I.     CONSENT CALENDAR

A.  CANCELLATION/ABATEMENTS (Requested by Tax Assessor)

B.   RESOLUTION – City of Newport – Resolution in support of the HousingWorks RI Legislative Platform.           

C.  ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE LICENSES – CLASS F

      July 2, 2006 – Holy Ghost Brotherhood Mariense, 846 Broadway

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, and on a roll call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve the Consent Calendar. It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

II.    PROCLAMATIONS, PRESENTATIONS, & INTRODUCTIONS

1)      Mayor Larisa presents a citation to Chief Paquette on behalf of the City Council for Officer Karl Jacobson for his receiving the National Top Cop Award.

2)      Mayor Larisa presents a citation to Manuel Vinhateiro and Antone Gouveia on behalf of the City Council for East Providence High School being honored by the Board of Regents as a Regent’s Commended School and the Martin Middle School for improving from a moderately performing school two years ago to a high performing school with caution.

III.   APPOINTMENTS

            Conservation Commission  (By Councilman Caine)

            Scott Costello, 85 Ferris Avenue (02916)

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, it is unanimously voted to approve.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

IV.   CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS LICENSING COMMISSIONERS

LICENSES REQUIRING PUBLIC HEARING

1)  B-Full Privilege Vict  Subject to approvals from the Chief of Police, Building Inspector, Health Inspector and Fire Marshall, and State Div. of Taxation.

Paul T. Shire and Felix Rodriguez, Felshy, Inc., d/b/a Cattails Grill, 315 Waterman Avenue

Felix Rodriguez, 126 Clift Drive, Narragansett, RI is present and sworn in by the City Solicitor.

There is no one from the public wishing to be heard.

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, and on a roll-call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

2)  Vict/Over 50  Subject to approvals from the Chief of Police, Building Inspector, Health Inspector and Fire Marshall, and State Div. of Taxation.

Paul T. Shire and Felix Rodriguez, Felshy, Inc., d/b/a Cattails Grill, 315 Waterman Avenue

There is no one from the public wishing to be heard.

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, and on a roll-call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

3)  Secondhand Dealer/Junkyard  Subject to approvals from the Chief of Police, Building Inspector, Zoning Officer and Fire Marshall.

Gregory M. Demetrakas, d/b/a Cemet Holding Co., 105 Valley Street

Gregory Demetrakas, 121 Gilbert Stuart Drive, Warwick, RI is present and sworn in by the City Solicitor.

Ms. Boyle states the use of the property would have to be consistent with the waterfront district and you would need to get permission from the Waterfront District Commission and instruct him on whom to contact to be put on their docket.

After further discussion, it is unanimously voted to defer.

LICENSES NOT REQUIRING PUBLIC HEARING

4)  Vict/Not Over 50 Subject to approvals from the Chief of Police, Building Inspector, Health Inspector and Fire Marshall.
Paul G. Diniz, Smalltown Diner, LLC, d/b/a Bobbie’s Smalltown Diner, 446 North Broadway

Paul Diniz, 28 Munro Avenue, Warren, RI is present and sworn in by the City Solicitor.

On motion of Councilman Caine, seconded by Councilman Midgley, it is unanimously voted to approve.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

5)  Vict/Not Over 25 Subject to approvals from the Chief of Police, Building Inspector, Health Inspector and Fire Marshall.
Edna Tipple, d/b/a Roland’s Sub & More, 188 Taunton Avenue

Roland and Edna Tipple, 2248 Cranston Street, Cranston, RI are present and sworn in by the City Solicitor.

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, it is unanimously voted to approve.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

6)  Peddler – Ice Cream  Subject to approvals from the Chief of Police, Health Inspector and City Manager.
James Clancy, d/b/a Clancy’s Ice Cream, 12 Pearce Street

Mr. Clancy is not present.  Motion to defer to the next meeting by Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine.

7) Vict/Not Over 25 Subject to approvals from the Chief of Police, Building Inspector, Health Inspector and Fire Marshall.

