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DOCUMENT : 2021-12-21-minutes-5289.txt
BOARD    : select-board
DATE     : 2021-12-21
KIND     : minutes
OUR COPY : https://lunenburgbudgetproject.org/docs/minutes/text/select-board/2021-12-21-minutes-5289.txt
TOWN PDF : https://www.lunenburgma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_12212021-5289
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===OCR macOS Vision===
===PAGE 1===
SELECT BOARD
MINUTES
December 21, 2021
Bilotta Meeting Room, Town Hall and via Zoom
Members present: Tom Alonzo, Chair; Michael-Ray Jeffreys, Vice Chairman; Todd Dwyer
Not present: Lou Franco, Clerk
Also Present: Heather Lemieux, Town Manager; Police Chief Tom Gammel, Officer Jonathan
Broc, Officer Anthony Cappucci, Adam Costa, Mead, Talerman and Costa
Chairman Alonzo called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and asked everyone to stand for the
Pledge of Allegiance. He announced in accordance with the requirements of the Open Meeting
Law, please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and broadcast over the Lunenburg
public access channel, on Facebook Live and it will be uploaded to the Lunenburg public access
YouTube page within 24 hours after the meeting. He noted Zoom is available for public
comment only and gave the sign-in instructions.
The agenda lists all the topics which may be discussed at this meeting and are those
reasonably anticipated by the Chair. Votes may be taken as a result of these discussions. Not
all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for
discussion to the extent permitted by Open Meeting Law.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Mr. Alonzo thanked the state delegation; Representative Sena, Representative Kushmerek and
Senator Cronin for a $25,000 check presentation ceremony at the Primary School for public
safety and fire alarm upgrades for that building. They also announced the state budget has
secured $50,000 for materials abatement at the old Primary School.
He thanked everyone who came out for the Salvation Army tollbooth fundraiser last Saturday.
The generosity was incredible, we were able to raise $6,500 during the challenge; enough to
provide over 800 children and 1200 families in Lunenburg, Leominster and Fitchburg with
toys, clothes and food this holiday season.
Ana Lockwood, 91 Main St., Parks Commissioner but speaking for herself, expressed
concerns about ratifying the appointment of Rob Thompson as Recreation Director later this
evening. He has attended some Parks Commission meetings but not all of them. She wanted to
ensure that the position would be a successful one with the proper leadership. She believed the
appointment should be put on hold until they are certain they have a way for things to be
successful.
Terri Burchfield, 1 Rose Garden Lane, via ZOOM, in regards to the alcohol violation hearing
for On the Rocks this evening, had concerns about issues that have been going on at the bar.
One issue, predating Covid-19 there was excessive noise on the outside patio, especially on
the weekends. She requested that as part of the licensing process this be addressed.
Ms. Lemieux announced the Nashoba Associated Boards of Health will be holding a booster
vaccine clinic on January 5* from 1- 5 p.m. at St. Anthony's Church Hall at 33 Chapel St. in
Shirley. Town buildings will be closed this Friday due to observance of Christmas Eve and
Monday in observance of Christmas Day, as well as Friday, December 31s' in observance of
New Year's Day.
===PAGE 2===
Mr. Alonzo noted the Parks Commission is holding a community design charrette for the Marshall
Park design plan on January 6, 2022 from 7-9 p.m. at Town Hall and via ZOOM with Wright
Ostermier Landscape Architects (WOLA). They will be discussing the overall master plan for the
park
APPOINTMENTS
2:05 PM All Alcohol License Violation Hearing for JK Waterfront dba On the Rocks, 96
Lakefront Ave.
Mr. Alonzo noted the licensee/owner was not present. Chief Gammel reported they were served
notice of the hearing by hand delivery on December 13'h and notified by telephone. Mr. Alonzo
announced this was a hearing and anyone testifying must be sworn in. The order of the
proceedings will be as follows; we will hear from the complainant (the Town), the Town will
present its testimony and any evidence they have and then the license holder will present their
own testimony. The board can ask questions of either side and then we will deliberate. Following
that we will make a finding and depending on what the finding is, that no violation occurred or if
we find that one did, we may issue a penalty. The notice of the finding is sent by certified,
receipt requested mail to the licensee. He requested anyone who is going to testify to please
stand, raise their right hand and swear that all the testimony they will be presenting is the truth
and nothing but the truth, so help you God. Voices were heard stating, "I do."
Chief Gammel, acting as the Licensing Authority Agent, presented a brief summary of what
occurred over the Thanksgiving Day weekend at On the Rocks, 96 Lakefront Avenue. The first
incident was on Wednesday, November 24' that involved overcrowding at the bar and the
second incident was on Friday, November 26 that involved an assault and battery that occurred
inside the bar and then outside the bar.
