AI-generated transcript of Medford Liquor License Commission 01-15-25

[Robert Delafano]: This is the city of mid fed license commission meeting, uh, for January 15th, 2025. And it is 1 0 5 PM. Can everybody hear me?

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: I can hear you. Okay.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay, we have an agenda to follow here. First, we're going to go a little out of order with the agenda because we have a lot of minutes to approve. I'd like to review and approve those after the meeting as well as I'd like to take the representative from Mary Queen of Peace Parishes for the one-day application. That's you, okay. Elena.

[SPEAKER_04]: Hello, thank you so much.

[Robert Delafano]: You're welcome. How are you today, Elena?

[SPEAKER_04]: I'm doing wonderful. Excited for the new year.

[Robert Delafano]: Good. Very good. We all are. Hopefully it'll be just as good, if not better, as the last one.

[SPEAKER_04]: I think so. I have good feelings about it.

[Robert Delafano]: Good. Okay. You're here to apply for a one day license. Would you be able to tell us a little about that, please?

[SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely. So this is the same event that we ran last year. It's, it was, I shouldn't say to my surprise, but to my surprise, very successful speed dating event. Basically it's rather simple event where people just come together and then they, everyone's in like a circle and then they rotate and they see if they like each other. And then after the speed dating, they get a little, There's like, it's kind of like an open time to just like mix and mingle with a little music and some drinks. And that's really it. It's pretty simple. And it's on a Saturday. It's in the afternoon. So it's not really late, late at night. And it's been great for us. So we're doing it again. Good.

[Robert Delafano]: So it worked out pretty good last year for you.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, we still have some couples dating.

[Robert Delafano]: That's terrific.

[SPEAKER_04]: We're pretty thrilled about it.

[Unidentified]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_04]: It's Father Shen's dream is to like have everyone marry each other from the church. So it's great.

[Robert Delafano]: Awesome. Okay. I'm just trying to pull that up here.

[SPEAKER_04]: And then you'll see on the second page, Emily is one of our members who plans this event. I just support her with like anything like this. So the bar will just be placed in front of the kitchen. There's like a commercial kitchen type thing in there. And so she'll just have one little table where she puts like some beers out or stuff like that.

[Robert Delafano]: All right, very good. And Tammy, we have insurance on file with them.

[SPEAKER_04]: We are waiting for that COI for that day. I'm almost positive. Okay. Father hooked them again this morning, the insurance company that we use, but we should have it by the end of the week. So I'm on top of them about it. Hopefully we get it right away. We have a finance person left. So we don't have a finance person right now. So Father Hines is like dueling as also the financial coordinator. So things were a little slower than usual.

[Robert Delafano]: Got you. OK. I mean, I looked it over, it looks okay to me. There were no issues last year, so my fellow commissioners, if you have any comments or would like to speak about it. No, I agree.

[Allan Martorana]: I mean, it's the same event. I really enjoyed the diagram they put right into the second page. Yeah, I think that was the first.

[Alvaro Sandoval]: She's so cute.

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah. So that gives us a good idea. And we've seen them on pizza boxes. We've seen them on paper bags. So that works for me.

[SPEAKER_04]: I couldn't find it. I was looking everywhere for it. And then I realized she put it in the document. Funny. But it's pretty good. Looks accurate.

[Allan Martorana]: Mr. Chairman, if you don't mind, I'd like to make a motion to move this off the table.

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah, just if you want to include it with receiving the insurance.

[Allan Martorana]: Sure, sure. Okay, so I motion to accept the one-day license for the event called Speed Dating to be held on February 1st of this year from 3.30 to 10 p.m. conditioned upon receiving the liability insurance binder.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: I'll second that.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. All those opposed? Hearing and seeing none, the ayes have it. Your one day license is granted. Congratulations, Elena. I hope it's as successful as last year.

[SPEAKER_04]: Me too. Thank you guys so much. Really appreciate it. Good luck. Take care.

[Allan Martorana]: Really, is that wrong? No, no, that's fine. I'm good.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay, next item on the agenda. Let's see, representative from Arts Collaborative Medford, do we have someone here?

[Unidentified]: That's me.

[Robert Delafano]: All right, ready? Hi. Say, Regina?

[XXXXXX00103_SPEAKER_01]: That's me.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay, Regina looks like we have three applications for one day licenses.

[XXXXXX00103_SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[Robert Delafano]: If you'd like to just tell us a little bit about them.

[XXXXXX00103_SPEAKER_01]: Sure thing. So we have been doing workshops and different performances in the space. So the first one is so that we can hold a crafting and cinema night. So people come in, they'll buy a craft from us, or they'll craft on what they want to, and we might just be able to serve some wine that evening, and we'll watch a fun movie. That's on February 6th, which is a weekday evening. Do you want me to go on to the next one, or do you want to talk on one by one?

[Robert Delafano]: No, we can do them all together if you like.

[XXXXXX00103_SPEAKER_01]: So then the next one is a blues jam. It's something that we're starting up here. It was something that closed down when the porch closed down. And so the person who was running it at the porch is now running it here. It's actually Hendrik. I have him in the background. And so we just want to, again, be able to have a simple cash bar at that event. And that's very similar to the third one, which is live concerts that Hendrik does. There's a featured performer and it'll just be a simple cash bar.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay, and the buyer is going to be in the same place at all three events?

[XXXXXX00103_SPEAKER_01]: Same place at all three events. We always do it on one side of our gallery.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay, and do you have insurance on file with us?

[XXXXXX00103_SPEAKER_01]: Yes, Daria should have it.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay.

[XXXXXX00103_SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[Robert Delafano]: All right. Daria, you have their insurance on file? Okay, great. Yeah, I looked over. The, the 3 applications, my fellow commissioners, if anything that you had noticed or seen on it that you may have question, I noticed that. You applied for all alcohol, which is fine. You're a nonprofit. That's not an issue and. Other than the insurance, you know, I'm sure we have it on file where Darius says we did. It's fine with me. You guys?

[Allan Martorana]: Will it be all alcohol? Or just beer and wine?

[XXXXXX00103_SPEAKER_01]: Honestly, it's probably going to be wine and beer. I haven't touched other alcohol.

[Allan Martorana]: Okay. Darius is curious. Yeah. Yeah, and I appreciate the professional design on the 3rd page. That's very good. You can see how the door is swinging. What direction then you appreciate that you do.

[XXXXXX00103_SPEAKER_01]: Thanks.

[Allan Martorana]: It's the architectural drawing of our building. I think you're muted. So, I don't have the questions. Yeah, that's fine.

[Robert Delafano]: The three of them. We can lump them all together if you want to do them all at once.

[Allan Martorana]: That's fine. I motion to approve the three one-day license requests to be held on February 6th, February 9th, and February 20th for ACM, the Arts Collaborative in Medford, for their fundraising event. You want to second that, Ben?

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I'll second it.

[Robert Delafano]: All righty. We have a second. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Hearing and seeing none, the ayes have it. You're all set.

[XXXXXX00103_SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much. Can I ask one question? I don't want to take up too much time, but Hendrick actually has his own nonprofit, but it just lives here. So going forward, is it easier that all of the applications come through me because it's where it's happening, or should some of them, the ones that he's holding, come from him now?

[Robert Delafano]: Well, it may be advantageous for you to, if you can do it either way is fine, but you're only allowed 30 per year.

[Unidentified]: Okay.

[Robert Delafano]: So maybe if you start, you know, splitting them up and things like that, just so you don't go over the 30, you know, it's at your facility, but if he's running the event, you know, either way, it should be fine, you know, as long as there's insurance for it. If he's going to put it under his name, he'll have to have the insurance and stuff like that as well.

[XXXXXX00103_SPEAKER_01]: Okay. Okay. That's, that was my question. Thank you guys so much.

[Robert Delafano]: All right. Good luck.

[XXXXXX00103_SPEAKER_01]: Have a great rest of your day.

[Robert Delafano]: You too. Should be a little louder now. Okay, let's see what's next on the agenda. And I took care of that. Okay, we have a representative from El Tacuba presenting for an entertainment license for your establishment on 35 Salem Street in Medford. Alvaro, how are you? You can take your red thing off mute, Alvaro.

[Alvaro Sandoval]: There we go. How are you? Hi everyone. Hi, how are you? Good. Thanks.

[Robert Delafano]: Uh, it's good. Let me get this turned up even more. Yeah. Okay. Um, tell us what you're doing Elvaro. You got an application for a, uh, entertainment license. What are your plans?

