Saugus Selectmen single out Oasis

SAUGUS – The Selectmen gave Roller World and the Square One Mall a pass Wednesday, but Oasis will be called before the board for a show cause hearing.Board members met Wednesday to discuss a plethora of incidents that have taken place at some of the town’s hot spots over the last six months. The incidents range from noise complaints and fights in the parking lot to a stabbing and gunshots being fired.The establishments being looked at also included Tabu Ultra Lounge and Nightclub, which received a split-decision on whether to call a show cause hearing. As a liquor license owner in town, Selectman Chairman Donald Wong had to sit out discussion on Tabu and Oasis. With Selectmen Michael Kelleher and Stephen Horlick voting in favor of a hearing and colleagues Stephen Castinetti and Peter Rossetti voting against the measure, it failed.Police Chief James MacKay said he had no complaints on how Tabu was handling security at the club, which set off a debate between board members.Kelleher and Horlick clearly felt incidents at the Route 1 north club were escalating and warranted a show cause hearing.Rossetti warned that a show cause hearing could be a lengthy and expensive proposition, but Kelleher argued that it didn’t have to be.”I’m not totally comfortable with a show cause based on the chief’s opinion that doesn’t call for action at this time,” Castinetti said. “But I do feel something should be done on a lower level.”Castinetti suggested sending a warning letter telling the owners that the board is watching, wants the club’s security plan reviewed and wants to see a drop in the number of incidents or a hearing will be called.But both Kelleher and Horlick said they wouldn’t support that because they felt they were beyond the warning point.The motion to send a letter also failed 2-2, leaving the discussion on the table with no action being taken.Despite an incident in the parking lot in March, MacKay also said he had no issue with how Roller World operated. He said he felt owner Jerry Breen did a good job maintaining control in his parking lot and in the rink by hiring details as needed.MacKay also had little to say about the mall largely because the town doesn’t have a lot of jurisdiction there. Since it only holds a common victualer license for the food court, the town doesn’t have a lot of leverage.Horlick said it concerns him only because there seems to be a lot of drug and gang activity, as well as identity theft and shoplifting going on at the Square One Mall.MacKay said his officers have been working with gang units from both Lynn and Revere to identify known gang members and a police substation should be opening inside the mall in about 60 days.Simon Property Group Inc., the mall’s parent company, is funding the substation and paying the officers that will man it. The station is intended to increase police presence, which will hopefully act as a deterrent to criminal activity.There was little debate that Oasis should be called in for a show cause hearing. The club has been the scene of some violent activity in the last 90 days and is known to serve patrons after hours. The board voted unanimously to bring owners of the relatively new club in for a sit down at a date yet to be determined.