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.