1/7/25 EP City Council

good evening called tonight's meeting to order of the East Provident City Council on Tuesday January 7th we are a couple of minutes late just waiting for one councilman who is on his way will be here momentarily so we'll begin though Madame clerk would you please uh call the role of the council councilman fogy councilman Lawson yeah Council vice president Rigo yeah councilwoman soua yeah council

president Rodricks here with the record show there are four members present councilman poy will uh be entered into the record uh when he appears uh shortly there is no um executive session uh we will stand for the salute to the flag and please remain standing at the conclusion of the

salute please remain standing for a a moment of silence uh in uh three different areas uh we would like to honor um marleene Davis the uh the late uh constituent Affairs officer here in City Hall worked in the mayor's office and also assisted many residents in the community and of course assisted those of us in the city council and we uh lost marleene after an illness um he passed

away on Christmas morning and she will be uh sorely missed by many many in East Providence and we are uh sending prayers to uh her family and her family here at at City Hall also we would like to um honor the memory of the 14 citizens or thereabouts who have died in that incident in Louisiana and many many more uh citizens were injured as these uh terrible crimes seem to continue so we uh honor those families

and finally as a legislative board we would recognize today and lying in state the passing of the 39th president of the United States President Jimmy C who will be buried tomorrow and we appreciate um as people working in government everything that the 100y old Jimmy Carter did for the people in this nation for so for all of those reasons and we have Marlene's picture uh showing we

believe um on on the screens now marene we will always remember you thank you very much so just a moment of silence thank you all Madam clerk we're going to hold off on the proclamations until councilman fogy arrives so if you want to pick up the agenda uh with the uh consent calendar consent calendar Council journals December 17th regular meeting motion to approve I accept rather motion to accept motion by

councilman Lawson seconded by councilwoman susza to accept all in favor I I any oppos guys have that for to zero next item licenses for discussion and possible vote non-public hearing type of business marketing Store retail applicant Robert Baptista III business name Vibes and stuff LLC address 515 Warren AO make a motion to approve motion by by councilman Lawson seconded by councilwoman soua to approve all in

favor I I any opposed guys have it good luck Mr Baptista next item public hearing Communications any person who submits a communication to the city council and wishes to speak on it must indicate this in writing no later than 4 p.m. the Thursday prior to the next regular scheduled council meeting um there's no one listed on here did anyone here want to speak public comment yes okay seeing none and no one

signed up so we can close that session and move on to uh appointments work if you would read um under Roman numeral 9 the uh recommended appointment appointment a appointment of Nathan Wesley kahoun to the East Providence Public liary trustees this is a three-year term ending January 7 2028 sponsored by council president Rodricks and councilman F motion to approve motion to approve by councilwoman Susan

I will second um my only concern is his disdain for Ernest TAMU I find that very disturbing but there was nobody better I'd want looking after our libraries that Nate by a second seconded by councilman Lawson we will pass along to uh former councilman kahoun your your challenge oh we went at it many times buddy all in favor I I any opposed I have it thank you for stepping up uh M

Mr cahon he has quite the uh resume especially in the area of working with libraries and perfect timing he hey hey we will now go back to the area of uh presentations you hold on for one second and let the record show Madame clerk that councilman fog is present so all five members are are present thank you all for your your patience and the change so with the presentations tonight the city council along with the City

Administration is is very pleased to uh in in a short while introduce um an East Providence native of Mr Steph Brosnahan who I think is many of of you know is the person behind the good night lights at Hasbro children hospital and I I won't go into that because we're going to invite Mr Brenan to uh speak about it a little bit later and we also have our police chief and P Chief here and

representative from the mayor's office as well as our own Proclamation so let me just give you this little Preamble Steve Brosnahan is a 1979 graduate of East Providence High School and a 1996 East Providence High School Hall of Fame in Duck D in high school he excelled in athletics and academics he excelled in baseball wrestling indoor track and football looks like he could still play

sports today as we see him he received academic honors at the high school including the Rhode Island Honor Society the student council scholar award and was the nominees for the journal bulletin honor roll boy which takes the best combination of academics and Athletics he's a graduate of outh College in the ivy league a freelance cartoonist and respected resident cartoonist at Hasbro

Children's Hospital a successful author of several books he also contributes to the Tomorrow Fund for children with cancer Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and many other health related donation programs that he serves and obviously I could go on with a lot more but I don't want to embarrassed St too much but on the other hand I don't want to cut him short because this town he has done quite a

lot he's the creator of the incredible good night lights which at times is weekly and sometime I mean it is weekly and at times is even nightly an effort to bring a smile to the very ill children of Hasbro's Children Hospital right across the bay from us and I'll let Steve tell a story um he St Ed by flashing a flashlight to an ill patient and the rest's history as they've just celebrated nine years in a

row of doing this major participants in this program are our own East Providence Police and East Providence Fire Departments they line up the parkway every week and have done other other things to help in this cause and both police Chiefs are here with us uh tonight I I would close that brief introduction by quoting a patient at the Hasbro Hospital quote when you're a cancer patient you've got to keep moving

forward to get it done there are better things that will be coming that's the way I look at it good night light lights helps keep me moving forward I can't wait for the lights unquote so before I introduce Steve I would ask I I know that the police chief may want to say a couple of words if Chief Francis Scone would please come forward at this

time thank you council president and and thank you for inviting me you think I would have never been up here before I going to say you have been here before yeah once or twice um Steve I would like to First personally thank you um for this creation of good night lights and we were just speaking a couple minutes ago and um the Brilliance is in its Simplicity anyone can do it anyone can join

um we have been honored the police department to be part of this since practically its Inception 9 years ago um Wednesday nights 8:30 um we're there and if we're not we're very busy and Steve is sure to reach out and you know um make sure we're there because uh we don't want to let those kids down um what you have created is um an incredible Act of perseverance towards these children and their families as

they go through the fights of their lives um it's it's almost difficult to put in words you know I've had the opportunity to uh meet with some of those families they' have come and joined us in doing good night lights we were just speaking about that and it's just what it means to those children and families is immeasurable and what you've created not only what you've created but what you've

grown over the last nine years um you know I've seen quite a few people create something but the perseverance that Steve has shown over the last nine years to grow good night lights is it's amazing it really is um so without further Ado steeve it's been a highlight of my career to be involved in this um it really has it's something I'll always remember um and I know like I said what

you have done for those children and families and is just amazing and immeasurable and thank thank you very much also here representing our Fire Department chief Carrie who will say a couple of words thank you chief for being here should have went first I don't think top that one Steve yeah what a great program five we're all about you didn't just create it just for kids but community that built out of this it's

for the people outside it's much anybody that joins it it's just everybody joins it it's a great program that's off to you so wish that uh with something like that it's a it is a feat and it just keeps going and we'll assist you any way we can get it to grow more thank you thank you chief for for those who may be haven't heard much about this program what it entails is people

shining lights up at Hasbro hospital where at 8:30 sometimes other times the the children all they can't wait to get to those windows and what they see as you see some of the pictures we've been showing here uh an array of red and blue and white and strobe lights from police from fire from average families pulling up on the Parkway and other places with flashlights to boats going up and down

the Providence River flashing lights to places like CH wataten home and the hot club in Providence and other places all doing this and the program is 9 years years and growing I see the chief of staff is here and I know the mayor was going to have a proclamation do you have that if you want to present it at this time and then we'll make our presentation thank you council president

and members of the council and happy New Year to everyone and thank you for the moment of silence for Marlene I know she was she was U one who watched it every single night so um Steve I hope that was okay I didn't want to take away from from everything all the wonderful things you have done um council president you did read a lot of the information that we were also you're so um I won't read

it into record but Steve on behalf of the mayor thank you for everything you've done uh for the kids I like to Echo what Chief franciscon and chief Carrie said and I know we've we've had meetings about how we can help um to make this program even better if it's even possible um so I'm sorry sorry no that's okay didn't Side bar here that's okay uh but I again I just

want to thank you if there's ever anything uh we can do the administration can do the city can do or if you need some extra volunteers for anything for the program please feel free um to and don't hesitate reaching out and thank

you at this time uh our uh resident health expert and and registered nurse and nursing professor and whatever else she does in that field I will present our certificate and you also don't have to read it because I mentioned all of those things but you're welcome to if you would please present that to Mr BR

thean the light doesn't shine over here anymore um good evening Mr rosney thank you so much on behalf of the city council for the um empathetic um work that you do to help Propel this amazing um event that happens weekly and daily sometimes for these children as a health care provider who works in the building adjacent to Hasbro and sees the lights on a weekly basis and I can tell you that the ACT has spread

just not just from his Providence but into Providence and their municipalities and the healthcare workers in all of our buildings now have also participated and have daily lights that just shine to show messages that we change out so youve spared a huge Um passion and a lot of people to continue to support that vulnerable population in our community who just longs to be normal and have um

an average Lifestyle even though they're going through such devastating um situations along with their families so on behalf of the council and myself as a a healthcare provider who deals with it and a warm welcome and thank you for everything that you've

done so without further do I would respectfully ask and introduce um the gentleman who graduated from EP high and has certainly represented his high school his community and his life beyond EP there is a life beyond EP I'm told uh would you please uh greet the man of the hour Mr Steven brahan

thank you thanks very much so Bob you did an excellent job of soft selling this visit to the the council chambers here I I thought I was supposed to be here just to cheerlead to get more people involved but uh I'm very flattered that that you've done what you've done thank thanks for all of the kindness that you guys have shown me tonight uh the uh the story of good

night lights goes goes back to a simple exchange I had with one patient one night night and the premise for for my action was to uh let this kid know that there would be support and a connection between me and him uh as time went went forward even as I left the building and the point was that is is support outside this building that can come back to you and the kid was brilliant uh when I

shined a light of my bike light at him he blinked his room lights to to create complete a connection and that's what that's what really inspired me it's like my gosh if I can conect with a kid from a quarter mile away more people could do this and it could become something and it took me a while to get around to Mak it it become something but when I when I

got to that point one of the first uh calls I made was to the East Province police department and I had in this building actually I had run into Chief Pella at the time Chris Pella uh accidentally just we were at the counter doing some business I said I think I know you I I I know him from uh previous life when he was working at a YMCA and I

said that's a nice badge you got there he said yeah he had been made Chief not too long before that and he he did that thing you do you say uh you know if you ever need anything let me know okay so few years down the road I figured out something he could do for me and he wasn't talking parking tickets no I didn't know what he was talking about but uh I appreciated the

the gesture I when good night LS began as a public project in uh uh December of 2015 it was actually early 2016 when I got in touch with the chief and I said if there's a way for the just the the patrol that's that's in that neighborhood of the Overlook on the parkway to maybe pull over and put the lights on maybe blink the the headlights that would be really nice for this thing

