their campground outside the city limits.

The maneuver could end up turning one liquor license into two licenses. That's because the Sawtooth Saloon will be eligible for a brand new, city-issued liquor license when the incorporation process is completed.

Meanwhile, the owners - brothers Brian, Rex and Kent Hagg - have put both the Sawtooth and their county liquor license up for sale, Kent Hagg confirmed last week.

However, he said, the decision to sell the Sawtooth is not related to Piedmont's incorporation.

The brothers, who practice law in Rapid City and are involved in land development in the Black Hills, don't have the time needed for the bar business, he said.

"We built it out really nice, made a significant investment," Hagg said. "But we don't have the time to commit to doing everything we'd like to do. … When your name is on something, you want to make sure it's done right. It needs an owner-operator."

The Sawtooth remains in business, serving beer and food. It offers live music on weekends. It still has a malt beverage permit, and video lottery.

In early 2006, the Hagg brothers bought the old Slash J Bar & Grill, a long-time local watering hole. They renamed it, remodeled it and expanded it into a large bar and restaurant with live music. They opened a rooftop beer garden and created a large covered area for motorcycle parking.

By August 2006, it was a full-blown Sturgis motorcycle rally venue, as well as a year-around bar and restaurant.

"We've had a very positive experience with Piedmont and its citizens. There's been strong support from the community … because of the cleanup work we've done," he said.

Piedmont, meanwhile, is in the center of the fast-growing Piedmont Valley along Interstate 90 between Sturgis and Rapid City. On Aug. 13, residents of Piedmont voted overwhelmingly to incorporate as a Class 3 municipality.

Meade County Auditor Lisa Schieffer said that if the Haggs had left the existing liquor license at the Sawtooth on election day, the license would have been automatically converted into a municipal liquor license. And it couldn't be transferred out of the city.

She said Piedmont voters will return to the polls Nov. 6 to elect a five-member board of trustees. After that - barring any runoff elections - the board could set up the city government and start issuing liquor licenses.

The process is similar - but with a much different outcome - to the incorporation of nearby Summerset back in 2006.

In Summerset, the owners of Rookies Sports Bar & Restaurant ended up losing their county liquor license on the day of the incorporation election.

They did get a city liquor license from Summerset, but the county license reverted back to the Meade County Commission. The commission sold the license to Sturgis rally entrepreneur Gary Lippold for a whopping $500,000.

Had the owners transferred the license before the election, that $500,000 could conceivably have been theirs.

Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com