Monthly Progressive
Charlestown service to the confused
By Will Collette
The first couple of times I went to Town Council meetings, I was
hopelessly confused. There’s a stack of agendas on the front table, but the
actual order of business never resembles the order on the official
agenda. That’s because the Council switches the order of business every month,
but publishes and distributes the official agenda as if nothing has been
changed.
As a service to our readers, we’ve been translating the official agendas
each month to reflect the actual order in which the Council addresses
them. And of course, I add a little of my own snarky commentary.
Fasten your seat belts for this month’s Town Council meeting which will
take place on Monday, March 11.
TOWN OF CHARLESTOWN
PUBLIC NOTICE
MONTHLY TOWN COUNCIL MEETING – Monday, March 11, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.
Charlestown Town Hall, 4540 South County Trail, Charlestown, RI
The regular monthly
meeting of the Charlestown Town Council will be held on Monday, March 11, 2013
at 7:00 p.m. at the Charlestown Town Hall, 4540 South County Trail,
Charlestown, RI. The proposed agenda is as follows:
Motion to move items 7b, 17c and 12 to be heard
next on the agenda.
b. Discussion and potential action regarding Church Woods Affordable
Housing units. This is one of two new non-profit affordable
housing proposals in Charlestown. The NIMBYs turned out in force to oppose this
project when it came before Planning. We’ll see if they do it again. The Westerly Sun reports these projects are facing trouble getting the federal funding needed to go forward. Thank you, Congressional Republicans.
3. PUBLIC
COMMENT for items not on the Agenda
NONE
c. Appointments to the Chariho
Regional District School Committee with a term to expire in November of 2014.
Application received from Ryan J. Campbell, Donna Chambers and Arthur Nelson. If you review their applications, Campbell is
clearly the superior candidate. But Chambers is a CCA acolyte, and has recently become a major
spokesperson supporting charter schools and attacking Chariho. Since the CCA majority likes to appoint people
to positions on boards and committees where they oppose the mission of those
boards and committees, I’d have to pick Chambers as the front-runner. She’ll be
a great partner to other recent anti-Chariho CCA appoint to the Chariho School
Committee, Ron Areglado, although they have taken opposite positions on charter
schools. But, hey, who says the CCA isn’t a “Big Tent?”
All items marked with “CA” are to be considered
consent agenda
Motion to accept approve and place on file the
following as the consent agenda: 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d, 13a, 13b, 16a, 17a, 17b,
17d, 18a, 18b, 18c and 18d. These items will be voted on as a bloc without
discussion or debate unless a Council member asked for an item to be removed
from the Consent Agenda so it can be addressed on its individual merits.
“CA”
a. Approval of a retail firearms dealer’s
license for James Muise of Top Guns, 10 Crossland St., Unit #5,
Charlestown, subject to receipt of all required Local approvals and State and
Federal licenses For the least little tiny
thing – changing a lamp, posting a sandwich board – the town, and in particular
the Planning Commission, is all over small businesses, hounding them until
they are dead, dead, dead. But for this – it gets the “Consent Agenda”
treatment. As one of my colleagues put it, “No Planning Commission microscope shoved up his ass over asphalt
or parking spaces or the appropriate amount of foliage or the color of his
shingles or outlet covers? No angry residents with torches and pitchforks
trying to run him out of town? Color me stunned.” Welcome to Charlestown, Land of Contradictions.
Park Reservation: March 17 – June 16, 2013.
Camping: No
Insurance: $1 million per occurrence
Fee: $25.00 per use of the field (contractual
agreement for additional assistance garnered through maintenance agreement,
TBD)
2. The
Prout School – Girls Lacrosse Home Game Site
Park Reservation: March 18, 2013 – June 1, 2013
Camping: No
Insurance: $1 million general liability
Fee: $50 per game
Park Reservation: Wednesdays from April 3, 2013
– September 25, 2013
Camping: No
Insurance: $1 million each
occurrence, $3 million general aggregate
Fee: $2 per rider for each race paid at the end
of the summer
Park Reservation: July 14, 2013
Camping: No
Insurance: $1 million general
liability
Fee: $50
5. Northeast
Master Cycling Assoc/Masters Regional Championship
Park Reservation: August 18, 2013
Camping:
No
Insurance: $1 million general
liability
Fee: $100 prior to the event and then $2 per
rider paid after event.
with a recommendation
from the Parks and Recreation Commission, subject to review of contracts by the
Town Solicitor, receipt of all applicable paperwork and insurance and that all
event details are satisfactorily met by the Parks and Recreation Director:
Park Reservation: April 1, 2013 – September 30,
2013
Camping: No
Insurance: $1 million general
liability
Fee: Waived
1. New England Time Trial Championships (Bicycle Race), sponsored by Northeast
Masters Cycling Association
Event: August 17, 2013
Route: Start RI-91 E just east of Switch Rd,
heading northeast to RI-112/Carolina Back Rd to RI-112/RI-2 to US-1S/Post Rd;
to Kings Factory Rd.
