Billerica Select Board Suspends Total Wine License for St. Patrick's Day Weekend

BILLERICA — January 6, 2025 — Billerica Select Board suspends Total Wine and Spirits for two days, set for St. Patrick's Day weekend. The board voted 3-2 at its January 6 meeting to suspend the liquor license of Ram Singh III Incorporated, doing business as Total Wine and Spirits at 700 Boston Road, for March 17 and 18 — the week of St. Patrick's Day — following a second sale-to-a-minor violation within one month. Both incidents, on October 4 and October 31, 2024, involved the same clerk, who was terminated after the second offense, not the first. Attorney John Meridian represented the licensee, acknowledging the violations but noting the store upgraded to an "ID Science" scanning system at a cost of close to $6,000. Selectwoman Barbara Favreau, who chairs Billerica Substance Awareness and Prevention, argued the board's own policy calls for a five- to ten-day suspension and cited 94 at-risk alcohol referrals in Billerica in 2024; the board settled on two days over the objection of Selectwomen Conway and Riley, who favored one day. The board also voted unanimously to authorize execution of the purchase-and-sale agreement for 176 Boston Road from 188 CF LLC for a new North Billerica fire station, approved a $1,141,825 bond to the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust, and appointed Billerica resident Amit Jichani as town accountant.