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Town Board Meeting, February 2017
Beer On Tap: Brewery Gets SUP; Wits End Offered To Town
February 22, 2017

B
eer was the big topic – though not a controversial one – at the Oriental’s Town Board’s February meeting.

The February 7 session opened with a public hearing. It was for the special use permit that Lily and Frank Bacon need to set up a micro brewery in the back of the old Croakertown building. They plan to brew craft beers at what they will call, The New Village Taproom and Brewery, across the parking lot from the post office .

There were no objections raised at the public hearing. Several speakers praised them for the effort. Larry Summers who has helped organize a number of kayak tours in the area said he thought it would be a good land destination for future kayak trips. Several commissioners also spoke supportively of the brewery, the first to set up in Oriental. The board voted 5-0 in favor of the SUP.

Before they can brew and sell their own beer – or any beer for that matter – the Bacons have several other permits and licenses to acquire. Among them, one from the state to sell beer, and from the Feds to brew beer.

They say they are aiming to open the doors on April 1 to celebrate the 80th birthday of Lili’s mother, Marilyn Stern. They anticipate being able to sell craft beers made elsewhere while waiting for their brew permits to come through.

In the Manager’s report, Town Manager Diane Miller said that the Town continues to collect reports of potholes. Residents who wish to have street potholes filled in, should contact Town Hall, and, to help crews find where to make the repair, provide a street address closest to the pothole.

Noting that that the Town Board’s one-day “retreat” was coming up on March 24, Miller said she would solicit comment from the public on what issues residents thought the Board should address over the next year. The retreat/workshop to be held at PCC from 8a-4p will also be open to the public.

Toward the end of her report to the Board, Miller announced that that afternoon, she was notified that the owner of the Wit’s End, Lissa Pierson, wants to give the property to the Town. Miller said it was not clear what the town would do with the 75 year old building next to the Duck Pond, which has been for sale for the past decade. One use might be a visitors center where racks for brochures might be housed, Miller said, after the meeting.

In the 1960’s and 1970’s The Wits End was a place to have a beer and play pool. In just the last two decades, the building with its list to port has also been home to a kayak shop, a frame shop, a sailing school, a bodega, art gallery, glass-painting studio and home to the Oriental Farmer’s Market in its early years.

(Update: Several days after the meeting, it emerged that what was being offered to the Town was not the entire lot but rather the rectangular portion, on which the oft-flooded building stands. The land between the building and Duck Pond was not part of the proposed donation.)

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Posted Wednesday February 22, 2017 by Melinda Penkava


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