Meeting: Salem Licensing Board held Monday, January 23, 2012 at 6:00 pm in the third floor conference room, 120 Washington Street. Present were members Robert St. Pierre, Chairman and John Casey, Rick Lee, Investigator for the Board, Peter Baglioni and Melissa Pagliaro, Clerk.
Continued: Application to renew a Store Fortunetelling License. Applicant: Witch’s Hide. Present: Deliela Bettencourt, owner and her attorney John Foley.
Ms. Bettencourt said the address is 190 Essex Street not 131.
Mr. Casey said they were going to continue this to the next meeting on February 13 until a site visit can be done.
Mr. St. Pierre said a visit could be done this week and it is just to make sure the 51% metaphysical requirement is met.
Ms. Bettencourt said that she is leaving tomorrow and will be out of the country.
Mr. St. Pierre told her she could contact Ms. Pagliaro to set up a time that is convenient for her.
Mr. Casey motioned to approve.
Mr. Lee seconded.
Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries.
Approved: Application for a Lodging House at 6 Monroe Street. (Current lodging house, new owner) Applicant: Roger Tyler from Essex, MA.
Mr. Casey asked for the black and white ad.
Mr. .Tyler said he will get it but he did not receive it. He gave Mr. Casey green cards, routing slip and the Cori for the file.
Mr. St. Pierre asked who would like to speak to this matter.
Councilor Sosnowski, Ward II Councilor said that he and a group of neighbors met with Mr. Tyler Saturday evening. He said they came to a voluntary agreement on a lot of matters. He said some of the issues brought to Mr., Tyler attention was the banging on doors and beeping of hors because there is no bell, copy of house rules, tenant list, etc.
Councilor Sosnowski said that Mr. Tyler agrees to put a buzzer in and that he would be having an office on the property. He said they also spoke about the possibility of turning it back into what it was originally zoned for and Mr. Tyler said possible in the future but not now.
He said that if Mr. Tyler is good to his words they all se this as a positive. He said the group does not want to adversarial. He said it is a good thing if there is a person to talk to or a person top call if there is an issue. He said he felt as thought there was a good spirit of cooperation between the new owner and the neighbors.
Joan Fix from 7 Monroe Street said that Mr. L’Heureux has owned and run this as a lodging house since 1959 and there have been ups and downs. She said they were pleases to meet Mr. Tyler and pleasantly surprised. She said she walked away with a good feeling.
Peter Atkinson lives at 362 Essex Street and said he did not attend the meeting. He said he is new to the area and would like to know the definition of rooming house if this is how it’s going to be run.
Mr. Casey said that this property has been licensed as such for a very long time. He said it is for an application for a new owner but the use is staying the same.
Charlotte Freeburg lives at 360 Essex Street. Her main concerns were that of parking. She said that there is not adequate parking there now and she does not see how Mr. Tyler would allow 5 cars on the premise because they would not fit.
Councilor Sosnowski said he would refer to the ordinance on parking for any of these lodging houses from now on.
Ms. Freeburg said the priority should be for parking at the library not the rooming house.
Mr. St. Pierre said at this time the public comments are closed.
Mr. Casey asked when Mr. Tyler would take possession, how much he paid and the average weekly rents.
Mr. Tyler said the end of February and that he paid 495,000 for the property and he rents run between 160 and 175 a week.
Mr. Casey said the LB will request a full inspection of all areas of the house with the LB, Health, Building and Fire before a license is issued.
Mr. Atkinson requested if he could ask one more question and Mr. St. Pierre allowed. Mr. Atkinson asked how many rooms there are.
Mr. Casey said 14 rooms.
Mr. Tyler said he wanted to clarify one thing. He said it sounded like he was going to be there in an office full time but he will not be. He said he will be there nights and weekends mostly working.
Councilor Sosnowski asked if any of the terms that were agreed to can be put on the license.
Mr. Casey said that listed as conditions on the license will be the following:
- Agent shall be available 24 hrs by phone and number must be posted.
- Notify LB, Police, Fire, BOH and Bldg Dept of number.
- Intercom system to be installed.
- License must be posted in a frame in the entry way with a register of occupants and a card system.
Mr. Casey motioned to approve.
Mr. Lee motioned to second.
Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries.
Continued: Until February 12, 2012.
Hearing for Rizzo’s Roast Beef and Pizza, 7 Paradise Road.
Discussion: 179 Boston Street, Lodging House. Present: Co-owners E. James Gaines and Paul Dacey who is also acting manager.
Mr. St. Pierre said the complaint was forwarded to the LB from Det. Peter Baglioni and he was going to turn the discussion over to him.
Det. Baglioni said that this is only a discussion and that he is bringing this to the LB attention now because there have been 2 deaths at the property in a month and 29 police calls over the last year. He said that the calls range from medical to domestic. He said that in one of the deaths the body was moved to another location in Salem and that 3 people are being summoned into District Court. He said he does want to make clear to the LB that the two gentleman before them had nothing to do or any knowledge of the body being moved. He also said that his contact at Lynn Court did confirm that 179 Boston Street is not on a list of sobers houses that the court refers people to. He said he also spoke to the State Regional Manager for the
Northeast, he also confirmed this address is not on a list for sober housing. He said he didn’t know how that story started or where it came from but this house is not a sober house. He did say that the man from the state said that because there is such of a backlog and a need for housing for people that sometimes these recovering addicts are given these addresses as a place to live. He said he did have a couple of questions:
- Both families were told this was a sober house. He would like to know how the families came to know that this was supposed to be a “sober house”?
