Meeting: Salem Licensing Board held Monday, November 22, 2010 at 6:00 pm in the third floor conference room, 120 Washington Street. Present were members: Robert St. Pierre, Chairman, Rick Lee and John Casey. Investigator Lt. Ouellette and Melissa Pagliaro, Clerk.
Hearings: Mr. St. Pierre said that we have a few Hearing that will be done first. He said that he is going to have Lt. Ouellette read from the reports and address the licensee.
Hearing: Lafayette Market, Lafayette Street. Present: Rahuo Bilodariya and Brakas Pariyar.
Mr. Bilodariya gave Lt. Ouellette as stack of fake ID’s that he ahs confiscate from his store.
Lt. Ouellette started by saying that this sting was a result of grant money given to the police department for educational purposes. He said that all of the following Hearings were a result of this. He said this sting was run in August by Salem Police.
He said the complaint against Lafayette market is a result of them selling a 40 oz beer to an underage person on August 6, 2010. He said the last violation this establishment had was on 2/13/2004, under a different owner.
Mr. Lee asked what the owners have done to curtail this problem and make sure this does not happen again.
Mr. Bilodariya apologized for this happening and said he welcomes any training the City or police department gets. He said that he has had a scanner since 2007. He said he was not the owner in 2004 when the other violation occurred. He said they have cameras in the store and they confiscate fake ID’s like the ones he gave to the Lt. He said he takes this very seriously and he said he is TIPS certified.
Mr. Lee said that the scanners are a good tool to help catch underage people.
Mr. Bilodariya said that the cashier that was on had just been hired and apologized again for this incident.
Mr. Lee said that the Board will issue a written warning and that if there are no further violations it will be removed from his file in one year. He said that if there are any other violations the consequences will be much more serious.
Mr. Lee motioned to approve.
Mr. Casey seconded.
Mr. St. Pierre said all in favor. Motion carries.
***Lt. Ouellette said on a side note he wanted to ask where they purchased their alcohol and cigarettes from.
Mr. Bilodariya said from Seaboard and Merrimack and his cigarettes from Polo. He said his soda and stuff is from BJ’s and Costco’s.
Lt. Ouellette reminded him that stores cannot buy from NH and sell the products here.
Mr. Bilodariya said he has 12 years experience and knows that is not allowed.
Mr. St. Pierre added that the philosophy behind the sting is for educational purposes and that is why the grants were given. He said these stings benefit all license holders.
Mr. Casey asked about the cost of the scanner.
Mr.Bilodariya said that they usually go for a couple of thousand dollars but he purchased his on Craig’s List.
Mr. Casey also just reminded him of the rule that no more than 20% of the windows may be covered. He said that is for all liquor stores in the City.
Hearing: In a Pig’s Eye, Derby Street. Present: Jenn Reardon and Sarah Corbett
Lt. Ouellette said this sting was part of the same grant. He said this sting took place on August 19, 2010. He said the complaint is for serving a person under 21. He said that this establishment ahs no prior violations.
Mr. Lee asked what has been done since this happened to make sure it does not happen again.
Ms. Reardon said that she immediately had a meeting with her employees to review the rules and make sure they are acting diligently and pay more attention.
Mr. Lee asked if she was there this particular night.
Ms. Reardon said she was not there but that Sarah was. She said it was busy and that it was an oversight on Sarah’s part. She said that it was a mistake and everyone knows how serious it was.
She said that their history shows their diligence.
Mr. Lee said the Board will issue a written warning to be placed in her file. He said that if there is nothing further that after one year it will be removed from her file. He said that if there are any other incidents the next punishment will be much stricter.
Mr. Lee motioned to approve.
Mr. Casey seconded.
Mr. St. Pierre said that all were in favor. Motion carries.
Hearing: The Lyceum, Church Street. Present: George Harrington and Richard Simanski.
Lt. Ouellette said this sting was part of the same grant. He said this incident occurred on August 19, 2010 and that the complaint is for serving to an underage person. He said that this establishment has no prior history.
Mr. Lee said the Board can’t stress the seriousness of these violations enough and the benefit of being given the grant money to do these stings. He said it helps everyone learn. He asked what has been done to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Mr. Harrington said that they normally don’t have many people on a Thursday night but behind the bar but they have increased the bar staff on Thursday night, He said that is the night it happened on and it was unusually busy.
Mr. Lee said the Board will issue a written warning to be placed in his file. He said that if there are n further incidents at the end of a year it will be removed from his file.
Mr. Lee motioned to approve.
Mr. Casey seconded.
Mr. St. Pierre said all were in favor. Motion carries.
Hearing: Green Land Café, Washington Street. Present: Paul Bolden.
Lt. Ouellette said again this was part of the same grant. He said this establishment has no prior history but noted they are a fairly new establishment. He said this incident also took place on August 19, 2010.
Mr. Lee said that he can’t stress the seriousness of this incident enough especially since they are a fairly new establishment. He said education about these issues is very important.
Mr. Casey asked what as been done since this incident to improve.
Mr. Bolden said that lots of meetings have been held with the staff. He said when this happened there was a bar back that was not trained and grabbed a drink to serve this customer because he thought he was helping during a busy time. He said everyone servers and bartenders are TIPS certified. He said that there have been numerous meeting and discussions about this incident.
