By Nick P. Angelides,Special to the Sun Journal

SABATTUS – The owner of Mixers, a bar seeking renewal of its liquor license, said he’ll work harder to monitor crowds in the bar, in response to concerns by the fire and police chiefs. On Tuesday, the Board of Selectmen asked Police Chief Thomas Fales to see if a license could be issued with a probationary period to give the establishment time to remedy the problems.

Fales said the bar has been “way over capacity” and that something has to be done to control the flow of people into the bar. The bar’s capacity is 283, and Mixers owner Randy Greenwood admitted that on some Saturday nights it has exceeded its limit.

“It is hard to track the people coming in and going out to smoke,” Greenwood said. “But I will put a guy out there to help out.”

Fales said another concern is that drinkers aren’t being “cut off” soon enough. “You are supposed to know when to stop serving customers,” he said, emphasizing that recently there have been more incidents in which matters have gotten out of hand.

The board agreed that there has to be better training of employees, and that servers need to use better judgment.

Newly appointed Fire Chief Don Therrien said his major concern is getting trucks close to the building in the event of a fire. Due to the ongoing parking problem at the bar at 136 Sabattus Road, Therrien said firefighters might not be able to get close enough in time to prevent or contain a serious situation. Greenwood has agreed to work with Therrien to designate a spot solely for emergency vehicles.

Selectman Guy Desjardins said the board isn’t trying to shut down Mixers but instead come to a common ground, in which the business can survive without causing a safety issue. “I think sometimes we put too much in a tuna can,” he said.

Greenwood, who said he’ll work closer with the municipality, agreed that there has been some miscommunication with the police chief and said he hopes all issues will soon be resolved.

In other business, Therrien and Assistant Fire Chief Robert Scott asked the board to take money from two budget accounts to purchase a floating pump. The board authorized taking $1,350 from both the surplus and Fire Department equipment funds to purchase the unit that Therrien called a necessity.

“It is a portable pump that drafts water up to our hoses so that we can put out fires,” he said. “Once you get out of hydrant district, there is not a whole lot we can do. This pump (which floats on top of water) will make things a lot more accessible.”

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