Officer Broc was on patrol on November 24' at approximately 9:14 pm when he noticed there
were a lot of vehicles in front of On the Rocks. He walked up to the door, opened it and found
the bar was overcrowded by his estimation of 200 people. He announced he was there and
instructed the two bartenders to shut down the bar, turn up the lights and had people start
leaving. He called for a Fire Captain to come down and assist him and count the occupancy at
the bar which is rated for 99 people. At that time they counted 137 people in the bar. By his
estimations about 100 patrons had left before the Fire Captain arrived. When he observed the
employees, there were only two bartenders with no manager on site nor anyone at the door
checking IDs, or checking counts at the bar. The owner, Ken Ricker, was notified and requested
to respond at the bar. He readily admitted he was caught off guard as there was social media that
was blasted by patrons and they ended up all coming to the bar. He appreciated Officer Broc
shutting down and cleaning out the bar. They began a count and allowed people back in to about
90 patrons when proper staff was appropriately situated. All the incident activity from that night
was recorded by body camera one camera. Gammel had provided the video for viewing. When
you watch the footage the bar was extremely crowded. It presented a very dangerous situation; if
there was some sort of disturbance in the bar, there was no way it was going to be controlled.
The second concern was if there was a fire or an emergency in the bar there, it would have been
hard to get to.
The second incident occurred on Friday the 26 of that week. We were called for the report of a
man lying on the sidewalk who had just been involved in a fight. When Officer Cappucci arrived
he found the victim lying on the sidewalk and he had been involved in a fight in the bar and then
again outside. The fight that occurred outside originated from patrons that were originally inside.
When they were outside another incident occurred. Two combatants started fighting and four
===PAGE 3===
other people in a car jumped out, picked up the victim and body slammed him to the ground. We
reviewed the video and a fight did occur inside the bar. The doorman immediately broke it up
and removed the patrons involved in the fight and got the victim outside but failed to maintain
any security outside the bar. If they had called the police when this initially happened, this
incident could have been prevented. It appears that when the staff put them outside that was the
end of it and ended their responsibility. With our rules and regulations set forth by the Select
Board, that is not true. They have a responsibility for anything that happens outside the bar and
in the street.
I did make a note in the report to the Select Board that there have been several incidents and
disturbance calls that have been occurring over the past year during this COVID situation. Part of
it is definitely related to the patio which was brought to your attention during public comment.
Mr. Ricker was fully cooperative with that type of situation and changed the hours, he closed the
patio and as the weather changed more people were inside, so we were not getting the
disturbance calls we were getting during the summer. This is the first violation we have had for
On the Rocks, not to say that lessens anything that occurred those two nights. It does mitigate the
circumstances where he was cooperative. Chief Gaminel was surprised Mr. Ricker was not here
tonight to address these issues. He's well aware that these issues have occurred and there's
certain steps they need to take to remedy and resolve these issues. Responsible ownership of a
bar is huge. We need to prevent people from being hurt, to prevent people from disturbing the
peace that are around residences so that they can coexist. I did make a recommendation that if
the board did find that these violations occurred, they issue a verbal warning. This past year has
been significant with the calls that we have received for there. When I looked back and
researched previous years, there wasn't constant disturbance calls like we are now seeing.
My suggestion to resolve these issues is to no longer have the outdoor patio or outdoor seating.
Officer Broc reported he had responded on November 24"
' When he got there it was so
overcrowded that potentially there could have been serious injuries: EMS, Fire or Police would
not have been able to access. He couldn't even get past the front door. Once he announced
himself everyone was cooperative and they all left respectfully. The bartenders did comply with
orders to shut the bar down and turn on the lights, so he made the decision to let them reopen
with the proper staffing on scene.
Officer Cappucci reported on November 26'
, they got a report there was a fight outside the bar
and there was an unconscious male. Upon arrival we addressed him and he said he was involved
in a fight. He was in and out of consciousness and was transported to UMáss Worcester Medical
Center. We went inside the bar to obtain video but the staff was unable to work the system so we
called Mr. Ricker. He followed up the next morning with one of the day officers. They obtained
the video and it's clear there was a fight between the victim and four or five other males. It looks
like he tried to push his way to the bar. It was also crowded that night too, shoulder to shoulder.
Once the victim got to the front of the bar it looked like there was an exchange of words. One of
the males taunted him, a couple of punches were thrown and there was pushing and shoving. The
bouncer came over and escorted one of the males out and came back and escorted the victim out.
Then the other four or five went outside. It's hard to see but one of the witnesses stated the
victim was on the sidewalk and started fighting with one of them and four other males that were
in a car jumped out, picked him up and slammed him to the ground. He was unconscious at that
point and the males got in the car and left before we got there.
===PAGE 4===
Mr. Alonzo stated this would be the time the licensee would testify but let the record show there
is no one here representing him. We have no notification that they were not going to be here
even after being served.
He moved on to the question portion of the hearing.
Mr. Dwyer asked Chief Gammel if they got a count of how many people were in the bar on the
. Chief Gammel replied no, the officers were investigating the assault and battery. Obviously
from the video of the bar that night it was fairly crowded.
Mr. Jeffreys asked Chief Gammel to explain or have the officer who served the notice of the
hearing for the record what occurred. Chief Gammel stated Officer Cappucci called Mr. Ricker
and told him we were conducting a hearing and he had some paperwork for him along with the
reports that I provided to the board and my findings. There was a bartender that signed for the
packet.
