City of Central Falls

City Council Meeting

Board of License Commissioners Meeting

Central Falls City Hall

580 Broad St., Central Falls, RI 02863

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

6:00 p.m.

 

Minutes

 

       I.                  Roll Call

 

    II.                  Pledge of Allegiance

 

 III.                  Public Comment

 

Gabriel Acosta and Kevyn Hernandez, Providence County Wrestling Club- thanked the Council, La Casona and Village Pizza for the support of their efforts.

Lorraine Savard, 76 Emmett St.- spoke about the proposed power plant in Burrillville and urged the Council to communicate its opposition to the Governor.

Edna Poulin, 68 Notre Dame St- Ms. Poulin spoke about the meetings hosted by the City related to the bond questions and expressed her displeasure at the way they were conducted.

Thomas Lazieh, 1072 Lonsdale Ave.-spoke about the Wyatt Detention Facility and the city’s budget. Mr. Lazieh expressed his concern regarding the city’s finances

Vernia Carter, 52 Earle St- spoke about a business in the city that, according to Ms. Carter, is selling tobacco without a license.

Major Daniel Barzykowski, of the Central Falls Police Department spoke, in response to Ms. Carter’s comments, about the manner in which license violations are brought to the City Council.

City Solicitor, Matthew Jerzyk, answered questions from the Council regarding consequences for business that fail to maintain proper business licenses.

 

  IV.                  Approval of Records-Meeting minutes

1.       June 25, 2018

2.      July 23, 2018

3.      July 30, 2018

4.      August 2, 2018

5.      September 10, 2018

 

Motion to approve the minutes collectively was made by Councilwoman Rivera, seconded by Councilman Solano. Roll call vote: Councilman Ferri: yes; Councilman Acosta: abstain; Councilman Figueroa: yes; Councilman Lazieh: no; Councilwoman Rivera: yes; Councilman Solano: yes. Motion carried 4-1.

 

     V.                  Executive Communications

A.     Consideration of appointment of Ms. Tracey Giron to the position of Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Service

Motion to approve the appointment of Ms. Giron was made by Councilwoman Rivera, seconded by Councilman Lazieh. Motion carried 5-0.

Ms. Giron thanked the Council for its support and invited them to meet with her to discuss the Parks & Recreation Department.

 

B.     Consideration of appointment of Ms. Lesdin Salazar to the Juvenile Hearing Board, with a term to expire on October 10, 2021

Motion to approve the appointment of Ms. Salazar was made by Councilwoman Rivera, seconded by Councilman Lazieh. Motion carried 5-0.

 

C.     Department Financial Reports

1.       City Clerk Department- August 2018

2.      Department of Code Enforcement- August 2018

3.      Finance Department: August 2018: Revenue, Expense

4.      Fire Department- August 2018

5.      Police Department- August 2018

Mr. Len Morganis, Finance Director, answered questions regarding the financial reports

 

D.     Mayoral Proclamation declaring September 22, 2018 as Museum Day

Received

 

  VI.                  Schedule of Bills- Hearing and/or consideration

A.     Ordinance amending Chapter 12, “Businesses,” Article 1 “In General”, Section 12-4 “Chronic Nuisance Properties”- Second Reading (Rivera)

Mr. Robert Weber was present to speak on the amendments.

Public Hearing: no one signed up to speak

Motion to approve the ordinance was made by Councilwoman Rivera, seconded by Councilman Solano and Councilman Figueroa. Roll call vote: Councilman Ferri: yes; Councilman Acosta: yes; Councilman Figueroa: yes; Councilman Lazieh: yes; Councilwoman Rivera: yes; Councilman Solano: yes. Motion carried 6-0.

 

B.     Ordinance amending Chapter 30, “Solid Waste,” Article I “In General,”- Second Reading (Rivera)

Public Hearing: no one signed up to speak

Motion to approve the ordinance was made by Councilman Acosta, seconded by Councilman Solano. Roll call vote: Councilman Ferri: yes; Councilman Acosta: yes; Councilman Figueroa: yes; Councilman Lazieh: yes; Councilwoman Rivera: yes; Councilman Solano: yes. Motion carried 6-0.

 

C.     Ordinance Amending the Central Falls Comprehensive Plan (Pawtucket / Central Falls Transit Oriented Development Area)- First Reading (Ferri)

Public Hearing: no one signed up to speak

Ms. Jillian Finkle of the Department of Planning and Economic Development was present to answer questions from the Council.

