EP Town Council 11/19/24

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Thom is councilman we go

take your time

Frank hey um this is

it's just up in the holiday BR gave us a

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good evening apologize for delay for two or three minutes here we get organized I'll call the meeting to order and ask the uh clerk to please call the role of the council councilman fogy councilman Lon yeah Council vice president rioo yeah councilwoman Souza council president Rodricks here the record show all five members are present uh please rise for the pledge

we could um while we still remain seated uh just a a moment to reflect on a special educator who passed away yesterday uh those of you um will recall uh Mr J Michael Rock who was a teacher a special ed teacher a coach involved in the system and Rose to become the director of special services for e Providence and pass passed away so our thoughts are with good old Mike and we

send our best to his family thank you all Madame clerk if you could please read the first item executive session the city council of East Providence may meet an executive session pursuant to the Rhode Island general laws 42- 46-5 A2 collective bargaining members of the council uh we can just stay right here tonight there's no need to go into executive session this is a minor language change in a

contract that is still being negotiated so it's it's just a logistical change in one section which uh the solicitor will explain to us thank you council president um as you may as you may remember the City Council on the last contract with the United still Workers Union gave them the day of Thanksgiving off day after Thanksgiving off in lie of um Good Friday uh half a day and also we

added June 19th the other Union in the city the EPA the professional managerial Union we're in the middle of negotiations with them but this provision of the holiday um is has was does not match usw and because of the Thanksgiving Day holiday coming up um we both all the parties agreed um to amend the contract just on this holiday schedule to reflect usw um that's that's so that's all this says motion to

approve motion by councilman Lawson to approve seconded by councilman fog any discussion all in favor I any opposed the eyes have it 5 Z thank you next item please consent calendar for discussion and possible vote a letters notice of new property one 125-127 Valley Street East Providence R Island 02914 map 105 block 04 APLE 002.0 motion to accept motion by councilman Lawson to accept there second

councilman fogy councilman rioo all in favor I I any opposed the eyes have it thank you next item council members Council requests update on all arpa funded projects discussion councilman Lawson uh so since we took office we started talking about Opera and I believe we had 14 million to start um there was a difference between us and the administration but we funded a bunch of projects and a lot of them are coming to

fruition so just need an update cuz we got about a month and it looks like there's going to be some extra funds and um we're either going to return some of it to the feds or we're going to find a place for it um so I put this on about a month I should have been more exact of what I was looking for which was how much money is left um not so much an

update on every single but it just a rough idea if there's going to be money left over over how much and then we could discuss how to allocate that funding uh good evening Council than president and council members uh councilman Lon and thank you I I've been providing updates on the actual project but I believe the a meeting before last uh Council vice president asked for the the finances so I will be able to send

this to digitally as well I do have hard copies that includes um all the different categories it breaks it down by project it also breaks it down by my funding amount um what's been allocated open POS it's very um in-depth so I'll provide that for the council's um review okay thank you and I I don't think we need to discuss it tonight because I'd like some time to look it

over yeah well well said I do have something to add as you talked about Council in Los that there's one addition I should say there's a couple additions to the to it and it's with money left over and you'll see it under City Park improvements it's for the ly Bor playground Glen line playground and the Kimber and rock program um The Glen line program we excuse me we can take under number two

which falls under my request what's going to be added now to Glen is an update of the irrigation system an additional pickle ball caught uh new playground equipment to Glen line as well as more lighting because the lighting that was just put in was not suffice up at the Lyle Bourn Pro uh playground it's going to be three additional pickle ball courts doing the basketball court as well as new uh

playground equipment for uh children the ages of 6 months to 12 years old and at kiman rock all three Fields will be update will have back stop new back stops put in those are over 40 years old and also the conversion of the Aldridge field will become a combination of a Little League field and the new 5070 fields that are becoming more popular we're the only major city in the state of Rhode Island that doesn't have

a 5070 field so this will help us be competitive in baseball by adding that field to become a 5070 field thank you vice president for pushing for those items at this time if there is no objection I would like to move up the item on page four under continued business uh number one annual renewal of Myrtle Lounge dance and entertainment license which was continued from November 12th 24 is there objection to

moving that up no objection hearing none we will consider that at this time and move move that up well Mr solicitor this is uh still a public hearing from it is still a public hearing continued from last time continued from last time so first I'd ask the the council if you want to um continue with the discussions from last meeting if you want to hold withhold your comments what is your

pleasure I will be making a motion that we approve the renewal with no restrictions um I still believe the police the neighbors and the owner can sit down and hash this out but I don't see a reason to hang the sort of Dames over a small business owner and have them worry about their livelihood being taken away month by month so I do I do think that there's a solution

but I don't think pulling a license is the solution um I'm here to listen to everybody I think we kind of got what about 30 40 emails I know I have um I we're a bedroom community and having these types of establishments in our NE I grew up in a Lincoln bar so it's right in the neighborhood as well so this isn't something unique this is something that you know you work with the business

owners you work with law enforcement if things get egregious then we do a show cause and then we discuss um repercussions I don't think we're at that point to withhold a license based on what's been reported um that's my view I'm one of five and um I'm here to listen thank you I appreciate that I'm going to uh hold off on accepting the motion at this point so that we can hear

here from if there are no other members of the council at this point you can certainly comment later but we want to allow uh people to speak it is a it is a public hearing so here's what I'd like to do we we have a a list where people signed in under Communications we'll just do that at this point um I I think that you know we're going to be able to

work this out so I would ask that uh normally if you've watched any of our meetings you know where we are very liberal and allowing people to speak we have limits but we never really watch the limits we let people speak we normally get about two people at our meetings so with this size audience with this size audience we um certainly don't want to be here past midnight listening

to the same things so we're going to try to limit people to what the rules say which is about 3 minutes to speak and we normally have a overall time limit um so I let me just say this I I tend to agree with councilman Lawson so let some folks know that um so I will'll let this play out but councilwoman Souza has made some good points and I I want to would never

speak for her but she has certainly never said to me she's looking to close the the merital she is looking to um address some issues from some constituents so I think the end we will all be on the same page but I I like the way councilman Lawson framed it so I'll I'll give this list back to the clerk she will call names up and if you would please come to the podium the the the

