 Okay, super. Pursuant to chapter 20 of the acts of 2021 and extended again by chapter two of the acts of 2023, this meeting will be conducted by a remote means. Members of the public who wish to access the meeting may do so in the following manner by emailing Steve McCarthy at McCarthy S at emmersedma.gov. That's mccarthys.gov. No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted, but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings in real time by a technological means. In the event that we are unable to do so for reasons of economic hardship and despite best efforts, we will post on the emmerced website an audio or video recording transcript or other comprehensive record of proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting. And with that done, we'll call the meeting to order at 507 p.m. and take a roll call of attendance. Halle here guest on here and I'm here that is three present with two absent. So let's go into public comment and this is general public comment unrelated to anything on the agenda. So if anyone is here for general public comment, please raise your hand by hitting the raise hand button at the bottom of your screen. And I think no one is here for general public comment. So we'll go on to new foreign license applications, White Lion LLC doing business as White Lion Brewery 24 North Pleasant Street. And we have Mr. Ray. Hi. Welcome. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you for having me. Ray Berry, president, founder of White Lion Brewing Company based or started in Springfield and hoping to land in Amherst, Massachusetts. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to share a little bit about what we're trying to do and go through the liquor license process. Great. Thank you. So everyone got a copy of the application packet. Is that right? And Steve, you said everything has been turned in. Yes. So this is a bit of a unusual application for us and that it is actually the pouring license addendum to a farmer brewery license rather than a on quota liquor license. So we have not had one of those in our time, but the license application is I won't even say similar because it's pretty much the same. Okay. All right. Great. Thank you very much. Was there anything else you wanted to say about your business or about the application before we launch into questions? Thank you again. Steven has been great through the entire process, knowing that this was going to be something new and different for not only him, the department, but also the commissioners. We've been through this process in Springfield. To Steven's point, we are not going to be pouring all alcohol. We are approved by the TTB and the pending ABCC approval based off of your disposition to pour what we brew on site. So in Springfield, we brew beer and hard seltzer and our intent in Amherst with a much smaller system to brew beer and hard seltzer also on site. Obviously, the site will also maintain a non alcoholic portfolio. We serve juices, sodas and a fan favorite in Springfield, a probiotic kombucha tea. We try to keep a robust enough portfolio for the robust amount of pallets that are out there. Once your commission approves and we move forward through the other steps in the process with Town Hall, you can expect to see up to 10 to 12 different variations of beer. We will have a kitchen. The kitchen will mirror what we do in Springfield. We have a partnership with High Brow Restaurant, which is a restaurant in Northampton. He acts as our food consultant. If you are a fan of ribs, we have a very fan favorite in Springfield, our sticky ribs, which is our leading seller relative to food. Our hours of operation will differ than the hours of operation in Springfield. We see Amherst as a much more robust downtown community that exercise not only the business community, but also the educational and residential population. There is also a groundswell of new establishments opening up right on Main Street. We are very happy to see that and want to be part of that mosaic that is being created in downtown Amherst. In Springfield, we operate Tuesday through Sunday. Our intent in Amherst is to operate Monday through Sunday and incorporate a lunchtime environment where we afford folks an opportunity to come in during the early afternoon hours and enjoy some of the food that we will be offering out of the kitchen. In Springfield, we close on average at 9 to 9.30 p.m. and Amherst were proposing to have a hybrid closing weekends like a Sunday would be 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday would be 9 p.m. and your Wednesday through Saturday 12.30 a.m. We do or will be catering to primarily a different crowd than some of the sister or brother bars in downtown. We don't look at ourselves as a bar. We are a brewery that just so happens to serve beverages that we brew on site. So we're not looking to, we're looking to have a robust attraction for families, for individuals, whomever it may be. At the end of the day, it's a family-friendly establishment. That's the catering that we do in Springfield and that's just an extension of what we want to do in Amherst. We also harp on being part of the community fabric. The genesis of White Lion is built on community. A lot of people ask about what is White Lion? White Lion is a symbol of good for humankind. It is an extension beyond race, color, freedom. It doesn't matter where you come from. At the end of the day, it's about sharing and a common experience. So when I talk or when our team speaks about being part of the fabric of Amherst, that is truly what we're talking about. Being part of the fabric, being part of all corners and allowing everyone to come in and be part of the White Lion experience. And we've been able to demonstrate and do that and model the way and move the needle in the right direction out of our Springfield location. It's no secret, and this is really just more of a point of information, it's no secret that there are a very small number of black and brown-owned breweries in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. There's less than 1% owned in the United States and there's over 9,000 breweries in the United States. So we try to bring in and