It’s budget season! If you’re interested in attending one of the meetings, here are the dates and locations:
First Public Hearing: April 16 @ 6PM in the Council Chambers, followed by a workshop
Workshop: April 21 @ 6PM in the Municipal Courtroom
Final Public Hearing: April 22 @ 6PM in the Council Chambers
These meetings won’t be streamed live, but they should be available to watch afterwards. And credit where credit is due: Councilor LaPietra advocated for having the workshops televised for transparency, of which I am also supportive.
In the News
A RI federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump administration order to cut healthcare spending
The WARM Center and Wood River Health are teaming up to help the homeless in South County
The Resilient Riverfront Renewal project is almost done with its planning
Senator Gu is proposing a law to protect abandoned roads for coastal access
A public hearing is scheduled for May 5 regarding its $8M application for Community Development Block Grant projects
Town Council
April 7 (agenda)
PRESENTATIONS! PRESENTATIONS!
Board of Finance: previously submitted the recommended budget to the town council and a board member was present to answer questions. The low-hanging fruit was the school department’s surplus. Otherwise, the council voted unanimously to accept the Board of Finance’s submission.
Former Bradford Dye Association site: the property is under receivership and seems to be at a developmental standstill, awaiting feedback from the EPA. They’re still primarily interested in residential development, but considering the issues of soil contamination, flooding, and lack of town sewer access, they have a lot of other ideas if homebuilding is not in the works. It sounds like they’ll be requesting funding from the town when it’s time to demolish most of the existing structures.
Rhode Island Energy: we are all big mad about our expensive utility bills over the winter, myself included. Representatives from RIE gave a presentation explaining why costs were so high, how they were not profiting from it and couldn’t control supply, and had customer service agents present to answer questions and help people with their bills. (Awesome!)
PERMANENT HOUSING COMMITTEE
Councilor Healy must have hustled the other members pretty hard behind the scenes, because, after months of drama, the council voted to approve the creation of a permanent housing committee 6-1, with Councilor Van Dover voting against. Let’s hope it helps; I would love to own a home someday. 😭
Other Boards and Committees
Citizen Spotlight
In this (new) section, I’d like to share some wisdom posted online from our fellow townspeople. Consider this your moment of zen.
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