rules require that you just give your name and address for the record and the meeting is is being taped yeah yes councilwoman soua first thank you before we go into this um I just want to clarify for the record um I don't think that the frames what he said very great because at no point did this Council or anybody including myself on this Council say anything about revoking anybody's license that was never a

discussion that was never words uttered either in this um this public place on social media other than naysayers or people who are starting rumors so I find that very disturbing first and foremost as a representative of the residents the business and the community that in of the art and of music that that that rumor has been put out there that we're trying to close an establishment Which

is far from the case we have been very supportive of all businesses and continue to do so if you've watched any of our meetings especially with the bridge this Council has been extremely proactive to try to help in any way we can all the businesses in our city but In fairness when there are issues that arise in the community with residents and businesses it is my and I'm speaking

for myself my Justice is to work those out to talk to all parties and to come to a resolution and I've said this to the business owners and have been very upfront when the renewal came for the Citywide I personally reached out to the owners and said hey there's been some issues we're putting it aside so that you can come and be able to talk in front of the the residents and and say

your case so it's been always very transparent So for anybody on social media or anywhere else to say otherwise I think is very disingenuine and I don't appreciate that that being said um I will always continue to support the business and I look forward to hearing what I know is going to be said repetitively on either side of um the the situation the outcome that I'm looking for and that we have discussed

already and are planning is to have a community meeting with the people who are directly involved with the situation and come to an amicable decision so that everybody lives and operates peacefully that is my goal that has always been my goal but it has to be done and I prefer to do it in a public setting like this and not behind closed doors so thank you councilwoman um Madam clerk

we could please call the first person step Rodriguez and to save some time if you could actually call Maybe the first four or five people and I would ask you to line up along that wall to my left that way it saves 45 seconds or whatever of coming up if you prefer not to speak for some reason hang on one second sir one if you prefer not to speak then you

don't have to come forward so before we continue could you call two or three more names Lisa gallette John papy Scott Dumber great a few folks could just uh yeah I said that three minutes yeah no Andy is yeah okay I'm sorry uh Stephen uh welcome go ahead we good okay so let me just say thank you on behalf of all of us that are here that you're giving us the

opportunity to speak out today uh my name is stepen Rodricks I live over in North dayon Massachusetts I've been a musician in south eastern Mass and wrote Island for well longer than I want to admit to this body okay I've had the Good Fortune of playing at Myrtle several times and being a member of Their audience another several times I've never seen any issues going on in there Tommy runs a tight ship I was

there this Sunday so I just want to address the noise situation for you just to give you an idea of what goes on there from a musician's point of view we played there Sunday night little 6:00 start there had been music there all afternoon a lovely crowd of patrons there everybody just enjoying themselves having a good time listening to live Tunes we are a half hour into our set

and Tommy approaches us and says hey the guitars are a little bit too loud so this is the attention to detail that they're paying and I just also want to say to the folks in the town that are concerned about this place it's clean it's well-run there aren't drunk people running around and those of us that are coming into your neighborhood to play music we respect the neighborhood we're

trying to do the right thing we're not having major conversations smoking sigs and getting trash all over your property we respect our neighborhoods that we play in but please the Myrtle is a beautiful spot and it is well received by everyone that goes there see for yourselves thank you let give you a name and address for the record I am uh Lisa Gant I live on 39 har Street and I am also a musician

in the community I live um playing a couple of bands we've played at the Myrtle a couple times but I'm also a patron of the Myrtle I love it because of the diversity of all the different types of entertainment they have um last week I saw a great jazz band yesterday there was this fantastic fundraiser for hurricane relief for North Carolina and everyone came together and it was a

beautiful thing people dancing and just having a good time and it I really didn't see anything you know there was nothing from my point of view that was uh controversial or anything it was a wonderful uh experience and I hope that you know there can be a solution to appease everyone in the neighborhood because I don't live right in the neighborhood but you know I understand that but hopefully

everything can work thank

you my name is John poppley I live at 9 one Hood Avenue in East Rumford and um Lisa is my bandmate she and I are in several bands did you just say East Rumford I meant to say uh yeah I said he Rumford let correct that uh to my in as bad as sou Riverside you South EP yeah in my own defense I've only been here me wanting to move rumy

back into reob but you just gave them more F right now well let me start by saying I I I just want to commend the council this is a very levelheaded sane way of handling things I really appreciate uh the fact that you're doing it in a public forum to give everyone who both agrees and disagrees an opportunity to State their thoughts on it um as a musician let me just say that

um going to reiterate something the first Speaker said the sound control in this place is remarkable um having played in places where uh I have to close my ears or leave the place because it's so darn loud uh Tommy does a great job of mixing the sound he controls what the audience hears and it's not random and it's not just up to the band so bands are respectful but sometimes if they aren't

um you need somebody who's in that position and he is and he does the job um the other thing I just want to say quickly is is that uh from a from a Arts perspective there aren't a lot of places that promote original artists and that's something that this place does they have as part of their vision and Mission uh they support people who create their own music not just do covers not that that's

a bad thing covers are wonderful I've got a band that does that also but um is such a wonderful thing to have that kind of acknowledgement and that kind of support encouragement it doesn't happen every place and it doesn't happen by accident so um my thanks to Myrtle to Tommy and Natalie the owners and and to you the council for doing this such a uh a great way of doing it so thank you

thank you Madame clerk could you read um maybe another four or five names and we could start to line up an Dumber William Bomer PJ Eastman and Ryan Lee Crosby thank you go ahead sir is this thing on yes it's on all right hi my name is Scott Duma I live in Blackstone Mass but I'm originally from East Providence um I just want to say that I've I've been to the Myrtle a

number of times um I'm always amazed at how well Tommy keeps everything under control I've never seen any kind of problems there I've seen times where people are talking outside and he ask them nicely to you know come back inside and you know respect the neighborhood um it's just it's a great place and I think that you know I think one of the things is that if you know I know you said that there

was talk about you know taking not taking away licenses or anything but like if you did take away the entertainment license and it became just a bar I think it would just bring trouble I mean the fact that you can go there I don't really drink anymore um I have what's called like mocktails I go there for the music and I think there's a lot of people that just go there for