[Alvaro Sandoval]: Well, it's just for the, um, for the music that we play at the restaurant. the TVs that they already in place. And just in case if we ever gonna have maybe a mariachi one night, who knows? I don't know.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay. So it's just a basic entertainment license mostly for the TVs. And it also covers if you want to do a mariachi or...

[Alvaro Sandoval]: Sing along or whatever you want to do. We're going to do it. Yeah.

[Allan Martorana]: OK. Barbara, how many TVs? It just says TVs at the bottom.

[Alvaro Sandoval]: There's two TVs in the back.

[Allan Martorana]: OK.

[Robert Delafano]: OK. And yeah, you can have up to 10 devices. So you can have a stereo system or whatever as well. It looks like everything's in order as far as all the inspections that had to be signed off. I don't have an issue with this. Everything looks good to me. My fellow commissioners, I'm sure you've had a chance to look over the application. If you'd like to comment.

[Allan Martorana]: No, no, I thank them for waiting to get everybody to sign off on this. It's easier to approve it rather than having to make a condition. We've got to go chase after another inspection. So I'm good with this. OK.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Ben? Yeah, me too. It looks like it's been getting it signed off since October. And yeah, you did all the work. And it sounds fine. And you're below the threshold anyway. So no issues at all.

[Robert Delafano]: OK, great. OK, if one of you gentlemen would like to make the motion.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I can do it. Okay, so I'm going to make a motion to approve the application for entertainment license for El Tecuba, Hosina and Tequila Bar, manager on record Alvaro Sandoval, based on the approvals of all of our city departments that were seen in this application.

[Allan Martorana]: Very good. Thank you. Alan, would you second it? Yeah, I'll second that motion.

[Robert Delafano]: All right. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Hearing and seeing none. Ayes have it. Motion's been passed. Alvaro, good luck with your entertainment.

[Allan Martorana]: Thank you. That's all.

[Robert Delafano]: There you go.

[Alvaro Sandoval]: Okay. Thank you all. Take care.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay, next on the agenda, we have, uh, do we have a representative from ocean state job lot? No, next month. Okay. This has been going on a few months, right? Yeah. Okay. Um, so do we just table this next till next month? Okay. We don't need to make a motion for that. Do we? No. Okay.

[Allan Martorana]: That was a change in managing, right?

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah.

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah. Yeah. No. Next month. Okay.

[Robert Delafano]: And we did Queen Mary already. All right, and it looks like Main Street Liquors is up next. Okay, do we have representatives from Main Street Liquors? Okay. What we're going to do at this point is start the hearing for Main Street Liquors and Let me back up just a little bit. Yeah. The public hearing for the Sydney and Medford Liquor License Commission for January 15th, 2025 will come to order. Time is at 1.23. Today, January 15th, 2025 at 123 PM, the Medford Liquor License Commission will hold a hearing pursuant to Mass General Law 13823 to discuss the alcoholic beverages license 00021-PK-0680395 Main Street, Medford. Before I review the procedural matters, I'd like to introduce the members of the Medford License Commission. My name is Robert Dallifano. I'm the Chair of the City of Medford License Commission. I'm joined by my fellow commissioners, Alan Moderana, along with Ben O'Sullivan Pierce and License Commission Secretary Daria Tiara. Also present, our Medford Police Officer is Medford Police Officer Smith. who is a sworn agent of the Medford Liquor License Commission. The procedural matters for this hearing are as follows. The chair will read the January 8th, 2025 hand-delivered notice to appear before this commission for the record. Next, I will ask who is present. on behalf of the Medford Police Department, and who is present on behalf of the licensee, and whether there are any other individuals with firsthand knowledge of the alleged to testify, and I will then swear in all parties. The first of the four allegations in the police report will be read into the record by Medford Police, who may also present any evidence pertaining to the alleged violation at that time. Following the Medford Police, the licensee or their representative will have the opportunity to make a brief statement, followed by any other individuals with firsthand knowledge of the alleged to testify. The commissioners and chair will then have the opportunity to ask questions. We'll then move on to the second, third, and fourth alleged violations following the same format as the first alleged violations. All testimony will be limited only to those individuals with firsthand personal knowledge of the alleged incident. The four separate incidents are all for the sale of alcoholic beverages to persons under 21 years of age, a violation of Mass General Law 138, section 34. Are there any questions regarding the procedural matters? Okay. I'm going to read the January 8th, 2025 hand-delivered notice to appear before this commission for the record. This is to Main Street Liquors, attention. Nirmala Devi, manager on record, 395 Main Street, Medford. Regarding alcoholic beverage license 00021PK0680, the 395 Main Street, Medford. Dear Nirmala Devi, on January 15th, 2025 at 1.15 PM, the Medford Liquor License Commission will hold a hearing pursuant to Mass General Law 13823 to discuss your alcoholic beverages license 00021PK0680 at 395 Main Street, Medford. The hearing will be held. in the Howard Alden Memorial Chamber's second floor, Medford City Hall, 85 George B. Hassett Drive. The hearing will concern the report submitted to the commission by the Medford Police Department, copies of which are enclosed regarding alleged sales of alcohol to minors. You may attend this hearing and be presented by counsel at your own expense if you wish. These allegations, if proven, may constitute a violation of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 138.34, furnishing an alcoholic beverage to a person under 21 years of age. These allegations, if proven, would constitute grounds for disciplinary action, including a written warning, suspension, or revocation of your license. If you have any questions, please contact this office. Sincerely, Robert Dallapano, Liquor License Commission Chairman. This is a document that you folks received. I just wanted to read it into the record. Officer Smith, are you presenting on behalf of the Medford Police Department? Okay, and who is going to be speaking on behalf of? On behalf of 395 Main Street. Are all four going to be speaking? Yes, okay. Is there anyone else that's going to be speaking? Do you have a lawyer or clerks or anybody else? No, okay. Alrighty, all parties please raise your right hand. You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Very good, thank you. Officer Smith, would you be able to read the first allegation? Sure, that's fine. You could just speak up so everybody could hear. Want me to turn my thing so I can?

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah. Let's see if I can get you in a picture here. Oh, he's already in there.

[Robert Delafano]: Oh, he is? Yeah. Okay.

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah, I think it's, oh, okay. How's that? Okay.

[SPEAKER_09]: Go ahead, we'll try it.

[Patrick Smith]: For the record, my name is Patrick Smith. I'm a police officer in the city of Medford, also a liquor agent for the City of Medford Liquor Licensing Commission. I wrote a report inside the report that was a juvenile to protect the identity of the juvenile, that juvenile's name, and identifying information will not be provided. It's on file at my police department, but for legal purposes, I can't release that information because it involves a juvenile. Let's see, on December 8th, oh, December 9th, 2024, I spoke with Officer Robin Pascantelli of the Medford Police Department in regards to Medford High School students purchasing liquor from Main Street Liquor Mart located at 395 Main Street in Medford. Should be noted that Officer Pascantelli is a school resource officer assigned to Medford High School. Officer Pascantelli had direct contact with students that informed him Main Street Liquor Mart sold liquor to persons under the age of 21. I spoke to Lieutenant Lockowitz regarding this matter, spoke to Captain Cabino, and Captain Cabino authorized Port Town to conduct a separate investigation. Due to scheduling conflicts and implementing weather, my investigation was delayed several weeks. On Friday, January 3rd, 2025, I traveled to Main Street, Lickomah to observe how business was being conducted. I wore a full Medford police uniform. It's the same uniform that I'm wearing in today. I operated an unmarked Medford police vehicle, and I parked directly next to the MMA studio that is adjacent to Main Street, Lickomah. I began my observations approximately at 7.45 p.m. and we'll go into the first allegation. At approximately 8.10 p.m., an observer would appear to be a young individual entering Main Street Liquor Mart. Based on the individual's physical characteristics, I believe the individual to be approximately 18 years of age. Several minutes after entering Main Street Liquor Mart, the individual exited the business carrying an 18-pack of Bud Light Lime and an 8-pack of Neutral Vodka Seltzer. The individual proceeded to walk south on Main Street towards William Street. At that time, I drove the unmarked vehicle onto William Street, and I exited the vehicle. I approached this individual and asked them how old they were, and they responded that they were 17 years old. I recognize this individual from a previous liquor investigation, and know this individual to be 17 years old. I asked the 17-year-old how he was able to purchase the alcohol, and he informed me that he utilized a fake New Hampshire driver's license. Upon seeing the New Hampshire driver's license, I determined that it was, in fact, fraudulent. It was abnormally thick, and the overall quality was poor. This is the same exact fake ID that the person used during that previous investigation. I explained to him, or I explained to the juvenile that I would be seizing the fake ID, and that I would be seizing the alcohol, and that I would be following up with his parents. This is the second time in two months that I've observed this juvenile purchasing the liquor through his fraudulent driver's license. A criminal complaint was sought against the juvenile in Cambridge Juvenile Court for minorization of alcohol and procuring alcoholic beverages by false representation. The criminal charge of procuring alcohol beverages by false representation is for the juvenile using a fraudulent prevention driver's license to purchase the alcohol. If the commission would like to see the ID that the person used, it's the same one that they used back in the day. So a little follow-up for him. Since then, in the last two weeks, I've gone to everyone else's house twice.

