go pursuant to chapter 20 of the acts of 2021 and extended Again by chapter 2 of the acts of 2023 this meeting will be conducted via remote means members of the public who wish to access the meeting May do so in the following manner by emailing Steve McCarthy at McCarthy s.gov that's MCC T Ys am.gov no inperson attendance of members of the public will be permitted but every effort will be made to ensure the public can adequately access the proceedings in real time via technological means in the event we are unable to do so for reasons of economic hardship and despite best efforts we will post on the ammer website in audio or video recording transcript or other comprehensive record of proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting and with that done we'll call the meeting to order at 5:39 pm and take a roll call Dylan here gueston is here here here okay and I'm here and so we are three present and two absent hiy and Doug are absent um all right so the next thing up is public comment and this is public comment unrelated to anything on the agenda if you have any of that kind of public comment please raise your hand by pressing the raise hand button at the bottom of your screen and I don't see anything okay so next first up is item three licenses a liquor license transfer application kushan LLC doing business as kushman market and Cafe 491 Pine Street and Steve is there someone here to yes I have uh invited the two out to join you want me to you want me to get going yeah why don't you get going yeah sure right thanks yep uh for the record Tom Rey attorney with bacon Wilson here in ammer here on behalf of kushan LLC uh and its application for a transfer of an existing off- premises uh beer and wine license uh up at 491 Pine Street which is known as kushman Market with me manager of record and also hopefully soon to be owner of the market uh Freda Peters um so I mean quite simply what you see is what you get here so I I I think everyone's familiar with kushman Market uh 491 Main Street it's got the the market section part of that section uh in the front of the store has a beer and wine selection and then as you go to the back of the store there's a cafe uh Freda and her sister Molly have the the real estate and the business under contract the purchase uh we are working through financing currently we expect to have a firm mortgage commitment early next week maybe Tuesday next week I just talked to the lender uh we've been through the zoning board of appeals for uh the management plan and and they had approved in the management plan and said we didn't need any additional approvals from them and so our last stop is here uh with you for a transfer of the license from the existing license holder to bushwoman um I think you know Mr McCarthy can talk about a couple of maybe outstanding items we are waiting for uh certificate of good standing from the Department of revenue for the transfer or and the same thing for the Department of Unemployment Assurance uh Bob Spencer if you're familiar with Bob he's an attorney in town as well he represents the seller uh I frankly just asked him when Steve emailed me I want to say Tuesday and you know yesterday was a holiday so we don't have them today um so we would ask for any approval condition upon providing that material to you you know in a reasonable amount of time uh before you actually provide that to the abcc they're not going to issue any license without it anyways and then also uh we just today provided an updated letter because there is a pledge of license being requested here so Freda is financing with Greenfield Savings Bank and Greenfield provided an updated letter saying that they are requiring a pledge of License to SEC as the collateral um to secure the loan so we provided that Steve also had asked for a note I I'll have a draft note so we haven't been through finan in yet so we don't have the note um we will have that early next week as well that I could share with uh Mr mcarthy and the board um Frida would be the manager of Records spending all her time we put 40 hours but we're sure it's G to be more um she's got uh some Hospitality experience with with catering um and right now she works for a I think it's a cannabis company uh remotely so I think she's eager to start this new phase of life um malan free to have set up a a separate LLC to be the landlord and so they have a lease between uh their real estate entity and then the business entity and we're asking for this license to go into kushan which is the business entity and the market is going to stay the same they're going to have the same offerings the cafe same thing and it's still going to be called even though creatively Freda has has made her LLC Kush woman um I'm happy to answer any questions that you have freda's here she's happy to answer any questions as well but like I said kind of what you see is what you get with this one all right thank you uh any questions Dylan uh yeah so just so I understand this correct um the reason we're looking to have this license approved conditionally today while there's a lot of things outstanding is just because there's a financing component that is conditional on us approving this license chicken in the egg yeah you you've got it and uh I hate the phrase well I say not for nothing I'm away next week and I understand you may be having a hearing next week and I've tried my best to not have any I've I've told clients I can't appear next week because I'm with my family so that was one of the other reasons as well if I may just jump in yeah also Tom covered everything missing from the application we also have not been able send it to the police chief and Building Commissioner for approval yet um waiting for those outstanding um things and that that meeting he uh he refers to next week is the possibility the uh bid has submitted a application for their um summer concert series on the weekend of the 4th of July which will um not be uh uh which you know we would not have a meeting before then so that may be something the board considers okay thank you and other the questions comments uh guess yeah um Steve my understanding is we we can't issue a license to someone who doesn't have a property interest in uh to for the establishment where the license would be connected to so isn't this just a little premature uh what do you mean by property interest I mean with that there's no lease there's no current there's no current right to the property of the applicant is there there is a unsigned lease from the um I believe as Tom said they're going to be forming a second business entity that would be um that would be uh you know the the the landlord um they do have a unsigned lease from between those two um entities and the purchase and sale agreement um it is not signed yet sometimes you'll see one that specifically calls out the conditional aspect this one is um is is not written way I believe it's still unsigned so we have let me guess on we have a a signed purchase and sale for the real estate we have a signed P Asset purchase agreement for the business assets so that gives us the right to pursue what we're pursuing and if you'd like evidence of that we'd be happy to provide no but I mean if you're if the financing falls through there's no uh there's no we we there's no uh this is this won't work right correct yeah if the financing FS through unless fre to comes up maybe she's going to play some scratch tickets tonight but other than that uh yeah I would think that what we would do is then seek just a a withdrawal of the application even if it's in with the abcc yeah I mean I guess I'm just not sure why we why why do we need to the the bank said that they need our approval in order to give the financing one of the conditions of their financing is Bank approval um is that packet pardon me yeah yeah I just sent it to Steve um because he wanted it rightly so spelled out that they're requiring a pledge of the license and so their commitment um evidence is that they need that it was I think gueston it was sent this afternoon right before the meeting the pledge is in there no but the pledge The Pledge is not the not that thing it's not the um it's not where the bank says that they need they won't get I mean I guess the question is what other conditions are open besides our license to get the financing I don't know that there are any as far as the I expect but do you know that there are no other is my question I cannot definitively say there are no others besides this I have not seen the commitment letter um Okay can the can the applicant answer the question Freda do you know have you heard from Michelle if I mean you've done the phase one and I think that's fine we've done title that's fine we've been through the ZB a as far as you know I'm concerned um you know they've done the apprais I I don't see where the issue would be but I don't know if you know anything else from talking to Michelle no the it's currently in underwriting um and just going through that process right now so everything has been submitted um I'm waiting to hear from the underwriting Department to kind of answer any questions that they have from us um so so you don't have a commitment letter yet correct Dylan I I guess I guess my question here because I mean it it it sounds like it's all moving in that direction and of of you know this is something legitimate um I guess my my question here is is there any reason Steve if we were to C can we even do a conditional license was so much outstanding kind of where's the threshold one where we we can't and are we beyond that we could issue a provisional license and then if so I mean I'm I'm fine with provisional license it seems like today if you get X Y and Z is fine with me rather than coming back in a month with X Y and Z to me it's kind of all the same I guess it's really a question of is there some reason that we we couldn't is it at is it at a point where we can't approve it if wanted to well it would not be um it would not be a provisional license or or provisional approval it be you know the board conditional or yeah the board is voting to uh you know give their blessing on um approving the license once these conditions of you know submitting these uh these things have been met um and that's really up to the board's discretion I guess as to um at what threshold they would want to do that I I mean I don't have any problem with those conditions it's really the it's the real estate that I'm that I'm less um comfortable with because we don't there's not there there isn't even a commitment letter right now not in evidence anyway so to speak yeah I mean we don't so I mean I was just looking through my emails because I was corresponding with the lender today she said from Greenfield Savings Bank so they're uh funding locally I am working on the commitment right now and that at 518 so I know they're they're working on it uh and we do and I can provide Steve evidence of uh a right uh site control I guess we could say more more broadly is the current owner willing to lease to the applicant if the deal falls through well that's a good question um I don't know the answer to that we have not I think we've always just kind of kept our head down and said yeah this is right well I yeah I I mean I I um it seems it seems premature to me but I I will go with the with the majority's Judgment here okay Doug any questions about it or opinion no I think I have the same concerns you know like how how conditional is too conditional right um at the moment and and in some ways you know I think in the broader scheme all things lining up the way they should there's no I don't have any issues with the the license I think it's really about do we put either them or us in in a situation that's a little too uncomfortable um and I