create a level of inclusion. Everyone into the fold. And we look forward to doing that in the fabric or part of the fabric of Amherst. Our location is part of the old High Horse, the old Amherst Brewing, unique that Barry, his ownership group, have changed the dynamic in that space and have divided it up. It was much more attractive for us to look at 5,600 square feet versus 20,000 square feet. It's a blessing to have the Drake above us providing great entertainment in downtown. DP Doe will be next to us. Our brewer, my partner, business partner, started at Amherst Brewing in that very location. He's a UMass grad. He is excited to come full circle and brew there again. He used to be the head brewer for Amherst Brewing. So there's a lot of connectivity, partnership with Marcus Camby, bringing his brand back, co-branding it with White Lion, adding more excitement to the UMass campus and just the whole ecosystem. So there's a number of moving parts, but we're happy to be part of that ongoing developing conversation in downtown Amherst. Terrific. Thank you. Great. Does anyone have a question or comment or anything about the license application? Gaston? Sure. Well, thank you for bringing so much intentionality to the downtown and to your business and your community work. We're fortunate to have you bring that to that space. My question really is, if you could walk us through what your carding practices will be given that you have a dual function, let's say, and that's the first main question I have. Great question. I used to sit in the exact same seats that you sit in in the city of Springfield as a former liquor license commissioner, and I understand the importance of making sure if it's an outdoor event, you have a controlled environment, if it's indoor, that you have the appropriate protocols and practices in place. So if something were to happen, you'll be able to utilize those practices and policies and be able to address that accordingly with town officials. So we will be utilizing a card system that has been recommended to us by the business improvement district, Gabrielle Gould. We'll be investing in that. We know that we would not be able to open our doors without that being in place. So we are in the process of onboarding that prior to opening. So we look forward to putting practices in place that protect everyone, White Lion, the town of Amherst, and even the individual that thinks that they may be able to get away with something. We catch that moment. We're also protecting them short-term, long-term. Thank you so much, Ray. And so when you walk, when you walk into you get carded and... Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, great. I apologize. Tables, yeah. So the establishment, as I had shared, is family-friendly. I'll obviously defer to what your recommendations are, but we don't want to be in a position where every time someone opens the door, we have someone standing there and they have to be carded. Exactly. We want to have the child, the teenager to come in and have a burger. But if they approach the bar, first of all, no one under the age of 21 can be sitting at the bar. One. Two, if they approach the bar, that's when the carding system kicks in. Or if we move to a table and ask for an order, that's when the carding system kicks in the play. Okay. Thank you very much. You're very welcome. Okay. Any other questions? So are you the, are you, I'm just joined, I'm looking through the application. Are you the manager on site for this one, Mr. Berry or? I'm the manager of record. A record, okay. Absolutely. And if that changes in the future, we will go through the appropriate changes to make those changes. Okay, great. Yeah, I just wasn't, yeah, I thought that's what I saw. All right, super. Thank you so much. Any other questions? Hey, could you please just restate the hours with the opening and closing times for each day? Sure. So this will be a Monday through Sunday. And this is all fluid. These can change, and we would make the appropriate changes in front of town hall. But the objective is a Monday through Sunday environment, Mondays, 11am to 9pm, Tuesday, 11am to 9pm, Wednesday, 11am to 11pm, Thursday, 11am to 11pm, Friday, 11am to 12.30am, Saturday, 11am to 12.30am, and Sunday, 11 to 7. Thank you. Okay. If I can ask a question to you, Steve, is there any reason not to approve it for the same kind of earliest time and latest time each day? And just, that's what's approved and the establishment can decide when they close on a given night? Well, generally the guidance with the hours is that they're supposed to actually reflect what's being done. Obviously, especially in recent years, that has tended to change quite a bit. So if Mr. Berry anticipates, they're very likely to expand that shortly after opening. That's something that could be considered. I wouldn't sell any courage to just set it the maximum every night unless they think there's a good chance they'd be doing that. Thank you. We've been doing so many of the food trucks where that was our thinking that I appreciate you reminding us. Especially on Sunday nights, if there's an event at the Drake, they might want to be open past seven. So I would encourage perhaps later opening. We would welcome that. Thank you, commissioners. We would welcome that. In Springfield, we do the exact same thing. We go to 11 o'clock. Now, we don't stay open to 11 unless it's a special event. On average, we close at nine, but we have that window of opportunity to go that extra hour or two if need be. So if we have the ability to go across the board at 12.30 a.m., we would welcome that and accept it. And then if we have the choice to shut down at 10 or if it's a slow day at seven, we can work within those parameters. Is that all right, Steve? Well, it's again kind of a bit of a poorly defined thing where the ABCC cautions against that, but clearly it's the thing that many, many establishments do. And I don't think they would really consider that a violation in the sense that they would, you know, just being closed for two months or something. So I would probably leave that up to discretion of the board. Okay, Kelly, and then Gaston. Well, Gaston, are you related to