By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — Residents will soon have another place to purchase beer and wine in Greenwood after the Town Council this week granted a beer and wine license to Mobil Mart, a convenience store and gas station located at 950 Main St.
This is the second convenience store that has been been licensed to sell beer and wine since the start of the year. In February, the Circle K store on Salem Street in Montrose was awarded a beer and wine license.
Attorney Brian McGrail represented the Mobil Mart application at this week’s Town Council meeting. He was joined at the meeting by the store manager of record, Jaykrushna Babulal Patel.
McGrail noted that the owner of the business also owns the real estate that the store sits on. He reminded the board that when the current owners purchased the property in 2018, they made significant improvements and upgrades to the site.
McGrail said that the store manager is TIPS certified and he assured the board that anyone associated with the sale of alcohol at the store would also be TIPS certified. TIPS certification involves training in the responsible service, sale and consumption of alcohol.
Town Councilor Edward Dombroski asked about the hours of alcohol sales. The original request was for 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., but Patel volunteered that he would be happy with 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. for alcohol sales.
Town Councilor Douglas Butler was not crazy about granting the license request, suggesting that these types of licenses were not intended for gas station convenience stores.
“I don’t think we need another place for quick and easy alcohol sales,” he said.
Councilor John Carney noted that he had voted against the Circle K request for a beer and wine license earlier this year. He said that he was still concerned about how these types of licenses would impact local liquor stores. On the other hand, he acknowledged that owner has invested significantly in the community.
In response to a question from Councilor Mehreen Butt, Patel said that the beer chest would be locked up to prevent sales outside of the designated hours and wine would only be sold during the approved hours.
Dombroski noted that in the case of Circle K, the Town Council had awarded a beer and wine license to a multinational corporation. He pointed out that the Greenwood store is owned and operated by a more local entity. He suggested that the owner should also consider selling non-alcoholic craft beers, which he said are growing in popularity.
The Town Council voted to award the beer and wine license to Mobil Mart by a vote of 6-1, with Butler opposed.