Pepperell Selectmen Suspend Ray's Package Store After Two Underage Alcohol Sales

PEPPERELL -- December 17, 2012, Pepperell selectmen suspend Ray's Package Store and hire a new officer at December 17 meeting. The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to impose a half-day liquor license suspension on Ray's Package Store, 162 Main Street, after Police Chief David Scott reported that a single store employee sold alcohol to two underage buyers in five minutes on November 17 without checking identification at either sale, the store's second documented compliance failure. Manager Christine Morrissey apologized, confirmed the employee was fired immediately, and said the store's ID-scanning machine had not been in use; owner Kenneth Chaplin noted 16 years of otherwise clean operation. The board set the suspension for January 28, 2013, with the store barred from opening before 3 p.m. that day. Scott told the board he "would support a minimal suspension" given the pattern of violations across the limited number of compliance checks ever conducted at the store. Separately, the board unanimously appointed Ryan Coyle as a full-time Pepperell police officer effective January 2, approved $55,500 in reserve fund transfers, $55,000 to a strained Veterans Benefits account projected to reach $160,000 in spending this fiscal year, and passed a resolution pledging board support for school security initiatives in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting four days earlier.