Licensing Board

CITY OF LACONIA LICENSING BOARD & SPECIAL EVENTS REVIEW COMMITTEE AUGUST 6, 2014 DRAFT MINUTES Prsent: Licensing: J. Rogato, Chair; W. Clary, LPD Absent Licensing: K. Erickson, LFD Present Special Events: S. Saunders, Planning; B. Swan, DPW; K. Dunleavy, Parks; K. Gargano, Licensing Absent Special Events: C. Roffo, LFD; S. Nuttleman, Water; S. McCusker, Code Licensing Review: OLS: Laconia Police Department held National Night Out at the police department on 8/5/14 from 5pm-9pm OLS: Kimberly Bean 98 Province St had a family reunion on 7/26/14 from 6pm-10pm 4th of July Vendors Vertical Entertainment had a rock wall/ bungee Center Harbor Food pantry sold raffle tickets and accepted donations The Pasta Pot sold food and beverages IV- Brad’s Concessions at 45 Endicott St N added another trailer from 7/22/14-8/22/14 selling Sausage, Steak & Cheese, Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, French Fries, Chicken Tenders and Cold Drinks from 8am-8pm with the exception of staying open until 10pm on fireworks nights (8/1 & 8/15) approved by City Council. J. Rogato said the committee could take the above 4 items together. Motion: W. Clary moved to approve, with the second by J. Rogato, and all voted in favor of approval. Licensing Regular: J. Rogato suggested moving the order of the items as they had appeared on the agenda. OLS: Evangelical Baptist Church is having an outdoor worship service and picnic on 8/24/14 from 8am-2pm Motion: W. Clary moved to approve with the second by J. Rogato; all voted in favor of approval. RAF: Laconia Kiwanis Charity Fund draw date 8/24/14 proceeds will benefit Kiwanis K.A.R.E.S. (School reading program), Bike Safety Day and the support of local youth sports programs. Prize: 2 Night Stay at the Lodges at Mill Falls Motion: W. Clary made the motion to approve, with J. Rogato seconding. All voted in favor. IV- Sans Souci LLC dba Niche Boutique will be selling women’s clothing, jewelry and accessories at 128 Messer St (the old Coca-Cola building) from August thru September Motion: W. Clary made the motion to approve. Discussion: This is a self-contained truck. J. Rogato asked if they had permission from the building owner and was told yes. S. Saunders asked about traffic issues and W. Clary said that depends on where she will be parking the vehicle. He suggested parking near the garage doors which he felt would help with potential traffic flow issues on the site. J. Rogato seconded, adding a condition that the truck be parked by the garage doors. All voted in favor of approval. 1  Discussion on soliciting in the City of Laconia Discussion on Taxi Company/ Taxi Driver enforcement Licensing/ SERC: Renewal: Application # 2014-0105, Beacon Street East Multicultural Festival: Parade, Vendors, Crafts, Food, Entertainment W. Clary said that Larry Frates asked him about the parade of flags. K. Gargano said the police normally stop traffic and let them go through. S. Saunders said she feels they should submit a map of the suggested parade route. W. Clary said it will be different this year due to the bridge construction. K. Dunleavy said he feels they need to provide for trash. In the past they have generated a lot of trash and they have piled it up by the city hall dumpsters or on the sidewalk for pick up. They must determine a location for it. Ours just isn’t big enough for the amount generated. S. Saunders asked if they will have porto potties or if people use the Mill and was told both. We need a copy of a contract. Public: No one from the public spoke for or against the proposal. Motion: K. Gargano moved to approve application # 2014-0104 for the Multicultural Festival. She added conditions of approval: the applicant must submit a copy of the parade route and the porto potty contract, and make arrangements for trash removal from the site. K. Dunleavy seconded and all voted in favor. Pawnbroker Ordinance Review by Detective Kevin Butler: Detective Butler said this has already been reviewed by the city attorney. What he passed out has both languages, the prior and the recommended. The current ordinance covers pawnbroker only. He explained the difference. If you are selling for a fee, that is sales. If taken in to sell, that is pawn. We only have one in the city right now who is licensed, Capital City. We have another 15 who purchases items and we have no regulations on that. This included pawnbrokers and the other second hand dealers. Shall only apply to…………….. The antique store doesn’t apply here as they set up a booth and sell items. The ordinance will cover jewelry stores in this new version to eliminate thieves trying to get rid of their stolen items. In 2014 there were 343 reports filed. Some were recovered from the pawn