2. Rhode Island Duathlon Festival (Bicycle Race)
Event: October 20, 2013
Route: Burlingame Campground main entrance to
Kings Factory Rd to Ross Hill Rd/Church St/Rte 216 to Buckeye Brook Rd to
Shumankanuc Hill Rd to Kings Factory Rd to Prosser Trl to Route 1 South to Old
Post Rd to Klondike Rd to Burlingame
13. MINUTES
AND REPORTS
February 12, 2013 (Executive and Regular)
Building Official – February 2013, Town Clerk – February
2013, Treasurer – January
2013, Wastewater Manager – February 2013
“CA” a. Communication received from Representative Donna Walsh
to House Speaker Gordon Fox regarding Affordable Housing. Donna informs the Council that she has done what
they asked her to do regarding re-instituting the state’s Joint Committee on
Affordable Housing.
“CA” b. Reappointment of Robert J. Lyons and Jeff Burns to the
Coastal Pond Management Commission, terms to expire in March of 2016
1. Grant the
Town-wide Revaluation bid to Vision Government Solutions, Inc. in an amount of
$229,000 from Budget line item 21.000.2100 (Revaluation side fund),
2. Authorization
to utilize $18,320 from the Budget line item 21.000.2100 (Revaluation side
fund) to be used for any unforeseen expenses necessary in this revaluation
project, which includes but not limited to additional property visits and
computer systems for the reval process
3. Approval
to fund an update of the oblique aerials of the Town during the revaluation
process and incorporated in the Appraisal Vision software, using the process
known as Pictometry, in an amount not to exceed $37,800 from Budget line item
21.000.2100 (Revaluation side fund). Total 2013 Full Town-wide Revaluation project
cost including all requested items and processes not to exceed $285,120, to be
expended from Budget line item 21.000.2100 (Revaluation side fund).
“CA” b. Discussion and potential action
regarding a request from the Friends of Ninigret Subcommittee to expend $1,500
from the Ninigret Park Fund for the promotion of “Friends of Ninigret”, as
approved by the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Economic Improvement
Commission. A year ago, “Friends of
Ninigret” was the source of a major manure storm and was
accused by Jim Mageau as a source of corruption for, in Mageau’s opinion,
illegally collecting $23 and change in donations for the benefit of the Park.
“CA” c. Approval of a request from Stephen McCandless, GIS Coordinator
to allow use of funds not to exceed $7,200 to pay for the initial setup and a
prorated maintenance charge for a web-based GIS application and to allow use of
Fuss and O’Neil as the qualified contractor per the State of Rhode Island’s
Master Price Agreement (MPA-309, Environmental Technical Assistance)
to The Dog Pound for a total of $6,006.00 for Sam
Ferretti Blue Shutters Beach and $6,006.00 for Charlestown Town Beach to be
paid as follows: $2,002.00 on 7/8/13, $2,002.00 on 8/5/13 and $2,002.00 on
9/2/13 with additional dollars to be negotiated between the Town and The Dog
Pound, relative to electricity use as is mutually agreeable between parties and
paid at the aforementioned intervals. The Dog Pound is back! This time with a bid that
means decent money for Charlestown, rather than the monopoly prices the Dog
Pound used to pay when it held a lock on the annual concession. Click here for background.
7. UNFINISHED
BUSINESS
a. Discussion and potential action regarding
building a safe and secure walking, running and bicycle
path on Charlestown Beach Road from Matunuck School House Road south
to the bridge before the Town Beach Pavilion. This is a continuation of an earlier, somewhat
surreal Council discussion about getting property owners to give up four feet
of their frontage so the Town could build this path with money that would come
from who knows where. Maybe tonight we’ll get more detail and a more reasonable
proposal for what is, at least in principal (and theory), a good idea. Click here for more detail.
8. NEW
BUSINESS
b. Discussion
and potential action regarding H 5703 (Dry Lands), H 5424 (Dry Lands), H 5393 (Municipal Register) and H 5340 (Binding Arbitration) These bills are the first of what are likely to be
many that cause the CCA majority on the Council to push the panic button. The
three environmental bills are all bad bills and our state reps are already
working to kill them. The binding arbitration bill is a pro-union measure, so
naturally the CCA majority is against it.
NONE
NONE
NONE
