After Brawl And Underage Drinking, Town Calls Disciplinary Hearing For The Muse

The Muse has been called before the Select Board for a disciplinary hearing following a major brawl and an underage drinking incident at the Surfside Road bar over the summer that the town believes may constitute violations of its liquor license.

In a memo to the Select Board, town licensing administrator Amy Baxter cited "concerning behavior of staff and patrons" that is "creating an unsafe atmosphere for the community," among the reasons for the hearing.

In October, charges were filed against two bouncers at The Muse following a late-night brawl outside the bar between the security team and patrons that occurred back in July. That brawl, along with another incident in July in which police responded to The Muse for a "report of abundant underage drinking, to include kids as young as 15 years old inside," were specifically cited in Baxter's report.

Baxter is recommending that the board consider issuing The Muse a five-day suspension of its liquor license if there are any further violations over the next year.

"The goal of this hearing is to review and discuss what we have identified as a pattern of behavior at The Muse and what steps the Licensee is taking to address these and other incidents the past year," Baxter wrote to the Select Board. "We should not attempt to directly ‘litigate’ every detail of these two cases as they are still moving through the legal process. They are included to illustrate the concerning behavior of staff and patrons and how that is creating an unsafe atmosphere for the community. We wish to review the operations of The Muse as a whole, what steps they are currently taking following these incidents and how they can move forward to avoid these problems in 2024."

The Muse's owner, Michael O'Reilly, did not return a message seeking comment about the hearing. But Baxter wrote to the Select Board that O'Reilly had been "extremely cooperative" in addressing the issues that occurred over the summer.

"It is important here to note the Licensee, and in particular the Manager, Michael O’Reilly, has been extremely cooperative in these discussions and has been very proactive in taking steps to address these issues," Baxter wrote. "The hearing will allow him to directly address these concerns and provide an account of all they
are doing to prevent further problems."

The hearing is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 13 at 11 a.m. on Zoom. You can watch it live at this link.