hours? I have a separate question. Oh, yeah, the hours. I was maybe thinking, I wonder if we could do like just a two different, you know, kind of like a weekday closing of nine and a weekend of, you know, the 12.30, but maybe it's Thursday to Sunday. I don't know. Maybe it can you split it away that seems that you're likely going to use a good chunk of that gap, because I think Steve is right that we should, you know, hew to what you're likely to be doing from time to time. Well, we've got like a Friday, so Monday, Tuesday, 11 to nine, and then it goes to 11 for the next two days, right? And then Friday is 12.30. Okay. So 11, maybe 11 and 12.30, like those are the two. Yeah, would that be fine? And then Saturday, Sunday, and then Saturday already goes to 12.30. So maybe Friday to 12.30 as well. Yeah, that's going to go, yeah, that's going to go to 12.30, Friday and Saturday, 12.30. And then Sunday, you want maybe a little bit longer in case there's an evening event at the Drake. How long do those go? Yeah, there could be weekend events at the Drake or anywhere else. I mean, you just never know what pops up during the course of outdoor or special programming. Off the top of my head, I think Gabrielle intends that the Drake usually be closed by 10.30 or 11, but I could be wrong with that. Okay. Oh, so we can go ahead. So what if we do 11 across the board except for Friday and Saturday till 12.30? Does that sound reasonable? Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. And then I have a question. Are you set up to host private events? Is there a separate space or is that something you guys are considering or? Oh, absolutely. There will be an opportunity in time where folks or people or organizations will want to either have a sliver of the space or all of the space available. And we would work with them accordingly on what those logistics look like. We do it in Springfield, we welcome it in Amherst. It's a great way to showcase organizations that want to come out and support local business. And I hope that that will happen also in the town of Amherst. So to answer your question direct, there will be opportunity for that. Great. Okay. Great. Thanks. Gaston. Thank you so much. One, I guess, issue I want to highlight because of the way we've adapted the times on the license is that we have a pretty strict food available at all times alcohol is being served policy in the town. And so I just want to point that out. That makes sense. Some food, even if it's French fries or if you just plan that on the kitchen staff if you are going to be extending. Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate that. Thank you for the clarification. So do we settle on 11am to 11pm Sunday through Thursday and 11am to 1230 Friday and Saturday? Yes. Okay. Correct. All right. Great. Any other questions? If not, is there a motion to approve? I would just say pending police chief's approval. We had a couple of documents come in late to send to him. So okay. Pending the approval of the police chief, is there a motion to approve the new quarry and license application for White Lion LLC DBA White Lion Brewery 24 North Pleasant Street? So moved. Oh, thanks, Hallie. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Gaston. We'll take up any further discussion. Hearing none. We'll take a vote. Hallie? Aye. Gaston? And I vote aye. That is three to zero with two absent. The application is approved. The license is approved. Thank you so much. We look forward to being part of the town of Amherst. Thank you. Thanks for coming in. Best of luck. Thank you so much. Thanks, Ray. Thank you, Stephen. Okay. So great. Fantastic. Okay. On to the discussion topics. So we've got four. So the first one is lunch cart food truck regulation, which we talked about a little bit last time. And this mostly with the idea that we're going to extend the regularly approved, standard approved locations of lunch carts or food trucks in the town, as particularly over into the, maybe the Prairie Street lot. And Steve, you said you were talking to somebody. We're talking to Rob about this. Yeah. So me and Rob did take a walk down on to Prairie Street this week to take a look at what sites might be, might be appropriate. And it is a bit tight, but there's definitely some possibilities. You know, looking at the road, it's probably a bit too narrow to have them just on the side of the road. But there are some possibilities. I'll share my screen here with a map. Okay. So this here is the Prairie Street public lot. So that would be in the public way. And we have the street here, of course. It looks like ideally the Prairie Street lot would probably be maybe the best because it, you know, it's obviously a little bit tucked in from moving vehicles and is, you know, centrally located with some other establishments that will be there with Garcia's and the spoke and the spoke live would possibly add some vitality area, maybe other, you know, entertainment venues could open up in one of these buildings. And but the problem is, you know, that would, if we're going to guarantee there'd be spaces, it would involve probably blocking off some of the, some of the parking spaces. I don't know if that's necessarily possible on a weekly basis. And I don't really know what the occupancy of the parking lot is looking like every night. If it's empty, then that wouldn't really be a problem. But even if there's a few cars, if you had, you know, one, if they're all kind of poorly, you know, badly spaced, you know, every four spaces or something that might make it difficult for trucks to be able to get in. So that's something we could explore potentially. And then, you know, the other option over here might be, you know, this, these parking spaces are kind of as we kind of discovered with the spoke live are kind of in a weird status where they're like 25% private and 75% public. But that part is the public way they are controlled by the private, the Jones Group owns those buildings. But if they were interested, and Mr. Orwork did did say that the, they were interested in the idea and I haven't spoken to them specifically about this, this specific idea, but you know, possibly the trucks could go in these spaces, if