John Palangio, 2 Pisans LLC d/b/a Crescent Park Chowder House, 864 Bullocks Point Avenue

On motion of Councilman Caine, seconded by Councilman Midgley, it is unanimously voted to approve.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

8) Holiday Sales License  Subject to approvals from the Chief of Police, Building Inspector, Health Inspector and Fire Marshall.

John Palangio, 2 Pisans LLC d/b/a Crescent Park Chowder House, 864 Bullocks Point Avenue

On motion of Councilman Caine, seconded by Councilman Midgley, it is unanimously voted to approve.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

LICENSING COMMISSIONERS RESUME SITTING AS CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING

V.    NEW BUSINESS

A.     CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

1)  Meeting Street School Property – report from JCJ Architecture regarding analysis of property for municipal use.

Ms. Boyle states the Council held a special meeting last week to discuss a potential purchase of the Meeting Street School property.  JCJ Architecture has looked at the potential uses for the property and has already been retained by the City to do an analysis of locations for a public safety complex or Fire and Police station.  Peter Stevens and Ted Nolte of JCJ Architecture give a report on their preliminary findings on how this property could be used for either a Police and Fire station or Recreation Center or a combination of both.  These are just the preliminary findings; the actual analysis for the public safety complex is just in the beginning stages.  This is just to inform the public of this.  JCJ Architecture gives a PowerPoint presentation on the potential uses for the site. 

2)  Wastewater Collection System Improvements – Report from Director of Public Works.

Director Couto addresses the Council on the progress being made in improvements to our wastewater system.  The I & I project, have overseen improvements to the wastewater collection system to eliminate inflow to the system.  Infiltration is ground water during the wet weather months.  Water levels rise and enter sewer systems.  These overflows were subject of legal action in 1998 taken by Save the Bay against the City and also a notice of violation by the RIDEM.  Thanks to the bond issues approved by the voters in 1998 and 2002, this allowed us to perform much needed improvements to the sewer system.  We’ve made some upgrades to pumping stations, did some inspection work of the sewer lines, implemented some improvements where we lined aging sewer pipes, and the installation of a new pipe on Veteran’s Parkway.  Prior to this, we had rainstorms of  1-2 inches and this would result in sewer overflows.  As we progressed, we started seeing a reduction in the overflow events or in the intensity of the overflows.  This past May was a wet month and received about 5 inches of rain.  In the past, we would have had overflow events and am pleased to report there were no overflows that weekend.  Also, due to our efforts, Save the Bay recently dropped its suit against the City and RIDEM is satisfied with the progress and we are in full compliance with the consent order.  Much of the contracted work was completed under budget and a lot of work was done with in-house resources and staff.  I can’t say we’ll never have a problem again, but the program has been successful.  We have some remaining bond funds for this I & I project and will continue some of the work in-house by a TV sewer camera.  This truck is used to do investigation work.  In the process of doing some in-house engineering work for improvements on Boyden Blvd. to eliminate some overflows that have happened in the past and start looking at eventual upgrades to the Watchemoket Cove pumping station.  Mayor Larisa asks for an update on Merritt Road.  Mr. Coutu states we’ve done improvements at the station and in the pipelines throughout the Merritt Road area and the station itself was upgraded.

3)  Safe Streets Program – Report from Chief of Police

Chief Paquette discusses the costs of the safe summer program to the Council.  The main goal is to target the areas we’re getting complaints on.  The amount of the fines coming in exceeds the cost of the officers, but the goal is to slow speeders down.

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, it is unanimously voted to adopt the recommendation of the Police Chief.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

4)  2006 Community Development Block Grant budget - Report from CDBG Coordinator.