Mr. Lee said that the Board will issue a written warning to be placed in his file for a period of one year. He said that is there are no other incidents at the end of a year the warning will be removed from his file.
Mr. Lee motioned to approve.
Mr. Casey seconded.
Mr. St. Pierre said all were in favor. Motion carries.
Approved: Two sub-licensees. Applicant: HEX. Present: Christian Day, owner
Mr. Day said that one of the applicants, Kyri, already reads at Omen and that the other, Gloria, is a renewal for HEX.
Mr. Casey asked if they have both read in the City before.
Mr. Day said they have.
Mr. Casey motioned to approve pending completion of the BOP’s.
Mr. Lee seconded.
Mr. St. Pierre said all were in favor. Motion carries.
Discussion: The Board called in several different licensees to get an update on their licenses.
*Grapevine:
Mr. Casey gave the Board a letter written by Ms. Fraser. She had a family emergency and could not make it. She said in her letter that she is renewing her license.
*Asahi: Did not show up.
*Waterfront: Will come back in January with plans.
*Exchange on Congress: Did not show up.
*Lafayette Grill: Did not show up
*Arthur Beradino the owner of the property at 75 Congress Street and the pledge of the Exchange license was present.
Mr. St. Pierre asked why the establishment was not open.
Lt. Ouellette said they have been opened and closed opened and closed for some time now.
Mr. Beradino said they are open.
Lt. Ouellette said that a licensee cannot close for periods of time without notifying anyone. He said that he has gone by numerous times and they have not been open.
Mr. St. Pierre said that is problematic.
Mr. Beradino said that he knows the license holder Ernest had been ill and they were closed for a bit. He said that he know Andre the son who runs it was having financial problems. He said that he has two new partners here tonight with him.
Mr. Casey said that no o ne knew anything about new partners in this business.
Mr. St. Pierre said that you cannot just bring in new partners that it has to be officially done.
Mr. Beradino introduced Ronald and Keith Pynn who are brothers from Medford.
Mr. Casey asked about their backgrounds in serving.
Ronald said he did not have any and Keith said he has worked at several restaurants as a doorman and a bartender.
Lt. Ouellette said at this time they have nothing to do with the management and Andrew Corben should be here.
Mr. Beradino said he is trying to work with them to hold this thing together.
Mr. St. Pierre said this conversation is pointless without the licensee here and that the Board will call him in for a Hearing in January.
Mr.Beradino said he will end up paying for all of this.
Mr. St. Pierre said he is not happy with this licensee.
Keith asked if there was a problem with their plan to serve pizza
Mr. Casey said that that is not what the Board approved.
Lt. Ouellette said they cannot close without the permission of the Board and this is the second time Mr. Corben has not shown up when he has been called in.
Mr. Lee voted to hold a Hearing on January 13, 2010.
Mr. Casey seconded.
Mr. St. Pierre said all were in favor. Motion carries.
*Mr.Beradino said that he is trying to resolve this.
Mr. Casey said that this has to be resolved because we are over quota in this City and if this license sits it will be taken away.
Approved: Vote of the Board to approve 2011 Liquor License renewals, Entertainment Licenses, Auto Dealers Licenses and Common Victuallers Licenses.
Mr. Casey motioned to approve
Mr. Lee seconded
Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries.
Approved: Vote of the Board to reduce 6 & 7 day liquor licenses by 25% at restaurants only as requested in a typed correspondence by Mayor Driscoll.
Mr. Casey motioned to approve.
Mr. Lee seconded
Mr. St. Pierre said that all are in favor. Motion carries.
Commun-
ications: *Letter from ABCC banning the sales of the drinks 808, Josse, Moon Shot and Four Loco.
Mr. Casey motioned to approve the ban of the sales of any of these drinks in Salem.
Mr. Lee seconded.
Mr. St. Pierre said that all are in favor. Motion carries.
Old/New
Business: NEW:
Mr. St. Pierre suggested that letter be sent out to Hamilton hall and House of Seven Gables regarding obtaining a One Day Liquor License.
Lt. Ouellette suggested tabling that until the December 13th meeting.
Mr. Lee motioned to approve
Mr. Casey seconded.
Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries.
NEW:
Lt. Ouellette suggested that a letter be mailed out to all of the liquor license holders in the City reminding them that by law, they must notify the Board if they are to close for any amount of time.
Mr. Casey motioned to approve sending out the letter.
Mr. Lee seconded.
Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries.
Public
Gallery: *Pat Schultz owner of Howling Wolf said he was going to close for Thanksgiving.
Mr. Casey said to just drop a note off to the Department.
Mr. Schultz said he had a seasonal liquor license and was wondering about the hours for his C/V.
Mr. St. Pierre said he can always come back to the Board.
*There were two men sitting in the gallery. Mr. St. Pierre asked if they were waiting for something. They said they are researching opening up a restaurant and just wanted to see how things work.
Mr. Casey said when they are ready the proper first step is to come to the LB.
Meeting minutes from November 8, 2010 meeting
Mr. Lee motioned to approve
Mr. Casey seconded. All in favor
Adjourn-
ment: Mr. Lee motioned to adjourn
Mr. Casey seconded. All in favor
Respectfully Submitted,
Melissa Pagliaro
Clerk of the Board
Submitted: December 2, 2010
Approved:
| 