the music and it's a it's a wonderful establishment and it I never you know being from East Providence I was amazed to see something like that in East Providence to be honest because I'm used to you know just the sports bars that have been around forever or like the Lincoln you know and places like that so thank you thank

you welcome hi I'm and Dumba I live Blackstone with Scott and I just we're here because we wanted to voice our support but I wanted to add um to Echo all the comments that have already been made but I really you know I'm in my 50s I don't go out a lot but the Myrtle is one place I will make exception to go to because it's not loud it's a nice neighborhood I feel safe walking from

the bar to my car I don't have to hassles with any anybody else so I just wanted to come here to voice my support and hope that this can continue in this community thank you hey my name's uh pjman I live in a 61 South bar in Warwick I drove across the uh Bridge during rush hour if that's any Testament to how important I think this is I I did want to take a second and

just uh speak to like the the culture importance of of what happens at Myrtle because there's a lot of musicians in in Boston and this running areas uh folks I've seen over the last year like Michael Tarbox or uh Paul relle Andy Reigns folks who aren't going to fill a theater here in Providence that but folks who the M musicians in our area need to hear and need and need these

these artists that reach back and and and bring a Living Museum to the scene and that's and that's exactly what Myrtle does and and they've done other things like uh my friend Ryan had a residency this last year where he played with different people and I I was lucky to be one of those people but that's a sort of environment that breeds uh bands in in new musicians and new projects

that that we can all be excited about and be proud of that uh come from Rhode Island so that's just what I want say and thank you for letting me speak thank you yes sir welcome hi I'm Ryan Lee Crosby and um I just like to say I very much appreciate the chance uh to speak tonight um thank you for doing this uh I'm a full-time uh Blues musician and educator I moved to

Rhode Island uh just a little over two years ago and um I just I the Myrtle is uh the first place in Rhode Island that made me feel like Rhode Island was home and it's it's the um I lived in Boston for 24 years and uh Myrtle not only makes me proud to live in Rhode Island but I actually my wife and I were thinking about relocating to East Providence because we

want to invest in a community that supports a place like Myrtle as PJ mentioned I had a residency at Myrtle and um I just they treated me like family from day one and um I'm a 12E sober musician I don't drink and I I have ttis so I'm extremely sensitive to volume and I monitor monitor desal levels wherever I go and Myrtle is the only place I feel at ease about going

out and listening to music because I know that the the volume is is carefully considered and and well below what it is in other establishments and um I I've toured all over the US and Europe and the the Myrtle is one of the most conscientious organized kind establishments that I've played in and I just I I love them to death and uh just want to say Tommy and Natalie thank you

and thanks everyone for being here and thank you for letting me speak thank you now I want to add something though I'm a I'm a a Blues fan so we got to keep it going we need the lose to not die out and so anything you can do to help that was well I can tell you so in addition to my residency part of my work I travel to Mississippi uh three times a year and

I've worked with uh 70 something year old blues musicians down there uh recording and documenting their music and Myrtle gave me the opportunity to teach a number of workshops on these Regional styles that are really only held by one or two musicians um and I'm I'm trying to hold that lineage myself and share with others and uh the very first time I came in Natalie said to me hey how about how about teaching and so

I've I've taught numerous workshops to the community there and um so that's you know the the culture part of this uh and the education part of this too it's it's it's all there so I I don't want to believe me this I promise I won't tell any more stories but talk to our high school band director who is a great musician he's retired now some of you may know Jack McNamara great guitarist

and I said you know I'm 70 now I want to learn play the blues he said Bob too late he said just uh he said just enjoy it and said it's I I beg to uh to differ I actually don't want to hear from a blues musician if they're younger than 70 while he was thank you very much thank you next uh Madam clerk could you read the next four or five names star Harris Mark

Vieira bernardet Mauricio Peter balti or bartalotti Madam counselor counselors thank you welcome Bill Bartholomew 669 Elmwood Avenue in Providence I'm a musician and journalist and I Echo all the testimony that we've heard so far today but I'd add one critical piece which is Myrtle is a generative space which is a very rare uh Economic Development piece and look we don't have to get into the details of the bridge

but East Providence is in grave danger as someone who works here and visits here all the time literally multiple I work here every day and in East Providence almost every it's in grave danger of becoming an island of sorts further than it already is right now because of the continuation of the Washington Bridge debacle Myrtle is not only a generative space for East Providence but it is a rare magnet

bringing people into the community who are willing to deal with the traffic and other nuances that the Washington Bridge has has caused so I would implore in consideration of this renewal to consider the fact that economic development is thriving because of Myrtle not withstanding a constituent is issue which should be addressed but the much greater picture extends well beyond this beautiful venue thanks thank

you hi my name is star Harris I live at 51 kick and Road Long on Rhode Island um I'm going to be brief because there are a lot of people but and Ryan said so many great things um and everybody has uh I just just the community that Tommy and Natalie have created in a city that just keeps losing your area I mean Providence constantly just keeps losing

music by m um and I'm I'm a musician but I'm also a homeowner I pay my taxes there's almost no place left to go for musicians how are you going to have dbd Fest if there's no local acts because they've had no time on smaller stages um I just want to thank Natalie and Tommy for creating such an amazing space and it would be really sad if you thank you well hang on one second we'll call

the next few names I'd like to try to move this along so maybe we could limit um and they're not going to limit everyone who signed up and Beyond can speak but unless you have something really different to add you know maybe we can all kind of move this along so um why don't you call two or three more Folks up and line up and if you feel like you really don't have

anything different then it's okay you could you could sit back but why don't you go ahead sir and then hold off Madam clerk thank you uh my name is Peter balotti I uh live in Providence for Island not very far from here I I come here for a couple reasons um not so much just to reiterate what a lot of people are saying I come here as a musician one

of the members of the band that Steve was talking about that played Sunday night I've played a number of times at at the location I prioritize my love to play there because the space is one of the few places in the area that really does put the music and the art first I think I really do as part of the business model um a lot of broad Islanders don't really I don't think I think it's really

sad I've been a member of um uh I've been a chair the board for the Providence Southside Cultural Center um so I've been involved in the Arts I was on a committee with Governor mandoo a number of years ago about using art as an economic development engine and uh I've also been affordable involved in affordable housing in the Providence area and I've always seen with impact that music can make on a community on a