Mr. Jeffreys stated Mi. Kicker was made aware of the incidents that occurred previously at the
bar according to the documents you provided to us. There were 14 other incidents that have
occurred this year. Could you explain how Mr. Ricker was made aware? Chief Gammel stated I
made phone calls to him; 1 reached out to him because we were getting calls about the patio and
the noise. We spoke about what he needed to do; we talked about closing the outdoor patio at a
certain time, reducing hours, which he agreed. He brought his hours back an hour and started
closing down the outdoor patio. One suggestion we had was for that side patio right outside the
residence there and directly underneath balconies; they are going to hear a lot of noise, so we
agreed to turn the music off there and try to move people to the front. Upon speaking with Mr.
Ricker, he hired a doorman or two to try to get people inside, whether they were effective or not;
obviously with fourteen calls it wasn't based on disturbances for that year. He was well aware,
we had several conversations over the summer about this over the phone to make these
corrections.
Mr. Jeffreys asked, who called the police on November 26th? Chief Gammel replied it was a
bartender. Mr. Jeffreys stated on April 19" an incident when someone was clearly overserved
was noted in the police report; April 17h an incident was noted in which someone was clearly
overserved and needed medical attention. There was also an incident on February 14 in which
someone was overserved as stated in the report; on August 15' someone was overserved; a
patron called. May 30*, a person who assaulted another person blew a .29 alcohol content and
then injured himself in a police cruiser banging his head against the cage. That same person was
overserved on August 15' again and called another patron a "nigger" and a "spic" and the staff
declined to issue a no trespass. On August 21s there was a fight that resulted in blood and head
injuries; on August 31s there was another incident in which a patron was overserved and the
police drove that patron home. On September 24' a complaint about the patio being open after
10:00 pm and on October 16"h an assault in which someone spit booze in someone else's face. Is
this an accurate summary? Chief Gammel confirmed.
Mr. Alonzo asked as a follow up to Mr. Jeffreys' questions, did any of those rise to the level of a
license violation? Chief Gammel stated yes, there absolutely was a license violation. Our goal is
to try and work with the businesses to make them aware of these before we bring them before the
licensing commission. If I'in here before you, then we've exhausted all our avenues of providing
assistance. Mr. Alonzo asked of those fourteen, how many would you roughly estimate would
have constituted a license violation? Chief Gammel stated the ones that Mr. Jeffreys spoke of,
that would be five and two were in one incident. The spitting of the alcohol in someone's face
was on the outdoor patio again where there was very little control of what was going on.
===PAGE 5===
Mi. Alonzo asked if the license owner got notified of the overcrowding on the 24t; was he
notified that you were going to report this to the licensing authority. Chief Gaminel stated
absolutely; he called my office right away to let me know he was aware of these two situations.
He called me back after I called him and I explained to him there is no way around these
violations; you've been given opportunities and we are going to bring these before a hearing. Mr.
Alonzo asked Officer Broc how much time he spent there on the 24'h
You got there and started shutting down and at some point Captain Ricci came and a head count
was taken. But then you allowed people back in, so how much time did you spend there? Officer
Broc reported he stayed there until almost 11:00 pm, the end of his shift. Everything was calmed
down then and I passed it on to the oncoming overnight sergeant and they had no other issues the
rest of the night. Mr. Alonzo asked so you stayed for two hours and we have three people on
patrol? This violation cost us to lose one third of the patrol force to take care of something of
this nature.
Mr. Alonzo stated on the 26" the bartender calls; what is exactly the call?
Chief Gammel believed the call was that there was someone lying on the sidewalk who was
injured in a previous fight. Mr. Alonzo asked did it require an EMT. Gammel confirmed it did.
Mr. Alonzo asked and the fight started inside, so the people who should be managing the bar
should have known that? Chief Gammel confirmed. Mr. Alonzo asked and the second fight
occurred on the licensee's property premises? Chief Gammel replied technically it was on a
public way across from the entrance to the bar. But by our regulations it's a parking area for the
bar and they are responsible for what happens there. Mr. Alonzo wanted to make sure this one
was not an overcrowding incident. Chief Gamiel stated no this was about the fight and the
assault and battery. Mr. Alonzo asked so exceeding the occupancy limit on the 24 and not
properly monitoring for illegal activity on the 26" including disturbance and safety of people,
which is 111.4; to protect patrons against injury or to evict unruly patrons or to uncover unlawful
conduct. So those are all things they have to monitor? Chief Gammel confirmed.
Mr. Alonzo to Chief Gammel stated since those other five incidents that Mr. Jeffreys read were
not reported to the licensing authority because you wanted to give the owner opportunity to
correct them, which Mr. Ricker did not correct, 1 am not fully understanding why your
recommendation would be to give him a written warning, when your verbal warnings to him
directly from the licensing authority's enforcing arm (the Police Dept.) were not followed.
What would give us any indication a written warning would have any better result?
