Franklin Matters

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

live reporting - hearings - liquor licenses

F. HEARINGS

• Zoning Bylaw Amendment 13-718: Changes to §185-7. Compliance Required
hearing opened, no comments from audience, no comments/question from Councilors

This would remove the restriction on putting a parking facility in the downtown area, it already is zoned that way for the residential area - which is backwards.

Hearing closed

awaiting time for start of next hearing

• Violation of M.G.L. 138 §34: Sale, Delivery of Furnishing of an Alcoholic beverage to a person under the age of 21 – Postponed to September 11, 2013- 7:10 PM

Village Mall Liquors

Chief Semerjian provides an update of the operations on June 25th that failed the compliance check

Village Mall Liquors is a first offence
Acknowledge offence, have instituted new procedures since
good cashier/clerk didn't check admittedly

3 days, one day immediate, 2 days held in abeyance
when a package store is penalized, the store closes
agreed to be Fri Sep 13th

Ichigo Ichie
Jeff Roy recused himself from the hearing

potential dispute at least from the representing attorney, that additional details made present a different picture

as this is the second offense, and potentially disputed Mark Cerel advised to proceed with more formality than the prior hearing

Chief Semerjian restates the report, basically a simple operation, if the drink is given and the operative is able to control

for purposes for the record, he was asked for the ID, he presented it and was still served

Attorney wanted to clarify on the expiration of the minor license, it does not expire on the date of the birth date

brief video to be shown on an iPad, apologizes for not bringing it on a more viewable format

owner had watched individual enter, fallowed the individual to the bar and talked to the bar tenders to alert them to the under age individuals

no dispute on the service, the owner did have a conversation immediately after the individual left; the bartender was fired, all the employees were re-certified on the license check

there was a violation last year, there was a red-alert for the individual, the only thing the manager didn't do was to check the id himself.

The restaurant took the first violation seriously, and are taking this one seriously
Under the circumstance, asking for consideration, asking for one day

Q - on how many checks have there been since the first one?
A - likely this is the fourth, we have done shoulder taps

Pfeffer - advises going with the 5 days

situation is different in that the second offense within the 2 years so the 2 days held in abeyance need to be considered; would be 5 days now, with two days held in abeyance

If the client challenges, or appeals to the ABC Board it could come back to the Council for a new hearing

Jones, Mercer, Kelly similar comments on incident, good intentions don't always make for good results. Have a problem with changing precedent

Powderly - steps taken are necessary and thank you for them

motion to move penalty as 5 days served, 2 additional held in abeyance, to commence Sep 20th

Live reporting - Town Council - Sep 11, 2013

Present: Mercer, Kelly, Powderly, Vallee, Pfeffer, Jones, Bissanti, Roy
Absent: Dellorco

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
– June 5, 2013, June 19, 2013
motion to approve meeting minutes, passed 8-0

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS – This meeting is being recorded by Franklin TV and shown on Comcast channel 11 and Verizon channel 29. This meeting may be recorded by Franklin Matters.

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
– Robert R. Dean

Robert Dean, Council Chair Robert Vallee and Vice-Chair Tina Powderly

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS

E. APPOINTMENTS
Design Review Commission
Claudine Silverman
Robert J. Tobin Jr
motion to approve, passed 8-0

Conservation Commission
Dayna Gill
Ravi Pendkar
motion to approve, passed 8-0

Anything, anytime!

There is an old adage in the help desk support world:

If you don't tell them what you support, you support everything.
If you don't tell them how you support it, you support it their way.
And so forth ... you get the idea.

So when I find this sign seemingly failing to say what it prohibits, does it prohibit everything? or is everything fair game?

anything anytime

Fortunately, the sign is not on a high traffic street and thereby with little real impact.

Sign seems to be oddly placed

This "Do not enter" sign is oddly placed. There is a curb along the road. A utility pole, a tree, and a support line for the utility pole. Why would any one think this is a space to drive?

oddly placed sign

Is there a special reason for the placement of this sign?

Do you have a library card?

September is National Library Card Sign up Month and the Franklin Library is taking part. Do you have a library card?

Library card sign up month

Visit the Franklin Library page to find out what the library card can do for you.
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Library/index

Visit the American Library Association webpage for more on this month
http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/card

"We are moving along"

As shown with photos shared here, the solar farm up at the Mount St Mary's Abbey is making progress and part of it should go live in October.

National Grid, the town’s primary electricity provider, still has to perform some final safety and security checks, he said.

The town will purchase the energy generated by the farm at a reduced rate.

Kearsarge will begin work on the remaining 3 megawatts in the next 60 days. The complete farm will power about 70 percent of the town’s municipal and school buildings, according to Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting.

solar farm in July 2013

More photos from July 2013
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/07/mount-st-marys-solar-farm-update.html

Photos from June 2013
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/06/mount-st-marys-solar-farm.html

"best fit for the museum"

What to do with the former historical museum is an open question.

When the commission moved into its current museum on West Central Street three years ago, the South Franklin Congregational Meeting House no longer had a use and now stands perpetually empty.

Recently, commissioners have been discussing with town officials potential uses for the old church — such as leasing or selling it — but have hit hurdle after hurdle.

While the town has maintained the more than 150-year-old building to a certain extent, it will still require an extensive amount of work before it can be sold or repurposed, according to Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting.