Tabu transfer sidetracked by concerns

SAUGUS-With the ownership of Tabu Ultra Lounge and Nightclub changing hands, a request for a simple license transfer was sidetracked by other overreaching concerns.Selectmen took up the license transfer during its meeting last week after Tabu Owner Frank Amato announced he is getting out of the ownership business. According to attorney Richard Magnan, Amato has signed a purchase and sale agreement with a pair of club owners from New Hampshire.Magnan was looking to transfer the license to the new owners and have Carl Amato named manager of the club, but the issue ran off the rails when it was mentioned the group would continue to hold teen night parties.Selectman Stephen Horlick asked what kind of experience the new owners had in conducting underage party nights. While the owners admitted they had none, they pointed out that Amato is very familiar with the procedure.That did not convince Horlick or Saugus Speaks Out Co-Chairman Donna McNeill, who also raised a concern over the potential parties.”We have teen nights maybe twice a month,” said Amato, father of the soon-to-be former owner Frank Amato. “All the alcohol is put away and locked up. We’ve been doing them for about seven years now.”Amato said he would train the new owners on how to handle the events.Horlick said he simply didn’t want to see a repeat of past events, such as when the club came under fire last year. Town officials and Amato were caught off guard last summer when “Inside Edition” included Tabu in its teen club investigation that centered on questionable behavior taking place at clubs around Northeast.Selectman Michael Kelleher tried to pull the discussion back to center.”What is before us is a change of manager and a transfer of the license,” he said. “I understand the concern, but ask the focus return to the issue at hand.”Kelleher also pointed out that after a show cause hearing last year, Tabu’s liquor license is one of the most restricted licenses in town. The club was required to make certain changes in regards to noise and redo its security plan, which it did.”And all the past conditions remain with the transfer,” he added.Horlick said he would like to see the underage parties limited to 18-year olds and older and he would like to have approval rights over any other show the club would like to put on.Magnan argued that since the show cause hearing was settled, there had been no complaints regarding noise or any other issues at the club.Amato said he even has letters of recommendation from parents whose kids have attended teen events at the club.”We take kids off the street,” he said. “There is no alcohol, the kids dance and I think to take that away from the kids is wrong.”The transfer needed three votes to pass, but resulted in a 2-1 vote, with Chairman Donald Wong, a fellow liquor license holder, abstaining, Stephen Castinetti not vocalizing any vote, and Horlick opposing the transfer. Castinetti, who had taken the chair from Wong, said he declined to vote because he thought the chairman voted only to break a tie.Town Counsel John Vasapolli confirmed the transfer needed three to pass, but Castinetti said it wouldn’t be a problem. The board will simply vote the issue again during its next meeting.