Chief Gammel replied I look at it as progressive discipline, unless there's something so
egregious that we should be suspending or revoking them, you should do what you have to do.
We've given them a verbal warning and I'm bringing them before the board and requesting a
written warning. The next step would be revocation and/or suspension. It lends credibility to the
investigation that we are doing. We are not trying to shut down businesses; our goal is to work
with the establishment to make sure they make these corrective steps. If this was a rogue
business then we would say this is not working. Then I would say shut them down and revoke
the license or do what you need to do. It is hard as a Police Chief to look at this and say ok just
shut them down without doing something in between to give them opportunity to make
corrections. During COVID we had issues with other bars that we worked with and had
communications with, so to be fair across the board I wanted to give this opportunity. If the
board finds these violations egregious that is fine with us.
Mr. Alonzo asked if the other alcohol establishments have logged 14 complaints. Chief Gammel
answered no they are not even as close as busy as On the Rocks attracts a certain age group that
===PAGE 6===
goes there. Mr. Alonzo asked would you equate busy with more violations? Chief Gammel stated
I would think it's the nature of serving of alcohol, if you have a busy facility you are going to get
more of these calls,
Mr. Alonzo asked if the 24 overcrowding was just noted because somebody was driving by.
Chief Gammel stated we know typically on busy nights and the night before Thanksgiving,
people return home and they find a meeting place. Our patrols are aware of that and they make
regular checks. Officer Broc stated they actually did go to other bars that night and the Fire
Captain went and checked them also. Mr. Alonzo noted the overcrowding was just found from a
normal patrol.
Mr. Jeffreys to Chief Gammel asked, you mentioned this caters to an average age, what is that
age? Gammel stated 21-31. Mr. Jeffreys noted that was consistent with the ages in the incidents
reports, so very young people. If Mr. Ricker were here I would have some questions for him, but
I want to confirm. We watched the video that had four cameras showing the incident that
occurred inside the bar on November 26 and there were two cameras outside, but they were
difficult to see, too much was going on. I just want to confirm some things that occurred for 20
minutes. I did not observe them card anyone in that video. Did you observe them card anyone in
that video? Chief Gammel responded he did not. I don't want to speak for the owner, but there
was a doorman on the night of the fight; my understanding would be the doorman cards people at
the door before they get to the bar. But that's the owner's responsibility to answer that question.
Mr. Jeffreys noted the video also shows a period of time when there was no one at the door,
people were coming in and out. The question I would like to ask Mr. Ricker is how two people
are supposed to keep track of the level of intoxication of 100 people while serving non-stop? I
would also have asked Mr. Ricker if he was here about his alcohol policy which states in
reference to removing patrons or specifically procedures that state if a fight occurs that says do
not engage in physical contact unless a life threatening situation evolves. I did observe them
engaging in physical contact, was that also your observation? Chief Gammel replied it was. Mr.
Jeffreys asked was there a manager on duty on either of these two nights? Chief Gammel replied
there doesn't appear to be, I would have to look at the license to see who the listed manager on
record is.
Mr. Dwyer asked Chief Gammel based on your comments, it appears the increase in incidents
can be based on the increase in business at On the Rocks partially due to the COVID situation
and other closed establishments that may be otherwise have accommodated some of this traffic.
Chief Gammel reviewed some of his statistics that were in his report. Some of these
establishments were closing early or they weren't even open, driving customers elsewhere. Mr.
Dwyer noted Chief Gammel had also said Mr. Ricker was not prepared for the number of people
that showed up. Has this been a common occurrence for them to have an overflow of people that
they are not staffed to handle recently? Chief Gammel stated no not recently until we saw the
two videos of the 24t and 26"". As far as overcapacity, nothing was noted until that night.
Mr. Alonzo noted this board's regulations only require the manager or their designee to be
present 50% of the open hours. His biggest concern was if you are going to pack people in
you have all seen the nightclub fires and it is great to say well no one got hurt so we should just
give a warning, but if something had happened we would not be having this discussion. So the
violation is a violation and the seriousness of it is not directly related to what did happen as much
as what could have happened. If social media blows up and everybody wants to meet there, that's
why you have somebody at the door. You can't be shoe-horning people in, they should have just
been denied access and that is the responsibility of the license holder. Chief Gammel stated he
===PAGE 7===
was not mitigating that a serious event occurred there, but is this such an egregious event that we
need to shut them down? He repeated his progressive discipline belief.
Mr. Alonzo stated we have had testimony and asked questions, so now the board must deliberate
and make a finding. He returned to the two violations: exceeding the occupancy of the bar and it
is rated for occupancy of 99. The allegation is substantially of 200 plus but the actual count was
139 when the Fire Captain came. The second violation is illegal activity on the premises.
Licensees shall make all reasonable and diligent efforts to ensure that illegal activities do not
occur at the licensed premises. Such efforts shall include: Calling for police assistance as
necessary to protect patrons against injury or to evict unruly patrons or to uncover unlawful
conduct or to give medical assistance and providing police with requested information. And b.;
there shall be no disorder or other illegal activity on the licensed premises or any premises
connected therewith by an interior communication. According to the Chief, the parking lot that it
happened in is related and purposely used for the bar and therefore under the jurisdiction of the
license holder to make that safe as well and it was not.