think uh the I mean I know you know Tom's syndicated his wanting to be on vacation next week or whatever so good for you U and I know people wanting to sort of button things up as best we can I just didn't know if that made um you know I guess one question is you know are we going to meet next week because we have some things we need to do relative to separate issues if that's the case if we can wait a week that might button up a few of these new ends that make us a little less uncomfortable I just also don't want to create delays that you know I mean a week's not a lot of time and it can be a lot of time you know if you're trying to keep things moving in a in a pretty active quick way so Steve can you tell us about whether whether might be meeting next week so uh I mean if the board so there was an application submitted by the bid um for the summer concert series I believe you know Gabrielle has left this year and then their interim director Liz Larson just recently departed for a new position as well so um they were pretty late in getting their application for the July 5th summer concert series event um you know that was submitted after the board's guidelines for um such applications to be taken so the board's under no obligation to make a special meeting but the board could choose to do so that could be at the beginning of the week after next as well um that's really at the discretion of the board um I think we would have to set a uh I guess our next date after that would be the 11th or next regularly scheduled date yeah I think the thing I'm thinking is is um this is maybe a question for Tom and and Freda a little bit it's just you know if if we waited a week let's say we met next Thursday and and took this up um because I think you know commitment letter is literally probably on your desk for 9:00 am. tomorrow um which is probably the most critical piece that's that's kind of we're gapped on at the moment um you know does that impinge upon the you know you guys progressing through the rest of the process too much from if I could from my perspective I don't think so because my sense would be St is not sending this off to the abcc until we have the certificate of good standing um from Dua drr and then Building Commissioner and police chief sign off so I would guess we're probably like is if we can move kind of in concert to have all of those things completed so that you know next week if it is just yes these this material was presented we feel comfortable let's issue this I think that'd be fine Freda has an outside date of August 15 to get all of these things and so my only fear I mean you folks are great it's the abcc and they've typically been taking about 30 days so just to keep that in mind next week is okay you know when we start to get into July a little bit and with some the summer that's where I get a little bit more uncomfortable but I think and Freda you know let me know but I I think we could certainly try to make the commission feel comfortable not trying to push you into a decision here yeah I I make a real quick thing just hands up hold on who was hold on who was first was it Dylan or Freda or um if uh if I actually just may interject here for a moment maybe this cannot can kind of let the board make its decision to I uh this is currently my week of vacation I was coming in for what I was hoping was going to be a relatively straightforward uh license application it looks like this is a little bit more complicated than I uh okay had the time for today so I will uh we have a quorum so um do with that information what you will when you folks decide to vote but uh you all have a good one best of luck and I I'll see you all in a week all right bye jayen thank you if I could just offer a suggestion I mean the thing I'm thinking about was that I wouldn't need to see Freda or Tom or next week if we were GNA vote on this I would I think I'm kind of like guessed on it's like I'm not terribly uncomfortable but at the same time I'd be a little more comfortable if a couple more things were we in um so I think it's it's almost a question of you know what's the likelihood of us meeting you know next Thursday because if we are and we can hold a week I think that would be um I think everybody have a higher level of comfort but I could vote today I if I if we really feel like we need to that is every we gonna have a quum I mean I I'm happy to approve this what I guess I I I don't feel comfortable with is sending an application to the abcc where isn't a commitment letter that's signed and the only conditions are you know conditions that are easy to to meet so I I I don't think we should be approving a license where we don't know it's going to work out I'm not concerned about anything else on the application besides the the real estate yeah so Steve were you contemplating sending this to the abcc before there's a commitment letter um no I mean I think that would be a uh an essential part of that then then I'm fine I mean if if we're not going to send it on to the you know to the state until um that's clear then I I'm fine approving it on on those conditions today right now yeah right now okay yeah I think that seems is that all right with you Doug yeah yeah and just so we okay are you sure all right sorry Freda did you have something to say you have your your hand button yeah I was just going to say that I do actually believe that we have the certificate of good standing from the do okay good okay would you could you forward that to Steve can you get a copy of that to Steve uh yeah I'll forward it to I I believe I'll refor it to Tom I I had thought that I had sent it to Tara so I'll refor it to Tom it's from the the it's from mulva it's from it's from the seller and we need no I know I already got that from him did you get the Dua as well that I'm I I think so I I don't know I'll have to go back I'm pretty sure we definitely have the