By Will Collette
Whalerock Hearing,
Part 1, on video.
You can watch and hear the entire May 21 Zoning Board of
Review Hearing on Clerkbase now (click
here). Since the hearing took place at Charlestown Elementary to
accommodate the crowd, there was no direct Clerkbase link. Instead, the town
uploaded the DVD of Ray Dussault’s official recording of the hearing. It took a few days.
The video is not
indexed, meaning that unlike most Clerkbase recordings, you can’t jump to
specific parts of the event. Part 2 of Charlestown’s most exciting summer TV
series takes place on June 5. Read my coverage of the May 21 hearing by clicking
here.
Charlestown Dems
annual tag sale will be 4th of July weekend.
Each
year, these sales keep getting better. They’re at the stage where CDTC
fund-raiser phenom Frank Glista is collecting goods. If you have salable
stuff, please let Frank know at by
e-mail or at (401) 364-3723.
Bill DiLibero gives
up temporary Westerly gig.
 |
| Bill DiLibero in happier times |
Former Charlestown Town Administrator Bill
DiLibero, target of the CCA Party’s “Kill Bill” witch hunt, has
been filling the hot seat as Westerly’s zoning official. He was hired to
that spot after the controversial departure of Elizabeth Burdick, who went to
work for Copar, the same
company she was supposedly overseeing.
Bill did not apply
to get the $56,750 job permanently and will be turning over the post to the newly
hired Jason Parker, former Narragansett environmental planner and GIS
specialist. Parker comes on board on Monday. Trying to make the
infamous Copar quarry obey Westerly’s zoning ordinances will now become Parker’s
problem.
Copar’s Charlestown
invasion.
As I reported here,
the notorious Copar quarry operators who have given Bradford (and nearby
Charlestown) residents so many headaches, took over operations of the Morrone
sand and gravel operation on Route 91 in Charlestown.
US Mine Safety and Health Administration records show the
transfer took place in March. Rumor has it that Copar has finally gotten around
to applying for a business license in Charlestown – probably because I wrote about their lack of one.
We’ve also heard a report that South County Sand &
Gravel notified the town that they were leasing their Klondike Road site but
did not identify who is leasing it. Copar is also suspected to be taking over
that site. That would be great timing – for them – since Charlestown
is about to invest your tax dollars and mine to re-pave Klondike Road. Copar’s shiny purple trucks will do wonders
for the road surface.
CCBC meeting
postponed.
Speaking of Copar, the general meeting of the Concerned Citizens
of Bradford-Charlestown (CCBC), originally
scheduled for June 6, has been postponed due to problems in scheduling the
meeting hall. CCBC has been leading the fight against Copar. Several of its
members have given Copar fits by challenging their practices in court. I’ll
give you an updated meeting date when it is confirmed.
Ocean Pharmacy's new number
According to RI Department of Health records, Ocean Pharmacy is now CVS Store #10299. This snappy
new name shows up on a report from a Health Department inspection conducted on May 13.
There hasn’t been a change in signage at the store yet – no
doubt, this will spark another knock down, drag out fight with the Planning
Commission, especially now that the Planning
Commission has given itself extraordinary powers to regulate commercial
establishments in the heart of our little historical district, right down
to the color of the plates on outside electrical outlets. I’m not joking about
that.
Since Ocean Pharmacy is clearly one of the iconic, historic
buildings (yeah, I am joking about that although others may take that
seriously) in the District, any modifications CVS corporate has in mind will
have to face the indomitable Planning Commissar Ruth Platner.
Ocean Pharmacy, in its current condition, is tiny for a CVS store so it’s hard to
imagine that CVS corporate would want to move into that space. My guess is that
they will either just shut them down, eliminating yet another independent
competitor and important Charlestown small business, or apply to tear down the existing store and build one five times
its size. Lots of luck on that, CVS.
Riley slides
out from under criminal charges.
Crackpot
hedge fund mogul and defeated Republican candidate for Congress in RI’s
Second District Michael Riley avoided
criminal charges after working out a deal in the Traffic Tribunal.
You may recall Riley
was arrested on April 3rd in Narragansett when officers saw him
driving like a drunk, which is how he appeared when they pulled him over. Riley
made matters worse by getting up in the officers’ faces and telling them they
made a career-ending mistake by busting an important guy like him, as if
running a hedge fund and having Jim Langevin kick his ass made him a big shot.
Under the deal, Riley loses his license for six months, pays
a fine of $935, does 10 hours of community service plus driver re-training and
will never, ever get into politics again. I made the last thing, about getting out of politics, up. Under this deal,
the District Court dropped the charges.