shop. They are mandated to hold an item for 30 days; we are proposing they hold it for 14 days following purchases. Most people notice within that 14 day period that an item has been stolen. We took language from the state, which has a 4 month hold period. The hold on a pawned item is 4 months and on purchased items it is 14 days. It is 100% profit to a thief to sell it to the pawn shop. This seems to be working as they are staying away from Capital City. Gold is the big thing right now. They strip it and scrap the gold immediately but with the 14 day hold this will help. Detective Butler said they get a report every night and they can compare. S. Saunders asked if we will rework that section to differentiate between the state’s 4 month hold and ours and W. Clary said we should keep the 4 month but specify that is for pawned items, and the 14 day is for purchased items. There are 15 or less places in the city. K. Gargano asked how they would notify the businesses? W. Clary said we assume they purchase the items, they have to tell us that they don’t. In the Licensing ordinance there are already fees in place for pawnbrokers. W. Clary said they want daily transmissions on purchased items. They need a government photo ID from the seller. That helps to eliminate the easy outlet. J. Rogato said most jewelry stores would keep an item at least 14 days anyway. No one in their store strips it and melts it down. Rogato said he gets calls on a daily basis asking about purchased items; they tell them to call LPD. K. Gargano asked if they will fix wording in section 7,and then send this to City Council. W. Clary said a searchable document would be required. This goes to all law enforcement in New England. He said an Excel spreadsheet or some other electronic document is fine. Motion to recommend: W. Clary moved to recommend this change in the ordinance to the City Council as written with the change to 173:7, from 4 months to 14 days for purchased items. J. Rogato seconded and all voted in favor. 2 Licensing New Business: Driver for Craig’s: Cheryl Warren: W. Clary said they have her criminal record, from a long time ago, 23 years ago. Craig Barkel, the owner, said he is here vouching for her. W. Clary was asked if there is a time limit for a felony and he read 161:14 B, that states that any felony that is not annulled or for which not pardoned……………wording says SHALL be denied, so he said there is no leeway for this. J. Rogato suggested getting an annulment or a pardon. W. Clary said she can get the paperwork from the superior Court. J. Rogato explained to Barkel how this is written and that C. Warren would be disqualified, as there is no time frame. Barkel said he will go get the paperwork. J. Rogato said the driver is disqualified at this time. If she takes care of this we can take this application and look at it again. We can either give him a refund or keep the $25.00 towards this application in the future. Dave’s: Vincent Green, is the new proposed driver. He used to drive for Bertocchi’s. W. Clary said he has a criminal history, which goes back to the 80’s but these are misdemeanors, with no felonies, no suspensions so there is nothing to pre dispose him from applying. W. Clary said there is no reason why he cannot be approved to drive. Motion: W. Clary moved to approve the driver for Dave’s and J. Rogato seconded. All voted in favor. Craig Barkel asked if he can get a certified copy for the court and K. Gargano made a copy for him. Discussion on soliciting and taxi drivers: W. Clary said there are no complaints for over a year for unlicensed drivers. Cindy from Mr. C’s sent a letter about this. Some of the companies get insurance for the process, then drops the insurance. We don’t know that. W. Clary said we make towing companies supply a certificate of insurance, but that is sometimes dropped after the application. J. Rogato said this has been a problem in the past. W. Clary asked if she is complaining about unlicensing or uninsured and K. Gargano said both. One company has 3 vehicles, but only one is insured per the insurance co. Cindy sees him picking passengers up in the uninsured cars. Cindy has insurance on all 6 of her cars. S. Saunders asked how this is handled in other cities. J. Rogato said they have a medallion. K. Gargano said we are the only city that issues a license. W. Clary said we should tell Cindy if she sees him in town to take a picture and we will issue a summons for violation of city ordinance. W. Clary said this is hard to enforce, as they are hard to catch. J. Rogato asked if we really need the licensing of cab companies. He likes licensing of the drivers. This is difficult to enforce, so is this worth having? S. Saunders asked what kind of insurance