ORDER-2021-24 : Communication from Massachusetts State Lottery Commission regarding KENO License at Melrose Mobil, 386 Main, St., Melrose, MA

Transcript (~25 min @ 3:16)

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▶ 3:11 Robb Stewart: Great, thank you. So tonight we have 1 order order 2021 dash 24. The communication from the Massachusetts state lottery commission regarding, you know, license at Marlowe's mobile at 386 Main Street, Massachusetts. With that, I believe we have news company Wilson available to speak for us.

▶ 3:43 Robb Stewart: Can you hear us? Could we entertain a motion to suspend the rules?

▶ 3:48 Speaker 4: Motion to suspend the rules. Second.

▶ 3:50 Robb Stewart: Motion to suspend the rules made by President Grigoraitis, seconded by Councilor Cinella.

▶ 3:57 Speaker 5: Vice Chair Cinella? Yes.

▶ 4:02 Speaker 1: Vice Chair Cinella? Yes. Councilor Garipay? Yes. councillor mcnaught yes councillor thomas yes president greg writers yes it's just suspension

▶ 4:14 Robb Stewart: of rules great thank you i'm quick uh mr bonnie wilson um if uh you have uh a statement or wish to comment on this order we would be uh welcome for your input sure well first i want to thank

▶ 4:28 Speaker 2: you for allowing me to speak to you to you all this evening um and just i want to preface this with i know that you're you have an um an order in front of you um and i'm not here necessarily to speak in favor or in opposition of that particular order but to provide some information that may help you as a body to be able to make a determination based on that order because um as the lottery we don't advocate for individual agents but for our agents as a whole and I know that there are a number of new counselors that are that have come in since 2019 and we thought that it might be beneficial to have me give some information about full keno and to answer any other questions to the best of my ability that you may have with regards to the massachusetts state lottery and any of their

▶ 5:40 Speaker 2: products um so if there's if there's any particular questions that you might have or if you want me to just kind of go through um just some basic information i'm happy to do that however you would like it, Mr. Chairman.

▶ 5:52 Robb Stewart: Yes, Ms. Comfort, and I would suggest that you give us an overview, and then allow the committee to entertain any questions that they may have.

▶ 6:05 Speaker 2: Okay. So in the city of Melrose, there are currently 10 Massachusetts State Lottery agents. All of those agents do provide to customers um the the wide variety of products that the lottery offers um both instant tickets and also online games one of the games that is offered in all of these locations is what's known as keno to go and keno to go is a product that a customer can just walk into a lottery agent they can fill out the the bet slip hand it to the clerk the clerk will give them a ticket um and they've then purchased a chance using the numbers that they've selected um to play this particular keno game um the difference between the main difference and basically the only difference between keno to go and full keno of which there is no full keno in the city of Melrose is the addition of a monitor in the location and what that allows is for the customer to be in the location and to watch the game being played on the screen in the in the location in the agent location um the the customer playing keno to go can certainly play their game have their ticket and then once the game has been played they can bring the ticket over to the clerk give it to the clerk the clerk can then say um whether you know they won or they lost and the and the customer can continue to play the game the only difference is they can't actually watch the the drawing of the numbers on the screen um and as um the lottery have has received requests from agents in melrose for full keno with a monitor um we thought that it would be beneficial to just provide information to any and all of you regarding any questions that you might have about full keno and the institution of that or the request um to have that in an agent location and i know that you have one that is in front of you right now great thank you miss capone wilson

▶ 8:29 Robb Stewart: um i believe consular thomas uh has a question thank you mr chairman uh mr paul wilson thank

▶ 8:37 Cory Thomas: you for being here um the question i have is regarding um you know the covid pandemic we're dealing with right now um this is a very busy location uh for gas and convenient um purchases uh the mobile gas station on main street in melrose um i understand it's keynote to go but are there any restrictions uh right now in this coveted world we're dealing with uh that prevents people from you know purchasing a ticket leaving immediately coming back five minutes later leaving again coming back five minutes later and continuous continuously purchasing tickets even you know they're leaving the establishment and then returning