whole lot of levels and it's something that I've always been big on promoting and um the Myrtle is doing some great things along those regards like Mr cros we got up here and talked about those workshops and stuff I can't tell you that bringing that kind of thing uh to a community like this is really awesome we need more of that uh in the state if the if most of the people in Rhode Island

really understood the amount of musicians and the level of the art that is here we consume more art than almost any other state in the country on a per capita basis and people don't realize that so it's just something I'd like to bring out so support the Arts support the Myrtle and uh if you love blues music they're going to have a great great act there this Sunday night so

great so could we pause for a second and let me uh just ask if there is anyone present that wants to object to the renewal of the license I don't want to make this normally we would split it up into two sides tonight we just went into discussion but if at this time there is someone who would um and very respectfully I'm sure we we all want to hear from you so that's not a problem

there is someone here that um would like to object to the renewal of this license uh you're invited to come up at this time or you could come up a little bit later also still but I I want to in inject an opportunity at this point if there is anyone here uh seeing none Maybe by a show of hands you feel like you want to continue this discussion or

are we ready to get to a vote all right those are your hands up if you want to come up and just um don't worry about the list Madam clerk let's just have those folks uh but I will shut it off at some point because we can't we do have a rules limit in time so I would ask you to please offer something different at this point yes name and address for the

record hi um my name is Anna ohhara I live at 40 Banbridge Avent Providence um I just wanted to come up and speak because I'm the bar manager at Myrtle so I work really closely with Tommy and Natalie and the rest of the staff um I'm in charge of you know alcohol control and and making sure the bartenders are also not over serving and all that um I've been in the service industry for 10

years and the other bartenders that work there are all seasoned Warriors basically um we're all tip certified we take that course every few years we have to watch all those stupid videos over and over um but we take our job really seriously and I've never had an issue at Myrtle like ever ever and I've seriously been doing this for a long time I've also worked at other venues in Providence and not um and they have

never cared about noise they've never cared about you know the security guards when someone starts fighting it gets broken up that's it there's never any issue like that there's there hasn't been any issues whatsoever the cops are called often um but it's just because someone kind of just wants them to show up and give us a hard time it seems like cuz they just kind of show up and say

like oh you know we just had to check in everything's fine we're going to take off and leave like that's ultimately what it ends up being so if the police are called a lot nothing's really coming from it um you know I've never never had drunk belligerent guests I've never heard screaming i' I've somebody I watched all I haven't been able to come to these meetings but I watched all of

we've never had fights we've never had screaming like we're out there constantly patrolling and being like hey keep the noise down um the music stop pretty early and our patio closes at 10: so we're trying to even then contain people and I just want to point out really quickly um we offer a huge selection of non-alcoholic options so it's not just about going there and getting drunk and honestly we tried the

our best to prevent that it's really annoying to deal with as a bartender when someone's drunk like that's I don't want to deal with that no one does um and then I wanted to add in that I also live down the street well three houses down from a club it's a actual Club it's sometimes loud but I live in Providence I kind of expect a little bit of noise

too much noise is too much noise but you know it's they're pretty bad too like we're we're not even close to this club that I live down the street from um if you take or can you just wrap up please yeah sorry okay sorry I had this whole thing and I was like I'm not going to read that they're gonna kill me um if our license is not renewed our entertainment license it's a huge space

and it will not be at its full potential and I really don't think a lot of people will come and you know they pay us really well and they treat us really well at Myrtle so it would be a hard job to replace if I had to thank you for listening thank you hello my name is my name is Glenn wors I live at38 Ivy Street so I'm right next door like my bedroom window I can

see their front door and for 20 years I've lived in East Providence two in North brow 10 on Summit Street now another eight on Ivy Street and before it was um before Jeff's Pizza it was a Portuguese uh fish market never really that busy that was all right and then across the street was Tool Crib no one was ever coming in now in like in the couple years now I have two small

businesses that are across the street like right by my house and now I see people coming in and out of Jeffs all the time I see people coming in and out of Myrtle all the time going from Jeffs to Myrtle going from Myrtle to Jeffs so you have two small businesses is that before there was no business there was nobody there so it adds a like a vibrancy to my neighborhood and with the

noise I accept the noise because I live in the city of East Providence I don't live in a little rural town it's called the city of East Providence and water Waterman Waterman Street itself is a very busy road so all times of the day or night on my bedroom I hear 18-wheeler trucks and the big petroleum trucks coming up and down Waterman Street so it's just a normal course of events to

have a little bit of noise on Waterman and I don't think that pulling their license or closing them would do any any kind of resolution but you know detract us from having a good cultural thing like that thank you hello everyone welcome I'll keep this brief just name and address you all know that I have a lot to say Robert Baptist the 52 bures have welcome I also own a cafe and needs

Providence um but we collab with the Myrtle I think it's pretty clear that the whole reason for everyone being here is pretty ridiculous murder runs a clean business we all know that I know everyone wants to speak on their behalf um but it's obvious uh in spite of Mrs su's Miss su's uh contentious reply that there's really no need to be here their license was put to test which is why

everyone's here she's not nervous for no reason um I was really hoping that the people driving this complaint CU it's really only a couple people okay um stuck around but they didn't have the stomach for it okay I'm an East Providence resident and I'm glad that I'm following a towy who who gets it okay I grew up here I'm from here I have a business here I owned a home here I still live

here right um to follow up his comment about being on Waterman AB yes there should be some level of real istic expectation that there's going to be some noise the city is actively putting money into Waterman a Broadway uh waren a Tor a to get businesses like the Myrtle to come and stay I grew up here and there were nothing but boarded up businesses on Tav waren a and there's

still a bunch on waren a in W two that I would much prefer that they spent their time addressing than the people who turned the Tool Crib which was an absolute mess if you're from East Providence remember what that looked like raise your hands to see what they have done to that space now is a gem to this city okay it brings people over this bridge and as somebody who's being

impacted not only by that bridge but the very decisions of this Council here we need I need a business like this to bring people to East Providence to make people want to stay in East Providence evence because sometimes this old school mindset that those people have that don't have a realistic expectation of where they live that the city is going to be changing I wanted quiet I lived in Rumford now I live off

