Town keeps liquor fees at status quo
Published on January 16th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - Stoneham Selectman Frank Vallarelli retreated from an earlier proposal to hike initial liquor license fees after he learned that the town’s rates match competitively to surrounding municipalities.
During a recent meeting, the rookie Selectman advocated against a hefty increase in first-year liquor license fees after Town Counsel Bill Solomon revealed a survey showing that Stoneham’s current $2,500 charge is competitive with nearby cities and towns.
Vallarelli, who suggested last month that Stoneham might be billing a rate far lower than surrounding communities, had suspected that initial licenses in adjacent communities could cost as much as $10,000.
“My focus at the last meeting was that I thought the initial licenses were low,” the former Zoning Board of Appeals member said. “I’m looking at the spreadsheet and it doesn’t seem we’re that low compared to many of the surrounding towns.”
“The highest one, in fact, is Needham at $4,200 and Danvers at $4,500. I thought some of these may have been in the $10,000 range,” Vallarelli admitted.
Upon learning that Stoneham charges a uniform rate for all liquor rates, Selectman Robert Sweeney later suggested that the town should pursue a dual rate: One for initial liquor applications, and the other for renewals.
Town Counsel Bill Solomon agreed with that approach, arguing that the town could justify that differential, considering that officials performed the most work in conducting background checks, pursuing payments, and reviewing documents during initial pouring permission requests.
“It’s certainly an interesting concept that has some equities,” the town lawyer commented. “On the initial year of a license, there is some work that has to be done that justifies a higher fee.”
“It very well makes some policy sense, and that’s your decision, as long as there’s a relationship between the fee and the cost to the town.”
The Selectman agreed to deliberate on the liquor license matter, as well as a separate push from Town Administrator David Ragucci on common victualler's licenses, at a future meeting.
According to Ragucci, despite Stoneham’s apparently equitable liquor license fees, the same was not true of local charges for common victuallers' permissions, which he believed were as much as four times lower than average.
“$75 would not even be out of the question,” proposed Ragucci, seeking to levy a 300 percent jump on the fee.
“I feel comfortable moving the common [victuallers’] to $100,” Sweeney would quickly suggest, before counterpart Paul Rotondi convinced the veteran town official to also study the fee increase.
Aspiring artists
STONEHAM, MA - Stoneham’s Boys & Girls Club recently sponsored a youthful a gallery at a Woburn eatery last week that featured the works of some very aspiring young artists.
According to Stoneham Boys & Girls Club representative Leslie DiDomenico, about 40 pieces of art were put on display at Washington Street’s Au Bon Pain eatery last Thursday during the local chapter’s exhibit for the non-profit’s National Fine Arts Exhibit.
An offshoot of the Boys & Girls Club’s art offerings, the nationwide contest encourages members between the ages of eight and 18 to submit their work for recognition. The displays are ranked upon four age categories, and four separate types of art types are ranked by judges.
“The first step is to create artwork to be presented for a local exhibit. The work will be chosen to journey on from there to a regional competition, where art will be judged and hopefully advanced to a national level,” DiDomenico explained.
“We have had kids make it that far,” the local Boys & Girls Club representative proudly boasted.
Last year, close to 1,000 separate chapters of the non-profit organization participated in the annual event.
Annual Town Meeting warrant opens
The Board of Selectmen eyed a January opening of the Annual Town Meeting warrant, with the town officials voting unanimously to close the opportunity for proposals on Feb. 25.
In an unexpected addition to the agenda, pitched during their first meeting of 2008, the Selectmen opted to open the warrant effective Jan. 9 and to close it on Feb. 25 at 4 p.m.
“Can I add an addendum to open-up the town warrant?” asked Selectman George Seibold at the last meeting, just before his counterparts voted unanimously to do so.
During later discussions, the Selectmen agreed to push-off the release of the FY’09 budget, which will be voted on during May’s Annual Town Meeting, until mid-February. However, the budget article, which must be approved in order for the town to operate in the ensuing fiscal year, whether changed or otherwise, is presented in a general form that allows for the spending plan to be tweaked until days, or in recent years, hours, before being presented to the townspeople for approval.
Based upon Stoneham’s bylaws, Town Meeting officially starts during the day of April’s municipal elections, which are considered the official start of the citizen-gathering a month later.
Retirement Board follows through
Despite hearing earlier wary objections, the Town Administrator announced that the Stoneham Retirement Board committed to reduce its FY’09 budget assessments by $400,000.
According to Ragucci, who slated $400,000 worth of the town’s $1.4 million worth of free dash towards the town’s unfunded retirement liability last fall, the local board met its commitment to reduce Stoneham’s FY’09 payment towards the fund.
“You’ll see, in the needed appropriation, a $400,000 reduction from last year to this year,” Ragucci announced. “And that’s because of the [money] that the Board of Selectmen gave to the Retirement Board.”
GIC window again clouds
Although the town’s public works’ unions just recently settled with the town administrator, the Selectmen worried whether the overall progress of the collective bargaining talks would hurt the chances of Stoneham’s inclusion in the state’s health insurance collective.
According to Ragucci, the town’s unions continue to refuse to meet collectively to discuss Stoneham’s potential inclusion in the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC), until new agreements are hammered out with each of Stoneham’s employee bargaining groups.
“As it stands right now, the [projected] savings was close to $1 million,” said Ragucci, of the union’s requested inclusion in the state workers program. “And that’s keeping employees at an 85 to 15 split.’
Last year, the state legislature approved a bill that permits municipal workers to enroll in GIC, which pools all health insurance together for state workers. However, before any municipality enrolls in that plan, that city or town’s employees must agree to the shift in medical coverage.
Community officials across the state have argued that the GIC could save hundreds of thousands of dollars in soaring health insurance costs, while some union members have questioned whether inclusion in the program could jeopardize current local medical coverage benefits.
In order for the town to enroll by FY’10 in the GIC, a much touted budget saver, Stoneham’s municipal unions must agree to the change by next October.
“I think that his beliefs and fairness and equality, and not just racial, are very important,” said Steven Gilchrist, an event organizer for the past five years. “The conversations in the past haven’t just been limited to racial issues.”
“But one thing that [Sanders] always talked about is that prejudice can take on different forms. What Martin Luther King stood for was an America where we respect each other, despite our differences.”
According to Sanders, who vividly recalls the Jim Crow South and the segregated system imposed there, she has always felt that Stoneham was a tolerant community.
However, the North Carolina native, who marched with Civil Rights Era leaders during a time where African-Americans even had to use separate water fountains, strongly believes that complacency can lead to a dangerous regression.
“Stoneham is a town that doesn’t tolerate any disrespect or hate. Being an African-American and being here for a long time, I think Stoneham is a very tolerant town,” said Sanders. “I’ve always felt very comfortable and at home here.”
“I’ve seen faces [within town] that are very different. And I hope that in the future, we could get more groups involved. I want to move beyond the white and black. Now the world is multicolored and multicultural, and we want to recognize that.”
“We would be told when we marched, that you might lose your life, but you don’t fight back,” the Stonehamite recalled. “And because of that spirit, I’m doing this. That’s why I think it’s so important. I think sometimes, when we don’t work on these issues, we can fall back into those times.”
Those who would like to volunteer or assist in preparations for the Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration in Town Hall next Monday are welcome to contact Sanders at 781-438-4166. Organizers also welcome any suggestions or ideas to improve the program.
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