The South Bristol Board of Selectmen unanimously approved liquor and entertainment permits for the Coveside Restaurant and Marina at their Nov. 18 meeting.
A handful of Coveside neighbors attended the meeting to express concerns about sound levels from live music at the restaurant.
“I don’t have a problem during the day,” Priscilla Matthews, a resident of Little Island, said. “It’s at night. It comes right in my bedroom windows. It’s very difficult… one summer I couldn’t sleep at all.”
“It was a little loud on some occasions,” Sarah Mitchell, a resident of Coveside Road, said. “For the most part, they did a good job.”
The selectmen placed limits on the noise levels and the hours the restaurant can host live music. The sound must not exceed 70 decibels and the music must stop at midnight, except on Sundays, when it is only allowable from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., unless the restaurant is hosting a wedding reception.
Lurie Sprague-Palino, owner of Seacoast Catering and Lobster Bakes, will operate the restaurant this year.
Mitchell recently traveled to New Jersey to look at a used replacement. He reviewed the cost, short and long-term, of purchasing a used fire truck or repairing the current truck, but ultimately recommended purchasing a new truck.
The demo truck Mitchell recommended – a Class A E-One pumper – would cost the town $205,000. A brand new truck would cost about $250,000, and the cost is rising rapidly each year, Mitchell said.
A used truck would cost about $130,000 and last approximately 5-7 years, while repairs to the current truck, a 1986 model, would cost $80,000-$100,000 and leave the department without the truck for another six to eight months.
“We get this vehicle replaced, we’re good for 17-18 years,” Mitchell said. “Our oldest truck is [a] 2001. I think it’s the best move for the town.”
Mitchell asked the selectmen to call a special town meeting to appropriate funds for the purchase.
“If you go to special town meeting, you’ll have 10 people sitting here who maybe all want that thing,” Selectman Chester Rice said. “That’s not a very appropriate way to put the town in the position of spending $200,000.”
The selectmen agreed to place the purchase before voters at the annual town meeting in March.
In other fire department business, selectmen appointed Mark Carrothers to replace Jay Bryant as the Assistant Fire Chief for Walpole.
The petition needs 56 signatures for an article to appear on the warrant for the annual town meeting in March.
In other business, selectmen met with Carl Gercke, Chief Investment Officer of Head Invest, to discuss the town’s portfolio managed by the Portland Company.
Selectmen also met in executive session with attorney Patrick Parson regarding an ongoing legal issue.
