 and may get accessible to the public. So are we all set now? We're going to begin streaming. In the event there's any reason why we need to go into private session, we'll do that. But in the interest of the public, we are going to stream this hearing. Because it is virtual, I'm going to ask if we could take a roll call, commissioners. Commissioner O'Brien, good morning. Good morning. I am here. Commissioner Hill. Good morning, I'm present. And Commissioner Skinner. Good morning, I'm here. Great, so we'll get started. And you'll need to bear with me, because this isn't a judiciary hearing, there are a little bit of formalities that we need to take care of. And it does require a lengthy reading. We're continuing to work on ways to streamline this a bit, bear with me. So good morning. And today is Thursday, June 16th, 2022. And as I said, this isn't a judiciary hearing for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, relative to the renewal of a gaming beverage license issued to win Mass LLC for operations at Uncle Boston Harbor. My name's Kathy Judd-Stein. I'm chair of the commission. And I'm joined today by my colleague's commissioner, Eileen O'Brien, Brad Hill, and Nikesha Skinner. The entire commission will preside over the hearing and decision of this matter. And this hearing is convened pursuant to 205, CMR 101.01, paragraphs 2, subsection J, and will be conducted in accordance with 205, CMR 101.01. Informal Fair Hearing Rules, outlined at 801, CMR 1.02, and chapter 30A of the general clause. And I'd also like to notify everyone, as I've already said, it's being streamed, but it's also being recorded. A notice of hearing dated June 13th, 2022, was issued in the matter to the parties there. And it identifies the issues of this hearing's intended to address. And the commission has indicated that it will specifically be considering the issues discussed in the gaming beverage license application pursuant to its authority under general laws, chapter 23K, section 26. But also what is contemplated in our regulations, 205, CMR 136.04, subsection one, relative to the gaming beverage license application, its form, and its renewal. To that end, the cited regulation sets out the specific considerations of the commission deciding this matter, and they include the following. So number one, whether the application meets all the requirements of regulations, 205, CMR 136.00, and our statute geo, chapter 30K, 23K, section 26, and contains at least the following information. That would be the gaming license name, licensee name, and contact information, truth of insurance, and accordance with 205, CMR 136.07, subsection one, a licensed area application form as specified in 205, CMR 136.04, subsection two, for each area of the gaming establishment in which the gaming licensee seeks to sell or distribute alcoholic beverages, and a description of the parts of the premises of the gaming establishment in which the consumption of alcoholic beverages will not be allowed the purpose of ensuring the integrity of gaming, public health, welfare, or safety, or other reason. Number two, whether issuance of the license would in some way compromise the integrity of gaming, and or public health, welfare, or safety, as articulated in 205, CMR 136.03, subsection four. There are two parties before us today, and all are represented by legal counsel, and I'll ask that Ms. Crum and Ms. Hall, each please identify yourself and your teams, and advise the commission as to whom you represent as that start. Good morning, I think that Director Lillias, if you could identify the team, please. Yes, good morning, Chair. So I actually will be representing the division of licensing here, and I will call upon Chief Enforcement Council, Heather Hall, for a portion of the presentation this morning. Okay. Thank you, and at the conclusion of my opening comments, this proceeding will commence with opening remarks. Each party will be offered an opportunity to make a statement, though it's not required, and after opening statements, we will, oh, I'm sorry, Ms. Crum, my apologies, if you could identify your team. Good morning, I'm Jackie Crum, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Uncle Boston Harbor, and I'm joined today by my colleague, with my colleague, Juliana Catanzari, also of the Legal Department at Uncle Boston Harbor. My apologies for that, Ms. Crum. I am not reading the room correctly, thank you so much. And so we're all set, and as I said, after opening statements, we would move to the presentation of the evidence in this matter, the IEV will be called upon to present its findings and recommendations to the commission pursuant to 205-CMR 136.03, subsection 73. Any commissioner may ask a question of anybody presenting information at any point during following the presentation. Just please feel free to interrupt if I missed somebody's hand going up. At the conclusion of the IEV's presentation, the licensee to counsel will be afforded an opportunity to ask questions of any individual who presented information on behalf of the IEV relative to any matter addressed in the application memo or to which she or she spoke. At the conclusion of the IEV's presentation, the licensee