Town voters should cast their ballots at Town Hall on Monday, June 6, between 8 AM and 8 PM for #1, the town budget and #2, the $1.2 million beach facilities bond question. We urge a YES vote to both questions.
Cheryl Dowdell's article, which appeared here first, is run as a full-spread op-ed by the Sun. On the same page, the Sun published Charlestown Dems Vice-Chair Deb Carney's letter. Deb covered some of the history of past attempts to improve the beach facilities that lead us up to this point and the economics of the current proposal. Here is some of what Deb wrote:
The existing facilities can be described with many adjectives; none of those would be good ones. In fact, the adjectives that come to mind are deplorable, terrible, disgusting, and downright nasty.
In 2006, a plan was proposed for approximately $1.5 million to construct a building at Blue Shutters Town Beach. That plan did not go forth, and a temporary fix was done instead. Five years later, the Beach Structure Ad Hoc Committee has proposed a more modest solution to the deplorable facilities that exist at both beaches. The plan calls for permanent restroom structures at both beaches for a total cost of approximately $1.2 million. The proposed number of toilets is dictated by building codes.
The cost of approving this plan varies from $9.24 to $11.70 per year for a house assessed at $300,000. That’s less than $1 per month. The cost is reasonable. If this plan is not approved, improvements to the existing nasty portable facilities will still need to be made, and there will be a price associated with that as well. The new facilities are proposed to last 50 years. The existing portable structures have a proposed life of about 5 years. The information regarding this plan is available on the town’s website, www.charlestownri.org. If you’re on the fence as to whether to vote “yes” or “no,” check out the information, view the pictures of the current abysmal structures, review the costs, take a ride to the beaches and see the conditions for yourself.
Improvements need to be made; this is a modest plan at a reasonable cost. On Monday, June 6, please vote “yes” to build the much needed restroom facilities at the town beaches.