I'm trying to make happen he said okay let me see what I can do uh the night that the first Wednesday night where that was tested uh I was with a kid 8:30 came we're looking out the window and uh I think it was 11 Vehicles were on the Parkway and what you everyone should know here any signal it's produced from the Parkway right along the the Waterfront there uh right up to Kettle

point it reflects in the river so there's two signals and there are buildings in Providence that have windows that are angled so that another signal picks up and kids think it's being uh uh produced by that that uh building there so I saw this incredible site along with the kid that I was with and the next day I called the chief and I said chief that was incredible but I'm a little worried about people saying you

know who's watching my backyard when uh they were up there and he said don't you worry about that and he didn't he didn't explain that either but uh that's what he said and uh the reaction was fantastically positive uh people love the fact that this department was doing something in support of kids uh in at Hasbro Children's Hospital and the actions of the East Providence Police Department

this is absolute fact has inspired police departments across this country to take on similar roles in their communities to support kids in the hospital and fire departments too by the way uh East Province fire department naturally came in as a player in good night lights and I've seen evidence of uh that effect being uh projected right across the this nation to to the West Coast and South and the north it's it's

everywhere but it started here and I'm very proud of that I'd like to correct uh the council this evening uh good night lights is an every night situation and I'm particularly proud of that every night kids at Hasbro have something to see and that's for nine years since the night started and the lady that is at the bottom of that little piece of the project is uh East Province resident

also Sarah Bates who's uh one of the the owners of the hot club I call her the queen of good night lights she she said it herself uh the kids are in the hospital every night why shouldn't we do it every night and that's how that Happ that began uh I mentioned with uh Chief franciscon a really wonderful night uh there's a there's a piece that some of you may have seen uh uh he's called uh

uh what's by the the um TV magazine Chronicle WCVB TV a channel Five Boston they did a piece in the early years of uh good night lights and it highlighted the program it's one of the greatest looks that you're going to have at good night lights it's it's old now but it doesn't hasn't lost anything it's aged well it's a little girl interviewed in that uh that piece he's 10 years old

when she was interviewed she was dealing with non hodkin's uh uh uh cancer uh she she she was dealing with a cancer situ ituation she was in the depth of treatment when she finally finished treatment non hodkin lymphoma that's what I wanted to say when she finished treatment she her mom said what do you want to do to celebrate your last day of treatment she said I want to do a good

night light s and mom called me and said she wants to do a good night light signal where can she do it and I said uh I know people that might want to do it with her and I called East Province police department and they call these problems fire department and on a very very cold night uh that that girl and her family including her grandparents showed up and the epd

was there and epfd was there serving hot chocolate uh making it an absolute Festival of Atmosphere for this little girl who just wanted to say goodbye to cancer and she did it in style thanks to uh the Departments that that that came that night and citizens that showed up to support her as well um I want to just mention that East Providence has incredible potential for for doing more with this this project uh

it's it's an ongoing thing it's at this point it's got live live signals which are frequent uh if not every night there many nights of the week you'll find live signals being uh produced toward the hospital it has an automated signal that's Vast at this point I think we have 45 to 50 participants these are buildings that have lights on timers or their own uh existing lights have been

programmed to to come on for 5 minutes it's uh it's an amazing thing that happens every night no matter the weather if there are conditions that won't let live signals happen this still happens and every kid in the hospital's got to look at something this has been part of my uh my quest is make sure everybody's got something and there's also a patient activated a part of it hardly anybody knows about this but we

have reflective tape art that's in buildings surrounding the hospital any kid with a good flashlight can shine it at this stuff and it it uh it becomes a neon sign it's magical and some of those signs uh you probably seen some uh they have messages like you are not alone uh you are loved uh uh we care these are the kind of messages that kids get by just flashing a light at these uh these

windows so that's that's that's a piece of the the project that a lot of people don't know about um there there is action right now I can I can tell you that uh I have connections at Kettle Point University Orthopedics I I think is going to become a major uh highlight of the of the nightly signal soon they've got one light right now but I've got people that want to do a lot more

than that and that's going to become a big piece of the shorelines uh display I have mentioned and had conversations uh with people about uh the possibility of maybe mounting of light on the tower the water tower very prominent feature as seen from East Providence i' love to see that become kind of a Beacon of Hope if you will uh from East Providence could it doesn't have to complicated but just something that

indicates uh supports coming from that far away and it's easily seen from from there uh maybe I could get some help from the people in this room to Rally some support from other businesses or entities uh think the squantum club think of the uh the uh shipping um docks that are or peers that are along the river connections I've had trouble making but I could use help doing that because all of these could be

activated to be part of the uh the nightly signal and I want to uh make make a point that I I think is worth making to conclude things here the signals that are sent uh whether they're owledge or not they mean something to people even this the knowledge of of knowing that these things happen I I was talking to a mom one night trying to tell her what was going to happen at 8:30 and she said

stop talking you're going to make me cry I said okay I'll stop she goes no tell me more tell me more so I told her more she said oh stop again I'm about to cry said she said okay just give me a little more I can't help it and I told her more and she started crying and she hadn't seen anything yet but the idea that uh civil civil servants citizens kids who

had gone through treatment at the hospital showing up to support these these people this was enough to bring her to tears just the idea of that kind of support coming from outside of the hospital so for anyone that that wants to join in a signal on any night um you you will likely see someone blinking back at you from the hospital the kids love doing it if you don't don't don't believe that your signal hasn't been

worth it uh it's an Act of Faith and I love that about this project it's all about having the faith that your signal is being received and and being acknowledged as a piece of support in the life of a child or a family and I've seen conditions where a a young mom's got a baby in her arms and she's watching out that window for the signal she can't signal he's holding her child