will be given the same opportunity to make a presentation. They may call any witnesses and present any other evidence they desire. As before, any commissioner may ask any question of any witness or presenter at any time during or after any presentation. And the IEV may also ask any clarifying questions of any presenter at the conclusion of the presentation. Either party may raise any objection or desires at any time may just ask the basis for all that can be clearly stated. And finally, at the conclusion of the presentations upon the evidence, the IEV and licensee will be provided an opportunity to make any closing remarks, summing up their piece of the evidence. Let's start. So before we begin, I understand that there are a number of exhibits for consideration at this hearing that have been exchanged by the parties in advance. Commissioners, I believe you've all had access to them. Those exhibits are as follows. Exhibit A is the gaming beverage license renewal application submitted by the licensee dated June 10th, 2022. Exhibit B will be the description of service areas, including the individual area applications submitted by the licensee and the appendix to the gaming beverage license renewal application dated June 10th, 2022. And exhibit C is the memo drafted by the IEV and licensing division to the commission discussing the gaming beverage application, their findings and recommendation dated June 13th, 2022. We can just bear with me for one minute. Okay. So are there any objections to the exhibits being marked and entered into evidence today? Not from the IEV. Thank you. Congratulations. Not from us. Thank you. Okay, so these exhibits will be committed into evidence with the purpose of ensuring the clean record. I ask the parties, when possible, please refer to those exhibits by letter when referring to any of the documents. Okay, any party would like to have any additional documents entered into evidence during the course of the hearing, please ensure that they're properly introduced and marked for the record. The commission anticipates that its inquiry at this proceeding will be related to matters of trust in the gaming beverage license renewal application and contained in the notice of hearing. In the event that a line of questioning conducted by the commission moves into an area that has not been included in the report or notice, but that is material to the final determination of this matter, any party may request a recess in the proceeding in order to review the issue. The commission will end up deliberating privately and make a final decision at the conclusion of the evidentiary portion of the hearing and the decision will be issued as promptly as possible. If at any point during the commission's deliberations it determines that further testimony or documents are desirable, it reserves the right to ask for that additional evidence before making this final decision. So now, we will swear the witnesses in and I'm presuming that we have our complete set of witnesses, so anyone who will be testifying at this proceeding, please raise your right hand. Thank you. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you will provide before the commission at this proceeding will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? True. Do you? May the record reflect that you are responding from a tune, thank you very much. The proceeding of this nature necessarily requires the consideration of a wide variety of information that takes several forms. Let's get into the information documentation may include commercially sensitive information. The public discussion of such information may place an entity at a commercially and competitive disadvantage of such information were to be publicly discussed. For the commissioners to be able to execute our legal obligations effectively and diligently prior to making a final finding, you must be at liberty to fully inquire relative to any of these sensitive matters without compromising individuals or entities involved. Accordingly, my colleagues and I may elect to exercise the discretion of boarded in accordance with 205CMR101.01 paragraph seven to close this proceeding. The public to fully address certain matters and I invite my colleagues to alert me in the event that you have such a matter to discuss. Before we begin, it is my understanding that pre-hearing was conducted on Wednesday, Councillor Grossman, the representatives of the applicant, the IEV, and as I said, our general counsel, Todd Grossman, at which procedure and evidentiary issues were discussed. Do either party have any preliminary issues or objections that you wish to raise? We do not. All that? Yeah, he does not. Excellent, thank you. And with that, I will ask Councillor Crombe on behalf of Bonn-Floor-Bolston-Harbour to begin, please proceed with any opening remarks we wish to make and thank you today for your participation and for Juliana. And Juliana, I am going to try to say your last name correctly. I'll pass on our velocity. Catan's already. How does that work? Close, that's fine. It doesn't work on it. I'm going to do it one more time. Catan's on. You said- Catan's already. That's what I'm going on around. Catan's already. Yes. Closer, okay. Excellent, I get to hear over and over. Thank you so much for participating today, both of you, and we'll get started with your initial remarks. Yes, Councillor. I'll be very brief. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. Obviously, our liquor license, our beverage license, is a very important component of our business, something we take very seriously. We've been working, I think, quite diligently over the last three years with the team to make sure that we're in compliance as much as humanly possible and appreciate your consideration today. Okay, thank you. And now, Director Lilias, do you have any introductory remarks that you wish to make? Yeah, I wasn't really planning to do any kind of opening, but I think it bears noting that today really is a milestone of sorts. The fact that the initial license is getting ready to expire means that the property is coming up on its third anniversary. And who could have predicted what the past two and a half years would have been like. So I did just want to note that for all of us, all of the unanticipated, unprecedented work that's gone into these past two and a half years seems noteworthy at this point. Really important commentary. Why don't you go right ahead then to IEP's presentation next, Director Lilias. We thank you and your team for all the work. Thanks so much, Chair. So 23K and our alcohol regulations authorize the commission to grant a beverage license for the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages on the premises of the gaming establishment. Encore has submitted a renewal application to the division of licensing. The licensing division requested some additional information as part of the app to become part of the application submission. And Encore responded promptly and thoroughly and has submitted a complete packet. Encore also has submitted the $15,000 fee for the renewal application. Encore submitted an application for the overall beverage license, which is exhibit A in your packet and then a separate licensed area application form for each licensed area in the gaming establishment. And that is exhibit B. There are 25 licensed areas on the property and licensed area is a defined term in the regulations and refers to a specific space within the gaming establishment where the sale distribution or storage of alcoholic beverages to be consumed on the premises is permitted under the license issued by the commission. Those 25 licensed areas are listed in exhibit B and they are also listed for your convenience on pages three and four of the licensing division's memo. At the outset, I wanna thank Lisa Brookner, our licensing intake officer because that was a lot of paperwork to take in and she was very conscientious in making sure that that whole submission was in order. The beverage license itself issues to Encore as the gaming licensee. And most of the licensed areas on the premises, those 25 areas, most of them are operated by Encore. Five of them are operated by registered vendors whose premises are leased to them by Encore. And those five leased areas are Mystique which has a restaurant and lounge concept memoir which is the nightclub, Shake Shack and Frank and Nix which are casual eateries and Fratelli which is a full service restaurant on the property. One individual is designated as the manager of the overall beverage license. And that individual is the director of restaurants and beverages for the property and she is registered and in good standing. The licensing division through David McKay has connected with that manager and has confirmed that she is familiar and educated on the alcohol regulations that apply throughout the entire property. For the five leased spaces, each of those spaces has a jointly responsible person. And those individuals have been identified in the application packet and they are all registered with the commission and their registrations are in good standing as well. But as I said, Encore holds and is ultimately responsible for the license and Encore's contracts with each of those five less eased contain clauses which enable Encore to monitor compliance with the alcohol regulations and remove any jointly responsible person if the lessy is in violation of the regulations. The licensee also carries a high level of liquor liability insurance and an amount that far exceeds the regulatory minimum and that's with its liquor policy liquor liability policy alone. The regulation has a clause that the liquor insurance policy is supposed to have no annual aggregate limit. I have learned that there really appears to be no insurance product available to a policy holder that is open-ended on the annual aggregate limit. So Encore has achieved the functional equivalent of this clause by having the liquor policy far in excess of the regulatory minimum. Plus Encore has an additional umbrella policy that would kick in in the event that the liquor policy might be exhausted in any given year. And that reaches an incident amount again that far exceeds the amount in the regulation. I've flagged this regulation for regulatory review for us as part of our process and do note that this is the policy that Encore has had all along. And the