Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Live reporting: License transactions


G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS 
  • British Beer Company – Change of Manager- 7:10 pm tabled to next meeting

  • Gill N Sidhu, LLC – Chinese Mirch - Change of DBA- 7:10 pm
motion to approve, seconded, passed 9-0
Chinese food with Indian spices

  • Table & Vine, Inc. – Annual Wine & Malt Package Store - New License – 7:10 pm
process to advertise, posted, advertised MDN, etc.
only one applicant came in at the deadline

paying approx $100,000 in taxes
payed additional dollars to fix up the road
employee about 100 

privately owner company

James Wilson, store manager

in 2012 constructed, construction, widening of the roadway, signal added
development of the commercial sector on the eastern part

all the ABC documents are contained in your package

Michael Gold, VP Legal Affairs of BIG Y
MA corporation, based in Springfield area
in business 80 years, owned and operated by the family
3rd generation of the family

we are a great neighbor in the community, support numerous local organizations

Table & Vine essentially the liquor business for Big Y
currently has 4 liquor licenses
1 strandalone, 3 within stores

would be the smallest liquor dept in MA
loyal customers have been asking for it since they opened

well trained, talented and educated, 
experts in wine, food and craft beers
hoping to bring that expertise here

take obligations to sell alcohol seriously
Point of sale systems do require a valid birth date entered in the system

serve the public need, in search of a common good
MA case law has identified several factors

  • proximity to school, no schools in immediate area
  • number of existing dispensaries, there is an available license
  • competition among existing license holders should not be made in determination, DaVitas and Franklin Liquor have full license, this would only be beer/wine as a convenience for the customers; not looking to put anyone out of the business; there is a distinction between the licenses and the nature of the operations
  • submitted letters in support of the license; received a resounding yes
  • reputation of the applicant, over 50 years of experience, can bring expertise to the area with craft beer and specialty wines
  • wines - always a concern, the state of the art development, a completely different facade, the traffic is not a deterrent in this case, the traffic improvements are allowing negotiations with other developments proposed next door to utilize the entrance
Feldman - quantified?
customers come in frequently, asking for beer/wine

we were careful about where to use the last license

Padula - how does the sale work?
there is a point of sale system that is required with a valid date in order to process the transaction; there are also 32 locations in CT as well

Padula - how many times?
never in MA? in CT? one issue among the 32 stores in 9 years

DaVitas issue won the full license and when they got it, they turned in the beer/wine 

The Council last year voted against the Cottage/Union, and developed the process we have used here

Kelly - how do you handle the situation when a cashier is underage?
if a minor would try to scan an alcohol transaction, it would lock the system until a supervisor came over

Mark Lenzi - Franklin Liquors, across from the BIG Y
in 1978 purchased Jimmies Penny Candy Liquor Store
this is the oldest liquor license in town
family all work there

please consider the decision from last year, in consideration 
there was one license last year
there are three licenses this time

consider the legal precedence set in MA
the laws are changing, it used to be three, it will be 7 in 2016

what does it mean for the town?
it may mean more corporations coming

I am a BIG Y customer, and I did not get asked
consider the support for the small business movement in town

in closing, I am not sure they showed a public need, just because they are the only application doesn't demonstrate the public need

Cerel - can only take into consideration material presented at the meeting and not in other ways


Michael Rourke - Franklin resident
chose Franklin for a variety of reasons for the family
voted best town for families, affordable homes, top rated jobs, good schools, etc.
local were proud to call Franklin, discourage to see the charm decline in the past several years
now some of those small business are out of business
too much of our hard earned dollars are going to corporation

Mark and his family are a true proponent
in the spirit of national small business that started this week

the main reason was due to the saturation in the area, 
there are others around, a saturation

I urge you to deny this application

"Industry need not wish, there is no need here"

Karen Mullen, a Big Y customer
I feel strongly that BIG Y supports the small town
I don't think it would take away their business
I don't see the competition here 
MA case law doesn't support the need
I would request that this license be approved

Sandra Verhagen, town resident
there is a movement to support small business
we are all in it together
this being small business week, we are spending our money to keep them operating
ask you to look at this and deny the license
I don't understand how there is public need

Laurie Blake - Norfolk resident
BIG Y customer, I do think it would be convenient
The other liquor stores that are in town, I would still good to them for other things; if I am looking for hard alcohol, I would go elsewhere
if they are the oldest they are survivors
I am on both sides, I think having BIG Y and their regulations would be a strong contender on this town


motion to close the hearing, seconded, 9-0


additional comment from BIG Y
focus is on the craft brews and unique wines, not the regular stuff you see
I advocate for small business and for family business, that is where we came from, our core business is food, and proper pairings is what we are looking to do

Feldman - I appreciate the comments on both side, the situation last year was between two small businesses, any time we take on a license, some one will oppose it, the government should not impede competition


motion to approve, seconded, 8-1 via roll call (Dellorco - no)


No comments:

Post a Comment