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ORONO – The Town Council unanimously approved measures to grant liquor and special amusement permits to 103 Ultra Lounge, Bear Brew Pub and the Sports Cafe. They also approved $600,000 toward the building of the Orono Public Library Monday night.
“I did it,” said Robbie Snow of RI Snow Co., LLC, after receiving a warm welcome from the council.
Snow is now managing 103 Ultra Lounge in the building formerly known as Ushuaia. Snow is leasing the property from former Ushuaia owner Alex Gray.
Ushuaia stopped serving alcohol in mid-November after appeals by Gray were denied by the town council and the state.
A major concern for the council Monday was safety at the new establishment, a concern that ultimately led to Ushuaia’s demise.
A recurring theme for the night was Training for Intervention Procedures, or TIPS, which is a course for club employees to take with regard to alcohol distribution at a club or bar.
Matt Haskell, owner of the Bear Brew Pub, said that with the high turnover of employees at his establishment, training in TIPS would be “very expensive.” Neither Snow nor Haskell are TIPS certified.
Snow outlined safety features at the club that already exist and proposed ideas for better security, including hiring off-duty police, easily recognizable bouncers and a strict “zero-tolerance” policy for rowdy customers.
Snow’s “zero-tolerance” policy includes taking pictures of problematic patrons and keeping a file in a three-ring binder in the front of the club as a reference.
“I would be there to have a good time, and I would expect other people to come out and have a good time. They don’t want to have to deal with some of the huff and puff . you know, some of the problems that some kids bring,” Snow said.
Other concerns from the council were the mosh pits that occurred during some of the rock concerts that were held at Ushuaia. Snow addressed their concerns and assured that mosh pits would not be an issue at his club.
The council granted Snow his alcohol and special amusement permits. The decision will now move to the state for final approval. Snow said that if everything goes as planned he could be up and running “by the time kids return from spring break in mid-March.”
Safety was also the main concern for councilors while discussing the Bear Brew proposal. Along with Haskell’s license application was a report by Orono Chief of Police Gary Duquette. In the report, Duquette mentioned some conversations between his department and Haskell about putting the right policies and practices in place to alleviate the problems that were occuring, such as over-serving intoxicated individuals.
“There were a few people over the course of the year who were transported to the hospital from that establishment, almost to the point of unconsciousness,” Duquette said.
Despite speaking with Haskell, “it would appear that those things still happen from time to time,” Duquette said.
The police department has spent more time in the area since November, according to Duquette. He said that it was difficult to tell whether or not the department having more of a presence at the club would dramatically increase the number of reported incidents in that area.
Haskell was reluctant to say that crowds at his bar were any more out-of-line than before.
“I don’t think over-consumption is any more of a problem than it has been, and as a matter of fact, I’ve been trying to focus on it more with my staff,” Haskell said, citing that bars “across the world” face the same problems.
The council strongly suggested that Haskell provide his staff with TIPS training.
“You have to do something different, because your suggestion here is that things are going to quiet down when students leave for the summer, and that’s not really a process that you’re going to put in place to effectively deal with this,” said council member Mark Haggerty.
Haskell countered that he didn’t feel TIPS was a necessary step in his employees’ training, and it was difficult to keep all employees trained with such a high turnover. “Staff changes hands so much, it’s hard to do anything,” Haskell said.
He was open to working closely with the Orono Police Department for the continued safety of his bar and its customers. He said that calls have increased because of concern over actions taken against “other establishments in town,” not because of more problems.
The council then approved the measure unanimously, though not without expressing concerns.
“I feel like I’m doing deja vu from last year,” Haggerty said. “Though I’m not sure that I have the documentation at this time … I’m really hoping that Matt takes some action on better training of the staff.”
Council member John Bradson suggested that the town investigate whether or not they could legally mandate all establishments serving liquor to require TIPS training of its staff members.
The Sports Cafe, formerly the Blues Cafe, also received a unanimous nod from council to start serving liquor under their new name.
For the first hour of the meeting, councilors heard the voices of dozens of citizens who supported a measure to apply for a bond for $600,000 for an order to construct a new building to house the Orono Public Library. The council members agreed with their constituents and quickly approved the funding by unanimous decision.
“This is not only a gift to our community, but a gift to ourselves,” said council member Lianne Harris. “I am sure that citizens of Orono will enjoy the library long after the bond has been paid off.”
Pattie Barry contributed to this report.