regulation appears to call for something that is not available to the insured party. But IEB is comfortable that Encore has achieved the intent of the regulation with its policy amounts. The application asked to renew the 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. service in two of the licensed areas, the main casino floor through its service bars and beverage carts and the Black Tear Lounge. And of course, under the 2017 amendment to 23K that 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. service is limited to patrons who are actively engaged in gaming. Encore does have a coming up on a three year history of compliance with the alcohol regulations. And I've asked Attorney Hall to summarize the history of compliance with the alcohol regs for you over the first three years of that initial license. So I'd like to turn it over to Heather for her summary now. Thank you, Loretta. And good morning, Chair and commissioners. I just wanted to provide a high level overview of the non-compliance that the IEB has addressed over the last three years. And I would first note that it's not surprising that in this environment, there have been instances of non-compliance that have been observed. There is a high level, as you all know, of surveillance in the casino environment. And there's a 24-7 presence of the gaming agents and the state police gaming enforcement unit. Over the last three years, the IEB has addressed non-compliance issues related to alcohol service with EVH, for telly and with memoir. And the types of non-compliance that the IEB has addressed kind of fall into certain categories, including unsecured alcohol, serving alcohol to patrons who are not actively gaming between the hours of 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Instances of not providing advanced notice to the IEB of a portable bar on the casino floor. And instances of over-serving alcohol. And some of those involve issues around bottle service that we've seen at the nightclub. The IEB has also addressed serving alcohol to underage individuals in some of these non-compliance matters. And as the commission is aware, from our conversation at a previous meeting, instances of non-compliance are addressed in accordance with our procedures. The IEB addresses non-compliance at different levels. And those include notices of non-compliance or NCFs that are issued from the gaming agents and also notices of non-compliance that are issued from the Chief Enforcement Counsel's office. Now, in terms of the corrective actions that have been set out in notices of non-compliance, those also include more training or more retraining depending on the circumstances. They may include providing documentation to the IEB of the steps that the entity has taken to address the non-compliance matter. And that also includes providing documentation, showing that corrective or disciplinary action has been taken against employees who have violated alcohol service policies. They also include providing confirmation of tips training on a monthly basis. And in some cases, adjustments of policies, which, for example, include adjusting the protocol for ensuring that staff are being trained and that there is assigned acknowledgement by the staff member with the date that they were trained. And I think that's been helpful in going forward in addressing some of the non-compliance matters. And in terms of some of the proactive measures that licensees have taken themselves, in some circumstances we may reach out about a non-compliance matter and the employees has already been disciplined. So there is this effort to identify the need for that and also potentially retraining of employees. There's also requirements that tips trainings be completed before starting employment. And I know, I would note that Memoir has instituted a policy where its employees in Mystique and in Memoir are tips trained before they begin employment. And that's actually stricter than the regs. So that's something I thought would be important to point out. There's also pre-shift briefings that Memoir has instituted, which are in the industry known to be effective in curbing alcohol over service issues. And those include reminders about alcohol policies. So in sum, to date the IEB has not issued a fine or a suspension of any or EVH or any of the least outlets. The IEB however remains poised to exercise its regulatory discretion when warranted and the Chief Enforcement Counsel's office will continue to work closely with the gaming agents, the GEU, the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission, as well as EVH and the least outlets. And with that, I would just like to say, we very much appreciate the responsiveness on both the EVH side and also from the least outlets and their continued cooperation on the IEB. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm wondering, because I know we all have questions for head. Director Niels, I think that it probably makes sense for us to interrupt your testimony and not hold for questions at this point and address the non-compliance issue. Of course that's okay. I do have one comment that I think you should hear right before your question. So if I can proceed with just one other factual piece. Heather mentioned the ABCC, the Alcoholic Beverages and Control Commission and their by statute, their Liber Enforcement Unit works in conjunction with the IEB and we have ABCC investigators on site in the property. They are obviously highly trained in beverage enforcement and they are aware of this renewal application. They were invited to raise concerns and they did not raise any concerns. So I wanted you to hear that as part of your review now. And before we, and I know it's a little bit disruptive, but I think given the differences in categories of questions, it makes sense to disrupt a bit right here. Before we go, can you remind us all, the actual date of the expiration of the license? June 23rd. Okay, thank you. All right, Commissioner O'Brien, your question please. I did. So I, as you may or may not recall, I was not necessarily in favor of the two to four extension that went with this in the initial issuance three years ago. And in talking with GEU and IEB, I know that there is an uptick in incidences that happen on the floor. Part of that is just inherent in the late hour time regardless of the two to four. But I'd like you to speak a little bit to the incident rate in the two to four. Are there any concerns at all with the continued service of alcohol? And if you could talk a little bit more about the circumstances where services happen not in full compliance in terms of not actively gaming, I'd like to hear a little bit more on that. Sure, I think Commissioner O'Brien, what might make sense for me to do is to provide you with some of the statistics with respect to that particular form of non-compliance. And then I may also seek a little bit of input from Bruce Vann as well as I know he has been more on the ground with that particular issue. And I will say that the Chief Enforcement Council's office has not issued a notice of non-compliance on our end with respect to that particular issue. So with that said, however, in terms of like over the course of the last three years, there have been when I mentioned the NCS, which we've talked about in the past that are issued from the Gaming Agents Division, there were five notices from the Gaming Agents Division for that particular violation and they were issued to on for. And that's over the course of the three years. So with respect to any kind of more detailed questions about kind of on the ground and how that implementation is going, I think I would turn it over to Bruce for that particular part of your question. Do we need to spare in Bruce then? I don't know, Bruce, did you take the oath when the Chair administered the oath and begin to hear? No, I didn't. No. So I guess I'll get the language. Okay. Again, raise your hand, raise your right hand, do you solemnly spare? That's when you provide the commission that this proceeding will be this. I hope there's nothing left to do. Thank you. Thank you. And let the Director reflect that. Thank you very much, Bruce. Okay. I think I would like over all this one of you myself. Good. I don't really think that we'd have an abundance of 2 a.m. to 4 p.m. issues that at least my staff is seeing. I think we've had one or two incident reports on that service, and some of it has been an inexperience on the server's part, but it hasn't been like an uptick in problems that we've seen on this floor. So I guess a part of that comes from, I know I've been in communication with the outgoing head of GE, Brian Connors, where I'd asked him to run this report a while back. And there is an uptick in more of the incidents that particularly involve GEU step in in the early evening hours, late hours, however you want to quantify it. So I don't know. I mean, it sounds like the service itself compliance issues is not an issue. I'm wondering if anybody can speak in general to just the general safety, et cetera, on the floor with a 2 to 4 service extension as opposed to a terminating service at 2 a.m. Yeah, I think that would be more of a GEU issue than it would be on our end with that, Commissioner Brian. Okay. I haven't really seen it with our staff with it, but I think that's a little bit of the nature of this industry. I mean, people come to the place intoxicated a lot of times and you have groups that come in and cause problems. And a lot of times that's very late at night and GEU encounters these groups often, but that would be better answered by the state police at that point. So, Director Rand, in terms of what your exposure is and what your agents are called into, what you just described, is it your opinion that there's no heightened risk that you see from the 2 to 4 service? Yeah, I don't see that at that point. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. So, Lou, do you want to also answer Commissioner Brian's briefs about it? To the extent, do you have any insights on GEU? Yeah, I mean, of course, I review the reports with the commander on Monday mornings and obviously the public safety aspect is the critical aspect of what GEU is there for and they're needed there. That's why the statute put them there and there's no doubt about it that they, they're there for a very real purpose. But I have not been hearing anything linking 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. as any of the reason for any particular issues, safety issues that they may be responding to. So, especially around, right now, the violation piece there would be serving someone who's not actively gaming, right? So, I can't really speak to what right now, whether the 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. as a policy matter is a good thing, but in terms of whether there's non-compliance in that time period, I haven't heard anything about non-compliance leading to any safety issues. I hope that's helpful. Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I'll be very brief. Heather, did I hear you saying I want to make sure that I'm correct, that there's been no fines given for non-compliance over the last few years? That's correct, Ms. Sher, with respect to matters related to alcohol and alcohol service, that's correct. So, what I also didn't hear, I believe, I'd like to just maybe touch upon if we could the underage drinking. I know we get our stats every month about people who have gone on the floor and who haven't been able to get drinking. Can you just maybe talk a little bit more instead of an overview, just maybe give us some stats on how. We had, with respect to the NCFs that were issued, there were, over the course of the three years, there were five issued for underage, two on court, and then one also that was issued for tellies. Now, in terms of the notices of non-compliance from the Chief Enforcement Council's office, there were instances from EVH that emanated with respect to underage. Now, again, we're looking at underage who were served alcohol. There may be circumstances where an underage person comes in and is realized and then addressed, and I think that happens more often than not. I think the entities are very mindful of that. So, in terms of the notices of non-compliance with respect to underage, with respect to memoir, which was one that was more recent, there was a notice of non-compliance issued in February related to an incident of service to an underage person. There was also, as I said, instances of underage gaming that were related to a notice of non-compliance that was issued back in June of 2021. So there have been some instances, there haven't been, at least as far as from what we have examined and observed that would rise to the level of a civil administrative penalty at this point. And there is active communication with an entity when this occurs, but I think it might be getting some feedback in terms of how they're addressing it. For example, we look at also, did that person get in through the verodox at EVH? Was it a situation where the ID was a good ID, but perhaps for a different person that may look like that person? So we take a look at kind of all of the circumstances when we're looking at whether and what type of non-compliance notice we're going to issue. Some other examples might include when if they do pass through the verodox, but it's a fake ID, now that also is considered because maybe there's an issue with the verodox and I know that there hasn't been a notice issued on this yet, but I know there was one relatively recently where that was an issue. And I understand from the gaming agents that Encore quickly address that with their verodox system in terms of making sure it's reset to catch those issues. So there has been active kind of responsiveness and cooperation, I would say, both on the part of Encore and any least outlets where that has been an issue. And I'll just also one more thing I'd like to ask, I think I heard you say, so when they have found to be a non-compliance that training kicks in, further training kicks in, could you just elaborate a little bit more on that for me? Absolutely, commissioner. So we look at whether there's been tips training. Now the regs require that a manager be trained in tips before they actually start working. The regs all allow for 30 days for individuals who are non-managers to get tips training. So that's one element. And I did note that Memor is an entity that actually now requires that for all staff, not just managers before they start working. And there's also training that's not just related to tips, but the alcohol serves policies within the entity. So what we do is we wanna ask for, well, has that person been tips trained and can you provide certification of when they were tips trained? And then obviously if they weren't tips trained within the regulatory timeframe, then that's something that is of concern. I will say that generally that the individuals have been tips trained, there have been some instances where they were not. And that was addressed by the licensees and licensees have been very cooperative about that. Thank you, Heather, and thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, commissioner. Thank you. Of course you can revisit any question. Commissioner Skinner. Madam Chair, I'm all set. I had two items that I wanted to follow up on and commissioner Hill covers them. Excellent. Can I just drill down a little bit further on the little list, commissioner Hill also, I was happy I didn't miss the reference to minors. But in terms of non-compliance, there have