License Commission

City of Chicopee, Massachusetts License Commission Joseph Martin, Chairman City Hall Annex –274 Front Street – Chicopee, MA 01013 Jeanette Jez Joseph Pasternak Tel: (413) 594-1530 Fax: (413) 594-1531 Anna Maria Hamblin Minutes for the September 19, 2024, meeting held in the City Council Chambers at 6:00 PM In attendance: Chairman Martin and Commissioners Jez, Pasternak and Hamblin. Public Input-none Minutes are presented to the Board. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Application for a Change of Manager for BJ’s Wholesale Club, 650 Memorial Dr. In attendance: Atty. Neil Mooney and Michael Myers. Atty. Mooney informs the Board of Mr. Myers background. He has previously worked for Target for 16 years and recently started with BJ’s. He has experience in handling alcohol and is TIPs certified. He is aware of the regulations. Chairman Martin states he appreciates BJ’s prompt attention to any issues that have arisen. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Application for a new Annual All Alcohol Restaurant license for Perfect Tasty, LLC, 108 West St. In attendance: Atty. Warren Thompson, Dingben Chen and Vicky Chen. Commissioners Hamblin and Commissioner Jez have done a site visit. The restaurant is beautiful. The only issue is a lack of parking. The area is congested with no clear parking area. Commissioner Jez drove down the side street and did find a small cull de sac that had parking behind the restaurant. Ms. D. Chen states that there will be a lot of take-out orders. The restaurant is not large and can only accommodate 49 people including staff. The parking situation will also depend on the time of day. She also feels that once people taste her food, she will bring in the customers! Atty, Thompson also states that Ms. Chen has several other restaurants and is familiar with handling alcohol. Ms. Taillefer asks for the abutter’s notification return receipts. Ms. Chen did not notify the abutters as required. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4- 0. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to rescind the prior approval due to the abutters not being properly notified. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to postpone the hearing until the October meeting. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Ms. Taillefer will send the information to Atty. Thompson’s office for the abutter notification. Hearing for St. Stanislaus Social Club. In attendance: Joe Tarka. At the last meeting , the Commissioners imposed a 1-day suspension with the date to be determined at the next meeting. The violation was for not submitting the paperwork for a change of officers/directors by the due date. At this time the Commission reviews the events that have transpired. The paperwork has been submitted. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to hold the one-day suspension in abeyance for six months provided there are no further violations. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4- 0. Application for a Change of Officers/Directors for St. Stanislaus Club. All the paperwork has been submitted. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Application for a Special One Day Permit (Beer/Wine) for St. Stanislaus Basilica, 534 Front St for the Annual Parish Bazaar to be held on Saturday October 19, 2024, from11:00 AM until 7:00 PM with Fr. B. Milunski as applicant. (Is police presence required?) Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve and waive the police presence. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Application for a Special Event Permit for the Westover Community Galaxy Council Car Show to be held at Westover Metropolitan Airport, 255 Padgette Dr, Chicopee, Ma on October 19, 2024, from 9:00 AM until 2:00 PM with Kara Herman as applicant. (Rain date-October 20,2024) Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Application for a Special Event Permit for the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce, 48 Center St for the Chicopee Thriller 5 K Run / Walk Road Race to be held on Saturday October 26,2024 from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM with Melissa Breor as applicant (Race will start and end at Grise Funeral Home, 280 Springfield St. A DJ will also be in the parking lot. Police details will be hired for the event. There will be some brief street closures during the race) Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Pasternak seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Application for a Special One Day Permit (Beer/Wine) for the Friends of the Chicopee Senior Citizens, 5 West Main St for the Bright Nights Dinner to be held on Wednesday December 4 ,2024, and Thursday December 5,2024 from 2:00 PM until 8:00 PM with Mike Wilk as applicant. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Application for a Special One Day Permit (Beer/Wine) for the Friends of the Chicopee Senior Citizens, 5 West Main St for a Thanksgiving Dinner to be held on Thursday November 19,2024, from 2:00 PM until 8:00 PM with Mike Wilk as applicant. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Application for a Special One Day Permit (Beer/Wine) for the Friends of the Chicopee Senior Citizens, 5 West Main St for an Oktoberfest Dinner to be held on Wednesday October 16,2024, from 2:00 PM until 7:00 PM with Mike Wilk as applicant. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Application for a Special One Day Permit (Beer/Wine) for the Friends of the Chicopee Senior Citizens, 5 West Main St for a Mokihana Polynesian Dinner Show to be held on Thursday October 10,2024, from 2:00 PM until 8:00 PM with Mike Wilk as applicant. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Application for a Special One Day Permit (Beer/Wine) for the Friends of the Chicopee Senior Citizens, 5 West Main St for a Fall Dinner to be held on Thursday September 26 ,2024, from 2:00 PM until 7:00 PM with Mike Wilk as applicant. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Application for a Special One Day Permit (Beer/Wine) for the Friends of the Chicopee Senior Citizens, 5 West Main St for a Holiday Dinner to be held on Tuesday December 17,2024, from 2:00 PM until 7:00 PM with Mike Wilk as applicant. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Review of filing fees for 2025. Commissioners have reviewed filing fees from surrounding cities and towns. Chicopee fees are the same or comparable. At this time the only fee increase will be Weekday Entertainment from $130.00 to 150.00. Commissioner Jez makes a motion to approve. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Filing fees are read by Commissioner Hamblin. Discussion of Vibez appeal hearing- Shawn Allyn called Atty. Kenefick to let him know he will be representing Ms. Watkins. He also said that Ms. Watkins intends to surrender her license and start a business/bar in Springfield. However, she is under the impression that she needs to clear / appeal / fight this current violation to make sure she gets a license in Springfield. Shawn says she would surrender the license if we dropped the violation. Atty. Kenefick told Shawn that he would bring this offer to the board and get back to him. Chairman Martin states he is not in favor of this offer. The ABCC appeal hearing has been postponed several times already. Atty. Allyn was not present for the violation hearing. It will be setting a precedent. There are many other businesses that that do not have these issues that this business has had. If Ms. Watkins is planning on moving her business, then she can certainly do that. That does not change the fact that there have been multiple issues at her location. There are a lot of moving parts to this issue. Commissioners agree. Commissioner Pasternak makes a motion to reject the offer from Atty. Allyn. Commissioner Hamblin seconds. Motion approved 4-0. Review of Police reports and discussion of compliance checks. Lt, Wegrzynek informs the Board that he has a new report concerning Bullseye café. He does a review of the report. Also, there is a new report concerning The Vibez. He does a review of the report. A hearing for Bullseye Café will be held in October with the new report added to the current reports. The Vibez will also be sent notice of a new hearing for the reports received. A call log and any other reports will be requested from the police department. ABCC approvals- Elk’s Change of Officers/Directors Correspondence/Discussion – None at this time Upcoming topics for next meeting- Renewals will be sent out in October. Next meeting will be October 17,2024