No day at the beach with the Dog Pound
By Will Collette
Last week, I reported Charlestown plans to re-bid the contract for the beach concessions at the two town beaches, rather than extend the contract for the existing concessionaire for another year.
That concessionaire is Deborah Dellolio, owner of the Dog Pound hot dog wagon. Dellolio held a decade-long monopoly at Charlestown Town Beach and, this past summer, also won the right to sell hot dogs and junk food at Blue Shutters Beach Lisa DiBello .
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| One of the Dog Pound's meat wagons |
When DiBello was director of Parks and Recreation, she not only oversaw Dellolio’s concession operations, but also recommended that the Council contract with Dellolio, even though this appears to be strictly forbidden by Rhode Island ethics law.
But now it looks like Dellolio’s streak will be broken, unless the town allows her to file a bid – which it shouldn’t, given state ethics law – and she wins the bid.
Under the state’s open records law, I obtained copies of town records on their dealings with the Dog Pound during the beach past season.
According to these records, trouble started last May with haggling over the terms of the contract.
Dellolio wanted free electricity, free storage space, and a free hand to decide when she would be open for business and who would park in four spaces reserved for her. She also took a shot at Parks and Recreation Director Jay Primiano, saying that he was inaccessible and not helpful to her, especially on weekends, when he was off.
These terms were unacceptable to the town. Town Administrator William DiLibero insisted Dellolio reimburse the town for electrical use. He was willing to allow storage of two units, per “past practice.” And he insisted that Dellolio agree to keep the concessions open as long as the beaches are open and staffed with lifeguards.
He also insisted that Dellolio identify in advance what vehicles were authorized to use her parking spaces.
DiLibero also noted Primiano had given her designated town staff contacts for her to use when he was not available.
Dellolio replied that DiLibero’s recollection of “past practices” was “based only on the past two years or so that both you and Mr. Primiano were on town staff.”
Snap! Dellolio put DiLibero in his place by reminding him when Lisa DiBello was in charge, Dellolio could do pretty much anything she wanted. Or maybe that wasn’t exactly a very smart thing to say.
Dellolio also demanded to know how other concessionaires were treated on the issue of paying for electricity.
In his May 24 letter of response, DiLibero noted past contracts with other concessionaires either said that no electricity would be used, or that the concessionaire would pay the cost. Snap right back at’cha!
DiLibero conceded to Dellolio on the number of storage units she could use, but would not budge on the days and hours of operation, on vehicle ID and on weekend staff contact.
The next day, Attorney Maggie Hogan stepped in to represent Dellolio in negotiations with the town. Keep in mind that at this point, the summer season was supposed to start on May 28.
In a flurry of e-mails, the town (Administrator DiLibero and Town Solicitor Peter Ruggerio) tried to hammer out a final contract with lawyer Hogan.
The two major sticking points continued to be when Dellolio would be open (she wanted control over that) and vehicle identification (Dellolio did not want to say who would use the town parking spaces). The parties also continued to haggle over how much Dellolio would pay for electricity, though she conceded she would have to pay something. The issue of who would use the parking spaces pretty much became a deal-breaker, with Dellolio refusing to budge.
According to a Maggie Hogan May 25 e-mail, now the opening date for the Dog Pound would have to be pushed back to June 4, leaving the beaches without concessions for the Memorial Day weekend.
DiLibero said no to the continued demand for loose times of operation, vehicle identification and insisted that if Dellolio wasn’t going to pay a fair share of the electricity (75%) then she couldn’t have refrigerator units.
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| Storm clouds gathering! |
But by May 26, the town had conceded on the deal-breaker issue of vehicle ID with language in the contract requiring Dellolio to work with the town to avoid abuse of parking privileges.
DiLibero also agreed to charge electricity based on evidence of actual use. The final language of the contract also included a reduction in the fee owed by the Dog Pound to Charlestown by 1% for any day when the beaches were closed due to natural disaster or extenuating circumstances (and there were plenty of those!).
DiLibero also agreed to charge electricity based on evidence of actual use. The final language of the contract also included a reduction in the fee owed by the Dog Pound to Charlestown by 1% for any day when the beaches were closed due to natural disaster or extenuating circumstances (and there were plenty of those!).
The contract negotiations wrapped up on Friday, May 27 during the afternoon. The Memorial Day weekend was starting, and not starting auspiciously.
Next: A summer of trouble and the decision to re-bid.