I've seen that uh and and I've seen her go to tears over the support that that she received so uh I love uh administering this project conducting is what I what I call it uh it is not a project that has a ceiling it could get bigger and better and I'm that's what I'm trying to do trying to uh bring more uh support to these kids and families and the caregivers by

making this this project is uh as great as it can be and it can be fantastically great uh with with people like you supporting it and uh encouraging people to join in thank you so much for the Honors that you've bestowed upon me Steve what what I'd like to say to you is and I think some of us want to comment to you but what amazes me the most I think everyone has been touched

by someone who's had cancer or or life-threatening illness and probably children that we know too if not some of ourselves and it's a very hard thing to deal with and it's hard to look ahead but and I and I have that link to that piece that you were talking about if anyone watching this wants a copy of that get in touch with me I think I want to thank police chief Francis G actually

sent it along to me and when you watch that you expect to see kids crying in the hallways of the hospital and sick but they're upbeat and that one little girl who you know she was happy and she said I live for this he said this is what I want to do I'm waiting for 8:30 every day so it's it's amazing I I don't know that I have that

strength I you know I I want to go and grow up in a corner I think but to see these kids and their parents uh look forward to this when and they don't all live we know that we know there was a family in East Providence um we all know I think the young Costa child and the family and they got in touch with me about tonight they were

going to try to come by I'm sure they're home watching and they lost their their battle was very sad but many more are are winning and and the good night lights help these parents today their child is no longer here but but they are help so it's amazing what you and I know it isn't just you that you don't you don't take it you're not an i person or

a me person but it did start with you and it's amazing what what you've done and and that it's turned these kids into something positive I appreciate you saying that in and a point I'd like to make too is Hasbro Children's Hospital is a place where kids go to get better A lot of people forget that uh the stories are uh a vast majority in overwhelming majority of the stories are happy ones

and there's so much going on in that place even in just in the heart of the people that are the caregivers taking care of people uh I talked to families that have been treated in other facilities and they said something's different about this place and there I'm part of a team myself uh it's called The Healing Arts team where all kinds of people like me uh there's only one cartoonist but uh

there's a bunch of people like me that are there trying to keep kids up uh pick them up and good night lights has become a peripheral element to that that care uh but it is it is something that uh it's a it's a go-to every night at 8:30 as part of that that caring uh situation that's trying to keep keep the spirits up that's what the the the bishop of the

program is to brighten the spirits there thank you cman you well first I like to thank you having spent a couple of times at Hasbro for non-emergency things and seeing the good work that you people do and is amazing and your uh what you've done with this program along with you mentioned Sarah Bates who does immense work in all sorts of fields uh what I want to tell you tonight is I will reach

out to the developer who's going to put the concert venue down at the waterfront and it would be an ideal situation absolutely B point right yeah yeah so I will I will reach out to her tomorrow morning I might even I'm going to text her now and I will I mean it's a great thing she has a hotter gold than Don Law who's her boss who's running event down there is he

venues on the East Province Waterfront are bpoint Park uh use headlights there you don't have to you know get out of a car correct uh the what I call the East Bay Bike Path Overlook which may have a different name but that's that's great it's where the uh EP PD and uh and the fire department generally do their thing and then uh University Orthopedics at Kettle Point we've got permission to use

the uh parking lots there and there are two levels which can lead to a really magnificent display even though it's quite a ways down the river it's still clearly clearly visible from the hospital okay so down south in Riverside that's too far down yeah unfortunately I I wish pal rocks Palm Lake was AV but it uh it's down around the corner that's what I was thinking the Lous all right so Kettle Point bold

point and um the parkway overl look on the parkway yeah right great cman I just want to say thank you very much for doing this very proud of you thank you yeah thank you glad you made it I think uh Chief of Staff resend wants to add something we have a well-known resident in the city Bento who's begging for a photo of all of you with the police and fire chief with Steve so uh he's also

one who watches the council meetings like Marlene used to so if that's okay if you would you Ben is a special special young man and uh uh we can we can do that leg or

sirse

thanks thanks again to everybody and and thanks to the residents who have been sitting so patiently through all of this I sure you didn't come for for this particular show but thank you very much it's very important thank you all uh for your patience and those some good ideas I like the idea of the um whole point area and may we can talk to the yach club people Madam clar if you can uh pick up

where we left off and continue council members discussion impossible vote to advertise the hiring of a part-time Administrative Assistant paralal for city council sponsored by councilwoman Susan thank you madam clerk fellow council members um in the budget we had allocated some uh funds for a part-time position to assist the Council with a variety of different um tasks and responsibilities to help the workflow um

and meet the needs of all five members um and to assist L work to um produce those um tasks and outcomes um I did send everyone a copy via email and I believe the Madam clerk also provided one with your packet um so I'm just opening it up for discussion um on any um anything that you would want to add or take away from the um notes or the the qualifications or the general duties

compensations on that form um thank you any comments yeah I got a few um basically it's on language um so I've been supportive of us having an administrative assistance for a while um so I looked at this with um the powers the charter gives us and what it is we need um I would strike the word paralal out of this um you don't want to scare someone off um we we're

not looking for a paralal but we do want somebody that can understand what you know the general assembly is doing how Laws affect things and stuff um so the word paralal I would uh like to get out um uh in the position summary key responsibilities one of them says supporting the communication needs of the city that's not us that's um by cha um we do what we do and the administration does other things so I

think I would take that line out um supporting the communication needs of the city right I I think maybe it should be city council okay yeah if you want to put the word council yeah I think that that was a Mis um and then the communications part I don't want it to read like we're looking for a communications director um we just need someone to say you know next Sunday

with doing brass attack at City you know stuff like that we're not looking for a professional um communications director but we're just looking for somebody that a um Ward for Town Hall this weekend can you write up a blurb that we could send to the the post in the reporter stuff like that so um the word paralal and the communication director kind of angle those are things that I don't want to make it

sound too much for this parttime position of what we're looking for and when I read it it did kind of sound like having some kind of communication um background and the par the word pargal right away people may say well I'm not a pargal I can't apply other than that thoughts about being able to like keep up with what the general assembly is doing and keeping us a prize to be able to aggregate data for

us to be able to easily see in a form of either a chart or a graph or something um that is really what I think we need um the other thing to the general administrative duties um it say coordinate events projects programs has directed by the city council and all the city clerk I would take out the city clerk and just say directed by the city council I also

uh you took away what I wanted to talk about under that General administ no that's fine provide General administrative support to city clerk that should be striking that should be totally striking because then that talks to the puts us into a whole situation of a union scenario and I think it all shows and this is all great and you did a great job and putting this all together I think one thing that we probably just

add is that this person should report to the council president so shouldn't reporting to the city clerk then that becomes a department situation this is more of support so that that doesn't this doesn't cause any Union situation we've seen other jobs in this city that started off this way and then all of a sudden they've grown into a full-time position and a union thing into a union position and I am not

saying anti-union but we don't want all of a sudden this job to become a full-time you know as people saying that we're creating a position which we're not this is a support we needed other cities do it uh and and and this former government uh that we have uh the you know mayor council form of government this is appropriate and I just think we need to do that this way too many jobs

start off as part-time and then they end up being full-time and and we got to look at it from a budget standpoint we have money this year this job might be going next year or the next Council we don't want to I don't want to pigeon the next counsel that they have to have this job as well but I I think you took the initiative that we've talked about this

starting a year ago and I commend you councilwoman soua for putting this all together thank you thank you uh Council vice president just to add to that uh thank the councilwoman also for putting this together I I want to piggyback on your comment about uh the role of a council president because sometimes I may issue a press release or a general statement and I always inform the rest

of the council when I do that so as long as it's understood that I I may still be doing that without um contacting this person for instance if I'm going to put out a press release or statement I'm not going to call somebody and pay them $30 an hour for something that I'm going to do because I would generally write a lot of my own stuff and I never do that without informing the council so if

there's something in the news I don't know something about the Washington Bridge and it and late breaking news and I want to put out a council statement I'm not going to wait until I have to sit down with um a a council assistant and then also have to pay that person so as long as that's understood I don't see that as being a problem or happening often but I just want to make sure it

doesn't act as a muzzle towards um the rest of us other than that um this is something I know a lot of you have talked about wanting to do I also agree we have to be careful with the monetary value uh as we sit here today the state is talking about a $300 million deficit now that's not affecting this job per se but going to be a tough couple of years

coming up and that that deficit is definitely going to filter down as well as all the funding we're not going to see anymore from the federal government with that I think these are minor suggest suggestions I don't know councilwoman if you want to um redo them and come back or if you want to for the we're meeting in two weeks um or if you want to try to just uh pencil stuff in

now and yeah no um so what I'll do is I take the um suggestions I'll mock up a new one and then that to the council again for a second uh review um I would just say like under anything that talks about paralal Communications public administration those are all kind of just preferred so we know that we're looking for someone who has skills because not everybody has good communication skills or knows how to

write an email and you know so we're going to be looking for this person to be communicating with you know delegates from the city other you know uh State entities so we want to make sure that what they're communicating on our behalf is written properly and with good etiquette so that's why those are there as a preferable um and as you know from the hiring process you can read anything

out I don't think that that necessarily deters people but it sets a precedence of the type of individual that we're seeking uh for the position um but uh duly noted so I will redo some of the markups and then send it Forward again and then put this if we put Madam clerk on the agenda again for another 1th I yes that'd be great sounds good sounds like a point and once we clear up language I'm ready

to I'm sorry 21st yeah it wasn't good in math thank you Council thank you okay next item please public hearings ordinance for second and final passes for discussion and possible vote a ordinance and amendment of chapter 18 of the revised ordinances of the city of East Providence Rhode Island 1998 as amended entitled vehicles in traffic summary ordinance section 18-37 entitled parking prohibited at all

times School Street North Side from Potter Street to peras Street sponsored by council president Rodricks thank you U basically a request from the Department of Public Works and and traffic um I don't have any problem with it any questions sure it is um we'll hold off any on hour any comments we might have it is a public hearing is there anyone here present who would like to speak on this

issue none of the four people here want to speak on this so we'll uh close the public session it it will have to be uh it will have to receive two passages so you will have another opportunity oh this is final this is it for so this is final okay thought there were two passages so with that um I don't have a problem with this uh I just have one question question yes um so that street

now will become no parking on both sides because there's no parking already on one side of the street so the entire Street would then be no parking from poter to purchase right on School Street correct yes so either side would have no longer have that's what it appears to to say it's it's a small Street I don't know if um well not really if one side is it do do you

know lcit have any more information I don't see one side faes is a the the overlooking of the highway you know yeah the other side is all residential multif family homes so I'm just I I'm not good with the north W South was just in from um between purchase and Potter it was parking on both sides the issue was uh I thought this sought to um have no parking on the North side only not the South

