BATH

The City Council on Monday unanimously voted to rescind a June 13 vote that denied a Front Street pub its liquor and special entertainment licenses.

The vote followed the threat of legal action by Jack Barnicle, the attorney representing Black Barnacle owner Greg Tisdale, and a stay by a superior court judge allowing Tisdale to continue serving alcohol and hosting music until the issue was resolved.

Monday’s decision followed much public comment both supporting and criticizing the council’s original decision.

Councilors also “chastised” each other, with those who attended the June 13 meeting complaining that others had made “Monday morning quarterback” comments since the decision, and those who didn’t attend the meeting taking offense at the criticism and arguing that the city shouldn’t dictate what businesses operate where.

On June 13, city councilors voted 4-1 to deny the liquor license and 3-2 to deny the special amusement license.

Councilors Steve Brackett, Meadow Rue Merrill, Sean Paulhus and Andy Winglass opposed the liquor license renewal, which Councilor Bernie Wyman favored. Councilors Mari Eosco, Ruthe Pagurko and Kyle Rogers were absent from the meeting.

“This has been an interesting couple of weeks,” said Paulhus, whose motion to rescind the original decision opened Monday’s discussion. “This is one of the toughest things since I’ve been on the council in four years, for me personally … I think we might have rushed through (the decision).”

Those who opposed the license previously then explained their reasons for changing their votes.

“The thing that really struck me, and that my decision pivoted on, was the length of time that not just the smoking complaints, but complaints about behavior, noise and vomit — which may or may not be a direct result of the patrons of this establishment but somehow appeared after this establishment opened,” Merrill said.

“There was an aggrieved party that had some ongoing issues, and there was another letter from a business (opposing the license),” Brackett said. “As I’m listening to the aggrieved parties (on June 13) … it just doesn’t add up. Twice it was said they would do anything to make it work, but it … was very vague.”

Councilors who did not attend the June 13 meeting said the council should not decide which businesses can operate where.

Eosco said she also heard more from the public about this issue than any other in her five or six years on the council, and argued that the council should not be “in the business of deciding where businesses can be in the downtown.”

“The time this council should have dealt with the Black Barnacle was when it opened,” Rogers said. “If we didn’t want a bar in the downtown we shouldn’t have (allowed it). Now we have a bar in the downtown and it’s a very nice place. We can’t treat some businesses one way and other businesses other ways. … It’s not the business of the City Council to take care of squabbles between businesses on Front Street.”

During public comment, Barnicle said much of what the council heard on June 13 was “hearsay,” and they were told that Main Street Bath had taken a position against renewing the licenses, but that a review of city records shows that “that is not in fact true.”

Brian Hatch, president of the Main Street Bath board of directors, reiterated to the council that the organization took no position on the license renewals.

A number of people spoke in support of the pub, including bartender Jamie Kirshner, who asked how the Black Barnacle could be held responsible for the entire Front Street smoking problem. She said employees clean the sidewalk and entryway immediately each morning,

But Skip Taylor, who owns Winter’s Gone Alpaca next to the Black Barnacle, said since the council’s previous decision, a bar patron yelled into his store, “Is that quiet enough for you now, (expletive)?,” causing customers to leave, and that his display window was covered one morning with spit “and some other unidentified matter.”

“It’s a legitimate business, but it produces drunks, and drunks affect what happens on Front Street,” Taylor said, noting that his lease is up in September and the council’s decision on Monday could affect whether he stays in Bath.

Councilors on Monday also sparred about the previous denial of Tisdale’s licenses, with council chairman David Sinclair telling his fellow councilors that he was “disappointed by some of the things I heard councilors saying … they would have done” following the June 13 meeting. “It’s far too easy for people to play Monday morning quarterback … it’s a little bit contemptible and shows a little bit of disrespect.”

Rogers interrupted Sinclair, saying he took offense to the remarks. “I don’t think the three people who didn’t show up need to be chastised,” Rogers said.

“I think it’s very inappropriate, and I’d like to move on to a discussion” of the issues, Eosco concurred, noting that prior to the June meeting she had spoken to Police Chief Mike Field and “relayed to the chair my support (of the licenses).”

Councilors voted unanimously to renew both licenses, with a condition on the special entertainment license that Tisdale ensure litter is cleaned up before 8 a.m. each day.

Merrill asked if the council could include a condition prohibiting “verbal assault and property damage,” but city solicitor Roger Therriault said “those are police matters and in many instances are circumstances over which Mr. Tisdale doesn’t have control.”

Following the meeting, Barnicle said his client would dismiss a civil suit against the city. He said there is no practical way Tisdale could attempt to regain the “thousands of dollars” in legal costs spent to fight the city.

“Politics is politics and I hate it all,” Tisdale said.

But Barnicle amended, “He’s gratified that the whole council voted in favor of the licenses.”