The Boothbay Harbor selectmen approved victualers licenses for Mr. C's, Capers, and Mel's Place and a special amusement license for Mr. C's on Saturday nights at their June 22 meeting.

The selectmen had questions about the entertainment at Mr. C's, as the hours of music were not filled out on their application. As Police Chief Bob Hasch had noted, there were no complaints, the selectmen decided to approve.

As no more special amusement licenses are currently pending, the selectmen decided that starting July 1 and going forward, a representative must be present for the business seeking a special amusement license from now on to answer questions, or the license will not be approved.

Vice Chairman Bill Hamblen presented the proposed rules he had drafted covering special amusement licenses, regarding excessive noise and revocation.

According to Hamblen, the specific goal of the rules is to create a consistent written procedure for administering special amusement licenses and will provide a “fair and balanced approach to the potentially conflicting desires of our community,” especially noise complaints.

The rules state that “should a particular establishment cause a significant number of credible complaints or cause a recurring pattern of complaints during a single calendar year, the selectboard will inform the establishment that it has received multiple credible complaints; that further credible complaints will place its special amusement license in jeopardy; and urge the establishment to attend the next BOS meeting to discuss ways to reduce the noise impact on the town, and if that same establishment continues to cause credible complaints, the selectboard will then begin proceedings as authorized under section 74-10 (B) to hold a public hearing to determine if the special amusement license should be revoked or suspended for a period of time.”

What makes a complaint “credible” is if the noise level at the complainant location does exceed the maximum allowed by the town code, or creates a significant negative impact on the complainant to be determined by the responding officer.

Selectman Wendy Wolf suggested giving businesses a chance to respond to these proposed rules before selectmen vote on them. The other selectmen agreed and decided to postpone adoption of proposed rules until a later date. They proposed rules will be posted at the town office for viewing by the public.