Hirsch encounters obstacle to liquor license
Bob Hirsch, owner of Harvard Plaza and recent applicant for a liquor license, came to talk to board members to clear up what he considers misunderstandings. Also attending were attorney Roy Pastor of Lorden & Pastor, who served as spokesman, along with consulting engineer Bruce Ringwall of Goldsmith, Prest & Ringwall.
The Board of Selectmen (BOS) had solicited the health board’s input during its liquor license deliberations, and was told that Hirsch had failed to produce proof that Harvard Plaza’s septic system was in compliance with Title 5.
Presenting a history of the septic system, Ringwall said that the required inspection had been done in 2008, and that he had presented the cover letter as proof to the BOS. Pastor talked about the history of the property, including the two unoccupied residences on either side of the plaza (one of which will be razed), and the troubled finances of Hirsch’s business partner, his brother, which had complicated conducting normal business. Seeking to resolve the matter of the missing Title 5 report, he handed it over in the expectation that this would close the matter to the health board’s satisfaction.
In discussion after Hirsch and his consultants left, the board, however, decided to draft a letter that will insist on seeing a copy of the dated receipt from either the BOH or Nashoba Associated Boards of Health in 2008. If such proof isn’t provided, then Hirsch will have to have the Title 5 inspection redone.
Hot soup at the General?
Ira Grossman, sanitarian from Nashoba Associated Boards of Health and agent to the health board, told members that he’d received a letter from General Store co-owner Adam Horowitz seeking permission to serve hot soup. He said that soup was already being sold in the refrigerator case.
Grossman, however, was adamant that the septic system would not support such food service. The store doesn’t have a grease trap, he said, and the septic system was designed for a clothes shop. When the town center sewer is operational, this will be moot. “Then I’ll be the first in line for a burger and fries,” he said.
Horowitz will be invited to talk about the request at the board’s next meeting on March 23.
Horowitz said later in a phone interview that he would, of course, comply with health regulations. He also said that the soup in question would be of a gourmet nature, perhaps from a Boston supplier.
