There was a big crowd at this month's Town Council Meeting, but about half the people left after the RI DOT presentation about the Carolina bridges.
New Carolina Bridges
Several people from Rhode Island's Department of Transportation were present to talk about the reconstruction of the three Carolina bridges. Because Carolina is an historic village there are special design elements, railings and guardrails,
better suited to the town than the normal design of such bridges. The new bridges will not have the low weight limits of the current bridges.
During construction the bridges will have one lane of traffic, with automatic signals alternating the direction of traffic. The construction is expected to start in the spring of 2016 (next year) and take two construction seasons,ending in the fall of 2017.
Marijuana legislation
For the Council resolution opposing the Marijuana legislation being considered in the state house, Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz spoke to say that the legislation is still evolving, more information will be available shortly and he recommends postponing consideration of this resolution. The Council voted to do so. So we don't have to make any Charlestown jokes on this topic this month.
Financial Referendum ballot items
When the Council considered the items for the Financial Referendum ballot the first two items for the ballot, the budget and the request for more open space bond funds, were approved to be put on the ballot by the Council with no discussion.
During consideration of the item to give away a conservation easement to the Whalerock land to a conservation organization a lot of "vigorous discussion" broke out.
John Hamilton spoke to caution about a transfer of control of the land from a public body, the Town, to a non-public body where control will be in a private organization rather than the citizens of the Town.
Hamilton also stated that the Financial Referendum typically has only 200 or so people vote so that is not representative of the town as a whole. He advocated delaying this vote to the next November general election where a large number of voters participate. He stated that this isn't a financial item so delaying the vote is no problem and we can get a true vote of the residents in a general election.
Town attorney Peter Ruggerio explained that use of the land is restricted to the purpose of the bond until the bond is paid off.
Cheryl Dowdell asked whether a school could be put on the land in 50 years. Peter Ruggiero said that he did not know but expected not, if the conservation easement is given away.
Deb Carney spoke to clarify that a future Town Council cannot do something with the land, unlike what has been claimed. It would require a vote of the people to do anything with the land. The voters would be giving away their option to decide what to do with this land in the future if they approve this referendum.
Jodi Frank asked why this was being put on the ballot in June rather than at a general election. Tom Gentz stated that the voters elected the Council and they decided this.
Mike Chambers spoke to say that the easement is like locking your house. You give away the easement to keep the house locked. Deb Carney later rebutted that you don't lock your house and then permanently give the key away so you can never get back in.
Pat Kent spoke to agree with John Hamilton. She addressed George Tremblay's newpaper editorial and asked why we need to "police" the land with another party. Why can't the voters police this land themselves? What is going to be happening 40 or 50 years from now. Needs change. She also agreed that there is no reason to not put this off until the November elections when more people can weigh in. There is no rush to get this through.
Faith LaBossiere said that this land was purchased with open space funds that the people approved. It's an important piece of land and this referendum gives us an opportunity to have the land stay in the current condition.
Councilwoman Virginia Lee spoke to say that the use of an easement to protect land is not unusual. It is done often in many towns in RI.
(Of course) the Council voted unanimously to put the item on the ballot.
For the citizens' petition, Chairman Gentz just read the petition and the provided explanation. He stated that it will be on the ballot. No vote was needed.
Council Comments
Denise Rhodes said that she ran for Town Council on a platform opposing mining. She talked of the legislation sponsored by Blake Filippi and others and that she and Tom Gentz testified and said that she hopes a law will be passed in this session.
Tom Gentz moved to the podium to talk to maps about rumble strips. He said the Council will later vote to remove most of the rumble strips on Carolina Back Road and Rt 91. For this presentation he showed maps with proposed rumble strips on Route 1. RI DOT has changed their policy so that rumble strips will not be placed closer than 100 feet from homes (previously 50 feet). The new rumble strips will be bike friendly with longer no-rumble gaps.They are also reducing the depth of the grooves from 1/2 inch to 3/8 inch. The display boards that Gentz showed will be posted in town hall and comments will be collected.
Ad hoc bicycle pathway committee report
Faith LaBossiere and several other speakers gave a report on the progress of the ad hoc bicycle pathway committee. She made it clear that biking and providing safe facilities for biking, often called "Linear Parks", are of growing importance in cities everywhere. RI DOT is very supportive of bicycle pathways. The Committee plans to create a "Friends" group to generate interest and donations.
In 1992 there was a Statewide bicycle study. In 2007 there was a biking and walking trail workshop and a Route 1 corridor study. The Committee believes that Ninigret Park is the right place to start. They are proposing a 1.3 mile path in the park, asking the Council for $7,000 for signage, road lines, kiosk etc.
Cheryl Dowdell, of the Parks & Recreation Commission, spoke to say that this works well with the proposed revision of the Ninigret Park Master Plan which has 5K route included because of the poularity of 5K races in the park.
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| Possible bicycle path network - click to enlarge |
They are also proposing a spur into Burlingame State Park.
The Committee needs professional engineering resources to work on the longer trails but want to start with the funding for the Ninigret Park route. Tom Gentz offered to put the budget request on next month's Town Council agenda.
End of report
The meeting was not done but I sort of zoned out at this point. There were a couple items to go that I was interested in but I wanted to get this report out for you, our loyal readers.