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| If Dan Slattery had his way, this would be the only approved entertainment |
By Will Collette
On a 5 to 0 vote in its Special Meeting, the Town Council approved
the one item on the agenda: the request from Rhythm and Roots promoter Chuck Wentworth for an added camping
spaces for 200 people that would allow his staff and volunteers to stay
together in one location.
Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz presented the Council
with his recommendation that they approve the request based on his consultation with
town department heads. Read his memo here.
During the course of the meeting, many residents voiced
their opinions, pro and con. Generally, several Arnolda neighborhood residents
voiced their general opposition not only to the Festival but to many other human
activities in the Park while most others supported R&R. However, the chair of the Arnolda Association said that she polled the members and the majority were in favor of the proposal.
Arnolda resident Dave Bailey, who also serves on the Budget
Commission, spoke at great length about the cumulative “damage” caused by such
activities as the events, the community garden, the ice rink, the now
dismantled MET tower and on and on.
He asked the Council to not only deny the request but to
consider repurposing the special fund for Ninigret activities, which is
comprised of revenue generated by activities in the Park, and declare a
moratorium on clearing buffer area and brush. He wants the Planning Commission to come up with
a better sound ordinance. He said Ninigret Park should live by the rules as if
it was a “private citizen.”
Except perhaps for a mime competition or silent meditation,
it seems that most human activities would be banned in the Park if Bailey had
his way.
May I suggest that Bailey and the other like-minded Arnolda
residents should get together, pool their petty cash and make Charlestown an
offer to BUY the Park. As Councilor George Tremblay (CCA) observed at the April 8 Council meeting, Ninigret
Park belongs to all the citizens of Charlestown and not just Arnolda. Unless
they make us the right offer.ADDENDUM: Not all Arnolda residents agree: Arnolda Association chair Anita Baxter said she polled the members and the majority were generally in favor of Wentworth's proposal, though some were opposed. She said that she loved Rhythm and Roots and plans to attend this year. She said she enjoys the sounds wafting into her yard.
Councilor Dan Slattery (CCA), who started this whole mess, spoke at great length about the decibel level of the music at the Festival. His comments, like most of Bailey’s, had nothing to do with the agenda topic – i.e. the merits of the request for additional camping spaces – but were more of a generalized attack on human activities at Ninigret Park. These off-the-subject remarks were tolerated by Council boss Tom Gentz (CCA).
Other residents who actually spoke directly to the agenda
topic didn’t fare as well. Gentz cut several of them off when they didn't stay strictly to the topic, displaying a singular
bias in favor of those who oppose human activity in the Park.
Former Town Councilor Gregg Avedisian noted that the town
negotiated a uniform fee of $9000 for all the Ninigret events six years ago in
tense negotiations with the several event promoters. That $9000 fee was
supposed to be used to make improvements at Ninigret, but those improvements have been not done.
This, by the way, is the special fund that Arnolda resident David Bailey wants repurposed
for other unspecified uses, in direct violation of the agreement the town made
with event promoters.
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| Charlestown has a Master Plan for Ninigret Park that the whole town adopted in 2008 but which has been stalled, if not killed, by the CCA Party |
When Councilor Tremblay asked Wentworth about what it costs Charlestown
to stage Rhythm and Roots, Wentworth noted that in addition to bringing in
everything the Festival needs himself, the festival also pays the town a fee plus the cost of all the police coverage, and has, on its own dime, made
improvements at the Park.
Wentworth noted that with the cancellation of the Quonset
Air Show, Rhythm and Roots is now South County’s biggest feature and brings in
cash, business for local merchants and a hefty share for Charlestown of the
tourism tax.
Councilor Lisa DiBello tried to refute part of Wentworth’s
statement by noting that she took it upon herself to get a different cost
opinion from Public Works Director Alan Arsenault for what it would take to
prep the site.
As she has in the past, DiBello violated Council
Rule 6.2 against Council members going around the Town Administrator. Gentz
gently slapped
her down for doing this in the past, but not for a long time.
But in the end, DiBello as well as Slattery voted with their
colleagues to unanimously accept the Town Administrator’s recommendation.
I don’t know what game Councilors Slattery and DiBello were
playing at or whether they have more mischief up their sleeves. Is this the end
of this year’s drama over Ninigret Park or is there more in store? Does Lisa
DiBello intend to continue her unseemly vendetta against anything and
everything that Parks and Recreation tries to do? I think these are questions Slattery
and DiBello should publicly address.