[Alvaro Sandoval]: I've met with their parents twice.

[Patrick Smith]: I've met with him and explained the ramifications. We had a good conversation. I said that the last time in November, but this time there is pending criminal charges in court for this. I told them that the next time it'll be another level. Like I said in the previous meetings, this was the second step for us. And then Officer Gascantilli was the school resource officer that was made responsible for this specific problem. So that's the extent of the first application.

[SPEAKER_09]: Okay, great. Thank you. Do you want me to step back? Yes, we'll give the For the folks from Trinidad, I appreciate the opportunity to speak at this time.

[Allan Martorana]: Good afternoon. My name is Satish Kumar. I was working on the data and the guy came to me and they showed me their IDs, usually like a chip. I'm not using that chip all the time. We send them back. So on that day, unfortunately, I don't have the scanner. So after that, we actually bought the scanner on the same day. Now we have it. Everybody's ID, everything. Scan it. But they were standing there, they don't know, so we already spoke to the office, they said like if they try to say some things, you can give it back, just don't keep it, don't create a scene or something. So on that day, the guy, the officer mentioned, he's like 17 or something. I have a lot of guys that came in the same time, he make me panic, like, oh, I have a way, this and that, this is totally my mistake, I apologize for that, I apologize to the officer too. When he came, he was like, there was a way to the police, And they were like showing the IDs to me, they're holding the hands. Same thing at other offices, like you have to hold the ID, you have to check, you have to go through it. Now when we, the testing scene had happened on that day with me. So those people came in and after that now, like the same thing. It's not like even the scanner we have it, so we don't know. You don't do, like, on the scanner, the scanners are like, on the scanner, there's a message right there. There's another screen, basically. So when the message is there, you have to face-to-face. You have to see how their eyes are reacting, how they're reacting. So that's what we do. The incident that happened on that day was like, he, the guy, confused me so much. I don't know who spoke, but the guy explained a lot. gentleman was there I tell him like I did a big mistake on that day because like he was panning. I really apologize for that. It's not personal because I have someone's image so I feel sorry. Have you ever seen him before?

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: No, this is the first time I've seen him.

[Allan Martorana]: This is the first time this individual ever came? Yeah, he does trust me. Thank you. And so it's the first time or something in New Hampshire?

[Unidentified]: License?

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah, I usually refuse most of them. It's like, I tell them actually I can take them. And then the new scanner arrived on the 5th and is that installed? Yeah, it's already published. Here's just one quick second. Yeah, but that's the way he's speaking. Okay. Okay.

[Robert Delafano]: It'll be all right. Yeah, it is. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Sorry. A little technical difficulties here.

[Allan Martorana]: Do we have any questions for Mr. Lam on the first alleged violation.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Just so just so I'm hearing it correctly. So somebody had one lottery at the same time. Now it's the distracting. That was the distraction you're talking about.

[Allan Martorana]: yeah actually he was he came in before so he gave me the login ticket and the same i have like three four people in the line same time okay so i checked their id just like they pulled out their wallet they just like show me like this i checked the a's everything then and they they was like wearing the booties on the inside even usually somebody come in, I usually tell them like, please, please take your hoodies off. This is your inside out. It's okay. But on that day, he was he gave me the lottery and then he said like, okay, he's like, he would like those things. Because he bring like a bunch of tickets with him. Okay, but

[Robert Delafano]: Okay.

[Unidentified]: Yeah. No.

[Allan Martorana]: Okay.

[Robert Delafano]: All righty. Officer Smith, would you care to read the second alleged violation, please?

[Patrick Smith]: So the first violation is the 810. This is at 8.40 p.m. Once again, I'm wearing my full uniform. I'm sitting in an unmarked car, again, in front of the next part of the studio, the next floor. I observe a young male enter Main Street Liquor Mart based on the male's physical characteristics. I believe him to be approximately 18 years of age. Several minutes after entering, he exited the business carrying a 12-pack of Poor's Light, And in that eight pack of sun and pressure iced tea vodka, he then proceeded to walk towards Wareham Street. I then drove on to Wareham Street, exited my unmarked vehicle, approached him, and I asked him how old he was. He stated that he was 19 years of age. I asked him how he was able to purchase the alcohol, and he stated he had a fake Massachusetts driver's license, which allowed him to buy the alcohol. He handed me the fake the fake ID, I told him the ID will be seized, the alcohol will be seized. And that body was positively identified as Joseph Mangone. He is 19 years of age. And due to this being the first offense with me and the liquor agents, he was let off. I thought we had a positive interaction. We apologize for the incident. The commission would like to see his fake ID. Yeah, it's just an alias.

[Unidentified]: Thank you. And let me input.

[Patrick Smith]: specifically goes on that idea of wall frames.

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah, non-existent. Yeah, it is non-existent.

[Patrick Smith]: That's right. It's certainly not the worst I've ever seen. It's bad. It is bad. But it's certainly not the worst I've seen. Yeah. Yeah, you see, with the real ones, it should be able to fit.

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah, the hologram is like, it's dense. Yeah, I kind of agree, not the worst, I mean, but, you look at it, it's bad.

[Patrick Smith]: It's bad when you look at it, you have a little one right beside it. Yeah, that's it. And then you can't hold these on a regular basis. Yeah, it's just bad.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Right, regular mists.

[Patrick Smith]: So as alcohol was seized, it's a lot too thick, I think it was seized. we had a good possible decision. Hopefully, we won't have them again. Right. Second violation.

[Robert Delafano]: Thank you. Is there anybody from 395 Main Street that would care to comment on the second violation?

[SPEAKER_05]: Hi, my name is Chetan Ratan, and I'm replying as Mr. Lekharnam. What I want to show you is the fighting. It looks like a real, so we are a little bit confused for that. Most of the time, me and my brother were there, but on that day, my brother was only there. So we were a little confused for that. Raj shows the video like that way, not giving his hand. So we never saw this kind of fighting. So we are in this business for almost 14 years. And we apologize for that mistake. And now we've got a scanner, so we're going to take my commitment that I'll be single-minded.

[Robert Delafano]: OK, can I ask you a question? Did you receive the scanner? Yes. And you have been using it? Yes. And has it been pretty accurate?

[SPEAKER_05]: Are you getting good results? We check like a different way, not like, just to be not stuck on the scanner only, but we also check this personally, like the picture, the match face, eyes, so the site will make sure that they're real.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay, and I'd like to ask you another question. Have the employees been TIP certified?

[SPEAKER_05]: Yes.

[Robert Delafano]: They have? Yes. Okay, so you know that accepting any type of out-of-state ID and driver's license is not accepted. North record. Because I believe the first one was an out-of-statement. Okay, I just wanted to ask you that.

[Allan Martorana]: Question, did you say he's never seen a license like that?

[SPEAKER_05]: Is that what you were saying? Like a message or something? Yeah. It looked like a savior. I never saw this guy in it. And also show me, let's see, you can see that particular things in the license, the color, and the paper, and the logo inside. So now we are very careful for that.

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah. And you know, when you look at that particular license, it just looks like a problem.

[SPEAKER_05]: Yes, it's a problem.

[Allan Martorana]: Should, you know, they, whoever looked at it, should have, Red Flag should have not seen hundreds and hundreds of the railroads. Yeah. Okay.

[Robert Delafano]: Gary, you might have to let me back in.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Well, I think what we're all thinking is, it seems unlikely we'd never have seen an ID like that, being a fake Massachusetts ID.