a Burge sa where it's a little bit busier guess what my level of expectation to quiet like the person before me said is more realistic all right so my main problem is that can you wrap up Robert I will wrap it up okay um um really quick Rick I found you to be a little bit confrontational in your approach but you're very fair and you asked the solid questions Frank you're

the only person who reached out to me Bob I think you do a good job of keeping everybody in order along with Mike about not sticking their put in their mouth as far as the other two Council people I've seen them Target rord m in Myrtle and now since I've had my running with them had the police called on me six times I just want to reiterate that having the

police called on you versus it being a legitimate reason are two different things and this Council has used a record of police calls and Resident complaints one or two and they didn't even stick around to line up a case where you have to come here and support and speak all these words how is that going to look to anyone outside of the city why they would want to do business here and it's

not the city of East Providence because the mayor great job promoting business city clerk's office great job Mike I've had my differences not Runnings with you but they do a great job I have had the police called on me the police have told me on several occasions we don't even think we need to be here but a city council member called the police so time time that's documented so I just want to

say I appreciate that all of you are here to support them I would encourage you to continue to keep coming to these City Council meetings cuz I am that one or two people who's here every single time they're talking about mate so I see all of this going on and I see what they did to run for motor in who is now put it up for sale what they're doing to her

also I questioning her business plan that's time is up thanks thanks Robert have a great night Mr uh president yeah hold on one second um before the next person uh talks I am very Pro business I am the councilman in Ward one Rumford motorin was targeted not just by Me by the council before so I'm going to bring a little history to it there's a whole difference between the Myrtle and

support small businesses as Mr Rosa can see and everything like that run motoring has been a bon of contention for every Council for the last 20 years there's no comparison to the Myrtle and ret motoring would you want to be living in a neighborhood where there's drug dealings going on where there's police involvement where there's been a police officer was almost killed in a confrontation with the resident it's on

video Channel 10 has it the police officer was being pulled out I didn't Target them this was targeted long before Mr ke Mr spray live right by the police there was a per they were robbing houses armed robbery from there prostitution whole different story it's been going on for councils so to single me out is wrong do I correct and all of that so why is the treated you're out of

water Robert why is you're out of water why the approach has been the same no it has the same you made your point it's totally different people I'm just finishing up it's totally different because the residents of Rumford would you like that the Myrtle doesn't have syringes at TD Bank you hear from the manager TD Bank they don't have people walking in the neighborhoods with bathrobes on so to ATT to attack me

you're attacking the people award one so totally different totally different to I'm I'm the most pro pro business person Pro bus PR music that there is so to to single me out and talking about the Rumford motoring that was started long before the police started that so I'm just letting the record be straight that what you said was semi fabrication but I respect your words thank you and have a good evening

thank you Council vice president nobody's attacking the Myrtle or trying to get the Myrtle out of business so this same conversation of oh it doesn't look good for them either that people continue to say that their license is getting pulled that is not what's going on this is a way to get everybody together to talk about what is going on with the neighbors if you don't let the business owners know that they have

neighbors who are upset and want to have a discussion about it then it doesn't doesn't happen so this is the time of the year that that can take place where people are paying more attention so that's all this is it's a business friendly City I'm a business friendly person again however everybody wants to spin that or the way they receive it that is entirely your you know decision thank

you councilwoman next please hi my name is Ben Len I live in West Warick um I've been to a lot of concerts and a lot of venues for my whole adult life and one thing that's really hard to find is a venue that people would want to go to to to see loc to see local music um just to find out who's playing or you know they don't know necessarily know any of the bands that

are playing there but they want to just be in that environment it's very rare for there to be a venue that attracts that kind of interest and curiosity but the Myrtle is that venue um it's one of the only ones I can think of in the whole country and there's three main reasons for that one is that um as has been mentioned the sound system is really good um they can control the

sound from any point in the room so the mix is actually uh correct no matter where you're sitting to you can sit there is seating all over the place so it's a relaxing place to see music and number three if my wife goes there um to a late show or whatever I know that when she's in that space she's safe and I know I'm safe when I'm there too um and

it's not because of the neighborhood or anything I'm actually just talking about when you're in there you the neighborhood's nice I'm just talking about when you're in there the uh environment and the the mood of the place is just really peaceful place the way music should be and the music isn't just a means to sell alcohol as it is in so many other venues it's actually clearly the focus of the space so I just

wanted to add that thank you sir hi uh my name is Bridget Mullen and I live on 175 Summit Street my dad and I moved to Summit Street uh we bought our house about four years ago um it was a good opportunity to we're both musicians and songwriters and my dad's been living in Rhode Island for his whole life uh playing music he is one of the you know he's 76 years old blues rock and jazz

musician um and I've I hope he doesn't mind me saying this but uh I've seen him struggle with you know covid and not being able to go out and play which is really his whole identity um and how hard he works I mean like I'm kind of lazy I'll I'll pick up my guitar and play little he's like down there all like all the instruments playing all night long I actually have to tell him

to be quiet sometimes but um that's another story but you know feel having a place like Myrtle where he's actually played a bunch of times um has been really helpful for him to have like I think when you get to that age there's a sense of feeling irrelevant and cast kind of to the side in society just what age is that well it shouldn't be any age right that's the whole point um so just

wanding yeah he's 76 he's a blues guy sorry Dad yeah he's yeah he's long lifelong working musician quit while you're ahead yeah I'll quit while I'm ahead um but yeah I think that we both really when when Myrtle moved in we were so psyched it's I've lived in some big music cities like Seattle and Austin and um yeah you don't hear people complain about noise in places like that because

and you know you go to Paris it's like there's culture is really important more than ever now I would say and um it's a way to connect people and I'm I'm kind of a hippie so yeah I feel like it's it's a way to connect our hearts and and like get along and I when I go in Myrtle I see all kinds of different people all different ages um again like Tommy and