Side the southide allow parking was allowed on the south side is which is the that would be South Side the side that's up against the gate the north side is the highway side that's what I'm trying to yeah I'm not sure yep so the other side as far as I understand both sides always had parking allowed this I believe sought to eliminate parking on the highway side it's the one side of buing the highway

correct there was an issue with getting fire trucks down that road it is quite tight it is narrow on both sides yes okay I always thought that that was a no parking on that side already because it's there's no there's no room yeah to park on that side there is no room and they did allow parking on both sides thank you for the clarification uh Chief what your pleasure councilwoman Souza

makes a motion to approve there second second by councilman fogy all in favor I I any oppose the eyes have thank you next item ordinance of the Council of the city of East Providence rhod Island appropriating 5521 from the East provid and school department Capital Improvement revolving fund summary to allocate 552 th100 from the fund for Approved rhod Island Department of Education

capital for safety improvements at White Knack W Avenue Silver Spring and myin J Francis Elementary Schools introduced by councilman Lawson and councilwoman Susa and in public comment I move to approve sure is this is something uh that has been talked about now um for for many time many times um motion has been made by councilman Lawson seconded by councilwoman souer is there any other comment anyone here that

would like to comment on this we as I've said we have had much comment on this and we all been in agreement all in favor I I any opposed guys have it thank you next item continued business discussion and possible vote of accumulated comp time by former city clerk sponsors Council vice president Rigo councilwoman Souza Council M fogy 92.5 2 hour motion by councilman fogy to approve the payment based on 92

52 hours second second by councilwoman Souza any discussion Madam clerk you call a roll councilman fogy councilman Lawson nay Council vice president Rego I councilwoman Souza I council president Rodricks nay motion passes 3-2 thank you Council next item mayor Communications uh Madame director do you have any others I know we already did the Steven Brenan Proclamation you have two other updates

uh yes council president thank you uh just brief uh Communications this evening we will be having our annual Martin Luther King Day celebration on Wednesday January 22nd uh time is to be determined although it's looking as if it'll be uh during the day this year um but we will have more information that will be forthcoming through our affirmative action office um in addition we we did present uh Stephen with the

proclamation um and in terms of washing the Washington Bridge small business grants just a quick update um some of you were able to be in attendance on the 23rd where checks were distributed to our local businesses um uh I I was just wanted to give an update roughly 70 plus checks have been issued closer to 80 um at this point we still have some that are in the auditing process um and we've

build out I think the the allocation is roughly 700 plus, $752 roughly um but we each day this number changes because we have add additional individuals who have come in in person to pick up their check so um the tally changing every day and um the remaining funds will be we are still working with skills uh Rhode Island's future on um providing some additional direct grants to our local businesses so

I just wanted to give you a brief update any comments on that you very much well done yes uh uh counsman I was here with you that day and uh to answer a question that some people have asked you know why was it done in a in a public session it really had to be done that way to avoid uh fraud and scams which we know have uh occurred throughout Rhode Island with

other programs and there were Madame director you had how many attempted scam requests or you had several dozen right we had over 200 it depends on what way what level of the process so we had well over 200 applications that came through um that we were first vetting and then it the number dwindled down and for each for each time we did um the vetting with skills for RO Island future we found

additional fraud attempts even right up until just recently and and let me say the fraud attempts were not from local businesses correct frauds were these outside internet scammers they would say I own ABC Productions on torton Avenue thank you I'd like a check and you evidently did your your vetting and found out that those were not the owners so it was much better to hand these checks in person to the right owners

with proper identification and not just throw them in a mail somewhere but anyway any other comments on that one suggestion um for the administration with the uh celebration on Martin Luther King day um I know I've suggested it a couple of times and it's always better sometimes to have these out in that for you but kind of like them here in the chambers the the Martin Luther King

celebration is one that brings a lot of PE MH sometimes there are people outside they can't get in and why not use the chambers even if it's not full just a thought um I can definitely make that suggestion I can live either way with it I think sometimes in the past the idea has been the backdrop of the display so that way people can highlight that because people come and go from City

from uh City Hall and not everyone gets to see it and it's to highlight that um but you're right that is one of the events that brings in uh quite a crowd and participation have the reception out there what the May pay for coffee and pastries and whatever and have a reception they can view the the um display and then call everyone in here that's my suggestion thank you thank you

for being here tonight and just one last note if I may council president um just so everyone's aware and for the residents to be aware and business owners as well so for the additional funds uh we will be putting something out shortly where we will be providing some information so that way we can bring folks in who are interested in applying for the grants um because it's going to be done in person from the

get-go so if you want to apply you're going to do it in person so the same way that the same type different no different the last way I mean the process is different but the amounts they would again it would be depending depending on what they are much and how many people but in person this time yes councilman what's the deadline on that uh we have it well we do have quite a

bit of time we haven't put the form out to even announce that yet we wanted to finish with with this and do out all of those funds first but I will keep the council um in the loop off the top of your head how much money is left off the top of my head we of the 1.2 million roughly and again it changes depending on when someone picks up the check but

the last amount was I want to say like roughly 72,000 approximately that unless you mean per business so most of the businesses were um a good portion of the businesses were made whole and those who applied for say 8,000 were able to receive the full 8,000 okay thank you you're welcome next item please resolutions for discussion and possible vote one resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a police Mutual Aid

agreement between the city of East Providence and the town of barington town of pristo and town of Warren sponsored by Council vice president rioo Council vice president uh thank you Mr President uh this uh pretty much sums up uh what we're looking to do here is to have a mutual Aid response from those three communities service in East Providence if the chief would want to speak on it more and I have a question

or two to well of course so what this is is there is a state law allowing non-emergency Mutual Aid between police departments um prior to that it was only um uh municipalities that you bordered what this seeks to do is allow officers from barington Bristol and Warren to do special details in East Providence and allows East Providence police officers to do special details in those

communities barington Bristol and Warren have had an agreement for a little bit now um and we were approached to join that I think it's a very good idea given the um increased need for um special details in the future with not only the bridge but with the new concert venue that's on the horizon um it's going to be you know a challenge to staff that with um as many shows as they're they're