[SPEAKER_05]: Yes, sir, but like, I do not recognize this kind of body, like, look like, because my brother is holding his hand, because he go like that. Hopefully, maybe holding hand, then we can see that, but like, you know what I'm saying? Like, no idea. Do you wear a tip or not, Nick? No, from that time, no.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: And you're, you know, being TIP certified helps you identify Yes, in the proper way to check IDs.

[Allan Martorana]: And when you talk, what did you say? I was preoccupied, I didn't notice, I was distracted, I was, what was, why? As they say, slip by the rule, you might have had a curve.

[SPEAKER_05]: It's like my brother-in-law is a strategist, so like the lottery guy and the guy, so that's why he doesn't see the idea from the background that I'm more technically late. Okay. But we apologize for that. Yeah, yeah, we understand.

[Allan Martorana]: I don't have any other questions, Mr. Chairman. OK. Very good. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Officer Smith, would you like to read the third alleged violation?

[Patrick Smith]: With the commission's permission, I'd like to kind of combine three and four. The two bodies went in together. I think that's important in the stories that I received from Baltimore.

[Unidentified]: Yeah.

[Patrick Smith]: So that second violation was at 8.40 p.m. This is now... At that time, I observed two young males in a mainstream lick-a-mat, based on both males' physical characteristics. I believe the males to be approximately 18 years of age. Several minutes after entering, we had Stanley come out. One of the males exited the business carrying a 24-pack of blight. He proceeded to walk towards Wareham Street. He went, he exited the store by himself. The other person was still up at the counter. What I didn't want to happen is somebody get in a car, drive away, or, you know, then just split up. I knew that person was young, so I wanted to make contact with that body first. So I drove on to Wareham Street, I exited the vehicle, approached the man, asked him how old he was. He told me that he was 20. He produced a real driver's license that identified him as Nicholas Pascarella. He is 20 years old. I asked him, initially I asked him how he was able to purchase the alcohol, and he told me that he used a fake Massachusetts driver's license, which I have right here. Let me show the connection.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: He explained to me that he used that to make the purchase.

[Patrick Smith]: So I told him that the alcohol and the fake ID were seized. This was our first interaction. So he was let go with a warning. I stood with him in the car. He anticipated his friend to return. His friend did not return because he saw me talking to his buddy. And he crossed the street. So then I looked for him. I went around the corner, saw him. I motioned that maybe we had a conversation. He was able to purchase a 12-pack of Pacifica beer. He admitted to making the purchase, and then he actually hid it in the entryway of 399 Main Street, which is rampant towards Queensland. He retrieved the alcohol, came back over. I asked him how he was able to make the purchase. He said that he was never ID'd. And so I explained to him that there's obviously video cameras inside of Evercool, and so I'm going to be going back in. I want honesty. And he goes, oh, no, absolutely not. I was never an ID to make the purchase. It was at that time, Mr. Pastorelli, he was the first person to find it, and then I said it was flawed. He goes, oh, I was never caught either. I said, you just gave me a fake ID. He goes, oh, I have a fake ID, but I didn't use it to make the purchase. I said, okay. I go, guys, this video, it's going to be on video whether you used IDs or not. I'd like to be honest with you. And both of them were at a no time where they asked for ID and provided ID to make the purchase. So the second problem, one with the Pacific Opia, his name was Liam Creamer. He is 19 years old. I was able to possibly ID him with this real ID. And it was Mr. Kramer's first interaction with the local liquorades and he had no history with them. So he once again was let off the morning. They were all seized that Mr. Pasquarello's fake ID was taken. So at that time, I concluded. I said, I've been out there for about an hour and 15 minutes. I have four people under 21, I'm done going to the store. I'm going to the summary of that, but I just want to be specific on the third or fourth violations. I was able to review the video of the purchase. At no time did they produce an IP. They go up to the counter, they put the beer on the counter, it gets scanned, they take a debit card or a credit card out of their wallet, They put it in the transact, I don't know which card. They're able to make the purchase of the credit card, debit card, take the alcohol, they walk out. No time to make, they produce it. So Mr. Brown and Mr. President, while we watched the I.D., he explained to me that he observed the same thing that I observed. I showed it to Mr. Kumar as well. Mr. Kumar was upset by this. He explained that he always checks IDs, and this is where the lottery comes in. So there was a gentleman that was there before, he had a bunch of lottery slips. He did the lottery, he was going through the slips, and then these two kids, they're not kids, but the 21 and 19-year-old were right after him. So that was the distraction aspect. He said he was distracted by the person on the lottery slips and he must have forgotten to ask for the purchase. So that's basically the extent of three and four. I wanted to combine them as they are. Before I went to the summary, all that alcohol that was seized, I believe six cases of alcohol, that was brought back to the Bethel Police Station, that was thrown in the trash, and the fake IDs are gonna be destroyed. That's the conclusion of this area and the criminal area. I'll go into the summary after.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: The lottery thing was actually, when you looked on camera, it was for the two kids at the end.

[Patrick Smith]: Two kids at the end. Who didn't produce the IDs. Correct. I did not watch the videos for the first two interactions. Both of them were flat. They told me we used our fake IDs to make the purchases. I didn't watch the video on that because they were adamant that they used their fake IDs. I watched it for three and four because it's a question whether the IDs were used or not. The 20-year-old that I interviewed said, absolutely not. I was never ID'd. I went inside. Mr. Kumar said, I have to see everybody. And we had to speak to him. So I wanted to see the video for three and four. And in fact, while viewing it, three and four would never produce an ID. They walked out and made their purchase. They walked out. Yeah. Okay. All right. As far as moving to window watch.

[Allan Martorana]: Okay. Yeah. So if I'm looking at the time to afford fractions from 10 past 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. is that sound right?

[Patrick Smith]: That's correct. And I have 810, 840, and then, uh, three and four together. They're at nine o'clock. So four, four or 50 minutes. Okay, great. Yeah.

[Allan Martorana]: Thank you, Officer Smith. Thank you. Yeah. Is there a 50-minute distraction? Yeah. Okay.

[Robert Delafano]: Is there someone from 395 Main Street that would like to comment on what Officer Smith has just read on alleged violations three and four?

[Patrick Smith]: Yes, sir.

[Allan Martorana]: I'm just like the officer said, like, we must check the videos for those kids came in. Yeah. So as the fake IDs. Yeah. That's what I mentioned before, he was like showing his ID, like in the hand stuff. The first and second one? The second.

[Robert Delafano]: The second one.

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah. Okay. And usually, not usually, I'm sorry. When officer was with Lieutenant, they went upstairs to check the cameras. Yes. After that, I have one came in. He had the same mass ID. We already discussed about it before. We checked this and that. He just gave me the ID and I was checking it. This is a fake. And I was holding the OSS fake ID and he just snatched it and just ran off. So I went back to the office and I tell him like it happened again with me, like someone tried to like buy a phone or the same thing.

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah, but you didn't settle on any alcohol?

[Allan Martorana]: No, after that I just like, as soon as I just, I want to keep the eye on him, even if they were upstairs. Yeah. So when I try to show them, he's just like snatching.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay, very good. Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to speak? On anything, on all of four? alleged violations. Okay, Officer Smith. I'm sorry. I could you please state your name and address for the record?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, my name is Priscilla. Okay. Yeah, I'm just like I say, I'm apologizing whatever happened. I'm like, I have a 17 year old too, so it shouldn't be happening like that. We have been working with them for 13 years. It never happened. We have said we are not selling anything. I don't know how. It was a bad luck or whatever. It's not once, it's three times a day. I don't know what to say. We just take precautions. We bought a safety scanner. We're still getting those people, but refusing and rechecking the license, not even like the scanner, it shows like you have to check his eyes, whatever it says, it will fall in the data. It was unflashable.

[Allan Martorana]: It is concerning. I mean, just in 50 minutes, it's four fractions. I mean, and that's one point in time. So, you know, you're right, was it just an off day, it went off, or do the kids, these young kids know, let's go here? They don't even ask for a license. So, as I said, it is concerning.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, I understand, like, even though, like, two months ago, we got a certificate, I don't know what time, we were just, like, overconfident, you know, getting those tickets or whatever, they started becoming, certainly, I don't know what happened.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: yeah, they're targeting your store to come to. I mean, think about it, you know, I mean, let's just say, yeah, but it's not, I mean, just to speak like, like what everybody else is thinking, here's, I mean, store resource officer says, people, kids are dying. Officer, you know, he goes out on one random night. In 15 minutes, he gets three kids. And then 15 minutes later, another kid, you know, comes in to buy. I mean, so what do you think it looks like? You know, you bought the scanner, you're doing the right thing now, but obviously it looks bad and it looks like you guys would just, you'd rather get money, get paid for this and not do it right, not, you know, check ID, not actually be responsible. So that's what it looks like. I'm speaking for myself, but that's what it looks like, I'm sure. Anybody watching this feels, most people feel the same way.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if there's something to say.