▶ 9:21 Speaker 2: Mm hmm. Well, the lottery has been very clear. It's posted on our website and we've been very clear with all our agents, whether they have Kino or whether they don't, if they just have customers that are coming in, buying scratch tickets and staying in the location and scratching them while they're there that we are. we need the agents to adhere to the CDC guidelines and also the directives that come from our governor, and that they need to be able to allow for social distancing, and they also need to be able to allow for maximum amounts of people in a location at one particular time. And with regards to keno there have been some communities some municipalities that have specific um considerations or um you know they put a qualifying addendum to if they're going to grant an agent to have volcano they'll say on these particular conditions and that is something that when that has happened we as the lottery have always been incredibly supportive of those conditions making sure that the agent because this is something that that the lottery will um can grant or not grant you know um to an agent and they understand that and they know that if there are conditions that have been put forth by a municipality those conditions need to be adhered to and if they're not then we certainly do enforce that um and there have been communities that have had conditions um and this is obviously pre-covered um but for example that um a monitor can't be facing outside so that people could you know coalesce and stand outside um outside of the location and just continue to play you know and watch um and if there is a complaint that should and there have been honestly there have been you know over the last six years when i've been with the lottery and i was previously the regional manager for the wuben region which includes melrose um but you know people have called and they've said they're not supposed to do this and then we would make a call to the agent and say we've received a complaint and if you're not going to adhere to it then we will shut off your keynote um so as a partner with municipalities we want to make sure that we're doing our very best to have the agents behavior the way that you've outlined it in the conditions and that we would ensure the city of Melrose decide that they want to grant maybe not this particular location, but another one in the future, we would certainly do that and make sure that we are making them adhere to it. And if they don't, then they lose the privilege.

▶ 12:27 Cory Thomas: Mr. Paul Wilson, thank you very much. I appreciate your information.

▶ 12:29 Speaker 2: Thank you.

▶ 12:31 Speaker 5: Thank you. Council Gaffney.

▶ 12:36 Mark Garipay: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ms. Capone-Wilson for being here. Just for some clarification, this application that we have currently is for full keynote, not keynote on the go, keynote to go, correct?

▶ 12:53 Speaker 2: That is correct. All of the agents and the 10 agents that are located in Melrose, They all have and have had keynote to go as a product. So any customer can come into a location and they can get a keynote ticket.

▶ 13:11 Speaker 6: As I said, the only difference is the actual game being played in the location.

▶ 13:16 Mark Garipay: Okay. There was some confusion, I think, last week. I just want to make sure that we all know what we're looking at and voting on. um and when someone applies for a lottery license whether it's a new lottery license and they're um they're going to offer a wide variety of the of the products that the lottery sells um if they're doing scratch tickets a daily number is keynote to go um is that considered um does Does that have to be voted on separately by by the city council or someone I'm open in a convenience store and I want the lottery and I'm going to do the daily number and scratch tickets is keynote to go on automatic part of that package.

▶ 14:06 Speaker 2: Or does that have to be voted on separately by the council? That is not an initial product that is available to every every agent. And that's something Kino and Kino To Go are products that come after, and it's usually at least four months. Primarily for pouring establishments, there are no pouring establishments in Melrose that have full Kino, bars, restaurants. And so it's just convenience stores and gas stations in Melrose that have any lottery products. um and so it's not an initial so if if you had applied for a lot of license in your location and you were to open up first day you would be able to sell instant tickets and then all of the online games save for the uh keynote to go okay okay and then and then that keynote to

▶ 15:08 Mark Garipay: go would be at the discretion of the city council correct okay thank you um and i don't know if um you know this answer but has in the past has ever has anyone ever applied for a full keynote license

▶ 15:21 Speaker 2: in the city of morris yes they have and it's been denied previously they've been they've been there has been opposition voiced from the council okay that was a number of years ago they haven't

