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Pawtucket Board of License Commissioners

October 2, 2017

A special session of the Pawtucket Board of License Commissioners is held Monday, October 2, 2017, at 6:46 p.m., in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 137 Roosevelt Avenue, Pawtucket, RI.

Present – Chairperson Moran, Councilors Barry, Kallman, Mercer, Rudd, Tetreault, Vitali and Wildenhain.

Absent – Councilor Cano.

Chairperson Moran presides.

Communication from David P. Moran, President, Pawtucket City Council, to the Honorable Members of the Pawtucket City Council. (Calling a special Session of Board of License Commissioners on Monday, October 2, 2017 at 6:30 p.m.) is READ AND ORDERED FILED.

FORMAL HEARING ON THE FOLLOWING LICENSE IS TAKEN UP:

CLASS B (Victualer)

Farole’s Restaurant (Nati Inc.) 461 Main Street, LIC #9358 #9359

Representing the City of Pawtucket is Frank J. Milos, Jr., Esq., City Solicitor.

Present are Jose N. Ruiz, 28 Lisbon Street, Providence, RI, owner of the restaurant and his attorney, Marc B. Gertsacov, 144 Medway Street, Providence, RI.

Also present are Police Officers Micaela Butlin and Gregory Martin.

Mr. Milos reviews the status of the license. He states that the hearing tonight is the result of two instances at the establishment at which the police were present.

Officer Micaela Butlin is sworn in by City Clerk Richard J. Goldstein.

Officer Butlin states that she has been working for the City of Pawtucket for four months, and before that she was a police officer for a year in Georgia.

Officer Butlin was at Farole’s on September 9, 2017.

She entered the premises and inside the establishment was Mr. Ruiz, a female and a child.

Officer Butlin smelled food while outside the building. She asked to see the kitchen and saw a large tray with about 30-40 wings.

Mr. Ruiz said that he prepared the food for his family.

Officer Butlin stated that she told Mr. Ruiz that he was not supposed to cook there. Mr. Ruiz said that he understood that.

Officer Butlin asked how long Mr. Ruiz was going to stay in the establishment, Mr. Ruiz responded that he would finish cooking and cleaning.

Upon questioning by Attorney Gertsacov, Esq., Officer Butlin stated that no one was there except Mr. Ruiz, the woman and child about 7 years old.

She saw no food besides the wings.

She states that it is possible that they could eat the food in one or two sittings.

Officer Gregory Martin is sworn in by City Clerk Richard J. Goldstein.

Officer Martin has been working for the City of Pawtucket for 2 ½ years.

Officer Martin was on duty on September 17, 2017.

He went to Farole’s at 11:00 p.m.

There were two vehicles in the back, which were empty.

The lights were on inside the establishment. Looking in the window, he saw five people and Mr. Ruiz drinking inside from cocktail glasses. The TV was on and there was food on the bar.

Officer Martin knocked on the window, Mr. Ruiz come to the door in one to two minutes.

When Officer Martin entered after two minutes, there was only one person still there.

There was only one glass on the bar and it contained water.

Mr. Ruiz told Officer Martin that they were remodeling and he gave workers the drinks.

Officer Martin did not see any remodeling tools or any evidence of remodeling.

Officer Martin smelled alcohol on Mr. Ruiz, his speech was slurred and was unsteady on his feet.

Attorney Gertsacov asks Officer Martin if the door was locked.

Officer Martin said yes, there was no evidence that the place was open.

Jose Ruiz was sworn in by the City Clerk Richard J. Goldstein.

Mr. Gertsacov asks Mr. Ruiz about the chicken wings incident.

Mr. Ruiz states that he was feeding his brother’s family; he cooked wings to bring there.

Upon questioning from Councilor Rudd, Mr. Ruiz states that he has no health department license yet, he is working on it. It will take a while to get it.

The person that was there was his friend.

He knowns that he was not supposed to cook.

Police have been there twice.

Regarding the other occasion, Mr. Ruiz states that he has events booked.

He is using other place for events.

Other than the 9^th and the 17^th, Mr. Ruiz states that police were not there

THE CHAIR RECOGNIZES COUNCILOR RUDD.

Upon motion made by Councilor Rudd, seconded by Councilors Barry and Kallman, the agenda is amended to include the following communication, on a unanimous voice vote:

Communication from Captain Thomas Newman, Patrol Division, to the Pawtucket Board of License Commissioners. (Incident on September 22, 2017, at Farole’s Restaurant, 461 Main Street a/k/a 82 Bayley Street)

Upon motion made by Councilor Rudd, seconded by Councilors Barry and Kallman, the following communication is READ AND ORDERED FILED.

Mr. Ruiz states that on September 17, 2017, the DJ was bringing stuff in from an event.

He gave the people a beer. There were only 3 people, the DJ and two others who were to help with the remodeling.

Mr. Ruiz was there to prepare for painting the next day.

Mr. Ruiz knew that he couldn’t sell alcohol. He thought that he could give it away. That was a mistake.

He is not staying there overnight.

Mr. Milos states that the individual events are not serious in itself, but when taken altogether, it is not minor. He has no business to be serving food or alcohol or doing maintenance to anyone while suspended, not just the public. He would need council approval to do maintenance.

There are no other speakers.

The hearing is closed.

THE CHAIR RECOGNIZES COUNCILOR RUDD.

Upon motion made by Councilor Rudd, seconded by Councilors Barry and Mercer, the CLASS B (Victualer) licenses of Farole’s Restaurant (Nati Inc.) 461 Main Street, LIC #9358 #9359 are REVOKED PERMANENTLEY, FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. On or about September 9, 2017: Operating in violation of a Suspension Order. (Violation of R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-24-2 and § 3-5-21; and Rule 35 of Liquor Control Administration) (See attached Suspension Order)

2. On or about September 17, 2017, Operating in violation of a Suspension Order. (Violation of R.I. Gen. Laws § 3-5-21, and Rule 35 of Liquor Control Administration) (See attached Suspension Order)

Upon motion made by Councilor Mercer, seconded by Councilor Barry, the meeting is adjourned at 7:20 p.m.