[Robert Delafano]: We understand your story. You know, that's a little too late right now, only because I agree with my fellow commissioner. You know, you're in this business to make a living and to make money, but you can't do it at the expense of possibly someone else's life. These kids could take that alcohol, drive a vehicle, kill not only themselves, but kill innocent parties, innocent families, my family, your family. You know, then it's too late and it isn't worth the money. And this commission really really frowns on this. I mean, this is serious. And that's why we're having this hearing. We want to get you outside of it. You are showing that you did purchase the scanner, which is going to take care of a little bit of this problem. Obviously, we'll take all of this information under advisement. after the officer reads the summary, and we'll go from there.

[Allan Martorana]: No, I agree. I mean, just once you start saying no, and you start carding, the word gets out, and that's it. We move on to somewhere else, and we'll take action somewhere else. But yeah, the chairman's right. I mean, have these kids, got away, got into trouble or hurt somebody, killed somebody, they'll come for your corporation and your business. So not that you don't already know. Thank you. Thank you, Nancy, for saying we will take it under advisement. Thank you.

[Robert Delafano]: Is there anyone else that would like to speak? on behalf of the school at the lake and we will give you an opportunity to speak as well after the officer reads the summary of the report and officer smith would you like to read the summary

[Patrick Smith]: Just to go back to what Mr. Kumar said, while we were watching the video on the third and fourth violations, myself and Mr. Bradley, Mr. Kumar didn't come upstairs and explain to me that another person under 21 came in with a fake ID to make a purchase and that sale was denied while I was upstairs watching the video. So, sorry. So after we have these violations, it's been, like you said, four violations or four people under 21 in 50 minutes. I said, I have to do something about this. I'm going into the store. We've got to address this immediately. Yeah, I mean, basically, you can summarize it, too, if you like. Sure. I'll give you the summary of it. That's for you. So after I'm brain-forgone, I head to the store. Mr. Kumar is present. He's right by the counter. I identified myself and gave him a full summary of what I had just watched. Mr. Kumar was very apologetic to my findings. He explained to me that he always asked for an ID, and that he wasn't aware. I showed him the fake IDs, and he apologized. I asked him who the manager was, I mean, who the owner was. He told me the owner of the business was Mr. Paul Ratner. So I'm out there having a conversation with Mr. Kumar, and a second employee comes over to me from the back row, and that probably identifies himself as Mr. Paul Ratton. And so I asked him if he was the owner, and he told me no. So after some back and forth, I found out that Mr. Kumar and Mr. Ratton are brother and wife, and that their wives are actually the owners of the business. So I explained to them that I needed to speak to the owner and reschedule the meeting. I also gave a full summary to Mr. Rad. I explained everything that I observed. I showed them my IDs. We pulled out our own mass IDs and looked at them and everybody agreed that they were all fake. So Mr. Pasquarello, Mr. Rad, even though Mr. Pasquarello never used his ID, Mr. Mangone's ID was a fake. That time Mr. Rad brought me upstairs. We looked at the video, sort of bring it forward. certified on the property. So I scheduled a meeting for the next day, and I returned on the 4th. I met with Ms. Debbie, and sorry, I forget your name. I apologize, I have it here. Ms. Latta, Mr. Rat, Mr. Pumak. We all met the following day. I explained the full investigation, what transpired the night prior. I learned that as long as they have children that are just under 20 mile, they were very upset by the findings. I learned that there was no scanner or no way to verify the IDs on property at the time, and that they had ordered a scanner. and that it was due to arrive the following day. I thought our overall conversation was positive. They were upset by my findings, and they expressed great concern, and they wanted to do better. And I thought that was a great step. I didn't recommend buying a scanner, but they went out and did that before I even arrived the following day. I thought that was positive. When I brought the notice to appear, I actually saw the scanner in action. It was somebody who was younger in age that came in. I observed, I was another employee, I observed him, I asked for ID, he looked at the ID, put it in the scanner, came back, and a sale was made. So I was very happy to see that the scanner was in place and working. I believe I went on the 8th to serve that notice. So by the 8th, up and operational, and I observed it, it was working at that time. Essentially, the summary, I didn't pass on my report to Officer Pascotillo, who's the school resource officer. He has been an asset for almost for this commission. He told us about the previous one. This is direct knowledge coming from high school students at Bethel High School. He's becoming aware of it. He's now telling me, and then I show up on a random night and observe business being conducted. That night in particular, these are obvious to me. I deal with these people on the 21 all the time, so I know what a person on the 21 looks like. That night, I didn't approach anybody else. They were obvious to me that they were on the 21. Same with the last investigation. These are obvious to me. They look young. They're not private. They're wearing sweatpants, sweatshirts. They've got their lanyards hanging out of their pockets. These do not look like, they don't have beards. They're not older. They look like kids, and I refer to them as kids even though they're 18, 19, 20, 16, 17. That's essentially my summary. Thank you. Well, great job with this, Officer Smith.

[Robert Delafano]: I appreciate the work and the authenticity of this.

[Unidentified]: Thank you.

[Robert Delafano]: Great. Anybody from 395 Mansfield, are you here?

[Allan Martorana]: I'm still here.

[SPEAKER_05]: What happened to the store, that's so bad. And we apologize for that. And we are in this business for 14 years. And the city sends so many times to check us and for the inspection, to sell the underage. And we never fail. You check your records. And we have a kid, 21, like 20 years old. We know how bad it is to sell the underage people. And I know that every day, three teens die from drinking and driving. I know these things. So how is it possible we sell these things? What purpose? We formalized all that. This is a mistake, but we will be next time very careful to check every single point of the ID. Most of the time, me and my brother were there, so we know that auto check the ID, so it will never happen again. We apologize for that, so please give us a break this time, and we will now give you a copy for regarding the address. And we will now accept the auto state IDs. Right.

[Robert Delafano]: Were you TIP certified? Yes. That's something you should know. Yes. You know, it's, it's, there's no excuse for it. And, you know, it's kind of right now when this seemed to be a little bit out of control, especially where it was going around in high school, that that was the place to buy. You know, it's, it's, it's telling us that this has been going on for a little while. And you're saying that this, you'll assure us this will never happen again. I'm giving you warning today. If it does happen again, and you come before this commission, you've got a chance of us revoking your license permanently. So keep that in mind. That's the most severe penalty. And so that's just something to keep in mind, and something for all your employees to keep in mind, because as you know, liquor license in the city is worth a lot of money for a liquor store. And if your license gets revoked, that's not only going to cost you your business, it's going to cost you, and you've got to sell that license to your mom and yourself. So this is very, very important, and it's such a strong that we're giving you because it's such an important thing. You know, I served on the fire department for 30-some odd years, and I've seen what Alcoa does. It's impressive, as well as Officer Smith. And it's not a pretty sight. And, you know, you just... This is why we just try to keep the handle on this. We find it very serious. And I felt as though I had to give you a full warning just for it. So there won't be a next time. I understand, sir. You seem very remorseful, which we take into consideration as well. Thank you, sir.

[Allan Martorana]: We're going to discuss this. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Unidentified]: Yeah.

[Allan Martorana]: We're going to discuss this before any kind of a wanting disorder, anything. We're going to talk about this. Because there's some stuff in here that I'm wrestling with. So, OK. Yeah.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I think just so it's more clear, what I'm saying is that it could be your business. But that doesn't mean that there's no consequence for this time. So just saying no, that doesn't mean that there's not any consequence. That's something we need to deliberate about for that, just so there's no, like it's not unclear.

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah. Ken, do you want to kind of explain what happens from this point forward?

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah. Everybody that's here today that was one Is everybody all set? Anybody else wanna speak? Okay, so what I'm going to do is I'm going to recommend that this commission takes this matter under advisement and you'll be notified with that decision. What we do with this point is the three commission is only meet privately. We discuss all of our notes that we took here today. We have the police report. We have your testimony. And we take it all into consideration. And we will decide what, if any, penalties were to be. What I'd like to do is have you folks back at our next monthly meeting. You'll know before then on what our outcome was in this and we plan to just discuss it with you and make sure that you understand everything that we put in into the decision on what the what, if any, the punishment is going to be. So I make a motion for this commission to take this matter for advisement. If one of you folks would like to second it. Yeah.