Motion to approve the ordinance was made by Councilman Solano, seconded by Councilman Acosta. Roll call vote: Councilman Ferri: yes; Councilman Acosta: yes; Councilman Figueroa: yes; Councilman Lazieh: yes; Councilwoman Rivera: yes; Councilman Solano: yes. Motion carried 6-0.

 

D.     Ordinance Permitting a Proration of the Homestead Exemption- First Reading (Acosta)

Councilman Acosta explained the changes proposed in the ordinance.

Motion to approve the ordinance was made by Councilman Solano, seconded by Councilwoman Rivera. Roll call vote: Councilman Ferri: yes; Councilman Acosta: yes; Councilman Figueroa: yes; Councilman Lazieh: yes; Councilwoman Rivera: yes; Councilman Solano: yes. Motion carried 6-0.

 

E.     Ordinance Creating the Central Falls Participatory Budgeting Committee- Second Reading (Acosta)

Public Hearing:

Lorraine Savard, 76 Emmett St.-expressed her concern that the ordinance would remove powers currently held by the City Council.

Edna Poulin, 68 Notre Dame St.- expressed her concern that the City Council would lose some of its powers and that information pertaining to the budget is not being given to the Council in a timely matter.

Motion to amend Section b(3) to add 4 mayoral appointments to the committee, 2 business owners and 2 home owners, was made by Councilman Acosta, seconded by Councilwoman Rivera.

Motion to amend section 3 to add sentence: “ participation of shall be voluntary.”, an section 4: “ a majority of the appointed and confirmed board members shall constitute a quorum”, was made by Councilman Acosta, seconded by Councilman Solano. Roll call vote: Councilman Ferri: yes; Councilman Acosta: yes; Councilman Figueroa: yes; Councilman Lazieh: yes; Councilwoman Rivera: yes; Councilman Solano: yes. Motion carried 6-0.

 

F.      Ordinance Creating the Wage Theft Prevention and Reduction Act- Introduction (Solano)

Introduced

 

G.     Ordinance Amending Article II “City Council” Of Chapter 2, “Administration”- Introduction (Fonseca)

Introduced

 

H.    Resolution of the City Council Approving the 2018 Pawtucket-Central Falls Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (Rivera)

Motion to approve was made by Councilman Figueroa, seconded by Councilwoman Rivera. Motion carried 5-0

 

Councilman Figueroa left the meeting at 7:57pm.

 

I.       Resolution of the City Council in Support of State Ballot Question #3, Green Economy and Clean Water Bond (Ferri)

Council voted unanimously to approve the resolution.

 

J.      Resolution of the City Council Condemning the Town of North Smithfield’s resolution requesting that the school Department as well as all other departments of the town refrain from purchasing products from the “Nike” Sporting Goods and Clothing Company (Acosta)

Motion to approve the resolution was made by Councilwoman Rivera, seconded by Councilman Acosta. Roll call vote: Councilman Ferri: no; Councilman Acosta: yes;; Councilman Figueroa: yes; Councilman Lazieh: no; Councilwoman Rivera: yes; Councilman Solano: yes. Motion carried 4.2.

 

K.     Resolution of Central Falls City Council in Condolences and Congratulations

 

The following resolutions were introduced by Councilman Lazieh and seconded by Councilman Solano. They were approved unanimously.

 

Resolution of Congratulations

Anthony & Annette Najjar on their 61st wedding anniversary on June 30th

Mansour Hanna Barbour Scholarship Fund

Zaky Nassaney on celebrating his 92nd birthday

Rev. Archdeacon George M. Yany on celebrating his birthday

Rev. Deacon Dr. Edmond B. Raheb on celebrating his birthday

Recognizing the Republic of Lebanon’s 75th Independence Day Celebration on Nov. 22, 1943

 

Resolution of condolences to the families of the follow people who passed away

Dr. Adib M. Mechrefe 7/30; Rhoda C. (Salhany) Michael 8/1; Barbara Valerie Fager 8/5; Donna Marie Maurice 8/15; Austin Owen Tague 8/16; Raymond Christiansen 8/19; Mary Bedrosian 8/22; Doris Turrenne 8/23; Florenzio Lugo 8/25; Louis J. Bessette 9/19/18; Ossin Azar Rowey 9/21; Luis A. Alves 10/5; Ruth Matzner Samdperil 10/8; Wedad El Hoyek El Irani 11/5/17.