▶ 15:31 Speaker 2: the the lottery hasn't committed any in i believe the last time was was 2015 or 2016. so it's been a number of years before anyone has um has requested that um just because it had been opposed previously but i think this year with the downturn in business for the vast majority of these agents that they have again said you think we could apply for you know you know because they're you know looking at the the sales figures for for the agents they you know there have been a there have been a decline in sale overall and actually one of the one of the agents shut down uh village village variety in uh in march so they're not selling they're not selling lottery anymore

▶ 16:33 Speaker 7: okay they're looking at it as a way to to develop their business and to try and

▶ 16:35 Speaker 2: you know add an additional price okay thank you very much thank you for being here i appreciate

▶ 16:44 Speaker 2: it you're very welcome thank you for having me uh counselor mcnutt thank you and thank you

▶ 16:50 Jeff McNaught: Thank you for educating us very much on this topic tonight. Much appreciated. My question is, since we don't have any open core establishments in Norris where they can understand why other cities in town, New Path, or whatever the name is for the one with the screens, there's more space in those establishments. I can understand why one would allow for even in a non-COVID or a COVID era, it could be safe to have them. But to Counselor Thomas's point, and you had mentioned CalROAS only has the smaller gas station convenience stores. I guess what I'm wondering is, I know we don't have anything beyond how to go in our establishment.

▶ 17:48 Speaker 8: But what I'm wondering is a lottery in Massachusetts regularly issuing the live keynote to gas stations and stores similar to the model that requested this?

▶ 17:55 Speaker 2: they have to have a minimum amount of square footage um to be able to have that because there has to be um an area that's set aside within the location uh for them to be able to be granted the full keynote they have to be able to have and oftentimes it's it's um like up against the wall in the back there's they set up like a small counter with a couple of stools um and then the the monitor is set up so that while they're sitting there they could see the screen but they're generally put in an area that's away from where the cash register is um and as the previous um regional manager for the wolverine region i would always go in to an agent location and talk to the owner and say okay what is it that you're thinking where is it you're thinking of putting this and then decide on a location that makes it less less likely that they would be interacting with the customers that just come in and go out right and have you been in the

▶ 19:06 Speaker 2: melrose mobile gas station i have and i know that they don't have a lot of square footage and as i said i'm not i'm not here to advocate for anyone in particular but actually you almost answered

▶ 19:15 Jeff McNaught: my question because i was wondering what is the requisite square footage to allow for the live

▶ 19:27 Speaker 8: it's 300 square feet okay well again thank you so much i appreciate um you educating us tonight

▶ 19:41 John N. Tramontozzi: thank you mr chair thank you council chairman kelsey uh thank you mr uh counselor uh stewart uh chairman i was gonna say mr president but i mean um i i appreciate your courtesy i am not a voting member of this committee however as you all know i've been i've been on the council for quite some time and i've been on the council formerly alderman um in 2015 2016 when these keynote licenses have come before us. We have historically rejected and denied these, and frankly, I don't see why we should change our historical adherence to these keynote licenses. But let me just say this. When I think of keynote, I think of restaurants like Grimsby's, for example and i know they have a license where you where you go and sit down you you have a meal have a drink and you may be there for 30 minutes 45 minutes an hour and around uh and you can watch the monitor i just don't think that we have anything here in melrose that would accommodate or certainly the gas station setting is not a a place that would accommodate uh it's a situation like this um i appreciate your um coming in and giving us the insight uh and i i agree that this was uh this is a full key a request for a keynote license a full license not a keynote to go but the way i i i personally uh would object uh and uh and not not uh agree to uh to issuance of a a keynote license to an establishment like a gas station. Like you say, maybe 300 square feet, but I just don't think it's appropriate for people to be hanging around and watching monitors at a gas station. Especially late evening hours. Didn't we recently have an armed robbery at one of our gas stations in Melrose. Here in Melrose, sleepy town that we are, I'd like to consider us as being that way. But that's my two cents. Again, I'm not a voting member of the committee, but if it were to come to the full board, you know my position and that is, I would not change from our prior consistent voting record as a board and as a council.

▶ 22:27 Robb Stewart: but thank you okay thank you are there any further questions from the committee or non-voting website

▶ 22:33 Jen Grigoraitis: president Grigoraitis thank you chairman stewart and thank you ms capone wilson for being here tonight and offering us your expertise um i had two questions in relation to the licensing process and the first is that many of these agents sell other heavily regulated products most notably tobacco products um do you ever do any checking with the local board of health determine if there have been any violations by the applicant for for example sale of tobacco

▶ 23:05 Speaker 2: products to underage um minors um we do not check but we are notified if there is such a violation and their lottery license is then suspended for the same amount of time that they are suspended from selling these tobacco products because the lottery has entered into an agreement that when they are suspended from selling those products they are also suspended from selling

▶ 23:28 Jen Grigoraitis: okay thank you i had reached out to our local board of health but hadn't yet heard back about

▶ 23:34 Speaker 2: the if there have been any violations they'll notify headquarters if someone's gone in and tried to purchase um cigarettes um and they're deemed to be not of age underage so that's the

▶ 23:45 Jen Grigoraitis: Thank you and then my 2nd question is in the notification that the council received regarding the application. It says, in accordance with section 27, a dash B, the objection of the city town. Must be as a result of an official action, and then we can claim our right to a hearing. So, can you talk a little bit about what that process is beyond any votes that are taken tonight by the council and. To Councilor Tramontozzi point, he's the only member of this body that's been a part of this process before, so it's new to the vast majority of us. So, what does a hearing entail and how, if at all, is the Council involved in that?

▶ 24:27 Speaker 2: So, the way that that works is the lottery does not request the hearing. If the request is denied Initially by the city council, the agent would have to make file for an appeals hearing. And if if the agent decides to do that, they would make a request to the, to the lottery and the lottery does have a hearing officer and there would be a hearing that would be held. And that's in the 1st instance, that's more of an. You know, it's an on the record, you know, generally a city attorney would come and representatives from from the council. If, in fact, they wanted to come, the, the agent would have would have an attorney as well. And there would be a hearing process, and then there would be a determination made by the hearing officer at that point, and I have only seen that I, I've only seen that happen once in the, in the almost 6 years that I've been there. Because typically, you know, if the municipality doesn't want it. Um, you know, we, and we certainly don't encourage any agent to to then file here, you know, file an appeal here for an appeal hearing. We want to be as supportive of the municipality as we can and and obviously want to be a good partner with the municipality.

▶ 26:09 Jen Grigoraitis: Thank you for that information. I appreciate it. You're welcome.

▶ 26:14 Robb Stewart: Great. Are there any further questions from committee?

▶ 26:20 Robb Stewart: Ms. Caponi-Wilson, I appreciate you providing this very informative input, quite helpful, I think, to all of us, and appreciate all the insights that you've given us.

▶ 26:34 Speaker 2: Well, thank you for having me. And if you should have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to me and I can get you any additional information that you might need. If I can't answer the question, I will certainly find someone who's above my pay grade who can do that for you and get the information back to you.

▶ 26:56 Speaker 5: Thank you very much.

▶ 26:59 Speaker 2: Thank you.

▶ 27:01 Robb Stewart: So under discussion.

▶ 27:05 Speaker 2: I'm going to leave the event right now. Okay, thank you. Have a good night.

▶ 27:12 Speaker 5: You too.

▶ 27:17 Speaker 5: So what is the will of the committee?

▶ 27:25 Christopher Cinella: make a motion to to decline this license at this time second a motion has been

▶ 27:32 Robb Stewart: made by council by vice-chair Sinella to decline the order seconded by councillor

▶ 27:49 Speaker 1: Garipay and then click chair Stewart yes vice-chair Sinella yes councillor Garipay yes councillor mcnaught yes councillor thomas yes president Grigoraitis yes unanimous

▶ 28:03 Speaker 1: decline this license six okay thank you and do i have a motion would you make a motion to adjourn