[Allan Martorana]: All right.

[Robert Delafano]: Motion's been made. The matter is going to be taken under advisement. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Hearing and seeing none, the ayes have it. We'll let you folks know. Thank you. Thank you.

[Allan Martorana]: Thank you for coming together.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay, we can get back to the regular business of the monthly meeting at this point. Officer Smith, you're all set to go if you want.

[Allan Martorana]: I mean, you're all welcome to hang out. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you, everyone. Thanks. Is that Ms. Dingman? We're looking at the next item on the end. Yeah. And then we get around. All right. I put this thing to stop talking.

[Robert Delafano]: I put a lot of new. Okay. Let's see if that works. That works. I'm looking back for mine, but that's just. Okay, cool. Yeah. I couldn't, I couldn't shut it off. Yeah. I even muted it. Finally, I just closed the lid.

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah, no, it made sense. But anyways. Okay. So we have minutes from July 12th to November 26th. Is that what I'm saying? Yes. Or am I messing something up? Okay.

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah, you got seven months, I think, right? Seven. Okay. I was, uh, eight. I was trying to stitch together all the, uh, Terry, you were killing it.

[Daria Tejera]: I mean, you would just like multiple times in the same model. Yeah. Yes. Two meetings in November. So I can click file out of this for October.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay, let me just clean this up a little bit so I can get to them. Last minute, put them over here. Yeah, that's what 1218 is. Yeah, 717, 821, 10-1, 10-16, 10-23, 10-20, and 11-26. Yeah. OK. Have you guys had a chance to read them all?

[Allan Martorana]: Yes. We took a blast from the past. I know.

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah. I did, too. I spent some time last night. Daria, you picked up a couple of corrections that I don't know where my Zoom screen went, but here it is. I got it. You picked up a couple of corrections, which were great. You fixed those, and I mean, it all looked good to me. You were really killing it this past week, trying to get these all done, as well as your annual reports and everything else. So I commend you for all the work you've done. It's a lot. A lot of readapting. Yeah. And then did the holidays at the same time. Yeah. marathon session, but, um, I'm Fay. Um, I mean, if we want to accept the minutes, all the minutes for the past, uh, you know, for, uh, 7, 17, 8, 21, 10, 1, 10, 16, 10, 23, 11, 20, 12, 26, and 12, 18, 18. Um, we can do it all at once present at the 10 one. Okay. And I wasn't present at what the 10 people.

[Allan Martorana]: yeah and 16 yeah okay all right so the three of us I motion to approve the minutes for July 17th 2024 in the minutes for August 21st 2024 okay I'll second that motion all those in favor aye all those opposed

[Robert Delafano]: Hearing and seeing none, motion carries.

[Allan Martorana]: So now for the next one, October 1st.

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah, Ben was in here, right? Ben was in here.

[Allan Martorana]: I motion to approve the minutes for October 1st.

[Robert Delafano]: I'll second that motion. All those in favor, aye. Yep. Okay, all those opposed? Hearing and seeing none, motion passes. And now on 10-16, I wasn't here. It'll be you and Ben. Ben, you want a motion now?

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Yes, sure. So I'll make a motion to approve the minutes from the October 16, 2024 License Commission meeting.

[Robert Delafano]: I second the motion. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Hearing and seeing none, Motion carries.

[Allan Martorana]: And then from October 23rd to December 18th, all three of us were present, correct? Correct. So I motion to approve the minutes from October 23, 2024 to December 18th, 2024. Okay.

[Robert Delafano]: All those in favor. Oh, I'm sorry. Somebody's got a second. I'll second it. And second. All those in favor. Aye. Aye. uh, all those posts here and it's being none. Yeah, I have it. Motion carries.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Uh, quick, quick, actually. Sorry. Sorry. Quick edit is that I was present at those last two. Okay. But my name is not on the present list there. The 23rd and the 20th. You mean October 23rd? Yeah, sorry, October 23rd, and then November 20th, the last two. It just doesn't happen. I think it might've been a carryover from the one before. I'm pretty sure.

[Robert Delafano]: Let's see. Yeah, you're right, Ben. Yeah. I looked at the minutes, but I didn't look at the people.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: That's fine.

[Daria Tejera]: Is that at least let me know.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Okay. That's good. One of them is my birthday and I was away. I remembered that one. Oh, you go somewhere else.

[Robert Delafano]: All right. Yeah, that's good.

[Daria Tejera]: Um, I'll take it up. I see people jumping on.

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah.

[Daria Tejera]: But yeah, that's a great.

[Robert Delafano]: We forgive you. But November 26 in there.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: So I think, uh, You've seconded that motion and that's good. Yeah. Well, I did and we're just going to make that edit. Yeah.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Correct. And then we're good to go.

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah. Good. So we don't have to make an informal motion, right? I don't think so.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: No. Just a correction. I made it and I just mentioned it. So cool.

[Robert Delafano]: That works. Yeah. Alrighty. What else do we have? We have the, Commission discuss and approve the annual we all start with the past minutes area. That's all of them, right? Okay. Now, the commission will discuss and approve the annual report for the calendar year. 24 that is sent to the. We received that, I believe, today. Yes. Yeah, this looks good. As you said, it's for the fiscal year, July 1st through July 1st, and we didn't have any violations in that period. Right. So we're going to have some in the next one. which next year we can deal with. That's fine. And yeah, I mean everything looks fine. Yeah. The licenses, are you in the process of printing them? Are you waiting for them to come back from the ABCC?

[Daria Tejera]: What do you mean, like the physical license?

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah.

[Daria Tejera]: Some of them have been picked up.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay, so you've already got it. Yeah. Okay. And. Okay, so that takes care of that. Um, yeah, I, I don't have an issue with the, this report. if one of you guys want to make, if that's good with you guys, you want to make a motion to accept it and approve it?

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah, yeah, no, I'll make a motion to approve the 2024 annual report that details the events that occurred in that fiscal year, because you're, Jerry, you're right, the last couple of refractions now are in the new fiscal year. So notwithstanding the two infractions. I'll second. I'll second.

[Robert Delafano]: One second before we second. What was the compliance checks? That was in June, wasn't it?

[Daria Tejera]: So the meeting was in July in July.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay. Okay. I'm sorry. I thought. Okay. So Ben, yeah. Okay. Uh, so Ben, but okay. I, uh, you said, I second this. Okay. Um, all those in favor. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

[Robert Delafano]: Aye.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

[Robert Delafano]: Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye And see if we missed anything on the agenda. We've approved all the minutes. I think we got it all. I made a couple of notes. The establishment. I just want, I want to thank you. You did a nice job on that. I mean, you were superstar trying to get that through. I think that was record time that anything went through the ABCC. I mean, you. You stayed on top of it, it was like within eight or nine days.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Can you clarify that? It had to run out from the porch, is that what it was?

[Robert Delafano]: Yes, because the porch never surrendered the license.

[Allan Martorana]: If they don't surrender it- Right, for it to expire.

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah. We got to wait to December 31st, but with the commission already approved it, And the ABCC initially approved it with the inspection, with the exception of the license hadn't been surrendered. Daria pushed this through the ABCC on a priority. And, you know, as soon as it happened, they got it, they approved it, and he's got his license now, which is great. Yeah, she did a great job with it. He can open it now, right? Yeah, he's good to go. Yeah, yeah, so he's all good to go, which is awesome. I saw something too about gab hours that you shot me a couple of emails. Did they call? Were they concerned? Cause I think they kind of might've dropped the ball. I was away the month that he came in. I think that was in October. And, uh, I don't know what went on, but what's that?

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: They wanted it to be 24, seven license never had the house because they didn't open during the whole season.

[Daria Tejera]: They opened like later. Yeah. We had the license, but no hours on it. So I think that's what made me look. I was looking at my spreadsheet, and for some reason, saw I'm missing, there was a whole issue with that. So I had to fix it. But then I was like, I don't know if Gab actually ever told us their hours. So that's what made me think. So I checked with the city clerk. I'm like, did they ever apply for a coming week until 1 AM? So he said, no. But I'm like, I couldn't remember exactly. Because for some reason, I feel like they did. But if you tell me no, then that means no. But that's when I started to think about the whole square footage and all that stuff. Yeah. Because there was a lot on it.

[SPEAKER_09]: Yeah.

