Selectmen Revoke Wine and Beer License from Wine Vault

A public hearing was held at the Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday night regarding The Wine Vault, on Boston-Providence Highway, and whether or not the business' license should be limited or revoked due to failure to meet license requirements.

After hearing from members of the Board, as well as the current business owner and a broker employed by a potential buyer for the license, the Selectmen voted 3-1 to revoke the wine and malt beverage license.

Board members noted three previous hearings for the business, with no measurable results.

"We keep bending and giving you leeway and you keep abusing it as far as I'm concerned," Selectman William Plasko said.

Chairman Michael Lyons said that in the previous meetings, the Board had given basic directions on how to maintain the business and the license - one of those directions being that the business had to be open for the public. The Wine Vault had not been open for "a few months."

"That's a very basic requirement for a license," Lyons said.

The vote was taken by four members of the Board; Selectman Helen Abdallah Donohue abstained from the hearing. Selectman Allan Howard was the single no vote, making a motion to continue the hearing for one week to allow for further action on the sale of the license.

"Shame on us if we don't stand up as a Board and take the right action," Selectman Paul Bishop said during the hearing. "It's a waste of a license."