they were able to to reserve them. And we took a look at the curbs here, they're oddly high, they're probably maybe 18 inches above the ground. So if the truck for right up against the curb, that might be a bit too tall for, for people, you might be kind of almost looking down at the serving counter. I don't know if that would necessarily work or not. Or you could have them maybe further out along the edge of the parking spaces with the service windows facing in and that would give kind of a more sheltered and protected area for people to order their food and wait and eat. So that may be an option looking around, you know, all over here did look a little bit too tight. This is the spokes private property, so that wouldn't be covered by this license. So I don't know what, what you all think about that, but that was our the the results of our little field trip. And some of the good things to consider might be, you know, would this be a, you know, the area that's reserved only for, you know, nighttime hours on the weekends, or would this be something people could, you know, trucks could go to any time, you know, especially if there's kind of specific places reserved every day in the parking lot or in this, this area here that you guys can see my mouse, right? Yes. Yes. Or yeah, in this area here, then that would probably be, you know, it's not really anything that you could just pull up and expect to find spaces like you could over here. So maybe some kind of our restrictions would be would be indicated. And also the thing to be considered would be our trucks just automatically allowed to go here. They have to ask permission to be in this, this kind of second tier of nighttime ones to think all things the board could consider. Okay. Yeah, Gaston. So I guess my first question is what, what problem are we trying to solve? Or what opportunity are we trying to create? Because I'm not sure where the mandate is coming from. I mean, I like having more options for food trucks. But I guess it would help me to understand that that question first. So if I remember correctly, this conversation came up out of discussions when we had the first nighttime food trucks, which was just Romy Cantina and there was ice cream emergency and chili. And they did get the tool for nighttime over here. And we were going to follow up with them at the next meeting, I believe about being about how that had gone and, you know, the potential for complaints. And there was also some concerns about concerns about how most of the nighttime traffic is going to be in here. And, you know, some coming down this road to from these bars, but most people and having to cross the street could possibly create a hazard at night. I think noise was the bigger concern. And in terms of opportunities, it can add a lot of vitality to this area. If it becomes, you know, more of an established thing that might even induce some, you know, some redevelopment, maybe entertainment venues could go in here. I think this is insurance agencies and things like that, realtor groups and Yeah, I think they were thinking about moving it away from the residential areas. I think there, I don't think there are any residences near that pre-state. Yeah. In the immediate. The nearest one to be here, I think, right, right, right. Yeah. And so, I mean, what based on your review, Steve, it seems that the ideal thing would be to be able to block off some parking or to be able to have a evening space consistently available in some way. And then the issue is whether what it takes to get that from the town of Amherst or from a private party. Is that, is that how you see it? I think so. Yeah. I think that's probably about where it stands. I mean, in that case, I guess we should look both be opportunistic, but also develop a view about where it seems most appropriate in given the lay of the land here. And my only concern is, you know, when you go kind of further away down Pre Street is there's not going to be a lot of foot traffic for these food trucks. Like Kendrick Park, I feel like people going back and forth. Yeah. To UMass are going to see things, but the Pre Street public lot and the street parking is kind of tucked in there. What's going on in the south corner of Pre Street at Eddie's Pleasant, that parking lot there? Yeah. Right there. This one right here? Yeah. That's private property. Of whose? I think this is a bank, right? Yeah. Yeah, a bank. Oh, yeah, that's a bank. I mean, a bank has the right hours to fit with an evening food truck. Yes, it certainly does. Yeah. I mean, they may or may not feel comfortable with that, but it does seem like the ideal first food truck on Pre Street. Yeah. And the spoke could potentially do it too. The spoke is open to it too. Yeah, that's also nice. That potentially has even more of a little bit better. Cool to sack field. Yeah. The difficulty with the ones on private property is that it's outside of the board jurisdiction and the way to authorize it would be a zoning board special permit, which is a bit of a bit more difficult. Is there any kind of precedent or way to us try to get that pre-approved so that it's just like a check the box on the application? Well, I actually think it would be outside of the board's remit to regulate. It would be zoning. It would have nothing to do with it then, right? Well, it could be, we could, I guess, no, because the only other thing left is the Board of Health. Yeah. So every food truck has to go through the Board of Health process. And if they want to only serve on private property, we do have some of those for Amherst College. We'll often have some to come in a couple of times. That's all they need to do. They never come before the License Commission. Okay. I mean, this would be similar. Well, then I think you're serving with the ZBA, aren't you, Steve? No, I was covering for a little while. You were covering. Okay. But you have good relations over there. I mean, could we just try to point the owner of the spoke in that direction? That's certainly something that could be done. Yeah. Yeah. And Rob had the interesting idea spitballing of if the Board could, you know, would have the ability to regulate private ways as well. I don't