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At the meeting of the Randolph Board of Selectmen held Monday, April 21, 2009, the following were Present: Chairman Paul Connors, Vice Chairman James Burgess, William Alexopoulos, Maureen Kenney, Paul Fernandes, Town Counsel Paul DeRensis, Executive Secretary David Murphy and Recording Secretary Cheryl Sass. Meeting opened by Mr. Connors at 6:45 pm.
Hearing – Continued – Vault Room
Continuation of Hearing from April 13, 2009. Attorney Aieta present on behalf of Mr. Bonvie, who could not be present.
Mr. Burgess stated that the Board has been asked to look into over-service, service to a minor and violation of liquor laws. Mr. Burgess stated that he does not believe that the violations were met to a high degree, however, he believes there are issues with regard to how the license serves the public good.
Ms. Kenney made a motion to confirm and ratify all actions taken by Chairman Paul Connors as the hearing officer during the hearing of Tad Bonvie and Associates, Inc., d/b/a Vault Room, Tad Bonvie, Manager. Seconded by Mr. Burgess. Voted 5-0.
Ms. Kenney made a motion to roll back the operation hours on Tad Bonvie and Associates Inc. d/b/a Vault Room, from its current closing time of 2 a.m., per the CVAA license to an 11 p.m. closing time. Ms. Kenney withdrew her motion after a discussion by the members that there should be one motion on all of the grounds.
Ms. Kenney made a motion to revoke the liquor license held by Tad Bonvie and Associates, Inc. d/b/a Vault Room on the following grounds:
(i) Tad Bonvie & Associates d/b/a Vault Room did not comply with the July 2008 letter written by the Board requiring that they have appropriate security cameras operating through facility; (ii) Tad Bonvie & Associates d/b/a Vault Room did not provide a safe environment for customers, citizens or public safety personnel; (iii) the ABCC does not allow disorder, disturbances or illegality on the premises.
A formal written decision is to be prepared by Town Counsel for the next Board of Selectmen’s Meeting on April 27, 2009. Seconded by Mr. Burgess.
Ms. Kenney stated that there were cameras that were not working, cameras that were directed at the floor and at only the cash registers, and that they were not being used for the safety of the patrons. Based on Chief Porter’s testimony, Mr. Burgess does not feel that there was a violation of the letter. Mr. Alexopoulos stated that the letter was centered on security and that the cameras do have significant relevance to the Board’s decision and whether or not Mr. Bonvie followed the intent of the Board’s recommendation.
Mr. Fernandes stated that although Mr. Bonvie can be faulted for his loose interpretation of the wording of the letter, he believes the degree of punishment is too strong. Mr. Connors stated that the Board did ask for the cameras to be installed, but never followed up to see that the cameras were actually installed and never monitored how they were being used.
Voted: 2-3 (Mr. Burgess, Mr. Connors and Mr. Fernandes voting in the negative). Motion failed.
Mr. Fernandes made a motion to roll back closing hours on all licenses to 11:00 p.m. and suspend all licenses for 30 days, effective April 21, 2009, and to incorporate a written formal decision by Town Counsel for the ABCC at the next hearing of the Board of Selectmen on April 27, 2009. Seconded by Mr. Alexopoulos.
Attorney Aieta asked to be heard, however, Attorney DeRensis objected, stating that the hearing portion of the meeting had ended.
Attorney Aieta asked that his objection to the Notice of Hearing be noted.
Mr. Burgess said that as the licensing authority, the Board’s main concern is public safety. He stated that he was present at the hearing when the board originally granted the license to Mr. Bonvie and it was discussed at length as to the type of establishment Mr. Bonvie was opening. Mr. Burgess recalled that Mr. Bonvie’s plan back then was to offer food and plan an occasional function rental. He believes that going forward an 11:00 p.m. closing would be a reasonable closing time for the type of family style restaurant Mr. Bonvie plans to open.
Mr. Fernandes stated that the town can accept a family restaurant, jazz club, or blues club, but the Town cannot accept the club with the history that it has, and similar incidents need to be prevented. He believes this is the best way the Board can make sure that the establishment will be acceptable to the Town of Randolph.
Voted 4-1 (Ms. Kenney).
Attorney Aieta asked if the Board would grant a stay of the suspension period until after the statutory appeal period had passed and a written decision is received. The Board did not agree to grant a stay.
Motion to adjourn hearing made by Mr. Burgess, seconded by Mr. Fernandes. Voted 5-0.
2010 Budget Hearing
It was determined that Budget discussions would be added to the regular meeting agendas for April 27th and May 4th.
Sale of Surplus Property: Mr. Murphy met with Lisa Berch with regard to town owned properties. Mr. Burgess asked for an update on the properties and suggested renting the old police station as opposed to selling it since it is in the center of town. Mr. Murphy suggested procuring the services of an advertising agency and it was agreed that Mr. Murphy could begin the process.
Town Counsel: The need for legal services are beyond what Town budgets for every year. Mr. Murphy suggested going to an in-house counsel, supported by special counsel with Deutch Williams. In House counsel would have an office in Town Hall, and work Monday – Friday so that the Town can be advised daily. Mr. Burgess believes the counsel we have is good and he likes the fact that experts are available to the Town. He does not have an objection to going out and seeing what’s out there, but he would first like to know what the job description would be and what other aspects of the job will be done.
Mr. Murphy suggested that the Personnel position be consolidated with an in-house counsel position. and responsibilities would include dealing with the human resources issues and responsibilities.
Ms. Kenney sated that having an in-house counsel would not mean that expert litigators wouldn’t be used if the need arose. She believes that we need a closer tie with a legal advisor, and would expect Deutch Williams to stay on as special counsel. She sees the position as part of the “Senior Management Team” to help advise the future Town Council and the current Board of Selectmen.
Mr. Fernandes believes the projected cost needs to be learned and how much money will be saved before making a decision. What do we actually spend on legal counsel now and what can we reasonably say this will save the Town?
Mr. Murphy stated that the trend has been approximately $300,000 a year for legal representation. We receive excellent legal representation. He estimated saving approximately $100K and if the Personnel consolidation goes through, an additional savings of approximately $60,000. Support staff would be handled by the Selectmen’s office.
Mr. Burgess Motion to allow Mr. Murphy to start the process of making a consolidation of an in-house Town Counsel and Personnel, and asked that a functional organization chart be created to be presented to the Board in the future, as part of Mr. Murphy’s budget recommendations Seconded by Mr. Fernandes. Voted 5-0.
Mr. Murphy recommended that Liz Boucher be appointed to the open position of principal clerk in the Building Department, with 6-month probationary period, leaving a vacancy in Elder Affairs.
Mr. Alexopoulos made a motion to appoint Liz Boucher to the Building Department, seconded by Mr. Burgess. Voted 5-0.
Mr. Burgess made a motion to appoint George Fabrizio as the Acting Interim Building Commissioner with an expiration of no later than January 31, 2010, seconded by Ms. Kenney. Voted 5-0
At 8:35 p.m. Mr. Fernandes made a motion to adjourn seconded by Ms. Kenney. Voted 5-0.
Clerk of the Board
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