He opened up deliberation from the members.
Mr. Dwyer stated it was obvious there were two separate violations, one on the 24t" and the other
on the 26". Mr. Jeffreys and Mr. Alonzo concurred.
Motion: M. Jeffreys
2": T. Dwyer
To find that JK Waterfront d/b/a On the Rocks violated section 1.04 of the Liquor License
Regulations of the Town of Lunenburg and section 1.11 by exceeding the maximum
occupancy limits and by a fight occurring in the premises and continuing outside the
premises
Vote: All in Favor
Mr. Alonzo moved on to the penalty phase. He noted there are penalty guidelines in the
regulations. It was indicated that this was the first violation brought to the licensing authority but
as was indicated in the testimony there could have been others that could have been brought but
were not. A first offense is a warning up to a seven day suspension and we have a
recommendation from Chief Gammel to give a written warning if he is found in violation, which
we have just found.
Mr. Dwyer suggested for the violation of section 1.03, exceeding the maximum occupancy a
written warning is more than appropriate. For the second violation he also thought a warning was
appropriate. The close proximity of the incidents would not have given the owner sufficient time
to implement additional measures and they are both different. Based on the video we watched
there appeared to be overcrowding on the 26" but without a head count; fighting occurs and
based on the other violations enumerated by Mr. Jeffreys, this appears to be an issue they are
having in the recent past.
Mr. Jeffreys was in favor of a two week suspension or more adding these violations are
egregious. We are talking about a young population, for the most part it is a 20 year old bar
where a lot of people under the age of 30, specifically under 25 go. This bar has a reputation for
overserving and despite that reputation we have police incident reports on numerous occasions
that people were overserved.. 29 (alcohol), there's no question there was overserving. The
pattern of behavior was outrageous; there was clearly a conversation that occurred with the Chief'
of Police to say we've had a lot of incidents this year and there were no attempts to adequately
resolve that. While you can't control someone getting into a fight, what you can control is how
many people are in your bar and there didn't seem to be any controls to do that. This first
violation comes after a series of violations and I think I would have been at a written violation in
===PAGE 8===
May; I would have been at a one week suspension in September and at this point I am at a two
week suspension.
He believed the license holder not being here tonight speaks to perhaps the seriousness he takes
this concern. He proposed a time line for the suspension from December 24 to January 7" or
g"'. Discussion turned to an appeal process and lack of one in the Town's regulations. It was
noted the appeal process to the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) is five days
from receipt of the registered letter from this board.
Mr. Alonzo did not believe the written warning was sufficient enough for the nature of the
violations. The overcrowding issue is easily avoidable; that is just negligent and endangering to
the people who are there. That on top of the other incidents that could have been a violation. The
oral warnings given by Chief Gammel were the warnings that they would have needed to correct
things. There is a high hurdle to get and it's seriously taken by the Town and ABCC to get
something established for alcohol because of problems associated with it. The responsibility is
on the license holder to make sure the establishment stays within those guidelines. While I am
sympathetic to wanting the business owner to do business, they need to be equally responsible
for the fact that people expect to have a safe environment to go in to as part of the establishment.
I am for a suspension but not a two week suspension. It would be for three to five days and over
a weekend because there has to be a point made that this is serious. We are taking this seriously
and we hope the business owner will take it seriously. Discussion ensued on what they could
do for a penalty and getting the written determination to the owner the next day.
Suggestion was made to reduce hours to eliminate the times when the violations typically occur
as well as closing them down entirely and or a combination of the two. Another suggestion was
to get a written report from Mr. Ricker on what he is going to do to address these violations
happening in the future before the end of the suspension period.
Motion: T. Dwyer
2'': M. Jeffreys
To impose a penalty of reduction of hours starting on December 31" through January 6';
that they will close at 8:00 p.m, and they will submit a written report detailing the remedial
measures to address the recent violations
Discussion: Mr. Jeffreys did not believe this penalty was strong enough but felt they had to
compromise to get results
Vote: All in Favor
Mr. Alonzo closed the hearing and thanked the Chief and the officers for coming in tonight.
INTERVIEWS/APPOINTMENTS/ REAPPOINTMENTS/RESIGNATIONS
• Ratification of Town Manager's Appointment for Recreation Director, Robert
Thompson
Ms. Lemieux noted that this board ratified the temporary Recreation Director appointment of
Rob Thompson in September. He has been filling in since the departure of the Recreation
Director. The position was posted from October to November and we received two applications.
The other applicant had volunteer experience working for a community park committee in the
town she lives in. Rob stood out as the best candidate for the position. His prior experience has a
total of 13 years related experience in recreation. He came highly recommended from his
reference checks. The DPW Director and I recommend his appointment, 1 also met with the
Parks Commission last night to get a consensus on the appointment. We will meet with the Parks
Commission at a future date to talk about process and roles. Discussion ensued about the
appointment process detailed in the Charter:
===PAGE 9===
Motion: T. Dwyer
To ratify the Town Manager appointment of Recreation Director to Rob Thompson
2"': M. Jeffreys
Vote: All in Favor
• Ratification of Town Manager's Appointment for Assistant Town Accountant Katie
Medina
Ms. Lemieux reported this position was also posted in October and through November. We
received multiple applications and we interviewed four qualified individuals with accounting
backgrounds. Katie currently works as the Assistant Treasurer/Collector for the City of Gardner
and prior to that she was the Assistant Project Manager for their Community Development Block
Grant Program. Prior to that she was an accountant for Heywood Hospital. She came highly
recommended from her reference checks as well. The Finance Director and I recommend her for
this position. We think she's going to be a great fit for her team.
Motion: T. Dwyer
2nd: M. Jeffreys
To ratify the Town Manager's appointment of Katie Medina as Assistant Town Accountant
Vote: All in Favor
TOWN MANAGER REPORT
Announcement on Existing Vacancies
The following is a list of current vacancies on the following committees:
• Architectural Preservation District Commission (2 vacancies, one citizen at large and one
representative from Historical Commission)
• Economic Development Committee (1 person recommended by the Open Space Committee
and 1 ex-officio member that is business owner)
• Green Communities Committee (1 regular member vacancy and 2 Associate vacancies)
• Housing Authority (1 vacant position that is a resident of Pearl Brook)
• Stormwater Task Force (2 vacant positions for citizensatlarge)
• Zoning Board of Appeals (1 Associate vacancy)
Interested persons can find application forms on the Town Website and completed forms can be
sent to the Select Board's Office.
Current Employment Opportunities with the Town
The following is a list of current employment opportunities with the Town:
• Digital Services Staff Librarian (Part Time Benefitted)
• Assistant to the Sewer Business Manager (Part Time)
• Principal Assessor (Full Time Benefitted)
• Trash and Recycling Coordinator (Part Time Non-Benefitted)
• Van Driver (Part Time Non-Benefitted)
• Videographers 2) (Part Time Non-Benefitted)
More information on each position can be found on the job postings, which are located on the town
website.
Ritter and Town Hall Building Envelope Projects
After checking with the APDC and Historical Commission about the historical value of the
Ritter shutters, the Town Hall metal ventilator, and the Town Hall Chimneys, both the APDCand
Historical Commission agreed that the shutters should not be put back on the Ritter Building,
the metal ventilator should be removed, and that the chimneys should be restored. Both
===PAGE 10===
Commissions said that the shutters that were on the Ritter should not be put back as they did not
exist in the original architectural plan for the building and were put on after 1947, the metal
ventilator was not part of the original architecture at the Town Hall, and the chimneys were part of
the historic architecture. These were the three items that need to be decided before the architect
finalizes the specifications for the Ritter and Town Hall building envelope projects.
When asked by Ms. Lemieux about going forward with the commissions' suggestions for the
three items, the board agreed the ventilator should be removed and there should be alternates for
the chimneys and shutters.
Town Facilities Projects/Repairs
The electrician that was contracted to do the electrical work in the basement is almost complete.
Approximately 200 pounds of old wiring was removed, significantly cleaning up the ceiling
areas and addressing the most critical safety components. There is still live wiring (old BX wiring)
that needs to be replaced and live phone/cable wiring that needs to be addressed, which would be
the next phase of this project.
30 School Street Landscape Design Project Update
The Google Form survey supplied by the architect was put on the Town Facebook page and can be
located on the town website through the Select Board's web page. As of today, Ray has received
The "working group" (Police Chief, Fire Chief, DPW Director, Land Use Director, the Assistant Town
Manager, and myself are meeting with Ray virtually on this Thursday.
The next Community Meeting will be held on January 18th at 7 p.m. Ray will present two conceptual
designs and their cost estimates at this meeting and the goal will be to select the preferred design
at that meeting.
Invitation for Bids/Request for Proposals
The Public Safety Building Chiller Replacement project is currently out to bid and proposals are
due on January 1lth.
COVID-19 Update
The weekly update from the Board of Health on the total number ofnew cases reported as of
December 1 1th was 85 and the positivity rate was 10.16%.
Meetings, Events and Other Announcements
Town buildings will be closed on Friday, December 24th in observance of Christmas
Eve, on Monday, December 27th in observance of Christmas Day, and Friday, December
3 1st in observanceofNew Year's Day.
The Senior Center will be open until noon on December 31st for the musical event that had
planned.
CURRENT BUSINESS
Approve Minutes of November 9, 2021-this was tabled until the next meeting.
2. Warrants
The board signed a Payroll Deductions warrant in the amount of $226,092.84, a Payroll
warrant in the amount of $1,012,867.74 and an Accounts Payable warrant in the amount of
$47,300.60.