talking per year so I I thought it made a lot of sense to to enter into this agreement with those municipalities they're not coming to patrol our city or or anything like that they're coming here to do special details whether that be uh construction details or special security details like at a concert venue right so uh these details these would be what I call regular full-time police officers that

would I mean I know when police officer retires or special traffic details some obviously they're not authorized to carry weapons anymore correct it it would also be it would include retirees it will include it it does include the excuse me it will include the retirees that's correct but if there's a detail that obviously certain details might mandate a weapon correct so correct so some I'm

sorry I probably can explain this yeah um some of our retirees are considered R uh certified police officers members of our retired officer Corp they're authorized to carry you know weapons like any other police officer and some are not um members of that retired officer Corp and they're not authorized to to carry weapons so there is a there is a difference there yes and uh this would be this this would

obviously for those three communities comeing each Providence you would have to exhaust your list of offices say you know where you don't have enough people to that's correct it would go right through our regular way of filling details from uh regular East Province police officers retirees traffic civilian traffic control people if that detail does not get filled by any of those folks then it we'd have the option

to you know handing it off to barington Bristol a Warren but it would go through our complete all of our people first they move passage anybody else ask questions yeah I just have a question is the pay rate going to be the same as our retailed officers depending on when what type of Officer from the um Mutual Aid comes in yep so if we go to another Community one of these communities and do a detail

that is now our detail we do the billing like we would normally do at our rate um if one of our details is taken by one of those communities they now own that detail they own the billing so they would bill it at their contractual rate all right thank you thank you for the clarification a second the motion motion by Council vice president Rigo seconded by councilman Lawson all in favor I I any oppos I have

it thank you thank you Chief next item Madam clerk number two resolution authorizing the mayor to purchase four post vehicle lists for the Department of Public Works Central Garage division sponsored by councilman fog yes councilman you want to add to this second motion by councilman fogy to approve passage seconded by councilman Lawson all in favor I I any opposed the I have thank you

next number three resolution amending the East Providence city council cresa par Caro commission summary resolution increases the member of the commission from 9 to 11 members and other updates to its purpose and Authority sponsored by councilman Lawson uh there's just some Language clean up and um they've been doing so well with uh meeting the quota I mean the quarum that um there's

members that they don't get to vote that they wanted to bump it up so this is just kind of a cleanup and bringing that back to the cavel commission as opposed to the Crescent Park um commission This was um members of the commission like it real way motion to approve motion to approve by councilwoman a seconded by councilman poogy was it yep all in favor I I any opposed guys have it thank

you number four resolution requesting the state traffic commission install appropriate traffic control devices at or near 127 Waterman Avenue to 134 Waterman Avenue sponsored by councilwoman Susa thank you councilwoman thank you um so this resolution seeks to um request the state traffic commission to install um flashing pedestrian lights um the council remembers a few months ago probably four or five um that I had

presented to the council some um equipment that is available um for municipalities to have at crosswalks to indicate pedestrians are coming some of them are solar powered some of them are um hardwire they have sensors so when you're coming up to the area they would then signal the flashing light so that motorists would know and be alert and slow down um so that was um what the resolution was

um created for I know in speaking with our legal department um before the council meeting one of the items that was requested was to have the um crosswalk lines place to have a crosswalk from um Jeff's Pizza over to the Myrtle so that again it was distinguished that there was going to be High um pedestrian Crossing there we have heard back from the commission that that was approved um

but they have not implemented those lines yet um so this is kind of like an additional ask um I don't think that they've approved any traffic control devices in that area so that would be the additional ask the resolution also um makes note of um informing our state delegates to be um aware and to advocate for the residents and businesses in their District um to put a little bit more um emphasis on that safety aspect

so um it's nice to know that some part of that has taken place though we weren't informed of it hopefully they'll um take action and start the crosswalk and then the second ask would be to get those flashing lights which I think are just as important as having the crosswalk so with that um if there are no questions I move passage second motion by councilwoman soua seconded by councilman Lawson for a

passage all in favor I I any opposed yes have it thank you introduction of ordinances for discussion an impossible vote an ordinance in amendment of chapter 18 of the revised ordinances of the city of East Providence R Island 1998 as amended entitled vehicles and traffic the Council of the city of East Providence hereby ordained Section 1 article 10 entitled stopping standing and parking of chapter 18 of the revised

ordinances of the city of East Providence for Island 1998 as amended by adding a new section 18 j31 17 to set Municipal parking lot regulations and signage introduced by council president Rodricks thank you uh essentially after the the building of the new Municipal parking lot uh we had found that um while very much it was welcomed by the nearby businesses sometimes a homeowner uh there are always abuses

sometimes s people were parking overnight sometimes there there were a few abandoned cars or Vehicles there and we're trying to avoid this problem growing um it you can still use that I'll read some of the language without all of it this Municipal parking lot regulation would make it unlawful for the owner of any motor vehicle to leave or Park a vehicle at any time time or during the times specifically

designated here at after um a set forth below okay so I won't read it all but parking is limited a total of 4 hours between 6:00 in the morning and 2 a.m.

