3/18/25 EP City Council

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hopefully good evening call the meeting of the Provident City Council on March 18th to order Madame clerk would you please call the role of the council councilman fogy yeah councilman Lawson yeah Council vice president Rego yeah councilwoman soua council president Rodricks here the record show for members uh present please rise for the

pledge United States of America to the Republic for it stands

indivisible thank you all our first item tonight we have some special proclamations for a special group and our vice president uh councilman Frank Rigo will make the presentations at this time good evening thank you than Mr President um not to roast my fellow Council people but it seems like all the Champions lately have been coming out of w one starting last year where rough the

little league and even beforehand with the St Margaret's uh uh Debate Club and uh you want to continue and not rub it in please thank you I just wanted to make that please uh please continue or we'll call you out of order just a point of reference there so well noted it's it's really nice to have a St Margaret's team here again uh having been you know having gone to St Margaret's Haven played for St

Margaret's having coach at St Margaret's and I looked back and I was like wow I am getting old because in 2006 I coached the uh a c team that won the state championship and everything like that so uh you're in good company because you know a couple years ago one of the cadet teams that wanted ended up having four girl go on to play college basketball so we're here to recognize

the St Margaret's team here tonight and their coach you know agopian um you guys did a great job you're winning the state championship you played as a team you know I I got some things your mental toughness you went in there all the time and you played well and using your zone defense and you have a couple of new girls on the team and you all played as Champions but what makes it even better I don't

know if you know this but when I found out you beat S I saw you you won the games at LEL and you beat St augustin's and you B you beat them on their home on their home court they that's their uh that's their court and you when you beat them up there that's really a good sign so I want to congratulate you all I'm going to call out your names come up

here for a proclamation and then we'll take uh a a picture with the rest of the council people but again great job and keep up the great

work

choban Addie Dary

Jane is it Jane Hayden Haden okay just the old English language got Maddie Aldridge Sophia agopian Michaela

Okana area candle up Lea price and you must be now Stella Stella Goan thank you all

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thank you good job everybody thank you you're welcome to stay here till midnight with the rest of us all right

thank you Council vice president good job strong program at St Margaret's both school and athletics they're they're doing well Madame clerk uh next item we're going to go into executive session we're going to do that right here and Mr solicitor can you read the item or Madam clerk do you have it or I have the claims uh so this was a a property damage claim uh in the amount of

$1,192 followed by Mr Octavio COA as a result of a a sewer backup as you recall we did a previously award uh uh property damage claim payment and partial payment um this extra personal property was left out of there because it was a little confusion I think as to um when he had to submit it and I don't think he had an estimate at the time time so um the city

does recommend that we pay pay this claim motion to approve second motion by councilman Lawson seconded by councilman fog all in favor I I any opposed guys have that for the zero thank you is there a motion to uh close executive do there have one more motion oh so we're fine okay we right next item Madam clerk consent Cal calendar for discussion and possible vote Council jours March 4th 2025

regular meeting and March 4th 2025 executive session motion to accept the consent calendar second motion to accept by councilman Lawson seconded by councilman bogy to accept the consent calendar is read all in favor I I any opposed the eyes have that I'm sorry I also B also for the letters for the consent c yeah that would include yeah that yeah include the whole package everyone still all in favor in favor all

favor the I have that four to zero next item licenses for discussion and possible vote make a motion to bundle second that motion to bundle councilman Lawson seconded by councilman fogy and that's the bundle with no exceptions all inclusive all in favor I I any opposed I have that for zero motion to approve second motion to approve and there's a second councilman fogy uh all in favor I I any opposed guys have

that next item that was counc president that was all the licenses I don't all all the I don't know if this gentleman was here for the licenses but are you here for a license sir so all set it's got approved yep if you have it if you have any comments you're welcome but you're all approved you can come up you can come up want come up to the mic talk about your business yeah

welcome just uh give your name and address for the record my name is Jaga ji I am from Cranston Rhode Island I'm looking to open a business convenience store in East Providence North bro way 665 so right now I'm potentially going to take over by April 1st um so we are in transition and after that I would like to open in the same facility like uh Delhi because there was previously Delhi and convenience store

together very nice lot of neighbors is a nearby uh skating ring and it's a school nearby so hopefully the neighbors and uh school kids will contribute to building this business all right W welcome to East Providence okay thank

you oh he said he I know Andy can you follow up sir there you go thanks Mike thank you Mike yeah next item please council members number one request for City to move forward with laying the pad and purchasing the event tent for Park update on concession storage office building project so uh the bids came in high for the the project so um I haven't heard yet a plan on the building but I'm hoping that we

can at least move forward with the pad and the tent for this season um I don't know Patricia if there's any update of if that can be done um I know the building it came in above budget and that has to be looked at but um the pad intent I don't think needs to be delayed why we look at the building uh good evening councilman uh so I I have the same information as you

do I don't have much more to report other than we are bids did come in high we currently finding alternatives to reduce the price um so in terms of the tent and the pad I I can look into that and get back to you yeah I think that's low hanging fruit that we can at least show the public hey we're moving forward I understand the building um I went by

