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Loose Moose fights for liquor license renewal
By Elizabeth Prata

Gray-A packed house turned out at last Tuesday's Council meeting to hear comment on the liquor license renewal of the Loose Moose Saloon. A liquor license renewal is usually a pro forma action, but in this case, a man had died and there were questions to be answered.

At issue is the legal delineation of when a bars' liability begins and personal responsibility ends. Last May Gray resident Jason Welch had been drinking at the Gray tavern and then had spent some time outside the bar in the parking lot before leaving the premises. As he left, he spun his tires in the dirt lot and sped from the property, only to be quickly stopped by local police, David Toresci, legal representation for bar owner Tracy Knight, stated. Welch was let go, Toresci said, and then Welch continued home. His blood alcohol level was .21. The legal limit is .08.

Toresci said that Welch was then chased. "This was not in the report but we believe the chase did happen. He said" Welch screeched around a sharp corner at 87 miles per hour with police hot on his bumper, lost control of his vehicle, and was ejected from the car. He died on scene.

The Welch family was there to speak against the liquor license renewal. The law states that Council may review pertinent information relating to liquor and local ordinance violations within the past year. The Welches passed out a hefty packet to the Council containing information related to the business operations of the Loose Moose, the real estate holdings of both owners, the driving records of the co-owners, and incident reports from the Cumberland County Sheriff's Department and the Maine State Police related to the bar.

"We believe these documents speak to the way the bar is operated. We believe they speak to how people are endangered in and around that place of business. This is the manner of how this business has operated," mother of Jason, Terry Welch, said.

Toresci said that thee have been no liquor violations in the past year. "The corporation is valid, there have been no charges of liquor violations, and there are not local criminal charges brought against the bar by patrons, neighbors, nor any charges resulting from the Welch death," he said.

The bar maintains a 'Tipsy Taxi,' at considerable business cost, which is available to all patrons, to Knight." Jason had been offered the service on other occasions, "Knight said. "He just refused to use it."

Bartender Sue Dau said that, "We are a bar. We don't serve tea and crumpets. But people have to take responsibility for their own behavior. We do everything we can except knock them out and put them in the van." Right, The Tipsy Taxi. Monument: Salvetti Photo

The law says that liquor serves must assess behavioral cues of their patrons to determine whether they should be shut of from drinking. There are four behavioral cues, Welch said. Loss of inhibitions, loss of judgment, slow reactions and poor coordination. "Since Jason was determined to have a .21 blood alcohol level he would have shown all of those cues," Welch asserted. "The servers were not doing their job."

The Council did express concerns that the bar parking lot presented a problem. As Knight explained, she has worked hard to change the sort or patrons that had frequented the bar prior to her ownership. "We've weeded out the troublemakers and that has been a long process. They've had a tendency to move to the lot."

Councilor Lynn Olson said, "That the State Police didn't file any charges from Jason's death speaks strongly. If they are willing to fix the parking lot problem I don't see any reason not to vote for it." Councilor Matt Sturgis agreed. Councilor Jack Goosetrey said that the parking lot is frequented by all the businesses that surround the bar, which is a leased building.

Councilor Richard F. Barter said that they had received a huge amount of information that evening and to be fair to both sides they should take the time to go through it. "Some of this information is outside the purview of the licensing period and some if it is dated." He moved to delay the licensing decision for a month.

In the end, the criteria set for Knight to follow during the month extension is to fix the small code enforcement items found by the CEO, to develop a plan to fix the lighting, parking, and behavioral problems in the lot, and to provide Council information related to the bar's plan for certification and training for servers.