Comcast Center's Summer Season Beginning

's 2011 summer season is gearing up for opening night, with Sugarland performing on May 20.

Mansfield selectmen granted the venue and Comcast general manager Bruce Montogmery their yearly entertainment license Wednesday, but not without a few pointed questions from selectman George Dentino, who held out unsuccessfully for an earlier cutoff to the serving of liquor, half an hour before the scheduled end of each concert.

Montgomery said it has been the practice of the venue for some time to stop serving liquor at least by 10:30, but resisted Dentino's attempt to put that restriction in writing. "We stop serving an hour before the end of a concert," he said.

The board voted 4-1 in favor of granting the license, with Dentino opposed.

The negotiations with Montgomery have been going on since late fall, with a subcomittee of two selectmen, Town Manager Bill Ross, and both Chiefs meeting a number of times to hammer out changes to the license. Board members Jess Aptowitz and Olivier Kozlowski took part in the meetings; Kozlowski is a lawyer and went through the wording with a fine-toothed comb, according to Aptowitz.

A major change to the agreement between the board and Comcast, owned by Live Nation Entertainment, is the opening of the gates at least three hours before an event for a ticketed performance. This measure, Montgomery told the board, will allow vehicles to queue up within the parking lots, lessening the tendency of partygoers to group in nearby areas like in Norton, and in the driveways of the , another favorite haunt.

Norton selectmen and Police Chief Brian Clark also contributed to the talks preceding the license changes, and stressed the need for finding some way to keep Comcast patrons off Norton business grounds.

Montgomery told the board he had met himself with Clark, Norton Town Manager Michael Yunits, and selectmen in that town, and worked hard to accommodate their concerns.

"This is my 25th year," said Montgomery. "They know my numbers - I want to make sure they come to me."

He added that as far as he knew, this was the first time Mansfield had reached out to Norton in the licensing process.

Board member Doug Annino said including the neighbor community was a critical part of the deal.

"It's important to me that Norton was happy," he said. "I just want a great relationship with them."

Norton police and fire devote many staff hours to Comcast problems, responding to frequent calls for help with loitering vehicles and partying customers throughout the summer. In addition, the community's main streets are clogged with lines of vehicles using the Route 123 ramp to access I-495.

Comcast will be purchasing ten laptop computers for the booking station at the Mansfield police station, for use during the concert season, as well as a new prisoner transport van. Three new golf carts come with the agreement, one for the fire department and two for police; the small vehicles will allow officers more mobility to tend to crowds, as well as a way to carry equipment.

Other parts of the agreement deal with finding a way to keep partiers and their barbeque equipment out of fire lanes and making sure people whooping it up in the lot are ticketed customers.

The venue pays the town a $24,000 administrative public safety fee, pays for all fire and police costs related to its performances, and pays a set fee for each attendee when the concert exceeds the 11 p.m. cutoff time, based on the number of minutes the performance runs past that time. In addition to the entertainment license, Comcast must obtain licenses pertaining to the serving of food and liquor, and a parking license.

The Comcast Center now is licensed to hold a maximum of 19,900 people, but can request waivers from that number for specific events.

Some old favorites are returning for summer 2011 - the Kiss 108 concert on May 21, Jimmy Buffett on June 18, and Def Leppard on June 30, to name a few. The season winds up with country western star Toby Keith on September 17.