Kim Rock today and that's the kind of concession we just need except for two stories but I I get it it came in high but um if we could at least see if we can get the event tent for this summer that'd be good um because it's just a matter of laying the pad and buying the tent pretty much that the go thanks Patricia and the second thing is just um

you know the last uh public meeting they talk about maybe meeting at the former roam sort the public just seeing if we could maybe look at a schedu in for that um I'm not sure the timeline of the Consultants NVA but um if possible you don't have to answer right tonight but oh yeah okay great just to give you a little bit of update if I I may read into record absolutely question about

the public the p b study in terms of a public meeting so there is um sorry can you hear me okay oh it's just I wasn't eating the mic there we go how's that not afraid of a mic um in terms of the actual feasibility study in the public meeting So the plan is uh later this spring there isn't a specific date but I can come back to report that out to the

council once we have that but just to give you an update so the Consultants are working on the following two things one is finishing up the concept models that's the first that's the first thing the conceptual models of how the incubator could work based on a lot of the feedback that we did in fact received during the uh public input in some of our research um additionally we're going to begin the design of the

requirements building design an operating model that will obviously be defined based B on user input uh obviously everything costs money so we're looking at the financial analysis evaluating the cost to both acquire build operate and finance the program and the building uh we're also working on some of our additional tasks are the final recommendation based on risk and economic uh assessment and then of

course stud studying the finalization including a web- based uh we provide a web-based presentation on those findings um just to go a little further uh just to give you little upate and I'm reading some of these details now myself since we held um since we held the public meeting we want to wait until there's more um more to present well there been have there has been some repairs to the building um we're not

sure if it's currently in the right shape for this for a safe public tour I know councilman you had asked about bringing the public into the building so as you know you've been in there before um there's still an engineer where you go Mike it's all Mike's fault blame this solicitor um so the engineering firm is in fact finishing up the Hazardous building materials so I think bringing people in

at this point would probably not be uh the best idea so and of course obviously we don't want anyone to get hurt so if someone tripped and then there's a liability and such but I'll be able to get back um to you in terms of like if there a tour might be interest might be interesting to people but the building would otherwise be a poor space for meeting there's no seats no climate

control no HVAC um excuse me no audio visual so I think that the plan is still to have a public public meeting in the spring but I think the building may not be the best idea just for safety and cons materials I know I cough a lot when I go in the building so thank you you're welcome thank you councilman you I think it's nice idea as soon as practicable

let public see the place and U do a little something there so soon as it's safe to do that it's a good idea thank you uh um before we move ahead uh I'd like to go to uh without objection go to page seven and allow our police chief to come forward there's a resolution uh to purchase 45 portable radios in Chief I believe this is through asset forfeiture funds

yes it is Sir okay if you want to briefly describe it and we can vote at this time absolutely about uh two years ago a little less than two year years ago June of 23 we bought 60 um new radios and we were recently notified by um Rhode Island Emergency Management that the remainer of the styles of radios we have that we did not replace will become obsolete soon um just

because of their age no more patches that kind of thing so this is a new purchase to replace those obs Elite radios and for the public watching uh the asset forfeiture account will cover this it's not a drain on the on an unsuspecting budget that is correct wouldn't have mattered to me way yeah police need something we're going to give it to them y y I mean they need

the proper is there a motion I make a motion to approve councilman Lawson moves to approve seconded by Council vice president R and councilman bog all in favor I I any oppos guys have it Chief I don't know if this is your last uh public appearance maybe at the next one we next meeting maybe other large purchase coming up all right never mind we won't we won't say good luck

yet thank you Chief thank you have a good night Madam clerk we could revert back to the regular agenda Communications none public comment none appointments none council members number three Union primary complex neighborhood complaints vice president Rigo uh thank you Madame clerk Mr President um this was on our docket back in September October of 2024 and it was brought to my attention about

three or four weeks ago I have some photos and since then I've been in communication with the mayor's office in the May himself and they have t they have talking to the developer you can see here this is uh I'm not the greatest photographer coming out of my car but you can see if you can go to the next slide as well well there's all the debris around that that's the that's the

dumpster and it's supposed to have doors on them you could see on one of the photos that the doors are on the ground you can see them right there so is the dumpster and the doors are down uh and there's all the garbage there and there's garbage obviously that has gone the property uh also the fence in the back as you well remember the family that came here talked about how

they s year old child was able to get out of the fence and uh that those issues are still there that it's not covered they were supposed to take care of that scenario there is a fence on the side I don't have a picture of that's sort of fallen down since then I've been in communication with the chief of staff rendes and as well as the mayor they've talked to the developer he has taken the