David Bachrach, CDBG Coordinator, presents the budget for the 2006 CDBG program for Council’s approval.  Ms Boyle states there are differences from the previous process.  HUD is looking carefully at consistency with the consolidated plan, not that we were inconsistent in previous years, but we didn’t rank consistency with the consolidated plan as highly in terms of our scoring criteria.  The consolidated plan is a five-year program that HUD requires each community to put together and has to be approved by them and dictates what the priorities are and what the strategy is to accomplish them.  The other difference is HUD has recently made it difficult for a community to hold onto money for longer-term projects.  We are under pressure from HUD to make sure we have projects that go out quickly and make sure it is spent quickly.  We had gotten some complaints from Council members in the past about the long public hearings held during Council meetings.  We are not obligated to hold these public hearings during Council meetings under HUD requirements so under this new format, we held the public hearings separately and invited the public and Council to attend.  Following the public hearing, we also had a 30-day comment period so during this time, changes could be made to the proposed budget from the Council and from the public.  We did not receive any comments during that period so the budget being proposed is the one that was initially proposed.   The program is under a higher level of scrutiny from HUD than in previous years and we are now being forced to adhere to the guidelines and regulations than we were in the past. 

After further discussion by the Council, on motion of Councilman Caine, seconded by Councilman Midgley, and on a roll-call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve as recommended.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

5)  Purchase of Zoll Auto Pulse by Chief Brassill and EMS Director Potvin. 

Chief Brassill states they are here requesting Council approval for the purchase of three Zoll Auto Pulse.  EMS Director Potvin gives a demonstration of how the machine works.

On motion of Councilman Caine, seconded by Councilman Midgley, it is unanimously voted to approve.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent. 

6)  RIDEM Recreation Grant Awards.

Ms. Boyle states we’ve received three grants from RIDEM.  One for $150,000 for the improvements to Sabin Point Park, one for improvements to Hunt’s Mills for $148,500, and one for $20,000 for a tot lot at the Hull Street Playground.  Hopefully we’ll be able to obtain matching funds from the City and be able to proceed with these projects.

7)  Extension of Centrex contract with Verizon.

Director Fox is here for Council approval for a ten-month extension of the Centrex contract with Verizon.

It is noted for the record that Councilman Midgley recuses himself from this matter.

Motion made by Councilman Caine, the Chair relinquishes, and the motion is then seconded by Councilman Larisa, and on a roll-call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent. 

8)  Switch to Cox Communication for data lines.

Director Fox is here for Council approval to switch to Cox Communications for data lines.

It is noted for the record that Councilman Midgley recuses himself from this matter.

Motion made by Councilman Caine, the Chair relinquishes, and the motion is then seconded by Councilman Larisa, and on a roll-call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent. 

9)   Bid award for pipe television inspection system in sprinter van.

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, it is unanimously voted to award bid to Elsi d/b/a Cues.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

10) Scheduling of Joint Budget Meeting with School Committee.

Ms. Boyle states an item in the Memorandum of Understanding between the School Committee and the City Council was to schedule a joint budget meeting to try to anticipate the issues with the upcoming budget.  Will work with the City Clerk to schedule a meeting date as soon as possible.

11)  Executive Session - Collective Bargaining Negotiations.

On motion of Councilman Caine, seconded by Councilman Midgley, it is unanimously voted to go into Executive Session at the end of the meeting in accordance with Section 42-46-5 of the “Exceptions” of Chapter 46 of the General Laws, pursuant to Section 42-46-5-(a) (2) [Collective Bargaining/Litigation], to discuss collective bargaining negotiations.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

B.     REPORTS OF OTHER CITY OFFICIALS

1)  CLAIMS COMMITTEE (By William J. Conley, Jr. City Solicitor)

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, it is unanimously voted to accept the Claims Report.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

2)  LEASE AGREEMENT FOR CONCESSION STAND (By Carousel Park Commission)

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, it is unanimously voted to approve. It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.

C.     COUNCIL MEMBERS

(By Mayor Larisa )

1) “Townie Pride at East Providence High School and Martin Middle School” 

Mayor Larisa states we want to express our Townie Pride on what is happening with East Providence High and Martin Middle Schools.  The Superintendent said we will be hearing more good news from Riverside Middle School and our elementary schools.  All this is good news and it sometimes gets lost when we’re hearing about budget issues.  We’re all on the same team and we have the same goal to do the best we can for East Providence.  We should all be proud of the improvements in our public schools and it is a credit to the Superintendent, the School Committee, the staff, the teachers, and the administration that make this possible.