[Daria Tejera]: Technically, that's not. But I want to, before I go to the next columnist, I want to make sure that all the information is correct.

[Robert Delafano]: Okay, does does their license say they're open to one?

[Daria Tejera]: Because they, when they open, just in October, when they have the license, but you just never have the hours.

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah, but what does the common Vic say? Then they can't be open to one.

[Daria Tejera]: I think they,

[Allan Martorana]: But didn't they come and they wanted to open at 8 a.m. or something and we went to 11?

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: We started with 11. That was assumed that their closing time was already established.

[Daria Tejera]: I say that's the problem. The ACC application doesn't last for hours. So because of the whole issue for 1AM that we figured out last year because of the coming big, I never paid attention to it until we started this issue. So that occurred in my head and I was like, wait. But whenever they don't have coming big, it started that they really shouldn't be turning to 1AM. But they might not even know that because this all happened after they got their license. They wouldn't have even talked about it. You know what I mean? They played catch up.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Well, if they want to legitimately be open until one, do they need City Council approval, or do they just need our approval? Yeah, they need to go to Council.

[Daria Tejera]: Yes, COVID is only until 11 p.m.

[Robert Delafano]: Right, right. So unless, like Snappy Patty's did last month, we approved them for 1 a.m. for some reason. They only wanted it on Thursday, Friday, Saturday or something. I mean, you got to do it to it. Just 1 a.m. You can go 2 a.m. 2 a.m. is our limit. If the city will allow it, that's 2 a.m. is it?

[Unidentified]: Yeah.

[Robert Delafano]: So, I mean, you know, if they want to do 1 a.m., they feel as though that's enough, then, you know what, just apply for it. But I think what we should do is have Mr. Brian Zatha, we ought to notify him to see what his CarmenVic hours are. And if they're not till 1 a.m.,

[Daria Tejera]: Yeah, which I think will be easier to track. He's pretty reasonable. I'm not going to tell him to shut down. Let's get him on track.

[Allan Martorana]: They have to be open for food the whole time? They didn't get an exception?

[Robert Delafano]: The only way is an exception is a general, I think it's called the general section 12 license, which Chevalier has, and they do not have to serve food. I don't think Brian has a general.

[Daria Tejera]: I can't. I think that's what he's labeled as.

[Robert Delafano]: off on-premise restaurant, right? Which is the same as a regular section 12 in the city. You know, I mean, if he was under the impression that those were his hours and they're not on a common VIC, I think we should discuss it with him. And like you say, Alan, we're not gonna tell him to start closing at 11 o'clock, but let's give him a time. Let's give him 90 days. To make sure that the proper paperwork is filled out at the city clerk's office, because the city clerk told me personally that 1, when we were looking for Bocelli's and stuff for to be open to 1 am for New Year's. He says, they got to come here. Then they got to have a ties in the paper. That takes so many weeks. Then they got to go before the city council. And it says it's just for one night. He says, it's the same for changing the hours. That's what it is. So he says, okay. So if they got to do all of that, let's put a time limit. You got 90 days and by such and such, if it's not done and approved by the city council, you can only stay open until 11 o'clock. Yeah. I think it's fair. It's technically, I don't think, I don't know if we can even do this because it's out of our jurisdiction. Our jurisdiction is 2 a.m. with the city clerk's approval and the city council's approval. So, I mean, they've been doing it. Let's just, and there's been no trouble. So let's just continue what we've done with this process in the works. We'll give them 90 days and see if they can pull it off. If that sounds fair to you guys. Sure.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: What if they can't get it done in 90 days? Cause that sounds like a process that could take longer. And also the city, they need to have availability to meet with them, right? The city councilor.

[Robert Delafano]: They just have to,

[Daria Tejera]: Yeah.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[Daria Tejera]: Okay. If he talks on it, like if I talk to him and I tell him, like, right, do this as soon as possible, like start it this week, they will, they will help him as much as they can and it should be done within a month.

[Allan Martorana]: Okay. Okay. And council meets every month?

[Daria Tejera]: Maybe.

[Allan Martorana]: Or every other month?

[Daria Tejera]: Twice a month, I believe.

[Allan Martorana]: Twice a month. Okay. Yeah.

[Daria Tejera]: Well, then that's more than enough.

[Allan Martorana]: And the 90 day, yeah, in three months should be, should work.

[Robert Delafano]: Right. But they, they have to do the, um, Advertising and I'm not sure if they have to mail the residents. I have to look into it, but.

[Daria Tejera]: Yeah, yeah, there's really no direct about us. I think it's the same thing. I was like, we're. We're opening a business, right?

[Robert Delafano]: But that's stuff for the city clerk and the council. It's nothing to do with us. No, the only thing we do is just get right. Once we see that comment, Vic, which brings me to the next. thing I just wanted to run it by you guys maybe we could do like a quarterly newsletter out to the licensees something like now it'll be a winter newsletter happy new year blah blah blah We're going to be having a few different, I don't know, we'll put it in certain words, but we're going to have changes this year. This year's license renewal must include a copy of your common vigilance license. And the reason being is, in order to have a valid liquor license, they have to have a common vigilance license. And whatever hours are stated on that common vigilance license, those will be the hours on their liquor license. Now there's none of this that we're running into now. You know, and tell them maybe, I don't know, we can bring it up at the next, uh, annual ABCC training thing that, okay, if you're going to change your hours to want to be open later for New Year's, Christmas Eve, whatever, um, Yeah. You may want to do this ahead of time, you know?

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: So, Bob, it's like an informational newsletter that we send out to all our license holders in the city that gives them basically, throughout the year, all kinds of information and heads up. And, you know, so people can't come in here and essentially plead ignorance to not knowing something that we have out there. Um, I would say I'm, I'm in favor of that. I think it's a good communication. I think it's a good gesture to everybody that we're trying to be team players. So, um. I don't know who would do it if you would take that role on.

[Robert Delafano]: I mean, I could draft something for Daria to look at because you've got the master list to just send out to all the licensees. And the thing is, too, is they've never really done fire inspections or the annual inspections with the building department, which is required by law. And it's kind of like, You know, this past year, we've done them past year, two years, and it's great. So now they're used to it. Now they know that it's their responsibility to get it inspected and have that certificate before we renew their liquor license. The only thing that it's going to change now is we're going to add a common VIC onto that. It's their responsibility to show us a valid common VIC with their hours, because common VIC doesn't renew until the end of the year. I think they start renewing after we already got our renewals. They start December 1st versus November 1st. So if they show us 2025s, It's fine. We don't have to see 2026.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Does Boston do this or does anybody else? Yeah. I think it's a more professional way of running this and it'll require a little more from licensees and it'll set a better standard for them. And that's what I believe we were after. That's why I wanted to be part of the commission is because I think that, yeah, there's some low standards that some of these, they have in their minds of how we operate. And I think it obviously just brings everybody up to speed, what we expect, and actually what the law is.

[Robert Delafano]: Well, yeah. And the thing is, too, so far we've had two of those compliance meetings, and at both of them, I learned a boatload of stuff. And I'm saying, you know, okay, here we go again and another one annually. But I learned more things that the second one that I either forgot or wasn't aware of. And talking to Ralph, they switch it up every year. They add new stuff. So, and it keeps people shocked. You know, the people that are in the licenses saying, oh, geez, I forgot. Yeah, I shouldn't be doing this or I shouldn't be doing that. And I think it's just benefits everybody.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: We have a license. He's saying, oh, I only saw a few beers a year. What do I need to come do it? Well, then don't have a license.

[Robert Delafano]: We only had one. We only had one license that said something this year.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[Robert Delafano]: And that was that tamper on Boston. Yeah. And, you know, they said, oh, we're thinking even given up by licenses or that. But they came anyways.

[SPEAKER_09]: Yeah.

[Robert Delafano]: I mean, you know, it's not a big deal to take a couple hours out of your day once a year. And just to stay on top of it, because it's your business and it can close down like the folks we had here back in November, you know?

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: You know, or, you know, the porch, obviously they close, but they just don't surrender their license and it makes it harder for the next person, you know, any communication. Maybe they didn't want to have communication, but... hey, you could have just surrendered your license, you're going to use it.

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah, exactly. And the other thing, too, is we get one other thing we got to take care of is that early license that they were looking for at 10 a.m. Well, they were looking for 8 a.m., but that's not going to happen. 10 a.m. is the earliest you can do it. And being open until 2 a.m. on New Year's Eve, I don't know, Christmas Eve. It was a couple of three days if Memorial Day runs into a weekend or something. But it's Chapter 138, Section 33A and 33B. And what that does is that it has to be, from what I understand, approved by the council.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Who has asked this?