the door are not up yet but the doors are not on the property uh it seems in communication that the doors will go up tomorrow but these are things that uh the neighborhood has continued to complain about the excess debris there obviously not having the doors things are going to stop flying around and what we were told back in September October about The Back Fence being being fixed there's there's

covering that goes to about halfway in the back if they could cover that all up cover the Hol so that children aren't leaving there and God forbid you know you know walk away when when the parents aren't talking about it because you're close to pet Avenue on Main Street so I'm just bringing this to the attention that uh we really need these developers to come in and be really good neighbors

uh The Neighbors in that neighborhood it's right across the street for me Epiphany Church they take great pride in their property and they don't need to be having this garbage flying all over the place thank you Mr President thank you uh Council VP uh Mr solicit could we have maybe the building officer or whoever or is appropriate to make a contact with the uh owners and see if

they can't it shouldn't take too much to clean that up I know uh State Rep uh gazarian has also contacted us and is concerned um so a little bit of effort on their part and I think they could keep everybody happy we could reach out did you want to can you do that also uh yes council president and just to add what what uh to what council vice president rioo was mentioning we did

speak with the developer as the councilman um said and two just two notes so they are adding another layer of screening of behind the fence sorry um at the fence where uh Council vice president rioo was mentioning and then the contractor um the developer also said that the cont contractor will do the work this week to REM remove the wood doors and then they're going to add uh in addition to the wiring wired fence

they're going to add a wheel in a latch so it's not super noisy so it kind of swings open and then there will be a latch so that should stop some of that from um from or some of that stuff that's behind the U the fence so just want to give you that update we great have DPW go thank you thank you councilman next item p public hearings ordinance for second and final passes for discussion

and possible vote is this going to be a stayed until the April April 1st yeah we need to advertise for this need to be tabled till the April 1st meeting April what April 4th whatever that meeting is April 1st I'm sorry ail 1 do we need a motion to table should yes please is there a motion to table this till April 1st meeting a long night for you second Frank's motion motion by

councilman fogy seconded by councilman Lawson to table until the April 1st meeting all in favor I any opposed the eyes have thank you thank you next item new business mayor Communications yes director rendi good evening this will be short and sweet uh so we do there is one oh actually do you want to start with the appointment I'm sorry Adam Clark yeah I can make a motion that we uh reappoint to the canas

and Authority uh Jerome spinola second that motion to approve and the appointment by councilman Lawson seconded by councilman foged this is a reappointment all in favor I I any opposed the eyes have it thank you and then in addition we just have uh just out as a courtesy to inform the council that we are working through some additional um appointments and reappointments for our affirmative

action commission as well as our mayor's advisory Council on lgbtq AI plus Affairs and that um those appointments are listed on the docket in addition March 2025 is social work social work and social worker month and so we just want to recognize all the social workers here in the city and beyond for all the amazing work that they do daytoday and then obviously you're well aware uh

Chief francisconi will be retiring as well as deputy chief Barry rmer um so we'll we'll be celebrating them at a later time and and we'll be sure to invite the council to that okay thank you well noted on all all counts does not require Council action next item reports of other City officials none report of school committee liaison councilman Lawson so just an update I attended last week's meeting um

apparently they meet here now but nobody really knew why I guess one one member of the committee said he wanted to do it here um anyway most of the meeting was talking about building access and apparently one was bringing in a member of the community to take pictures and stuff but the big thing I want to mention was with the upheaval evil in the federal government um education funding we have to be vigilant and I

want to be very proactive we don't know what's going to happen yet we have no idea it's going to go through the courts the courts already blocked Some Cuts today I don't know if you guys saw that news but I just want us to be a very proactive city that you know these kids losing $100,000 is a big cut so um there was nothing specific that was said like I said everything still kind of in flux

until we hear um what the federal government's plan is for um spending on the federal level for education and stuff so that's it that was the biggest thing and again the rest of the meeting was about their access policy um but I just want to keep up the communications between the city and school um I want to tear down that Cityside School side wall like the rest of us believe

and um that's it thank you and I I do agree that it is more important now than than ever that we keep this communication going and because this Council has agreed to provide as much funding as possible to the school department we we know about the the plan with the excess Bond monies so I think we we have a right to keep on top of things and make sure that we're

we're all on the same page and uh there's some decisions I'm sure we'll have to make with future future spending so thank you for staying on top of that councilman next item resolutions for discussion and possible vote one resolution requesting the general assembly reinstate General Revenue sharing to cities and towns introduced by councilwoman Souza so uh the councilwoman is on able

to be with us I don't know if someone else had picked up that I I and I support this so I haven't heard that she wanted us to stop so I make a motion we approve can can you give a quick summary for the public I without reading I don't know if we have basically it's about the revenue sharing for cities and towns you know basically State funding flowing down to us I apologize for not having