Natalie I see Natalie out like the last time I was there fantastic show Saturday night um she's out there with a little meter I can see her going around the building like checking all the time so you know I've I've been to a lot of venues I've played at a lot of venues I've we played my band a couple weeks ago it's so much fun it LTS everyone's Spirits I know you guys all know that

and and they're doing more than due diligence to make sure that everybody feels um heard and held and supported and they're nurturing arts in this community and I couldn't be more proud to live in each Providence because like I it was already a cool place when I moved in but like you know got to watch out for like grown out fast food on the side of the road and stuff and it's nice

to have like something where you're like this this makes people we want to have people visit and see how cool it is thank you next yes sir uh so uh over 70 Blues musician all right thank you name and address uh Mark miloff and uh in Westport uh although I lived in the jewelry district for 15 years where there were clubs that were not like the Myrtle uh the Myrtle is an anomaly it's

it's a glowing institution um uh Tommy and Natalie are just uh uh such unusual people and um and just The Testament that all of these local people uh play there you know they're open there there are clubs in the area where if you're local you're not going to be playing so they're serving the community in that way and uh and it supports the Arts in a way that communities would just love

other communities would love to have a mle and we are so lucky to have that's it thank you thank you sir hello my name is Stephen Costa 182 Anthony Street I am also the owner of roses tabern as many of you know welcome I am here to support the Myrtle and um the fact that we collaborate a lot with the Myrtle they don't have food there um the so they use us they use Jeffs they

use Redbridge they support all the local restaurants around them um to provide food for those customers um and to the fact of a lot of people that have come up here already um to Annie's fact as the bar manager um I do a lot of catering jobs there I see what the bar staff does to her point where they do a lot of mocktails they have a lot of customers that go there that don't drink

and that's why they provide a mocktail menu uh being in the restaurant industry a lot of restaurants need to do that and bars um roses tavn will be start doing that soon as well um but again we're in the Art District this is what we wanted for our community Waterman have for a long time my restaurant was closed down for eight years nine years before I bought it um The Tool Crib was a dying

cause Jeff's Pizza before he opened it to to some of what Glenn said water manav is becoming a place to go to just like Tav used to be years ago and that died down so we need to uplift our community and I know some neighbors don't understand the fact that these new businesses come in and we deal you're going to have to deal with some issues I have the same issue with my restaurant

with parking and some noise issues not as much but we are there to support our locals one thing that knowing Natalie and Tom when I first met them they they were just remodeling they had just signed their lease and they became a part of my family we of all businesses on water manav stick together and work with the city council the administration to help our local neighborhood we've

been talking about getting crosswalks in putting some speed signs in because that Waterman a especially now with the bridge debacle I won't get in that com ation today but we suffering enough with the bridge debacle and Waterman AV now is a main ottery for people crossing over that bridge and getting to the new Henderson Bridge and the rotary people as some of the customers have said today

people fly down water manav to the point where I don't know how anybody has not gotten hit whether it's my customers or their customers we work together and now work with the city council and the administration to help our neighborhood so there might be one or two neighbors that are complaining we're always going to get that whether your business here on water manav Tav North Broadway waren

AV I've worked in every single restaurant in East Providence I've dealt with it what I'm trying to say is they're doing a great thing they're a great part of our community they lived in East Province ating where a lot of businesses their owners don't even live in these problems so I'm here to support them U I know Anthony from the yach club is here with his wife as well and they

have the same vision and aspect of what Natalie and Tom have and we support you guys 100% so thank you for joining our community thank you to the council hearing us today thank you and uh Steve thank you for all all you do in the community I know you donate to a lot of organizations thank you which one yeah we only have about nine yes sir name and address hi thank

you for having me my name is Francis I live at 120 calverly street over in Smith hill right by that dunkies and uh I agree with all of the Fantastic testimony I've heard today in support of the Myrtle I'm going to add advocate for them from a slightly different perspective I'm 36 years old I'm a textbook Millennial and a part of that Millennial experience is not being sure where home is where home is going

to be since I turned 18 and left home I've moved every one or two years for almost 20 years now I've been looking for a place to go home for a long time and I've lived in a lot of places and I can never go home the I grew up in my parents bought it for 100 grand and they sold it a while ago and now it's worth a million I'll never get back in so I've

been moving around thanks to my job living in all kinds of communities I've lived in communities that are dying where they have empty houses and full bars I've lived in communities that are dull and futurists where all anyone talks about is how quick they can get out of them and I've lived in hyper gentrified cities where I didn't feel like a neighbor I felt like a customer Custer and I was paying for

everything and I landed in Rhode Island and I love it here and I love it here because Rhode Island has something special and it's a genuine sense of community I don't want to live in a town where I get up in the morning and I drive to a job where I I take flak from my boss all day then I drive home and I lay in bed and stare at the ceiling and

worry about the future I want to live in a community and that can't happen at home it can't happen at work it has to happen in these 30 spaces and the Myrtle is that space the Myrtle is a place where locals can meet people traveling through they can connect with artists and musicians as we have we as we have heard they can meet local vendors they can bring their family and their friends do business

make memories share time together and it's for everybody it's not for one or two people living one or two kinds of lives with one or two complaints it's for everybody to come together and make the place live feel like home so the Myrtle is very important to me I had one of the most important nights of my life there they supported me and they went above and beyond supporting me raising money for a domestic violence

organization that helped me as a survivor of domestic violence I'm really grateful to them they do so much for the community I've bought some of my favorite clothes from their vendors there I've had some tasty alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks there it's a lovely venue and it would be a tragedy so lose it and for the last 20 years I've been asking asking myself every year or two

where do I want to live and the Myrtle is the kind of place that answers that question for me so um since a town needs to exist longer than a single generation and there's millions of people like me floating around trying to find home places like the Myrtle are anchors that bring people together and build the community or the Next Generation the next 50 60 years thank you appreciate it

hello and thank you so much for allowing me to speak my name is Michael Samos I'm at 34 John Street right up the road I bought my house years ago uh and I'm the manager for the last 18 years I've run Empire guitars in Provence Island uh which is now grown to be a pretty successful business but began as a small heart business in all honesty with just a couple of people and some ideas and

we've been very fortunate that it's growing over that time um before that I was a touring musician for many years and I had the Good Fortune to tour all over the US and Europe so I've been in a lot of venues and a lot of bars uh I won't spend a lot of time telling you how special mytle is lots of people have spoken to that already it is a rare