know if that would obviate zoning or if that would even be lawful or if or if that would be something that works, but it was an interesting thought. In that case, you could have, you would have then have the case that every, every, you know, food truck that goes to Amherst College or whatever would need to to register. But sometimes, sometimes they'll get, you know, three different ones in a semester and sometimes they won't. But it's an interesting thought anyway. Well, I mean, I guess we're in a position to try to stimulate this activity and at least in recommending that if we can send the message to this spoke owner, but to go further into what we're in a position to do, then the question is what would it take to who would have to approve part of the parking lot being dedicated to another use or having some time restriction on it? Well, I can reach out. We were, I was talking about that with Rob as well. And we went out there yesterday morning and, you know, he suggested starting with the police department who I can reach out to the DPW may also have have thoughts on it and just really see if that's possible. I mean, I'm personally going to try to just take a look on the weekend nights this week and see see what the volume is looking like. If it's completely jam packed or if it's, you know, there's five or something. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's good. That's a great thing. Thanks, Dave. And if anybody else happens to see while they're driving by as well. Yeah, I'll keep my eye out as well. I mean, and then the other question I have is just what is the safest? I think we should start small and just try to get one one one additional spot through the process and get that one filled before we go further. So what's the ideal? I mean, I guess the question for the police chief would be what what does he think is the safest from his point of view, but also from from your point of view, Steve and Rob? Well, I think I think the prairie street lot would probably be the safest. I mean, I guess it kind of depends how we have it set up because if, you know, if the trucks are, you know, maybe here facing this way, I mean, there's kind of a grass, kind of a semi on mode grass median here that might be, you know, difficult for people to walk over. If you haven't facing in this way, then very very, you know, in front to back, then maybe there could be other cars backing around unless you have a bigger section blocked off. And that's something to to think about. There could be on the other hand, if you had him here, you could have the truck on the inside on the, you know, you know, I would imagine kind of lined up along the end of the of the striping with the serving window facing in. If you had a couple of those, I mean, that would create a pretty decently protected space where cars driving by would have to go through the truck before they hit anybody. Right. Can we look at, can you look into both of those? Yeah, so that would be my next step is contacting the property owner for those that fraction of the space and the police department at DPW. Okay. Well, here's a brainstorm, what if the Prairie Street lot was just closed off whenever for the time period we do the extended food truck licenses and that becomes sort of the food truck park where we encourage everyone serving after 8 p.m. to park there. If we can act fast enough, I mean, if we'll see can we let's see where it works out, but then yeah, I think that might make sense because the other thought might be worth changing away from Kendrick Park because we're which is more residential and just saying, okay, this is our and then that becomes maybe a late night destination. Yeah, I think I think that could be a nice idea. I mean, I think the challenge with that would be is just managing those the fact that that's blocked off because you could put up signs, you know, parking lots closed and I'm trying to think this is something I haven't paid all that much attention to in the past, but when I think about, you know, when they have to close off, you know, the Spring Street lot for the farmers market or for events they definitely are. I mean, I think they have to put up signs saying it's going to be closed, you know, at other, you know, on this day and some cars will stay there and some of them end up having to be towed and, you know, maybe if enough of them leave, you wouldn't have to tow the ones there, but then their cars are going to be stuck in there for the duration of the event. Yeah, it's just, you know, it becomes popular enough, maybe it's a Thursday, Friday, Saturday night. Yeah, I think that could be a really nice and a really nice place to be eventually. Yeah. Hey Dylan. Hey Dylan. Hello everybody. We're actually here, you came in when we need you most because we're talking about, can you see the map here? We're talking about the Bettspray Street parking lot, we're talking about where to put, where we could potentially put some more food trucks or have an area where food trucks could potentially go to. So we're thinking about doing it in the Pre Street parking lot rather than doing it along the other road. Or maybe, or a long point. Yeah, yeah, so the, I took a walk down there with Rob the other day and we noticed it does look a little bit too narrow, pretty much all along the length of it to just fit them on the side of the road. The two options we identified was maybe that, you know, these spaces are, you know, strangely 75% public space and 25% private, but they are controlled by the private businesses. And potentially if that, those landowners gave permission, we could have them, you know, lined up here or here somewhere and facing in and people, you know, at the edge of the striping facing in, there'd be a space here for people to congregate. The sidewalk here is strangely elevated like 18 inches, so it might be too high to serve right to the sidewalk, but you could have a kind of protected area formed by trucks along the edge here. The other option would be the Pre Street parking lot, but that could, you know, have challenges of closing it off and removing vehicles if they're there. And one question we had is how full that lot tends to be on weekend nights, which you may know. Believe it or not, I actually have no idea. I never go and look at that parking lot at night, but I'll go keep an eye on it now. I can check that out. So where are we at? Where are we voting on? Making this a food truck area? No, no, no. We're just talking about it and Steve's going to go talk to the police chief or whoever there about the parking and what they would take to maybe either block it off or reserve it to some spaces in the area. Go ahead, Gaston. Go ahead. No, if you could just put up the Google map satellite view, I think it's, I just looked at it and I think it'll help us a little bit. Cool maps always seem to win oil for some reason. Sorry, Dylan. I like the little nook in that Pre Street parking lot on the right that's empty in this picture where people could stand on the grass to order it. Here? Yeah. That would be easy. That would be more continuous to block off for one truck. Yeah. What is our authority on parking lots, if any? To block them off? I mean, none really, but we could work with other stakeholders to make it happen. Got it. That is the town lot, right? You have to pay that for that one, right? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Why don't we look into that little corner right there when we start there? We were also next meeting going to have the food trucks come for a kind of a check in on how it's been going at the Kendrick Park place so we can have some follow up maybe from that. Okay. That sounds good. So great. So can you ask about that spot for starters? Yes. I will ask about, I'll ask about these and these spots and these ones. And then maybe we can get a report from various people on the parking, overnight parking, late night parking status, habits, practices of Pre Street lot. Dylan, you're also downtown, if you can kind of give some visual reports on how it looks at night? So far, I've only seen the taco truck there late at night. I haven't seen anybody else show up. But it's looked like anytime I've walked by at night, which hasn't been too late into the evening, they've usually got a couple people there. So I think they're getting at least a steady flow. I haven't had a chance to check in with the folks who live across the street from there to get the idea of noise. But I mean kind of seeing it like there's definitely not zero. It's quiet, but not nothing. So I do like the idea of, I think that area, those, we were talking over at ZBA about, could we just approve the special permit for the Spoke Live over there as well? One of the major discussions is going to be about noise. And that's supposed to have, it's 70 decibels at the property line. Once all the mitigation is in place like doors, but as that door is open, it's going to be loud there. I kind of think if you're living in the section of downtown where you're with the nightclubs, I think you expect some level of noise. And I think the food trucks will definitely be quieter than the bars. So I think that area is definitely a much better area for food trucks if we can make it happen. Okay, great. All right, super. So what's next? So Steve, you will look into that? Yeah, I'll look into both those locations and see what might be possible. Maybe try to check in with night shift police officer who might have a sense of what things are generally looking like down there. And yeah, we can check in at the next meeting and we'll invite the food trucks to see if they will come in and talk about their experiences. All right, that would be awesome. Dylan, I think you got here after Steve explained that even though the Spoke parking lot is, has a lot of good features for a food truck that it would have to go through ZBA. It would have, maybe, if there, if Spoke is operating through a special permit, it would have to go through ZBA. Yeah, is that the case? Is the original Spoke operating through a special permit? I don't know if the original original one was, but it's been extended twice to include the additional area it now has in that building. So yeah, definitely is under a special permit. Got it. Yeah, I, well, I can't imagine something like that would be insurmountable to get before the ZBA. Typically, we want food to be available to people who are drinking. So I think there's other reasons, I can't remember what they were, but I remember hearing there's like other reasons why they wouldn't want food trucks there as a business, but I don't have much more on that other than it just being kind of a hassle to do it. So I'm not sure that the Spoke would want a food truck on their property. Not that they don't want one to be there, but I don't think they want it operating on on their property because they think they're still liable for something. I'm not entirely sure how that works. Okay. All right, well that's something. I can look into that a bit further as well. Okay, but that's a little more into the future than just, than that. That's a step after the next one. So okay, great. Any other questions about this? Nope. All right. So next is lunch rental regulations. Is that right? And for that, we were waiting on Mandy, Johanna, she was going to check with the lawyer she's working with, but she has not heard back from the lawyer. So, and there's going to be a delay. She said, Paul, there's going to be a delay due to all of the annual town meetings going on in the state. So I'll just check in with her before our next meeting and see if she has heard anything from her lawyer, lawyer that they're working with before we can go forward any more with that topic. And then after that we have adult use marijuana, which is something Doug isn't here, but I think we can talk a little bit about this because Steve and I were chatting earlier in the week about maybe having more than one perspective on these regulations. And Steve, you had no idea that there might be like a subcommittee or we could, yeah, write to each other through Steve. Yeah. So, so just to kind of follow up on this in general. So I think we kind of have tabled this when license renewal season kicked off. These things were getting very busy and it's been a very busy spring as well with I think at one point we had seven active liquor license applications, which