Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Bucket Grill Permit topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bucket Grill & Pub seeks later hours and more outdoor dates; neighbors press for limits
Summary
The Bucket Grill & Pub asked the Buckfield Select Board to extend indoor live-music hours on weeknights and add outdoor-event dates; neighbors and staff raised concerns about consecutive amplified weekends, overnight lighting and the ordinance enforcement process. The board closed the hearing and later approved a modified permit.
The Buckfield Select Board opened a public hearing July 21 to take comment on a special amusement permit application filed by the Bucket Grill & Pub that would extend some live-entertainment hours and add outdoor-event dates through next summer. Town staff said the draft before the board reflects the applicant’s form with recent edits highlighted and emphasized that previous-year compromises informed the current draft.
Owner Lee said later hours are essential to the restaurant and bar’s survival. “I gotta earn you $2,500 a day just to break even,” Lee said while describing why Friday and Saturday late shifts and some extended Thursday hours matter for paying staff and covering costs. Lee also told the board he has taken steps to reduce sound — lowering bass and removing some drum performances — and asked flexibility for fundraisers and occasional larger acts.
Neighbors thanked Lee for some adjustments made after last year’s hearing but urged keeping Thursday night music to a 10:00 p.m. end time and limiting how many amplified weekends occur in sequence. Paula Sullivan, a neighbor, said even when music stops “there’s always people outside talking, laughing” and noted a floodlight on the property remains on through the night; Lee said he would check the light’s timer. Town staff reminded attendees that under the special-amusement ordinance, violations must be reported in writing before the select board can begin a formal enforcement review — and that no written complaints had been filed this year.
After discussion the board closed the hearing and brought the item forward to the select-board meeting for a vote. The board ultimately approved the permit with amendments: a reduced Thursday indoor end time of 10:15 p.m., adjusted weekend indoor end times, removal of one outdoor date that fell beyond the applicant’s liquor-license period and the addition of an August 14, 2027 outdoor date (within the liquor-license term). The vote was taken at the select-board meeting later that evening.