===PAGE 11===
3. Action Items
Mr. Jeffreys asked if there was a status update on the boulders in the right of way on
Memorial Drive across from the Senior Center. Ms. Lemieux stated no. According to the
survey the boulders are in the right of way and two letters have been sent to the property
owner. Attorney Costa stated the board had a couple of options, one is a self-help
remedy which is taking the item encroaching on town property and removing it by
placing it on the private property. If there's no room to do that you have to store it until
such time there's some form of order determining what is to be done with it.
The other option is to file a suit in court requesting a court order to remove them,
dispose of them, whatever the court would authorize. This will be discussed at a future
meeting.
Mi. Jeffreys asked if the survey results for the conservation area on Townsend Harbor
Road. Ms. Lemieux confirmed. Mr. Jeffreys was reading through their rules and
regulations and there is an expectation that we meet with the boards we appoint to
quarterly. He asked Mr. Alonzo if this should be done prior to going into the
appointment process. Mr. Alonzo stated he was not against it but it takes time and effort
to coordinate it around everyone's schedules. Mr. Jeffreys requested one representative
provide an update of their committee over the next two months.
Mr. Alonzo reported he has spoken to Ms. Lemieux about having the Asst. Town
Manager attend board meetings in her absence. The board agreed.
4. Committee Reports
Mr. Dwyer reported storm water task force (SWTF) met last week. Some things
discussed were inputs from the Town Manager, DPW Director and Land Use Director
and establishing an enterprise fund for the SWTF. Currently DPW handles most of our
tasks, cleaning out catch basins, etc. But all of that budget is within the omnibus DW
budget. We want to track increased requirements better moving forward. Stormwater
management is going to increase as we go forward, so we need to know what we are
spending. We also discussed having the task force come before this board in February to
discuss this more.
Mr. Jeffreys reported the Library Trustees approved the annual evaluation of the Library
Director: Mr. Alonzo reported Capital Planning met earlier today and have 31 items on
their list; we all tallied our priorities and averaged out them and have a first draft
completed. We meet again on January 4t
OLD BUSINESS
1. Notice of First Right of Refusal for c. 61 Property- 490 Chase Road (continued)
Mr. Alonzo stated the board waited for Open Space Committee to meet regarding this item and
they have informed us they are not interested in this property.
Motion: M. Jeffreys
2nd: T. Dwyer
To waive the first right of refusal for property located at 490 Chase Road
Vote: All in Favor
2. Request to post (4) 2018 8th Grade Super Bowl Championship signs; Dan Shaw,
Bengals Head Coach
===PAGE 12===
Mr. Alonzo noted no one has appeared for the request after this item has been on the agenda
three times, the request is from 2018 and our DPW Director is not inclined to have this approved.
It will be removed from the agenda.
3. Annual License Renewals (continued)
LICENSEE NAME
449 CORPORATION
JIANG SUN LOU INC.
DONNELLY'S TAVERN INC
IK WATERFRONT INC.
D/VA
LAKEVIEW CLUB
ASIAN IMPERIAL
DONNELLY'S TAVERN
ON THE ROCKS
December 21 Alcohol Renewals
ADDRESS
449 WHALOM ROAD
5 ELECTRIC AVE.
43 SUMMER STREET
96 LAKEFRONT AVE
ПАСАВЕТУТВ
GENERAL. ON PREMISES ALL ALCOHOL
RESTAURANT ALL ALCOHO!
RESTAURANT ALL ALCOHOL
RESTAURANT ALL ALCOHOL
FEE
51,450.00
$1,450.00
$1,450.00
$1,450.00
8
9
10
11 SMOKESTACK ROASTERS LL SMOKESTACK ROASTERS
MELENDEZ MAGANA INC
RED PEPPER INC.
IXTAPA CANTINA
14
15
• ALARM INSPECTIONS ARE SCHEDULED FOR DECEMDER 28TH
310 MASSACHUSETTS AVE.
308 MASSACHUSETTS AVE.
RESTAURANT WINES AND MALT
RESTAURANT ALL ALCOHOL
RESTAURANT ALL ALCOHOL
350000
S1.450.00
Discussion ensued about licensees getting their inspections performed in time for renewal. It was
noted that the businesses know these are due by a certain date and should have everything ready
in a timely manner.
Motion: T. Dwyer
2'': M. Jeffreys
To approve the renewal of alcohol licenses for Lakeview Club, Asian Imperial and
Donnelly's Tavern for 2022
Vote: All in Favor
Motion: T. Dwyer
2'II: M. Jeffreys
To approve the renewal of the alcohol license for On the Rocks for 2022
Vote: 2 in favor, 1 opposed (Jeffreys)
When asked why he was opposed to renewal, Mr. Jeffreys stated he had issues with some of the
comments he had read in the incident reports from the Police Dept. They are pretty serious and
having a hearing and for the owner to not show up and then we are going to renew his license for
him? If he doesn't take his business seriously, l'in not going to take it serious for him.
Motion: T. Dwyer
2'': M. Jeffreys
To approve the alcohol license renewals for Smokestack Roasters, Dario's and Ixtapa
Cantina contingent on completed safety inspections scheduled for December 28th
Discussion: Mr. Jeffreys noted to businesses that these safety inspections are verification that in
the event of an emergency their patrons can safely get out of the building and be made aware of
any issues.
