Charlestown is part of federal-state project but it doesn’t know what for

Charlestown will benefit from federal FEMA grants for historical and archeological preservation

By Will Collette

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) made it official on July 7 that Rhode Island will receive another $2.5 million in federal funding to repair damage caused by Hurricane Sandy which hit us hard on October 29, 2012.

This funding is earmarked for damage assessment and repair of historical and archaeological sites, almost all along the coast, such as the famed Narragansett Towers and historic lighthouses.

About $1 million will go toward assessing archaeological sites that were exposed by wind and sea when Sandy hit to see what was uncovered and what needs to be done to protect those sites from further damage.

The only funding for work in Charlestown is a share of the $474,766 for a “South Coast Archaeology Survey” that will be carried out in Charlestown, Narragansett and Westerly.

The “South Coast Archaeology Survey” was the second-largest of the two dozen grants FEMA awarded.

This seems like a pretty good thing, although there were no details specific to Charlestown in the news release from the state Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission about our particular project. So I asked Charlestown Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz for more information.

Site of the Great Swamp Massacre - Militias from Connecticut and
Massachusetts attempted to wipe out the Narragansett Tribe in one stroke

I wanted to know how much of the $474,766 would come to Charlestown and how the work in Charlestown was going to be done. I asked if the money would be coming to the town of Charlestown or to the Narragansett Indian Tribe (presumably, the sites in questions are those of the Tribe’s ancestors) or if the money was to be shared. Or will the work be performed by some other entity?

The Town of Charlestown and the Tribe have not had a good relationship going back to the Great Swamp Massacre in 1675. Charlestown retains the services of rabid Indian fighting lawyer attorney Joe Larisa (at $2,050 a month) to fight the Tribe on virtually every issue.

I was surprised when Stankiewicz sent me this response:

“I don’t have anything on this matter. In fact the only information was the press release from you. If something comes through the office I will pass it along.”

I don’t blame him for not knowing but it does seem odd that the feds and the state would decide to do a major project in Charlestown, without Charlestown knowing about it or without even telling the town that “congratulations! You are a winner!”

Hey, even Publisher’s Clearinghouse does that.

Councilors Boss Gentz and Dan Slattery were like attack dogs at the
June 9 Council meeting

This made me wonder if we will see a repeat of the sordid spectacle on June 9 when the CCA Party majority on the Town Council Boss Town Gentz, Dan Slattery and George Tremblay went ballistic at the RI Water Resource Board chair Ken Burke? 

The CCA Boys were angry because the Water Resource Board had engaged in a private purchase of land in Charlestown to be set aside as open space for the preservation of a future water supply.

For two hours, they smacked WRB Director Burke around, using their wild imaginations to conjure up all manner of mischief for this transaction that, under law, was none of the Town Council’s damned business.

After being refuted point-by-point, the CCA Boys were left to complain that they were not consulted in advance, even though this was a private transaction and they had no legal basis for their claim to advise and consent.

Yep, they objected to the state using state funds to buy a choice piece of unspoiled land to be set aside as open space because they didn’t get to make the decision.

Plus, they don’t like the landowner, Frank Glista and his family. In order to try to stick it to Frank, the CCA Party majority was willing to cast aside its abiding love of open space.

The dig at the Salt Pond Archaeological site in Narragansett

I am waiting to see how crazy they get now that FEMA and the State Historical Preservation Commission plans to put some major money into protecting some local historical treasures without consulting with them first.

I spoke to Sarah Zurier at the Historical Preservation Commission and found out that this project will actually be carried out by the Commission itself, with the project led by staff archaeologist Tim Ives. They will contract with qualified professionals to do the work.

I told her about Water Resources Board Director Burke’s bad experience with the CCA Party majority on the Town Council and suggested that if she gets a “summons” from the Town Council to appear and explain the project, that she should review the Clerkbase video of what they did to Burke first.

State archaeologist Timothy Ives

I then spoke to archaeologist Tim Ives, who struck me as a dedicated professional who loves the work of preserving our history and culture.

He told me that most of the initial work – Phase 1 – which involved searching for sites that were exposed by the storm has already been done. The sites have been mostly mapped with GPS coordinates and photographed. 

Phase 2 involves more extensive investigation, including some excavation and sampling to determine the nature and relative significance of each site.

Then they will have to make decisions about which sites need to be protected against future storms and how exactly to do that.

He told me that from the outset, they have been operating under Memoranda of Understanding with the Narragansett Indian Tribe and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe for the separate Block Island project, and that he has consulted with the Narragansetts' Historic Preservation Department.

He didn’t talk to Charlestown town government simply because there was no need to do so. He said that if there are some Charlestown sites flagged in the Phase 1 data collection portion of the project, he would then need the written permission of land owners before the state team can excavate and take samples.

He said nearly all of the likely sites for Phase 2 work and beyond are outside of Charlestown. Our barrier beaches and Ninigret Pond offered a lot more protection so Charlestown suffered a lot less storm erosion than Westerly or South Kingstown. He said there was only one potential site in Charlestown and that was one that he himself had spotted.

Harbor Pond site on Block Island

He said the biggest treasure trove of newly uncovered archaeological sites is out on Block Island and hopes this will greatly expand our knowledge of our pre-Columbian history.

All of which is great. As our area experiences an expanded interest in our past, the silver lining to Sandy’s clouds may turn out to be the way it opened up new opportunities for learning.

We’ll have to wait to see if the likely benefits of this federally-funded state project will mitigate our CCA Party Town Council majority’s tendency to go ballistic when they feel they have not been paid proper homage. It will be interesting to see if this comes up when the Town Council meets on July 14.

Here's the list of all of the Sandy-related historical and archaeological grants: