Trader Joe's License Request on Foxborough Selectmen's Table

Get ready for another long meeting when the Foxborough selectmen meet on Tuesday night. Check Foxborough Patch next week to get the agenda before the meeting.

Selectmen is expecting to hear a report from town manager Kevin Paicos on why he didn't allow members of the Kraft organization speak at the March 13 meeting when they wanted to address the board on the Route 1 billboard issue.

Paicos said at the time that the Kraft Group was a bidder on the billboards and should have been prevented from speaking. The Kraft Group argued that should have been allowed to speak and they had notified the town they weren't going to bid on the billboards.

That matter ended up being decided by a judge, who ruled the Kraft Group could speak during the next selectmen's meeting after the selectmen and town was served with legal papers.

Ted Fire, director of project administration for the Kraft Group, spoke during the public comment section of the meeting and was criticial of Paicos for denying them their civil right to speak at the previous meeting.

"It is truly shameful that Mr. Paicos and at least one member of this board took the steps they did to deny our constitutional right to be heard," said at the March 27 meeting.

Paicos was quoted in the Boston Globe and the Foxboro Reporter last week that he is hearing about a movement to have him released from his town manager duty, because of his dealings with the Kraft Group. The town manager also advised the town not to enter into any agreement with the Wynn Group over the casino.

"I understand I'm controversial, but I'm standing up for a town called Foxboro, not Kraftville," he said in the Boston Globe article. "These ongoing conflicts with Kraft and (developer Steve) Wynn and conflicts over the casino are making it impossible for me to succeed in my job."

That night ended with legal counsel for both parties agreeing to meet to discus their issues.

At the March 10 meeting, the board couldn't reach any agreement to decide whether to give Trader's Joe a full liquor license, which they are looking to purchase from William Varkas, owner of Central Wine & Spirits. That matter was continued to Tuesday night to see if the board counsel and Trader Joe's could work an agreement to presented this week.