been some issues around unsecured alcohol storage. How many? Certainly, Chair. With respect to unsecured alcohol storage, there were, in the course of the three years, there were six NCFs issued by the Gaming Agency Division. We have not issued a notice of non-compliance from the Chief Enforcement Council's office with respect to that particular issue. But there were six NCFs issued by the Gaming Agents. Most of them occurring at the beginning as Encore was settling things for recent issues around. That's a good question, Chair. And let me just look at the information that I have here from Louis. So in 2019, there were four issues. Zero reported in 2020, zero reported in 2021, and then two reported in 2022. So with respect to that particular type of non-compliance, it were more at the beginning. But to a recent. So, George, Dan, if I could ask you, how are you feeling about that? Yeah, that is with people not locking up. A lot of times they lock them in cabinets, and it's the cabinet not being locked after hours where people could access it. It's usually management not checking to make sure the locked storage things are secured properly. So it's those kind of issues or some bottles being left out. So it's part of a management issue not checking to make sure this alcohol is secured properly after hours. And any letters of non-compliance issued with respect to storage? Councilor Hall? Not from the Chief Enforcement Council's office. That statistic that I provided to you, those were NCFs, which is the non-compliance form that's issued from the Gaming Agents Division. I wanted to, at this point, did it trigger any non-compliance letter? No, not at the Chief Enforcement Council's level. Okay, and then we discussed through Commissioner Fry and the serving while not actively gaming. The next one, my notes are a possible failure to disclose in timely fashion when I think it was restricted to portable bars. Right, that's right. There were two instances of that over the course of the three years. Burning arm, right? I feel like. Actually, no, those were, there was, let me just look at my notes here. There was one that was recent and then the other one was actually in 2021. And those again, those were NCFs. Okay, only two. And then I know that the follow-up service is a challenge that also creates a lot of concern. And I hear that you did issue letters of non-compliance to memoir on that particular issue with unrelated. No, that's correct though. The Chief Enforcement Council's office has issued two notices of non-compliance to memoir with respect to over-service and some of that over-service involved bottle service. And then those are categories of data. And then the minors, which we discuss, is there anything else with respect to non-compliance? Let's see, unsecured alcohol, over-serving, underage drinking, two to four AM, portable bar, and then tip certification. I believe where there was one instance of not providing tip certification in the timely manner, but I think over the course of three years and given what I've at least seen is that tip certification is taken seriously. And in most cases, the tip certification is available for the individual who is being, is being reviewed for. And I see Bruce nodding his head. I understand that even the member has some memoir and Mr. Kirkum about the honor act. So thank you. Very helpful in the context of the timing. So thank you. Councilor Powell, we kind of have order. Is there anything that you want to add to your presentation before we turn it over to Director Lillian? No, I don't think so, Chair, except to say that I appreciate commissioners' questions. We take these matters very seriously. And I also, again, would just point out that there have been open lines of communication with both EVH and the least outlets, including memoir. So that essentially is where I would end with saying, that's important, our goal is compliance. And I think it's important to have that relationship with the least outlets and with EVH in terms of keeping those lines of communication flowing. And again, regular communication with the gaming agents division on matters that we take very seriously. Thank you, commissioners. I think we have questions for Heather before we move it back to Director Lillian's asset. Appreciate your asset. Great, thank you. Thank you, Chair. And thanks, Heather. We did perform an inspection, an onsite inspection in connection with this renewal application and the division of licensing and the IEB performed the inspection jointly. David McKay, who I do wanna acknowledge because he participated in this whole project quite a bit. He is disappointed not to be here today. He had an unexpected family matter which explains why he's not here. But he in connection with Louis Lozano performed an inspection recently of the licensed areas. They generally confirmed that the application packet conformed to the actual premises. They noted appropriate storage facilities and camera coverage and items of that sort. Dave McKay also verified that Encore's beverage manager and all of the jointly responsible persons, he reviewed their certifications from the recognized tips training program for each. He did note during