Fruitlands Museum officials met with the Board of Selectmen Tuesday night for a third round of discussion and negotiations related to the museum’s request for a liquor license. Both parties are still hammering out the details of the license, with the goal of making a decision on the license request at next week’s meeting.
With Town Counsel Mark Lanza on hand to answer questions, the selectmen read through a proposed version of the license point by point, giving Fruitlands representatives the opportunity to suggest revisions.
In the prior meeting, a key issue was whether Fruitlands would be required to have 100 seats available and ready at all times in order to stay within the bounds of the town bylaw. Lanza reported that he had consulted with ABCC, the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, since the last meeting.
Lanza said that according to ABCC, “As long as there is ability to set the seats out, it meets the requirement of the law. Even the area of the tent when it is not erected can be counted for seating capacity.” Lanza concluded that given this interpretation, it would be permissible for Fruitlands to modify the number of seats out and available depending on the nature of the function. Lanza added, however, that he “respectfully disagreed” with this interpretation.
Public safety became a focus of the discussion, as selectmen Leo Blair and Tim Clark both noted that the issue of how many chairs were on the floor of the tea room at any one time related directly to whether and how guests would be able to evacuate the site in case of a fire emergency.
After discussion with Fire Chief Bob Mignard, who was present at the meeting, the selectmen opted to add a requirement that Fruitlands notify the Fire Department seven days in advance of any function for 50 or more people. This condition would give the fire chief the option of consulting with Fruitlands about the safest way to seat guests.
Another sticking point for the selectmen was deciding whether to require the museum to add a sprinkler system to the tea room. Mignard pointed out that as long as the tea room remained strictly a restaurant, no sprinkler system would be required. “If they want to change it to more of an entertainment facility, then sprinklers would be required,” he added.
Two parts of the proposed agreement come with “grace periods” to give Fruitlands time to fulfill the conditions. One is for the construction of a restroom corridor to be completed and permitted within 120 days. The other condition is that the museum must have its site plan approved by the Planning Board within 90 days.
At the end of the hearing, Blair asked Lanza to draft a decision letter, with the goal of finalizing the license and making a decision at next week’s meeting.