do one I am not sure on the Dua okay I'll what you have off just to let everybody know okay all right great so everyone is that is there anything else on this are we and everyone is commissioner is comfortable voting on this today okay is there a motion to approve the transfer uh of license from Kush kushman to Kush woman to uh move to approve uh the transfer of uh the license subject to remaining items on the application and uh subject to uh you know holding it from the state until the real estate is cleared up excellent second all right great let's take a vote any further discussion no all right gueston I Doug I and I vote I that is three to zero with two absent and it is approved so thank you very much I'll to get what he needs okay thank you so much thanks thank you good see everyone by you thank you for good luck thank you okay so on to our discussion topics so I don't know how much we want to I guess abcc dph advisory Delta 8 and Delta 9 THC products um Everybody saw that um that notification we went over at the last meeting and and um are there any questions Steve is that letter going to go out to all of the the lenses yes that will yeah they they have received that all from the abcc but I will be restating that to everybody okay those updates right thank you um let's see where are we next um ABC oh take out alcohol and outdoor dining areas that something I believe Hy had requested we put that in the agenda for today but she is not here may we can table discussion on that until our next uh all right it is tabled um marijuana regulation anything new there is nothing new on that okay um where are we up to liquor license application supplement statement and that's one of yours no update on that in this time okay how is rental registration and the rental rental appeals process coming along we do have the uh application out and we have been uh taking some so that is coming along and the appeals we will have to discuss that as well so all right because uh Dylan was supposed to get us the um zba appeals process literature uh for us to review okay so that brings us to discussion topic G upcoming meetings and agendas so uh the did is doing this um that they might have something ready to go next week and there's a question of whether we'll be meeting next Thursday on the the 29th 27th or after that this is for a July 4th event yes so that it's on July 5th so so um if the board would like to accommodate that a meeting date could be said I check with the applicant he said he'd be broadly flexible okay so is anyone would we have a quorum for next Thursday can anyone I will be here um um I guess I'm on vacation so if um if we need my Quorum I I'd rather try to find um maybe like a morning time where we can do one of those five minute okay uh meetings all right yeah we we do not have to set a date certain for this oh we don't okay all right okay so yeah I mean I think I'm available I mean I've got you know stuff and you know I think we can if we don't use a Thursday at 5:30 time frame if there's some other time like that's on if it's you know Thursday at 8:30 a. or I don't know 11:30 a. or whatever I I can probably make it work okay so I we just got to figure out what what it takes to get a a quorum I can send out another one of those polls about meeting times okay um and then what do we put on the is there any any so that's the only real real license applications coming up that you know about so far Steve we do have a uh a full liquor license transfer application coming up I think that we will be taking that on the uh 11th okay um all right I won't be here on the 11th I'll be and I'll be actually traveling so I won't be reachable really but um we can worry about that later I'm sure hopefully others will be there um so it's just this other temp um short-term license and then the big one on the 11 um and then I don't know there's anything we want to put on under discussion topics or just keep the same and we'll just go through them again okay all right um wonderful so topics not reasonably anticipated for8 hours any topics yes one quick thing um and you may have discussed this you know I'm Gonna Be My term is officially up on 6:30 um and I think I'm going to cycle off as much as I love you guys and love doing this work you know I've been on the board for the full six years it's been here so um there's a and I don't know if they still have this as part of the policy in town of trying to keep it to six years or so before you rotate off of a board um but I think it's you know it's time for for other folks to have opportunity but in the meantime until I'm actually replaced I'll continue to come and continue to vote because I can carry on in that role uh that's my understanding um so I will until you know the manager finds a replacement and can get it to the council for approval and and that sort of thing and Gaston may be in the same circumstance as me I'm not 100 yeah yeah I I I guess I hadn't thought it through as much as you have but I did um say that yeah it's it's time to to cycle off because I'm looks like I'm gonna be chairing the Housing Trust Congratulations by the way it's lovely board to be on I've been on that one too okay yeah um so yeah it's a good chance to to to um to try that out and so um but in the meantime until we have folks then uh yeah I mean I'll I'll coordinate with Steve and see what what makes sense okay great well you know sorry so sorry to see you both going but um totally understand and um all good things come to an end yes yeah all right so but at least you you'll be around for a little bit so yeah yeah um okay well good to know um all right if there are no other topics is there there a motion to adjourn so moved right is there thank you gueston take a vote Doug hi guest on hi I vote I that is three to Z2 absent and we're adjourned at 5 606m thanks everybody thank you all right thank you okay bye Steve thanks