that's quite a large span of time that you can park if you're at an area restaurant or business you've got to just get it out of there by 2: am well it's a 4 hour limit 4 hour limit um right yeah I should be able to handle 4 hours uh no parking between 2: a.m. and 6:00 a.m. during a declared Citywide parking ban vehicles May remain parked in the municipal lots that will be designated

as such as you know now when we have a snowstorm which we thankfully haven't had in a while certain lots are designated for residents who can't get their cars off the streets but so they will be allowed to do that but they must be removed within one hour after the parking van is over and it does set a fine or Towing at the owner's expense when when I first got on the

council uh we had a problem in a Riverside uh parking lot where there were two or three cars that were just there forever looked like they were abandoned there was a boat on a trailer there was a a person at times using a van to I don't want to say live there but they were kind of doing that it was a problem um police had to deal with them but didn't have an ordinance to

really give it any teeth so I don't see this is causing anybody a problem if you use these Lots appropriately that's the purpose of this but first passage motion to approve motion by councilman Lawson seconded by councilman fogy and vice president process discussion yes the first one just establishes the times we can park and then the second one establishes the $60 fee yeah correct okay so just um under

discussion yes just to clarify from maybe Michael um can answer or um Mr zenes the um would this pertain to only Municipal parking lots that have the signage or are all now Municipal parking lots going to have the signage and it contains all parking lots across the city just I just want it for the record so that residents are clear in case they're spending the day at Crescent Park carousel Park you can't have your

car parked there for more than four hours if you're spending it you know just so I want it to be uh from what I understand and I can clarify that it would be all Municipal Lots right well that's what I'm saying yeah then they could correct right well that was my question is are we putting are we putting thank you are we putting these that was this the second question are we putting these

sign edges in all of the parks all the parking lots like which ones are we that that's a DPW director but that's ordance say as designated by the signs me Municipal to me the carousel that's not a municipal that's for the park to me the municipal is the new one on PO that's not specific all all sorry all parking lots that belong to the so City Hall parking lot it's a municipal parking lot the

library piercefield all any city property that has a parking lot is a municipal parking right but I I guess I think of it as right but that's not parking lots for a specific business as opposed to just in general but you're right we the more you clarify things the better I just I I I get I know that the council VI president his intention because when I spoke to the mayor about

this and having foresight when we were not done with that parking area I was like we need to get a grasp on that and Lang you know an ordinance because that's going to be I can see it being an issue um and I wanted to be ahead of it so I'm glad we have something I didn't think that it would then potentially be widened across the city and then potentially have a conflict for other

areas throughout the city um so that's where I want to know the specifics because I don't I don't think it's really transparent if you know no who's going to know when a sign is erected at a certain parking lot until they go to park there correct and I can and I can clarify that I answer so B says authorizes the police chief of the director of Public Works to designate the municipal parking lots or portions

thereof that are subject to these restrictions so they have to put a sign says these are subject to these restrictions and only those lots will be subject right but I would want to know in advance in the council to be aware because when some when the the residents start complaining or visitors this body is who's going to be getting the calls not the police department or the DPW the

biggest I mean I'm not saying that I'm against it I'm just there needs to be very Clarity I agree there should be consistency but really the only time this is going to come into play is at 2 o'l in the morning overnight because we don't have enough we don't have enough police officers to to patrol the whole city I mean and who's going to I mean we're not going to have a meter system so if you

pull your car or your van uh Anything trailer or whatever you want to do bikes and pocket there at 10: in the morning I don't think we don't have the capability to patol it this way I I think it I think it more has to do with these over night or abandon overnight and abandoned cars and we and and I want to commend the police chief for a

situation in my w as in my ward uh as far as people leaving cars and unauthorized positions uh yeah if you're at a game at Pierce stadium and you're there four and a half hours police aren't going to be there dagging b you know it's it's uh we can maybe tighten up right and I language to say that for the councilwoman so I just to clarify so it is all public Lots but again as Mike

was mentioning um SEL was mentioning the police chief and the DPW director would be able to make that deter determination and part of this is because there have been a lot of abandoned vehicles left overnight in parking lots and during a s Snow Emergency we've had to deal with that um even here at City Hall I've left here at midnight and there's residents who Park in and leave their cars over

and some of them have been abandoned sailboats in sailboats you are correct in sailboats but uh the intention councilwoman is yes all public Lots so make sure the signage is done and we refle reflects that okay so there was a motion in a second did you get the motion in second um could you repeat who made the motion and I'll make a motion councilman Lawson seconded by councilman fogy uh to

approve for first passage all in favor I I any oppos I have that thank you now move passage on the $60 fine understand that the fines and fees are set forth in a separate ordinance so this make it consistent we just added that is fin so this is the accompanying yep right is that a motion yep motion by and seconded by councilman fogy what's made by councilman Lawson all in favor I

I any oppos guys have it 5 zero next item an ordinance in amendment of chapter 18 of the AR revised ordinance of the city of East Providence Rhode Island 1998 as amended entitled vehicles and traffic section 18307 entitled parking prohibited at all times of article X entitled article 10 sorry entitled stopping standing and parking is amended by adding there to to the following IV Street West Side for a

distance of 40 ft from the intersection of Waterman Avenue introduced by councilwoman soua um so this is kind of cleaning up some language also and comes off of the neighborhood meeting we had with residents and the business um in that on that corner of waterman and Ivy um the DPW director and the police chief did mention that the no paring does start at the 40 ft um though there

wasn't a sign there so this was just to correct the ordinance um and make it official so that the sign can be placed in the proper location approve second motion to approve by councilman Lawson seconded by Council vice president weo thank you for the clarification councilwoman all in favor I I any opposed the eyes have it before someone makes a motion to adjourn um remember out there any citizens who

are watching get involved with the good night lights uh any night 8:30 find yourself a spot along the East Providence Waterfront or if you have to go into Providence wherever you go shine those lights at the kids at Hasbro is there a motion to adjourn to adjourn Council vice president Rigo seconded by councilwoman