The Bourne Select Board met on April 7, 2026, at 7:00 PM in open session. The meeting covered updates on special legislation liquor licenses, a citizen petition for a liquor license, a CPA funding request for shelter relocation, information requests to Upper Cape Tech, archive building repairs, and recommendations on numerous annual and special town meeting articles. Key votes included approval of CPA funding for Housing Assistance Corporation, a conservation restriction for the Bourne Conservation Trust, and donation of a fire station property to MassDOT.
Okay. Being finally 7 p.m., right? April 7, 2026. Note this meeting is being televised, streamed, or recorded by Born TV. If anyone in the audience is recording or videotaping, they need to acknowledge such at this time. We have Warren Enterprise, thank you. Please refrain from using flash photography. If anyone from the public wishes to access the meeting, they can do so by calling the following conference line. 1929 2056099, Zoom meeting ID 897, 1229, 3538, password born, all caps. The Zoom chat will not be monitored. Participants who wish to speak must raise the hand icon and to the chair, ask them to unmute all items within the agenda. The meeting agenda is subject to deliberation votes. Call the meeting to order an open session. First, we'll have a moment of silence for to recognize our public safety personnel. Salute to the flag. For which it stands. I'm going to go out. Okay. So public comments on non-agenda items. I'm not sure if anybody's here for public comment on non-agenda items. Anyone online? Seeing none, I will not do the spiel that. Next, we have an update from town council on Catomet Fish special legislation liquor license. Thank you. Good evening. So the last time we were here, we were just discussing the draft legislation that had come back from our legislative delegation. Since that time, you know, we had a well, we had a concern, I think, specifically about some of the transferability language that was in that draft legislation, and we really didn't know the origin of it. So since that time I've had an opportunity to talk with Representative Vieira and some folks who I just first off like to say thank you. They've been really helpful and really responsive to the town, and I think we should say that in public. They're just trying to standardize their language in the State House when they do these kind of special acts. Or we could um do something different which is not transferable as to the location. You know, or we could actually say to any other person, organization, corporation, or location. You know, basically saying as to the entity, individual, whatever you want to say, um, and the location. I think either one gets us where we want to go. Um the second version where you're saying person organization, corporation, or location is maybe a little more belt and suspenders, um, because it's pretty explicit. So you know, I think we can um you know go back to the delegation and say that's really what we want. Um you know, the other question is is that there was some other language then about granting a license to a new applicant in the same location. Um I did have a conversation today uh with counsel for the original petitioner who reached out to me, and I think they would be in favor of keeping that on the logic that it would it wouldn't be a transfer, but it would give the town discretion if in the future this business were to wind down and we still wanted to have a liquor license in that location. I think that's really up to the select board whether you want to keep something like that in or not, whether you think it's consistent with what was proposed to town meeting. Um that's really my entire update. I'm just I I think as to the transferability part, I'm really just looking for an instruction as to what language you prefer. And then um, given that I had that communication from the petitioner, I just you know wanted to present that to you so that you could consider it and give me my instruction on that as well. Okay, wonderful. All right I guess I'll start with my fellows look because I guess Amy here are you start with the last comments or thank you. It's been a while since I've done Zoom and had to raise my hand. Okay. Um the the non transfer transferable is uh an absolute for me regard you know we know um it should be non-transferable since I think that was the intent and um how we presented it to town meeting and how uh people um understood that vote I also do not think I think also that the um there was conversation and it was explanation that when did this when this individual or entity or corporation no longer exists that the license would no longer exist. So I don't think keeping that license at that location or or someone else coming in and being able to apply um for the a license at that location I don't think that that if I understood right Brian that that was some of the language um that the state wanted to have so almost like you know the sundown right when when um the the company no longer exists the license should no longer exist okay anyone else MJ um yeah um I'll say a couple things. Um I think um it would be helpful I don't know if the um representatives of catalog fish were notified of this meeting for them to have an opportunity to speak because it was their private petition um I so I would like that sort of before a decision is made um I did have a conversation with Jera and it was interesting because one of the things he talked about is if the manager so when you issue the license to the manager if the manager dies we often transfer a license you know we change a manager but it's not a transfer of a license and so um I thought you know they do a lot of these we don't do this but it's not like we do them all the time and we see what can happen. So um and then you spoke I don't know if you you did have a conversation with the proponents of the petition the petitioner but um the transfer of the license to a new manager under the same entity I mean I don't I'm just I'm just being cautious because if it's a special legislation license and to get a new one it would have to be to transfer it or do something you'd have to go through whole special legislation there m may be some situations where the wisdom of the legislature in terms of like the limits of the transfer.