2) “For whom the tax tolls – we should have been at a 3% increase as promised”

Mayor Larisa asks Director McDonald how we are paying the additional $500,000 we promised the schools in Director McDonald states the $500,000 is coming from the property tax.  The property taxes came in higher than estimated.  The motor vehicles came in about $12 million higher than originally budgeted and that generated about $400,000 and the residential real estate came in and generated a couple of hundred thousand in taxes so we achieved the $500,000 plus a little more so we’re able to cover the additional money we allocated to the school department and not have to sacrifice any other programs. 

Mayor Larisa asks what was the amount of money needed to get the tax rate down to 3%.  Director McDonald states amount was about $250,000.  Mayor Larisa states he just wanted everyone to know the facts and I pushed hard to try to get it down to 3%.  If we didn’t have to bail out the schools, we could have used $250,000 to reduce it down to 3% and the other $250,000 to reduce it to 2.5%.  But the good news is we didn’t have to cut any programs to do this.  This means the school’s increase went from $2.2 to $2.7 million in funding this year.  If something isn’t done, next year we’ll have an increase that far exceeds this year’s 3.5%. 

3) “The 2006 property tax bills and revaluation”

Mayor Larisa states revaluation is going on now and because of the last council and property tax bills going up $500-$700 dollars, people are asking if is this is going to happen again.  Director McDonald states the tax bills you have now don’t have anything to do with this revaluation.  Revaluation will be done by December 31^st and it will be reflected in next year’s tax bills.  Mayor Larisa states if I’m still here, we will increase the homestead exemption by 5%, but we won’t let what happened last time happen again.

4)“Update on ensuring that only registered EP voters vote”

Mayor Larisa states tremendous progress has been made on this.  The issues were potential voting at the Teamster’s Union, who actually endorse candidates.  That was something that shouldn’t have happened, you shouldn’t have a partisan place as a voting place and this issue was resolved.  The other issue was lack of meetings of the Canvassing Board and to fix that process.  There have been at least two meetings and if anyone on that board wants a meeting, send a letter with the agenda requesting a meeting.  The other issue was voting rights when it appears people are not properly registered to their ward and are voting and changing the outcome of an election.  That could have happened last time with mailings by candidates that came back returned first class mail that the person doesn’t live there, which creates a presumption there is a problem.  We might need to look into this and I’m uncomfortable to let it ride.  This year we had a Secretary of State mailing.  The ones returned are put on an inactive voting list.  They’re not forbidden to vote because a first class mailing came back.  It just something that needs to be looked at.  We have a letter from Chairman Solomon, who I have the utmost respect for.  The Canvassing Board’s mission is to make sure the elections are fair and anyone who is not registered or illegally voting should not be eligible to vote.  The question of the undeliverable mailing by the Secretary of State, when these people go to the polls, they sign a form that they are living at that address.  The problem I have with this is when they sign the form, the ballot goes in and the vote is registered.   Is there is another process where we put these aside as provisional, the challenge is registered, and you find out if they are good and valid, and if not, the vote doesn’t go in the machine.  Is there a way we can segregate those people that fill out the affirmation cards?  This way we can guarantee that only those actually registered are voting and we don’t have the risk of an election being tainted by people who sign affirmations, but don’t actually live there. 

Councilman Caine states if a candidate wants to challenge someone’s vote, I believe that is insane.  A voter has the right to vote in America.  When they sign that affirmation, they attest they are living there.  We’re not going to hold votes aside because a candidate challenges them.  If it is challenged at a later date, that is fine.  The number from the last election was a smaller number and made no difference.  There is no way to foolproof the system.  Just because the mailing gets returned, that doesn’t mean it is invalid.  I sign I live at that address and vote.  It would be at a later date to object to that, not on the Election Day, and the vote should count. 