the no that's no by no details F it's it's the general theory of sharing this resolution is just saying we support they they used to do it in the past yeah exactly okay so motion by councilman Lawson seconded by councilman fogy to support this um effort all in favor I I any opposed the eyes have thank you next item resolution requesting adjustments to school traffic cameras introduced by

councilman Lawson so I'm going to ask we table this there's no rush on this because the revenues are still part of this fiscal year um and I'd rather wait till an's here so she can have her opinions heard as well sure you want to make a motion to table Yeah I request we table at this time motion to table seconded by councilman B to um to be determined what date is that okay yeah

no rush sure thank you all in favor I I any oppos the eyes have that thank you next item resolution solution authorizing the granting of an easement to the nans electric company for installation of gas service at M Middle School introduced by councilman fogy councilman passage on this second motion made by councilman loon um foged to approve the the passage U seconded by councilman Lawson all in

favor I I any opposed the I have it 4 zero thank you councilman next number four resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract with CDM Smith for phase one of the sanitary Su evaluation study introduced by councilman fogy passage please second second motion by councilman fogy seconded by vice president Rigo and councilman Lawson all in favor I I any opposed the eyes hav't thank you next

item introduction of ordinances none make a motion have no ordinances hang on I'm just looking at some housekeeping duties in the

agenda sign up after do you have you don't have a paper that anyone signed to speak did you yeah that that already was passing is there anyone here that a public comment sheet late in signing up for public comment did you sign up after where where all okay it's totally up to you yeah we we've got a little time if you're going to be brief um you got it come on up who's this Andy

Andy yeah would you identify yourself please for the record my name my name is Nancy hail I live at 889 bulock Point Avenue welcome and I am here tonight with a very big but short attitude of gratitude I want to extend thanks to mayor Bob D Silva as well as chief franciscon for over a few years now managing a number of oh I would say traffic issues to be brief at um in the neighborhood where I

live and um I think they at this point I can report a lot of good news but the most interesting thing after we had the crosswalk put in among the first to use it were two squirrels but and and the and the um and the the people in the neighborhood who were resisting using it I have now recently seen they're on that crosswalk and they're having their conversations on the side of the street there's much

improvement and a lot of Behavioral modification has been made uh to keep um pedestrians where they're supposed to be and cars they're still going too fast at times but that's never going to end um but without the pedestrians in the street it it makes it safer for the cars to zoom it when when it is safe to go a little more than 20 miles an hour do you notice since we did no parking

along the top of the the park um you mean bit safer oh I believe that I yes that is much safer just for visibility because in the past when we are very busy on that road sometimes people strollers bikes dogs walking between cars onto the road correct so yes um whatever whoever worked on all of that you know assessing it and you know that would include the Department of Public

Works it's better so it's nice to see progress and with more events coming up there there's still some more things that need to be done but you know um it takes time and that's one thing I've learned by coming to city council and realizing all that all of you do and the time that you take listening to constituents and you know dealing with you know getting things done while by the way there's covid and the bridge

breakdown and these kind of things can get in the way you know or at least slow things down so really appreciate all you do and um all that the administration does thank you thank you thank you Miss appreciate it uh before I take another motion just a shout out to uh Miss Kathy holahan who along with uh the mayor and his staff but Kathy doing the bulk of the work organized another successful St

Patrick's Day celebration here uh yesterday even in the rain it was very well attended and uh a good job done once again by Kathy is there a motion well I have one other yes go ahead I want to shout out a big happy birthday to the ultimate City uh city clerk who's a benchmark for the State of Rhode Island it's Valerie Perry's birthday today so happy birthday Valerie good good point congratulations

and since we're adding I it's not my birthday I absolutely loved I played at STDs Saturday night we were at capacity they had to shut the doors GS was jammed you saw so many of our local establishment this holiday weekend and it it warmed my heart to see how well they did and you know that's what it's all about you know um he's proud of this place to be so STD you think we hear you

well no Stevie DS was crowded because they heard there was a DOT board with you that's right buddy actually behind me because I was coming off the flu and I was still a little dizzy it's it's a it's a thriving scene in East Providence and uh so much so much better any any other public service announcements at this time oh I cooked a meat off dinner tonight say well say Marth you've been

doing lent fish and chips we shout out to everybody you know that goes to St Brendan St Martha the churches that do that for the keep them open keep the doors open keep the people zeppa tomorrow Tommy Tommy gave approval he he back there he he showed up we sold out two weeks in a row so yes shout out to St Mars and all the you said I'm getting a zeppler this year Trinity bright Ridge

all it's zler time tomorrow yeah baby the best holiday is there a motion motion to J Ed by councilman fogy all in favor of adjournment I and he opposed meeting is adjourned thank you

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