I don't think we've ever had more than three before. So we're finally getting a little bit more time now and it's probably a good idea, good time to get back into this. I have spoken to the town manager and the finance director and with the changes to the law around host community agreements. They are open to the idea of marijuana licensing, potentially covering most or all of what host community agreements do now. So that gives the board a pretty wide remit to regulate those businesses. And I think it's obviously a very important subject, something we'd be blazing the trail on in Amherst and you know Doug's prepared a very good draft so far. But you know, I think it's something that could definitely use some some more intensive focus. So yeah, as you know, with the open meeting law, if you know, I believe more than two members are discussing something relevant to the business of the board, they do need needs to be a posted public meeting. So one idea could be to form an actual subcommittee that with posted meetings to kind of meet more regularly to go over this or we could just you know, do what we as we usually do with talking about it and meetings and reviewing and you know, sending back comments through media to send to each other. But I sent along the regulations as the draft stood in September last time we took a look at it. And I think our next step in terms of working on it would be to start sending some questions to KP law about what is possible, how to structure it, if there's any examples and things like that. So I did send it along to everybody. And I think it you know, start out now at least we could be very helpful for everybody to go through it. Maybe just send me some thoughts. I think as it left, there was a few comments I had made when I reviewed it, but I can certainly give it another look once over to and we can maybe kind of you know, set our first goals is identifying some questions to ask and then maybe starting to think about how to structure it. Okay, that's good. A quick question. So when we get this, essentially it's the host community agreement and we can essentially modify the host community agreement. Is that my understanding that correct? So the host community agreement is kind of a unique thing that was just created by the marijuana law where the marijuana businesses have to enter said host community agreement with the town. It's more of a contract. It's not a license. And there has been some, there was some some towns and other parts or cities and other parts of the state that use this in maybe not the most ethical way. And I think there was some in a reconsideration of the program in general. And the most recent marijuana law passed by the legislature kind of pared down what would be possible with those. And then there was also I think less adverse impacts than had been anticipated at first. But the first, yeah, the legislature is kind of pared back what's possible with them. And I think towns are starting to take the view, at least this town, that maybe we'd be better served with a license that's the same as the license we give to every other business rather than this kind of strange unique host community agreement. So one of the questions we'll have for the lawyers is can the host community agreements be completely eliminated? Or do we have to have some kind of very, you know, de minimis host community agreement with most of the regulations still covered in licensing? But this would be replacing or substantially or maybe less replace those agreements, but it would be separate. Yeah. Oh, sorry. Go ahead Dylan. No, go ahead get some. I might just question. Do you know what the termination date is on the agreements by chance, Steve? I think we I think that we have several different businesses and they're rolling. I don't think it's all on the same date. I think we had one that's expiring this summer and they're rolling. So I don't know. Okay, okay. So what happens when they expire? Does it they just resign it or do they negotiate another one? I guess you could do either. I don't know what they're intending to do this summer. I mean, I think I think the bulk of them are maybe coming up for resigning this fall. So for winter. So we'd be trying to get ahead of that. I think they're for a multi-year term. Oh, okay. And another advantage that a license would offer over those is that you know, licenses can have disciplinary action taken against them, but the host community agreement is kind of just very more rigid. Okay, all right. The host community agreement, Steve, would you be able to or maybe you sent it in the pack and I just didn't look. Do we have what the host community agreement currently says? They, I believe they are unique for each business. I'm sure there's a template that they're kind of following. I don't have an example of them, but I can try to get one for you. Yeah, I mean, could we request just the host community agreement for every shop that we have in town? I'd like to kind of see what we got in there. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. The, because I know you could and I remember when I was dealing with one of those, I think it was a red cardinal on the ZVA. I remember Tom Reed, who was representing them, had mentioned how we are, the town gets some portion of revenue, which I don't think is the case with, with bars is, is, why does that one work? I think about it. Maybe we should have an answer to that, but how does that work, Steve? Like now that I'm saying it, I actually don't know the answer to that. The answer is no. Am I correct? Yeah, we don't get a portion. We don't get a portion. But the, I think the, the amendment to the legislation substantially reduced that. Still, a host community agreement can't ask for like a percentage of revenue. I believe, I don't know the exact details. I think it used to be much more expansive. And now the changes have made it, you know, much more narrowly tailored. I think there's a lower cap. And, you know, I think, I think that everybody has seen kind of less impacts than we're expected at first. And now I believe the, the HCA's can't, they have to spend everything they take on, you know, it has to be, you know, directly related to what impacts the business has. And we're not really seeing many impacts in Amherst, so. Okay. Great. So is there anything else on this for this week? Otherwise we'll go over the regulations, as Steve suggested, start to ask questions. Maybe discuss about how we want to discuss this. Is that, just before we go, what are people's thoughts on a subcommittee that is posted? Or would you rather just do this the way we've been handling it? Which is, I mean, you know, talking, if we're talking about meeting, let's say an hour, every, you know, between every meeting for a couple of meetings and trying to get something going. Right. I'm willing to, I'm willing to volunteer. Yeah. It might, it might go faster, is my thinking, if you had kind of a targeted subcommittee. And then one other person on it. I mean, I'd like to be on the subcommittee, but I just don't know, time-wise. I mean, it's technically possible for all five of us to be on the subcommittee if we want it to, right? It's just that one issue. Right. But yeah, I mean, I'd be on the either subcommittee or just our special meeting time, if that's what it has to be. But if it's going to be a dedicated subcommittee, there would have to be, I think at least four of us, because I don't think I could necessarily commit to every meeting at different times. My schedule's a little hectic right now, as you see from me showing up at 5.45. So. And I mean, what about just, I hadn't thought of Steve's idea of doing kind of a subcommittee of the whole or something like that. We could just meet every week and every other week it's only on this topic and it's open and you want to can join, but it's like working on the topic. I don't know. Yeah. What time, I guess, Dylan, does evening work better for you? It's all up in the air. I have appointments at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. or 6 p.m. and they can go as late as about three hours each. So, we just have to schedule something. So maybe we can get what was your thing, your scheduling program, Steve? What is that called? Um, excuse, oh, the, I guess we don't need that. It works for people. We could just do, you know, just, we all know every Thursday at 5, we've got a meeting for a couple of weeks, for a couple of months or something. I think that works. Is that the best solution? Okay. All right. Should we do that? Sounds good. Then we have to notice it to the public, right? Yeah. So, when do we want to start next week if we have all the materials? So, we want materials in the packet. We have the, the draft regulations and then we want the host community agreements. Do we just want to start with the draft regulations and then as soon as Steve can dig out those, yes, Gaston, go ahead. I would say the first, the first extra Thursday after we can get the host community agreements, I think that will really simplify. We can kind of decide what do we want to take from the host community agreement and what do we want to add to it. I think it'll help all our conversation. Okay. Is that sound good? Okay. All right. So, Steve, you can find those and as soon as you send those around, we will start meeting. Awesome. All right. If you guys get a chance to review them in the meantime and start formulating some questions for the attorneys. Okay. Super. And can you tell, can you send Doug, shoot Doug an email of, yeah. Well, and Steve, do you have to be at these meetings? I don't want to like add an extra Thursday meeting for you to have to set up and host. If you don't have to be there, do you want to give Marion the power to start the Zoom? Yeah, I don't actually have to be there, I guess. Not that you're not wanted, but you know, you work long hours, so if you need a break, don't feel like you have to come along for the ride every other Thursday, too. Much appreciated, but we can see how it plays out, I guess. Does somebody have to take minutes for this? Do they have to, do those have to be posted? Every public meeting has to take minutes, and that would certainly be a help for me, so. Okay. Question for you, Steve, because I know on ZBA we just recently started doing minutes again, because I think our dissent was that the recording and posting of the video technically counted as minutes. Is that not the case in ZBA? Has this been doing it wrong for three years? No, the minutes still do have to be officially prepared, so I do have a big batch of, I do take them at every meeting and then I don't always get to finish them, so I have a big batch of them with like, you know, five typos and without the formatting in them, so I'm trying to get more caught up on that, but we do have minutes for every meeting, just not all approved. Okay, great. All right, anything else on this topic? No, upcoming meetings and agendas, so we're waiting on rental regulations until we hear back from Andy Johannake. We're waiting on adult use until we get the host community agreements. Next time, isn't next time, we, is our, hopefully our meeting of lunch cart, oh it may, so it's June 1st, right? Yeah, I think that's what we're shooting for. Right, June 1st, the lunch cart people come in to talk about their experience in and around Kendrick Park, and we talk, see you'll be, hopefully have some feedback about the Kendrick Park, I mean the Prey Street parking lot, was there anything else we wanted to put on for that meeting? Oh, I guess we'll figure it out in case something else comes up. Okay, topic's not anticipated 48 hours prior to the meeting, any topics? Uh, next meeting or we can just email Steve at the summer vacation schedules. Right, summer vacation schedules. Okay, send your summer plans to Steve. And I probably won't invite myself. Okay, college chores, I mean come on Steve, it'll be fun. Okay, great, any more topics? Nope. Review of minutes, did we have minutes today? Not today. Okay, great. And we come to adjournment, is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. Thanks Dylan, is there a second? A second. Thank you, we'll take a vote. Dylan? Hi. Gaston? Hi. Hallie? Hi. And I vote aye, that is 4-0 with one absent or adjourned at 6.05 p.m. All right, thanks everybody. Have a great evening. See you next time, bye. Bye, you all.