Mayor Larisa states it shouldn’t count, they vote and it is put aside until it is resolved.  The Secretary of State determined that the postal service can’t deliver a mailing to your house and if you look at the figures in Mr. Solomon’s letter, there were only about 48 were fine, it was just a snafu that the postal service that couldn’t deliver those. The others are still inactive, have moved or are deceased.  We just need to look at these.  You absolutely have a right to vote when you sign that, its whether the vote goes into the machine right then or it later goes in.  The number of returns to the Secretary of State’s Office from the City was 600 and that can make the difference in a lot of elections.  The question is whether they should be put aside for affirmation. 

Solicitor Conley states the law is clear if someone is on the inactive list and they sign the attestation, the confirmation under oath, they have the right to vote.  We don’t have the right to discount the vote, don’t have the right to put it aside and not count it.  It would require a change in State law to do what you’re asking.  There is a very specific process for challenging a voter.  A provision ballot is someone whose name isn’t on a list and this is then held aside.  What happens when someone is on an inactive list?  The statute is specific.  This process is addressed in 17-9.1-26 and it provides once someone on the inactive list signs the attestation of confirmation, they do this under oath and if they commit fraud, there are penalties for that and charges can be brought.  But they do cast their vote.  If any elector wants to challenge someone’s right to vote, they must do it in accordance with 17-9.1-28, which provides for a specific process to challenge.  The challenger needs to provide an affidavit to the Canvassing Authority, sworn under oath, facts that give the board a reasonable cause to suspect that the challenged voter isn’t eligible and a hearing would be held for that.  Under that system, it is conceivable that someone could commit criminal fraud and cast a ballot, but you would need a change in State law to do what you’re asking.  The Canvassing Authority for any city/town cannot engage in procedures which would disenfranchise a single voter that aren’t allowed by State law. 

Solicitor Conley states if you’re on the inactive list for two general elections and you don’t vote, then you’re removed from the list completely.  There are provisional ballots where you aren’t on any list and you still get to vote.  You don’t go to the provisional votes unless they impact an election, but it is the voter that has to present the information to the Canvassing Authority to show that for whatever reason they were improperly removed.

5) “$20,000 for the Hull Street Tot Park”

Mayor Larisa states about 6 months ago we had a petition to get a tot park built at the Hull Street Playground.  The Planning Dept. put in a grant application for us and we received  a $20,000 dollar grant.  We will be holding a neighborhood meeting soon to go over some options.  Am pleased we were able to include this in this grant request.

(By Councilman Midgley)

“Is it in the cards or not?”

Councilman Midgley discusses allowing us to vote on casino gambling in the State of RI and what it will do to the State of RI and how it will make taxes obsolete and more money will be available to the cities and towns in the State.  When the lottery was initiated, it was going to go for education.  All of a sudden, no one knows where it’s going, it’s going into the general fund.  I just want the people to know they should call their representatives and senators and ask them to put it in writing on how much will be available.  How much is going to be put aside for education?  The death note for every community is the cost of education.  There’s no tax or revenue coming in now from casino gambling so make a commitment and give us a percentage earmarked for education.  If not, it will go into the general fund and we’ll never see a dime of it.  We the people who are going to vote whether to approve this or not are allowing it and we should get something back.  Going back to the initial lottery, it was going to be the answer to our prayers and that didn’t happen.  At least make them give us a commitment so it won’t just go into the general fund.  The State should fund education a lot more than they do.

By Councilwoman Perry

“Illegal Signage”

            Defer to the next meeting.

D.      INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES  (If given first passage, can be referred to the next regular Council meeting to be held on June 20, 2006 for a public hearing and consideration of Final Passage).

1)  The following is an ordinance amendment regarding handicap parking at 112 Williams Avenue

SECTION I.  Article X entitled “Stopping, Standing and Parking.” of Chapter 18 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of East Providence, Rhode Island, 1998, as amended, entitled “Vehicles and Traffic.” Subsection 18-315 entitled “Reserved parking designated–Handicapped parking.” is amended by adding thereto the following:

WILLIAMS AVENUE in front of house number 112.

On motion of Councilman Caine, seconded by Councilman Midgley, it is unanimously voted to approve for First Passage.  It is noted for the record that Councilwoman Perry is absent.