thing uh and as a resident in this city I do think I think that Myrtle is a big promoter of the Arts for us I think Arts is good business I think it's something that as a as a resident here want to see it in our city uh I do think that it's admirable the way that this the council has approached it uh I have empathy certainly for the residents

who have who are having issues uh I think that a sitdown approach is great I just wanted to add that I understand that Myrtle itself is a heart business that it's not the sort of thing these venues are not the sort of thing you enter into to make a lot of money you do it because you have a passion and a love and I think that place exudes that passion and love I'd just like to make

sure that as everyone sits down and tries to Hash this out amicably with the neighbors that no undue financial burden put on to Myrtle in order to make that happen I think it would be a concern of mine uh that that some sort of proceedings out of that would have a real Financial impact that close the business so thank you for your time thank you hello um my name is Chris Smith Lavoy I

live at 424 Summit Street in Fall River Massachusetts I was brought to Myrtle by two of my friends who are in their late 70s um it's a place where I as a woman about to hit 60 can go in and feel completely at home I lived in Nashville for eight years um I have not seen any place like Myrtle here in this region that has that feel of community and and there were

plenty of places when I lived in nville before 1990 that did most have become commercialized now um I just think you're sitting on a beautiful it's it's a place unlike and I grew up singing in bars um and I've only been to Myrtle twice and I got food at the Red Bridge uh Tavern and I just think it's a really special place and I hope that some type of agreement can be reached thank you

for letting me thank you for coming uh hello I'm Joshua card I live at 22 Waterman right next to the Myrtle um I've lived there for over 22 years now and the myrtles brought something to the community that magical made the so much it just bring people together a lot of people have testified on that but um I also want to just make a comment more about the city of East Providence as a

whole um that just remember that what you guys are going to do with this business and reflect on how friendly of a business um Community we're trying to make it or so just remember that what you guys do when you're having this hearing people are going to go on Facebook people are going to get on social media and talk about it you can negatively or POS thank you for your time thank you

now you got to be a blues Man sometimes there's a bit of Blues in there I am a musician who does original music I stumbled across the Myrtle fairly recently kind of by accident I'm sorry just name and address for the record Jason 32 Woodland Road in Warwick so I'm from way over in the West Bay I heard a couple other warwicks here but that was really kind of the point that I

wanted to make when I first heard of the place I think my wife had said oh there's this place let's go and I said East Providence really I'm not sure I want to go over there you know that was kind of what my impression of going to East Providence was and when I got to Myrtle and was there a few times I was just stunned and like this is what I've

always wanted to be able to visit to be near and suddenly Washington Bridge didn't seem like much of an issue at all because I could go to this place and so when I heard uh this past weekend that the place was at risk in any way saer form and that I could come here uh and offer a voice of of help i' so wanted to do that from over in the West Bay thank

you for the time thank you so we'll probably wrap this up with your comments Natalie Van landingham uh representing Myrtle at 134 Waterman um I just wanted to thank the city council for allowing everyone to come up and speak um and for all of our lovely supporters I'm not going to cry I promise but it's really nice to hear um the way that our business has impacted the community um I did want to say that

I do look forward to continuing the conversations with councilman soua and our neighbors um who are having complaints we we really do care about that we really do want to fix it and I sent you a message today kind of telling you the things that I've been doing thus far and I believe that we'll get a meeting on the docket really quickly I think we were talking the first week in

December um but I do want to let everyone here know that we have had a lot of support from the city of East Providence in the city council and I constantly in any interview I do for the globe for whatever I do always want to let people know that this is a good place to come and live and work and I hope that we can keep working together thank Youk

you uh one one final offer if there are any objectors to the renewal of this license if you'd like to um speak at this time um seeing N I will close the public hearing and for my part just state that I I've been to the Myrtle not a lot I think three or four times mostly uh they have been uh fundraisers I did go last night I wanted to make an appearance

preparation for today so I went in just unannounced not even mentioning it I think to council but um and there was a packed house it was very eclectic uh good good good music uh bass fiddles and um all kinds of uh different instruments and little bit of bluesy sounding and um and everyone was was appropriate I know it's a Monday night and maybe a Friday Saturday night can get uh a little more

noisy as people leave at the end of the night so we're working on that I did talk with the police chief today he's working with councilwoman uh suer and all of us and has talked with uh Natalie and and has said that they are already scheduling meetings and uh the councilwoman will have conduct more Community meetings so we're going to do everything we can uh I think a good thing coming from tonight

is we're hearing a lot of nice stuff about East Providence and that's that's a good that's a good thing you're here and we just have to to convince councilman Lawson Riverside is part of East Providence we we have a sectional thing going here Rumford Riverside Ken height Philips stale it's it's East Providence and uh we welcome those of you tonight who don't live here and get to see a little piece of this so with

with that um councilwoman do you want to add anything before I call for a motion I think there's a motion on the table there was but I hadn't accepted it as a motion yet so if you want to say something now yeah so just kind of to wrap up the sentiment there are um there is a meeting plan for the first week the residents who are directly involved are aware um the bsiness owners are aware so

we will be having that discussion just to be clear none of those who have been complaining either through emails phone calls the police they none of them want the business to close they enjoy the business there they're just looking for some collaboration with the business and I know it could be hard for people who are just visiting it frequently or may but living could be a different

perspective and we all know that we all have different perspectives on all different things noise sound just in a conversation me saying what I'm saying everybody in this room can take it differently so again it's our due diligence to be mindful and it's an opal table discussion never was it to not renew a business the city has invested a lot of time and money into the Myrtle with supporting them opening up their

business that's why the business is located where it was because we knew it was going to be great and vibrant for that area so we look to continue we wouldn't put the effort that we have nor would they have put the effort that they had if we did not want that business to be there so that's certainly not the case so I definitely want to debunk that um the residents don't want it to go

away the council doesn't want it to go away we just have to have a discussion about what we can do to address the concerns and that's what we're going to do on the first week of December and we'll keep monitoring it um moving forward thank you councilwoman councilman Lawson would you like to uh State your motion please I make a motion that we renew the entertainment license with no

restrictions second second by Council vice president rioo any further Council discussion Madame clerk would you I do have one all right quickly thank you well I'm I'm not going to talk about the Jazz I'm to I'm to New Wave Rock a lot younger so of the five sitting up here I own two small businesses one that was started 15 years ago and I wanted to be in East Providence but it was anti-