 

VII.                  New Business

A.     Consideration of Tax Abatement submitted by Tax Assessor

Property Owner	Tax Year	Property Information
Lima, Davidson D	2018	MV:2009 Toyota Camry
Goncalves, Daniel	2018	MV:2010 Toyota Camry
Perez, Sandra M	2017	MV:2012 Hyundai Sonata

Mr. Bob Battey, Tax Assessor, was present and answered questions from the Council. Motion to approve the abatements was made by Councilman Acosta, seconded by Councilman Solano and Councilwoman Rivera. Motion carried 6-0.

 

B.     City Council Sitting as Board of License Commissioners

                                            i.            Consideration of petition of license

Class of License	Business Information
Class A- Restaurant New	El Paso Restaurant, LLC 1252 Broad St.

Motion to approve the petition for license was made by Councilman Solano, seconded by Councilwoman Rivera. Motion carried 5-0.

 

C.     Advertised hearing and consideration of petition for transfer of Alcoholic Beverage Class A license from Leonard Brothers Corporation, D/B/A ABC Liquors, 390 Broad St. to Bharathi Liquors D/B/A ABC Liquors, 390 Broad St.

Public Hearing

Mr. Richard Olivera- spoke about the business and expressed his opposition to location of the liquor store. According to Mr. Olivera, ABC Liquors has not improved the community and has brought loitering and decreased the quality of life.

Ms. Vernia Carter, 52 Earle St- spoke in opposition to this application.

Motion to approve was made by Councilman Solano, seconded by Councilwoman Rivera. Roll call: Councilman Ferri: yes; Councilman Acosta: yes; Councilman Figueroa: yes; Councilman Lazieh: yes; Councilwoman Rivera: yes; Councilman Solano: yes.  Motion carried 6-0.

 

D.     Petition by Progreso Latino for the waiver of special use permit application fees

Councilman Solano recused from discussion and left the room.

 

Ms. Vernia Carter spoke on behalf of Progreso Latino. Mr Joshua Giraldo explained the reasons for the request.

Motion to approve the request was made by Councilman Lazieh, seconded by Councilwoman Rivera.

Motion to amend the motion to exclude advertisement and postage fees from the waiver was made by Councilman Lazieh, seconded by Councilman Acosta. Roll call: Councilman Ferri: yes; Councilman Acosta: yes; Councilman Figueroa: yes; Councilman Lazieh: yes; Councilwoman Rivera: yes.  Motion carried 5-0.

Motion to approve the petition as amended was made by Councilman Lazieh, seconded by Councilman Acosta. Roll call: Councilman Ferri: yes; Councilman Acosta: yes; Councilman Figueroa: yes; Councilman Lazieh: yes; Councilwoman Rivera: yes. Motion carried 5-0.

 

E.     Hearing and/or Consideration of Claims

                                         i.   Executive Session pursuant to R.I.G.L § 42-46-5 (a)(2), pertaining to litigation or work sessions pertaining to litigation

Motion to enter into executive session was made by Councilman Acosta, seconded by Councilman Figueroa. Motion carried 6-0.

 

Motion to exit from executive session was made by Councilman Acosta, seconded by Councilman Solano. Motion carried 6-0.

 

                                       ii.   Dion Sign, of 1075 High St., Central Falls, for alleged damages to property sustained on May 3, 2018

Motion to approve the claim of Dion Signs was made by Councilman Lazieh, seconded by Councilwoman Rivera. Motion carried 6-0.

 

VIII.                  Good & Welfare

Councilman Ferri: congratulated Tracey Giron and staff of the Parks and Recreation department for a successful car show. Congratulated Mayor James Diossa for receiving the Blackstone Valley Tourims Council and the Family Service of RI awards.

Councilman Solano: congratulated Mayor James Diossa on receiving the awards and Councilman Acosta for his work with the Providence County Wrestling Club.

Councilwoman Rivera: congratulated Luz Arroyo who was selected as the athlete of the week

Councilman Acosta: announced a meeting being hosted by the Central Falls School District and its partners to conduct an audit of the city’s educational needs.

 

  IX.                  Adjournment

Motion to adjourn was made by Councilman Solano, seconded by Councilman Acosta. Meeting adjourned at 9:31pm

 

 

Sonia Grace

City Clerk

Approved November 14, 2018