[Robert Delafano]: What's that? Who asked for that gap? Whoever wants to be like. Well, Gab wanted the early hours, so say a restaurant come up to us and they wanted to do a brunch and serve Bloody Mary's at 10 o'clock in the morning on a Sunday morning, that would allow them to do it.

[Allan Martorana]: Well, haven't we approached by one of the clubs?

[Robert Delafano]: Yes, the Firefighters Club wanted to do, they were having a celebration when the Patriots were playing in England or something, out of the country, and the game was starting here at 9 a.m. That's when we initially looked into the 33 A and B. The 33 B is for the early opening on Sundays. But the city has to adopt that. You spoke with KP Laudaria and they said he couldn't find it in the city ordinance that they ever adopted it. So we should work on getting that adopted. I don't know whether we have to present to the council. something to adopt. I'll ask Ralph about it, see what he, how we have it. Yeah, sure. I mean, we may as well have it. It's available to us. It's not hurting anybody. You know, God forbid somebody wants to start doing brunch or whatever and the customer gets an issue there or whatever. It's just, you know, we're doing it the right way. And that's, Basically, I think all I had for notes was just those couple of three things. I think the compliance meetings are good. I think we should do another one this year. It should be held on an annual basis. We all learned something from it. It keeps the ABCC happy as well. So when we need advice or information from them, they're more than willing to help us out like they did with the establishment. They were able to help that licensee out because his lawyer kind of dropped the ball, if you know what I mean. But, you know, it's, it all works and it's the right thing to do. So, but anyways, anybody else got any new business? No.

[Daria Tejera]: We're talking about extending the compliance meeting. Yeah, so she was saying that she was asking me if all of the licenses have to demonstrate proof of all of these ID check and training certification tests when they renew their license. And she said, I just got back from a meeting with the high school administration. They hear that lots of students are getting made by deans online. I would encourage our offices licensees to look into a scanning system. They can invest in one and they can obfuscate it over 80 IDs in the first six weeks.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Right. Maybe we can include that in the newsletter.

[Allan Martorana]: Well, do we, we don't require it right now, right? Right. We don't require it, but we have been strongly urging them if there's been a contraction. Right.

[Daria Tejera]: You actually want that make sure that we did for one day licenses. So like the bartender or service, basically you guys, do you have to, or is this person certified?

[Robert Delafano]: Right. Is that something we require?

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: We don't require it because sometimes it doesn't always fall for it. If you know what I mean?

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Very small event.

[Robert Delafano]: Well, from what I got from Ralph speaking with him before, like when we were discussing what some of the penalties should be in requiring. the Medford Wine and Spirits to have their folks CHIP certified. He says you can do that, but from this point forward, anybody that comes to you with violations, you're going to have to require them to do the same thing. Okay. Which is fair. Yeah, I mean, the people that are doing the right thing. And it's, you know, the employees aren't tip certified. That's their business. I don't think it's required. Or I tend this to be tips. I don't know. I don't know if that's actual requirement or not, but. It, to me, it doesn't seem like it. I don't think I've seen it anywhere in 138. So, you know, when we have people come in front of us that, you know, for a hearing like we just did, obviously 395 Main Street's gonna have to get that stipulation put on them if we find any infractions. And, you know, that's kind of the way to go with it, I guess. in Katherine opposite for free. She's not her Sophie Greenbaum. she gets funding and it's, and when she posted it and we posted it to all the licensees, the only one that showed up was me.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: And it was like... For example, that's just a liquor store bottom scanner because they're having a problem and they confiscated all the IDs in the first six weeks, which is totally believable. But what if somebody needs to hire employees because it's the holidays and not every single person is TIP certified because it's impractical that they could get all TIP certified within that time and then they have a violation? Are we asking that before you sell anybody anything?

[Robert Delafano]: There's got to be exceptions to the rule. And like what you just said, during the holidays, employees, temporary employees or whatever. If they're going to be that busy during the holidays, they're not going to put a newbie alone in the store. There's going to be somebody else in there that's hopefully TIP certified, that knows what they're doing. But if the person's going to be hired, I don't know, a month before, two months before, then yeah, get them TIP certified. It's not a big deal.

[Allan Martorana]: Sean, how would you address wagons, for example, the cashiers?

[Robert Delafano]: Well, they haven't violated yet, done anything that we're going to require that.

[Allan Martorana]: So it would be part of.

[Robert Delafano]: just when there's a violation.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Okay. Just, just if somebody, yeah, I think that's fine. I just don't want to go back in time. Well, I don't know. I would say, Oh yeah, you have to have every single person because running a business, I know you just can't have such a big turnover. Yeah. But you're talking about this and infraction or something, but I think that getting, sorry, but the getting the scanner are investing in a scanner that could be part of a newsletter out to all our package stores. Hey, that's the whole thing. You didn't hear it from us. You heard, get a scanner. There's lots of fake IDs out there. I mean, they're rampant on the internet. I believe that.

[Allan Martorana]: Are they expensive?

[Robert Delafano]: Is that why they don't have them because they're a lot? And I think the ones that, not 395, but Medford Wine and Spirits was a big money one that they pay a monthly. I think it was, I don't know the amount, the cost. They gave us the number, the model and everything. I never looked it up, but supposedly they have to pay a monthly fee as well. And the old one that they had was a less expensive one, and you could only put the license in one. And if you got okayed or didn't get okayed, then you couldn't put it in again the same day for some reason. I don't know what he was talking about. Yeah, it was crazy. But when he upgraded to the new one, you could do it as much as you want.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: Well, if you don't want to get one, you can sell it to Wegmans. They'll pay you 500 grand. It's just cost of doing business. I don't really feel any kind of way about it. I think that the fees are so minuscule anyway that if you can't afford to run the business right, then don't run the business.

[Robert Delafano]: I think you hit the nail on the head. Make it incorporated as part of the newsletter. stating that this commission is requiring you to purchase one. It's suggested, strongly suggested, something like that.

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah, it's just, we'll figure out the wording on that. But then you're right. I mean, I look at the annual license for package stores, $1,500. I bet you that scanner's a lot more than that. It is the cost of doing business.

[MCM00001210_SPEAKER_04]: We'll work on those next.

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah.

[Robert Delafano]: Give us something to work on. Okay, so should we make a motion to adjourn? Sure, I motion to adjourn. What's that?

[Daria Tejera]: I take that. Catherine wanted to see if we could discuss it at the next meeting.

[Robert Delafano]: For the scanner type thing? CHIP certified? No, we can discuss it, but I don't think we should mandate it, or is that what we have to discuss? Because I don't even know if we can mandate it.

[Allan Martorana]: Yeah, I'm not for mandating it, no. Yeah, I don't feel the same way.

[Robert Delafano]: I mean, people that are doing the right thing, why put them through that? If they start doing the wrong thing and there's violations, then, okay, now you mandate it, it doesn't count. from this point forward. I just think the team, yeah.

[Daria Tejera]: Maybe it's just, because I'm looking at what everyone took after, and you just talked about how, just to discuss in general, the tips and also to implement a better process for the violation. Because I remember being touched based on that.

[Robert Delafano]: On the violence police reports?

[Daria Tejera]: Yeah. This violation, like, superb level of, so everybody's on the same page, what? Okay, it's going to be well, to be there or whatever the case.

[Robert Delafano]: Yeah, well, like the suggestion from Ralph was anytime from this point forward, we get a report from the police department. That licensee is to be notified to appear. At the next commission meeting, along with the police. And the police can read the report. We'll already have a copy of the report and at that point we can look at it and say, yeah, there was no chapter 138 violations here as far as I'm concerned. And then you'll speak and you'll speak and okay, everybody's cool with it. And the police will say, yeah, it's a criminal matter or it's not a criminal matter or we felt as though there was no violations and then it's done. but we have to, whenever we're notified by the police, we have to follow through with it and have them come just like it's going to be a hammering.

[Allan Martorana]: Makes sense.

[Robert Delafano]: Covers everybody's butt. Yeah. Okay. I think that was it. So did you want to, what do we do? Put Catherine on the agenda and she can come in and we can discuss it. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah. We don't have a problem with that. Okay.

[Allan Martorana]: All right, so I go back to motion to adjourn. I'll second the motion. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

[Robert Delafano]: Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.