Licensing board approves wave of one-day liquor permits, presses city to clarify event coordination

The Fall River Licensing Board approved a series of one-day liquor permits on June 26 for vendors serving at neighborhood events and the city pier, but several board members used the discussion to press city staff for clearer coordination between event organizers and city departments responsible for police and safety details.

Primo Hospitality Solutions (James Primo) requested one-day permits for July 4, July 17, Aug. 14 and Aug. 22, 2026; the board approved the permits after discussing event locations and times. Primo said some events are at the city pier and others at the gates/food-truck events; the board noted the permit forms did not include clear times or locations and asked staff to verify entries and coordinate with the mayor’s office and police department.

Board member Michael Pereira pressed the procedural question repeatedly: if the city is facilitating an event, who is responsible for hiring and paying police details and ensuring safety requirements are met? Pereira said he did not want a vendor to be held “on the hook” for a shortfall in safety staffing and urged a formal clarification from corporation counsel. "I don't want the vendor... on the hook for something that they're not even supposed to be on the hook for," he said during the discussion.

Troy City Brewery (Keith Kavalo) and other vendors received approvals for July 4 and subsequent food-truck dates; Kavalo said he would not serve beer until police details were in place: “I won't pour a pint of beer unless things are followed correctly.” The board said it will ask the mayor’s office and event coordinators to confirm that city-provided details are in place for city-run events and requested a ruling from corporation counsel on whether vendors or organizers must hold and provide certain permits and staffing.

Votes at a glance (approved during the meeting): Primo Hospitality Solutions LLC — one-day permits for July 4, July 17, Aug. 14 and Aug. 22, 2026; Troy City Brewery — July 4, July 17 and Aug. 14, 2026; MP Hospitality — July 4, 2026 one-day permit; St. Michael School — July 10–12, 2026 one-day permits; multiple additional community one-day permits were approved later in the meeting when the board re-voted a list after a clerical complaint.

Board members said the approvals are conditional on the record that required insurance certificates were provided, and several approvals were granted subject to confirmation that police, fire and building departments have signed off where required. The board voted on each motion during the meeting; the transcript records verbal approvals but numeric roll-call tallies are not provided in the excerpt.