this onsite inspection that one freezer was unlocked and contained several unsecured alcohol bottles. Encore immediately corrected that matter and informed the licensing division that some additional steps were taken to remind staff of that particular area that had gone, that was detected during the inspection. So to date from my seat in IEB and overseeing the licensing division, we received a cooperation and responsiveness on all matters connected to this renewal application. The compliance instances summarized by Heather in our view should not interfere with the issuance of the renewal license as requested. And it's the recommendation of the licensing division in the IEB that the renewal be issued. Questions, commissioner, on the inspection piece. Questions for Director Lillios, generally. Any questions regarding the insurance issue that Director Lillios addressed? All set? Okay, looks like Director Lillios, we're all set here. Thank you. Well, I'll turn to, let's go to the place. Good morning again. Jackie, do you- I'm sorry, my computer blipped out, so I didn't know that everybody was waiting for me. No, I was thinking, I wonder what I need to do next. So I think this is the challenge of working virtually and sometimes it's really, really smooth, other times not so much like that, it's not a big glitch. Oh, you have the opportunity now to present your case and of course, we have our exhibits. Thank you so much. Thank you, Madam Chair and commissioners. We do not have anything to submit in addition at this time, but of course, I'll open for questions. Commissions, would you like Ms. Crom to address any of the exhibits and particular questions that you might have with respect to the exhibits that are presented? I have a question. Yes, go ahead, Commissioner Skinner. Thank you. Good morning, Jackie. I can't, I'm sorry. Morning, Commissioner Skinner. I just, you know, I can't be formal because, you know, we go way back. So I apologize if I don't refer to you as Ms. Crom. And I hope that's okay. Does Encore have any protocols in place to inspect or audit things like the alcohol storage and the liquor dispensings and systems? And if so, what are they? Sure. So we've got a written protocol for closing up every single venue on each evening. So there are staff requirements and then there are manager requirements to check and make sure. Sometimes you can't account for human error and I think that's largely what we're seeing here. So that's when we retrain, we also use our progressive discipline system to try to reinforce those. In terms of turning off some of the taps and turning off the ability to serve alcohol between two and four, for instance, some of that's done electronically. So literally you can't put in an order in those venues after that time. So that takes care of that aspect. But I think just retraining our staffs, constantly following up in pre-shifts and making sure that people are following the written protocol for each venue is what we try to do and emphasize. Any other follow-up questions? Tisha Skinner? Is that? I'm sure, Brian and Tisha Hill, are you all set? Yeah, I'll set, thank you. Tisha Hill? I'll set. Well, Jackie, that certainly doesn't indicate anything but perhaps great preparation. So at this time, I'm wondering if you have any, any closing arguments or closing remarks that you wish to make in light of the questions that were presented or clarifications that you would like to share? I'll turn first to you, Councilor Crom. No, no, no, and thank you. Yeah, thank you. And directed on the yes. Nothing in the manner of a closing, but just a housekeeping matter in the event that the commission approves the application, there will be 26 physical documents that Lisa will prepare and they do go chair for your signature. So if there is an approval, we'll be prepared not to provide you with those. Right, and we can coordinate that, no problem at all. Lisa, we've done similar work together in the past, so thank you. So with that procedure, the commission will go into deliberations. Unless there's any other questions we might have, and we're going to shift into a different virtual room that you would go to your councillors commissioners to access of that link. I'm just looking at my notes to make sure that I've covered everything Councillor Crosby wants me to. I don't want to miss anything. Now we covered it. We went a little bit out of order. Am I in trouble? No, I think you did a beautiful job. I think you're all covered. Okay, good. Good. We appreciate everyone's patience today. And again, Jackie, thank you and miss hands to readie. Thank you. Thank you everyone for the opportunity. I have a big homework assignment ahead of me. It's easy for me to call you to the other. And it's nice to see them. Thank you for your good work on this. And Jackie, thank you so much. Appreciate it in the commissions. We don't have to have any formal adjournment. We'll go now right into our deliberations and thank you. And thank you to the NGC team. Thank you to the NGC and, and for her support. Uh, so that's it. Thank you to the groups that. Spose Burke, Heather, Lisa, Todd, Judy and carry. Um, and of course, the better. Thank you so much. I've agreed.