This is part of doing business and safety is not something that can fall to the wayside. This
should be part of their natural culture and what's in the best interest of their employees and
patrons.
Vote: All in Favor
===PAGE 13===
2022 COMMON VICTUALLER LICENSE RENEWALS
A
LICENSEE NAME
JK Waterfront Inc.
On The Rocks
ADDRESS
96 Lakefront Ave.
$25.00
Motion: T. Dwyer
2"d: M. Jeffreys
To approve the common victualler license renewal for On the Rocks for 2022
Vote: 2 in favor, 1 opposed (Jeffreys)
2022 Miscellaneous License Renewals
Motion: T. Dwyer
To approve the jukebox license renewal for On the Rocks fox 2022
2: M. Jeffreys
Vote: 2 in favor, 1 opposed (Jeffreys)
4. Continue Discussion on TCP Building Design Committee Charge
Mi: Jeffreys read aloud the original charge for the TCP Building Design Committee:
The Lunenburg IC Passios Building Design Committee will work with the contracted architectural and
engineering turm to review space needs for town offices, school uses, and community space at the
building and/or land known as the TC Passios, located at 1079 Massachusetts Avenue.
He proposed changing it to read "Lunenburg Municipal Building Design Committee,"
The Lunenburg Municipal Building Design Committee will review space needs for town offices, school
uses and community space at the building and land at the buildings and land known as Town Hall, the
Ritter Building and the TC Passios for the purpose of consolidating municipal uses and preserving
historic structures. The municipal building design committee will prepare viable cost-effective solutions
to the Select Board The total project cost cannot exceed
_For the purpose of discussion, I
inserted 22 million.
Mr. Alonzo kept it as the TC Passios Building Design Committee because we already have the
committee.
The Lunenburg TC Passios Building Design Committee will continue to work with the contracted
architectural and engineering firms as they become available to review space needs for town offices
school uses and community space at the building or land known as the TC Passios Building. Additionally
the committee will continue to work to prioritize and or rank the existing space usage requests and
explore a variety of design permutations at different estimated budget tiers that would meet the needs of
the town according to those priorities. The committee is free to analyze, discuss and investigate other
town-owned buildings and properties in their recommendations as they deem necessary to fulfill this
charge.
Discussion ensued on whether or not to place a monetary cap on the charge. The board members
liked the proposed new name for the committee. Mr. Alonzo will blend the two versions and
come back with a new draft. More discussion ensued on having a cost limit or not on the charge.
===PAGE 14===
Peter Beardmore, Finance Committee, agreed with the reasoning behind setting a number
because of all the other future municipal projects on the horizon. Ms. Lemieux noted that the old
primary School design estimate will be completed by February and the Marshall Park design
estimate will be submitted by the end of May.
Ms. Lemieux, in regards to the need to do something about the buildings, reported that over the
weekend we had a bird get in upstairs in Town Hall and it defecated all over. On Monday we
found the dead bird so that was a mess we had to clean up; just a detriment to this building.
She met with the Public Access Committee Chair today and PACC is very concerned. They have
been holding off on studio space for years in the hopes that something would happen with the
TCP building. There's really no other town space for them to create a studio. This building
(Town Hall) would be way too costly for them to upgrade. They need a raw unfinished space that
they could soundproof and put all their studio equipment in. They have the money in their
enterprise account specifically for the studio.
WORKSHOP- SELECT BOARD GOAL ON ESTABLISHING A MEANS TESTED SENIOR
CITIZEN PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION OR ABATEMENT
This will be rescheduled for another meeting.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Mr. Alonzo stated this board's next meeting is January 4, 2022.
PUBLIC COMMIENT
Mr. Alonzo wished everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday if you do not celebrate
Christmas and a healthy New Year.
Motion: M. Jeffreys
2nd; T. Dwyer
To enter into Executive Session pursuant to M.G.L. c. 30, Section 21, Paragraph 3,
to discuss strategy with respect to litigation, where an open meeting may have a
detrimental effect on the government's litigating position and the Chair so
declares, namely Worcester Superior Court Docket No. 1985CV00647, Lunenburg
Bd. of Health v. Gonynor, et al., Central Housing Court Docket No.
04H85CV000229, Massey v. Town of Lunenburg Zoning Bd. of Appeals,
Worcester Superior Court Civil Action No. 1985C V01033; Town of Lunenburg v.
Alleva, Central Housing Court Docket No. 16H85CV00812, and approval of
Executive Session meeting minutes related to these cases and to adjourn after
exiting Executive Session
Vote: Mr. Dwyer-aye, Mr. Jeffreys-aye, Mr. Alonzo-aye
The meeting adjourned at 9:36 p.m.
***************EXECUTIVE SESSION MINUTES ARE SEPARATE************
Respectfully submitted,
Slaieh Pelerson
Elaine M. Peterson
Executive Assistant to the Town Manager'