and K. Gargano said liability. Cindy pays about 20K a year. J. Rogato said for those who abide by the ordinance, it is not a level playing field. S. Saunders asked if there is an accident is the city liable if we license and K. Gargano said it is handled like a regular motor vehicle accident. S. Saunders said she feels we need to keep the license process and we need to look at the drivers. W. Clary asked K. Gargano if the city attorney said we are all right if canceling the insurance part and was told yes. Cindy said she sees the other companies driving around and knows they aren’t following the proper process. S. Saunders asked if we remove the insurance it would be an ordinance change? W. Clary said to respond to Cindy and tell her that the LPD will investigate if she sends pictures. J. Rogato asked about soliciting, door to door. The question was raised if they need to set up appointments on buying food, like the Schwan’s food company. He had a lengthy discussion with the person. How do we handle solicitation? W. Clary said he feels this is a hawker/s/peddlers, but K. Gargano said he doesn’t feel he falls into this category. J. Rogato said they have an office in Manchester. W. Clary said he feels that the city needs to know when someone is out there if there is an issue need someone to contact. We always have problems. Schwan’s don’t go door to door. This guy is going to go door to door, they will get complaints. J. Rogato said he mentioned Jehovah’s Witness, and he told him they are a registered religious organization so can do that. W. Clary said he still feels he needs a hawker/peddler license and K. Gargano said he disagrees with the fee. J. Rogato said he could petition the City Council on relief from the fees. Licensing New Business: None 3  Licensing Old Business: This is just a reminder of an upcoming event that was previously approved: On 7/3/13 an OLS was approved for Tom & Ellen Finn at 1075 N. Main St for a wedding on 8/9/14 from 3pm-10pm. Licensing Minutes - Approval of minutes for- July 2, 2014 Motion: J. Rogato moved to approve the minutes with the second by W. Clary. All voted in favor. Licensing Adjournment-adjourn licensing: W. Clary moved to adjourn with the second by J. Rogato. All voted in favor. SERC New Business: Tower Hill Tavern is having a wrestling event on 9/26/14: S. Saunders said they have had this event in the past with no issues. W. Clary said there are unpaid bills for this. T. McCormack still owes for the November event. They have revised the ordinance, and won’t issue approval for this if not paid. J. Rogato said 161.7 states that wrestlers need license from licensing board. W. Clary said they got a complaint from the boxing commission. There is a loophole there, as they didn’t go through them. Is this a boxer/wrestler or hawker/peddler? J. Rogato said they must show that they comply with state laws and state athletic commission. W. Clary said this came to light the night of the event, so they let it go on. S. Saunders asked if they need to get a license and K. Gargano said she thought this was Tower Hill and covered under him. They put on his yearly application that he will hold these 3 times a year. S. Saunders said this is permitted zoning wise; this is permitted by licensing. Zoning has a category for indoor recreation. She asked K. Gargano if that would only cover this or for any special event. J. Rogato said he doesn’t think this is covered under his yearly application. S. Saunders said if approved by us K. Gargano issues licenses. S. Saunders asked if they should get a state permit and W. Clary said that the state needs to be aware of this. S. Saunders asked permits or notifications? Code does inspections. A license is required and will have to be issued. Motion: K. Dunleavy moved to approve, with the second by K. Gargano. All voted in favor. SERC Minutes- Approval of minutes for the meeting of June 11, 2014. K. Dunleavy moved to approve with the second by K. Gargano. All voted in favor. K. Dunleavy asked if there was any feedback on the kayak event. W. Clary said they had no problems with it. K. Dunleavy said they had barricaded a few spots off to load/unload but only a few launched early. W. Clary said as this event grows the food vendors will need to be looked into. K. Dunleavy said there could be issues with swimmers at the beach and this. They will look into this. They did a separate swim line, and kayak launch area, but some didn’t listen. This is a good event. W. Clary said there were 3 fundraisers that weekend. SERC Adjournment: W. Clary moved to adjourn, with the second by K. Dunleavy. All voted in favor. USH-Use of Street/Highway IV-Itinerant Vendor RAF – Raffle OLS – Outdoor Loudspeaker ENT – Entertainment 4