business so that business is located in war second business now that we purchased is in East Providence it's in Rumford so I I know what it's like to run small businesses and every day see the money coming in money going out and investment and putting your head on the pill at night and there's no way again I got my little I Got My Little Portal temper up a little bit the

comparison of the police having what the police had to go through at an unfriendly business and disrespectful for the neighborhood versus somebody who's trying it not even the same and I commend them for continuing to do it and I think this meeting will help I think the meeting in December and I mean again I know what it's like to be a small business I know what it's like to to deal with residents

and it's an apple to an orange don't have a don't ever compare what what goes on up on Newport Avenue to the Myrtle because nobody wants to see that Newport Avenue the people having armed 10 armed robberies and a killer from North Carolina that was on national news a w out for him and guess where he was guess where they found them not even the same the Myrtle you can't compare it the

Myrtle's a great place I've been there a couple of times once unfortunately for after a funeral but that that's type of business we want and we want to chase the bad people away and we want the good people to stay Thank you thank you sir I like that yes uh councilman fogy uh not many words said that you haven't already said uh the businesses need to grow uh and the residents need to live you know I

complement both sides so working together is key I'm going to support it based on all you people that came I wrote down most of the addresses out of these Providence but you do work there you help the murle grow you help roses tavn you help Jeffs you help the community so my opinion was different I very much care about the residents seriously and I consider Natalie's doing a great job making sure that they're

satisfied so with that content I'm content thank you thank you so on the motion from councilman Lawson second by Council vice president rioo Madame clerk would you please call a rooll councilman fogy hi councilman Lawson hell yeah he's a musici if you didn't know Council vice president rioo I affirm the motion councilwoman Souza hi council president R and the eyes have it can I just

say what what makes a place special is the people and you guys you're amazing you're amazing in 2014 a city council member came up to me and said hey will you start an kns Council we're doing the comprehensive plan and one thing that's been coming up is there's no one advocating for the Arts so my response was what the hell is an Arts Council but we created the East Providence Arts Council

and then we created the Loof an award-winning Arts Festival the city of East Providence in the last 10 years has been working hard to promote the Arts as an economic driver as a cultural thing as a place that people want to be and what better than the Arts to drive people into a city you want to live in a place that's cool you want to be able to leave your front door and not travel a

long way to see live music to see art galleries and stuff so this city is committed and I just want to thank every single one of you cuz you're the reason that it's showing us that the Arts are going to survive in these Providence and I promise you we're going to work our butt off to support businesses that support the Arts so thank you thank you be proud go have a

drink now I'm just a little disappointed we don't have any music in the background because on the golf courses nowaday they allow you to have background music every hole so in the future meetings if anyone like to come and support us with music iate sing the blues come on Bob sing the blues you are all welcome to stay here till midnight other I'll call five minute recess while everyone leaves was half kidding he's

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okay we will come out of a recess and resume the agenda which I believe will go to page three I want to thank um each member of the council for um your patience and for listening to members of of the general public um residents or not this this is still uh uh a city that welcomes guests to our restaurants and venues and uh Madam clerk thank you for your patience with the list and for helping with

getting everyone to speak so at this time we'll go back to page three if you want to resume calling the agenda Madame Clerk public hearings ordinance for final passage for discussion and possible vote I make a motion to table one and two please motion to table on numbers one and two by councilwoman Souza there a second second second by councilwoman Lawson all in favor I I any opposed the eyes have it 5 Z next

item number two of continued business thank you consideration of earned accumulated comp time by former city clerk sponsors Council vice president Rego councilwoman soua councilman make a motion to approve second motion is made and seconded to uh approve the council discussion no Madam uh cler please call a roll before we just can I what are we approving I just need to know well that's yeah I was going to bring up on

discussion we do I believe we need a specific amount or hours or something yeah right I mean so under discussion why I I can't vote for this is because there there isn't a specific amount mentioned or an account mentioned and there was nothing in that former employment agreement that allowed for this so it sets president moving forward can we move forward and amend this and table it y I'll take back my my

second can we table this and move sure and refine it and I didn't know there was a number all right so can we um to table the uh motion is we have to withdraw the initial you withdraw the initial motion and the second they are withdrawn motion to approve and then new motion to table by councilwoman soua is there a second councilman all in favor I any oppos the eyes have it thank you next

item new business resolutions for discussion and possible vote resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract with W Walsh company for the cleaning and lining phase five water system up grade project sponsor councilman V fog motion to approve thank you motion to approve by councilwoman Souza seconded by councilman bogy all in favor I I any oppos the eyes have it next item an ordinance in amendment of

chapter two of the revised ordinances of the city of East Providence Rhode Island 1998 as amended entitled Administration and this is the motion to item right that we have discussed and before we vote I I just need the solicitor he he uh use the term I don't think it's a legal term but he legalized some of the language just so we're we're within the law so if you want to explain that it's it's just a

technicality right just briefly this is this revised ordinances for first passage this this new ordinance represents the Amendments that were proposed by councilwoman Su at the last meeting and so we start all again after that so we're at first passage the only thing that uh so all the all the amendments are reflected in this ordinance I did have a conversation with Bond Council um about the initial

funding of the revolving fund and she provided me with the language that the city of East Provence shall transfer any unencumbered unspent or supplanted funds from the high school bond series 202f to establish the revolving fund so that's where that money is coming from so it's it's the legal process when will it be available um we're working on that now um there's a meeting with Bond Council I

think it's for um next this Thursday perhaps just to make because a couple um um reports that need to be run before she can actually sign off on the approval but they're working on that but the money's there we just want to make sure we get the full amount and that we satisfy any other Bond requirements and my vote on any other Capital purchases is dependent on that money being available thank

you so I lost and that's all the I make a motion to approve actually I think already made it yes councilwoman susza made the motion seconded by councilman Lawson all in favor I I any opposed motion to adjourn yes that was first passage motion to adjourn second motion to adjourn Council vice president Rego seconded by councilman Lawson all in favor I any opposed the eyes have it thank you all that yeah

Tim Ro there we got that's right that's why I start tell today before yeah