Mr. Gaines said that it is not a sober house. He said that when they purchased the house two years ago it was a mess and they have done a lot to weed out the bad. He said they do have a rule that there is no alcohol or drug use on the premises. He said they also own a sober house in Amesbury and that is run as a full sober house but that 179 Boston Street is not a sober house. He said as far as the deaths go they had no knowledge of what was happening. He said they are aware it is an ongoing investigation. He said they will answer and be as helpful as they can.
Mr. St. Pierre said an issue is how did this come to be thought of as a “sober house”?
Det. Baglioni said that one of the parents of the deceased called and had a conversation and then called and spoke to me. He said that his step son was ordered into this house by the Lynn Drug Court.
Mr. St. Pierre confirmed that Det. Baglioni checked this out.
Det. Baglioni said that he did call Lynn court and the State and they both confirmed this is not listed as a sober house.
Mr. Casey asked about the nature of the 29 calls.
Det. Baglioni said some were domestic, some were medical and some were for noise and drinking.
Mr. Casey said the Globe reported that the information they got from Captain Tucker was 54 calls between 2010 and 2011.
Det. Baglioni said he went back one year and there were 29 calls.
Mr. Dacey said they bought this property on December 21, 2009 with tenants in it. He said they immediately began weeding out any one causing problems.
Mr. St. Pierre asked if he ever called the police himself.
Mr. Dacey said that he had. He said that most people in this type of housing have substance abuse issues. He said e carefully monitors them and verifies income. He agreed that there were two horrendous circumstances that resulted in death. He did say that only one of the men who passed was a resident. He said the other was a visitor.
Mr. Casey asked about what happened to the body of the visitor.
Mr. Gaines said that the re should not be a detailed discussion about that because there is still an ongoing investigation.
Mr. Casey asked about the other deceased man.
Mr. Dacey said that he was a resident of the property.
Mr. Lee said that he has major issues with all that has gone on recently. He said he is trying to be calm but he is just feeling that something is not right here. He asked how someone who was on a clear recovery path and going in a good direction end up deceased and then the owners say there are no drugs or alcohol permitted on the premises. He asked who’s watching and if there was supposedly supposed to be a manager there on premise.
Mr. Dacey said that recovering addicts are a diverse group of people and this will happen a even in a full staffed sober house.
Mr. Lee said he also does not understand why another City would be sending people to this City. He said there is something that is not right.
Mr. St. Pierre said the LB wants to be careful with who said what. He said that it was the parents of one of the men that said that Lynn Drug Court sent them to Salem.
Det. Baglioni asked Mr. Dacey if he has been to Lynn Drug Court.
Mr. Dacey said that he has and he has had men come from there but no one was “ordered” from there.
Det. Baglioni asked why then the parent of one of these men is being told they were ordered there by Lynn?
Mr. Dacey said he may have called it independent sober living.
Det. Baglioni asked if he called it a sober house or not.
Mr. Dacey said he did not that he called it a rooming house with no drinking.
Mr. St. Pierre asked if Mr. Dacey ever used the word sober house when speaking regarding 179 Boston Street.
Mr. Dacey said no. He said it is a rooming house with a no drinking and no drugging and a no criminal behavior policy. He also said that he wanted to state again that only one of the deceased men was a tenant there, not both of them.
Mr. St. Pierre asked if Mr. Dacey ever took people from the program in Lynn to live at 179.
Mr. Dacey said yes because he knew a lot of people there and if someone was in need of a place to go he would give them a chance.
Det. Baglioni said that he is trying to find out how it came to be that 179 was a sober house.
Mr. Dacey asked the Detective if he has been there. He said it says on the license it is a lodging house and that that is how it is being operated.
Det. Baglioni asked if Mr. Dacey would agree that he has friends in Lynn Court and that he had prompted the house as a drug and alcohol place to live.
Mr. Dacey said yes.
Mr. St. Pierre asked Mr. Dacey knew if anyone had ever been referred there.
Mr. Dacey said that the tenant who moved the body of his visitor was referred there by his own attorney.
Mr. Gaines said he would like to sums things up by saying that he has a building that they try to maintain a sober environment. He said that Paul is very active in the recovering community. He said that no one is forced to go there. He said that maybe if someone in court knows that someone needs a place someone might come and inquires but no one is forced or ordered. We say that we do not tolerate alcohol or drug use in our rules. He said he thought that would be desirable. The one gentleman that was a tenant could have possibly been told that Hilltop was a decent place to go. He said they have done nothing but try to foster a drug and alcohol free environment.
Mr. St. Pierre said that the problem is that maybe people are assuming that services that they need will be provided and that need is not being met.
Mr. Dacey said that he has referred people to this place or that place.
Mr. St. Pierre said it sound like the two men are contradicting each other.
Mr. Casey said that from here forward he suggests that the only term they use to describe themselves is a lodging house, period.
Mr. Dacey said that then puts them in the same boat they started in.
Mr. Casey said that they are confusing tenants.
Mr. Gaines said they are not because they never told anyone that it was a sober house.
Mr. Lee asked who controls the no alcohol policy.
Mr. Dacey said he is the manager.
Mr. St. Pierre said that is commendable that they have tried to control that. He said the LB is thinking of possible conditions on the license.
Ms. Rennard said that the LB can call them back at the next meeting fore a Hearing.
Mr. Casey said he would like to see them reviewed every 60 days.
Mr. Gaines said that he will be out of town but that Paul would be here. He said he did not mean to be argumentative and that they were only trying to make it a better situation there than it was.
Commun-
ications: NONE
Old/New:
Business: NONE
Approved: Minutes from 1/9/2012 meeting.
Mr. Lee motioned to approve.
Mr. Casey seconded.
Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries.
Adjourn-
ment: Mr. Lee motioned to adjourn.
Mr. Casey seconded.
Respectfully Submitted,
Melissa Pagliaro
Clerk of the Board
Submitted: January 24, 2012
Approved:
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