CITY OF EAST PROVIDENCE

 

RHODE ISLAND

JOURNAL OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

MARCH 21, 2006

 

The City Council meets in the Council Chambers on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 and Mayor Joseph S. Larisa, Jr. calls the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.

 

Present:

Mayor Joseph S. Larisa, Jr.

)

 

 

Patrick T. Caine

)

Council Members

 

Peter F. Midgley

)

 

 

Valerie A. Perry

)

 

 

Jeanne M. Boyle

)

Acting City Manager

 

William J. Conley, Jr.

)

City Solicitor

 

Dana L. Toy

)

City Clerk

 

 

The invocation is read by Councilwoman Perry and the Salute to the Flag is led by Councilman Caine.

 

Lori Merolla from Merandi Reporting is present to record the proceedings of the public hearing.

 

I. CONSENT CALENDAR

  1. APPROVAL OF COUNCIL JOURNALS

February 21, 2006 – Regular Meeting

February 21, 2006 – Closed Meeting – Collective Bargaining

March 7, 2006 – Regular Meeting

March 7, 2006 – Closed Meeting – Collective Bargaining

 

  1. RESOLUTION - Town of Foster – Letter in support of Senate Bill 2006 S - 2135 – An Act  Relating to Education.

 

  1. RESOLUTION - Town of Glocester – Resolution in support of House Bill 3427 and Senate Bill 1479 concerning Lyme Disease.

 

  1. RESOLUTION - Town of Glocester – Resolution in support of Senate Bill S2079 Low & Moderate Income Housing.

 

  1. RESOLUTION - Town of Glocester – Resolution in support of Senate Bill 2006 S – 2135 An Act Relating to Education.

 

  1. RESOLUTION - Town of Burrillville – Resolution in support of Senate Bill 2006 -S 2049, An Act Relating to State Affairs and Government elimination of MTBE as a gasoline additive.

 

  1. RESOLUTION - Town of Burrillville – Resolution in support of House Bill 2006 – H 6806, An Act Relating to Education.

 

  1. RESOLUTION - Town of Burrillville – Resolution in support of Senate Bill 2006 –S 2029, An Act Relating to Public Utilities - legislation requiring utilities to pay for relocation of infrastructure.

 

On motion of Councilwoman Perry, seconded by Councilman Caine, and on a roll call vote, it is unanimously voted to remove the minutes of the February 21, 2006 and March 7, 2006 Closed Meetings from the Consent Calendar and keep them closed.

 

On motion of Councilman Caine, seconded by Councilman Midgley, and on a roll call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve the Consent Calendar.

 

II. PROCLAMATIONS, PRESENTATIONS, & INTRODUCTIONS

 

Mayor Larisa presents a plaque and proclamation on behalf of the City Council to Paul Capaldo and speaks of his many years of service to the City and on the Conservation Commission.  Jeanne Boyle also speaks on his dedication to the Commission.

 

Mayor Larisa presents a chair to Bill Fazioli on behalf of the City Council for his service to the City.

 

III. APPOINTMENTS

Carousel Park Commission

1) Jennifer L. Cavaco, 4 Daisy Drive (02915) (by Councilman Midgley)

 

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, it is unanimously voted to approve.

 

2) Lisa Larisa, 77 Argyle Avenue (02915) (Reappointment) (by Councilman Midgley)

 

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilwoman Perry, it is unanimously voted to approve.

 

3) Donna McMahon, 233 Norton Street (02915) (by At Large-Larisa)

(Change from alternate member to permanent member)

 

On motion of Councilwoman Perry, seconded by Councilman Caine, it is unanimously voted to approve.

 

4)  Richard Mercier, 65 Cul De Sac Way (02915) (Reappointment) (by At Large-Larisa)

 

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, it is unanimously voted to approve.

 

5) Kim Casci, 1 Cedarwood Drive (02915) (Mayor’s Appointment)

 

On motion of Councilwoman Perry, seconded by Councilman Caine, it is unanimously voted to approve.

 

Alternate Member:

Pier Toledo, 65 Ravena Avenue (02915) (by Councilwoman Perry)

 

On motion of Councilman Caine, seconded by Councilwoman Perry, it is unanimously voted to approve.

 

IV. CITY COUNCIL SITTING AS LICENSING COMMISSIONERS

LICENSES REQUIRING PUBLIC HEARING

 

1) Secondhand/Clothing  Subject to approvals from the Chief of Police, Building Inspector, Zoning, and Fire Marshall.

Ana P. Soares/Zelika Khaytin d/b/a Zelana’s Children’s Resale Boutique, 7 Centre Street

 

Ana P. Soares, 21 Eighth Street, Providence and Zelika Khaytin, 25 Eighth Street, Providence are present and sworn in by the City Solicitor.

 

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

 

On motion of Councilman Caine, seconded by Councilman Midgley, and on a roll call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve.

 

2) Class A – Retail (Transfer of Stock Only)  Subject to approval from Division of Taxation.

Haxton’s of Riverside, Inc., 1086 Willett Avenue

 

Ronald E. McGreen 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.

 

LICENSES NOT REQUIRING PUBLIC HEARING

 

3) Holiday Sales (Transfer) Subject to approvals from the Chief of Police, Building Inspector, Health Inspector and Fire Marshall.

From: Richard W. Buckett, d/b/a Buckett’s General Store

To: Bindhu Thomas d/b/a Bullock’s General Store, 269 Bullocks Point Avenue

 

Bindhu Thomas, 65 New Road, is present and sworn in by the City Solicitor.

 

On motion of Councilwoman Perry, seconded by Councilman Caine, it is unanimously voted to approve.

 

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

Bindhu Thomas d/b/a Bullock’s General Store, 269 Bullocks Point Avenue

 

On motion of Councilwoman Perry, seconded by Councilman Midgley, it is unanimously voted to approve.

 

5) Peddler/Ice Cream  Subject to approvals from the Chief of Police and Health Inspector.

John P. McGarry, Jr., d/b/a Jack’s Ice Cream, 110 Winsor Avenue, North Kingstown

 

John P. McGarry, Jr., 110 Winsor Drive, North Kingstown is present and sworn in by the City Solicitor.

 

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilwoman Perry, it is unanimously voted to approve.

 

LICENSING COMMISSIONERS RESUME SITTING AS CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING

 

V. PUBLIC HEARINGS

ORDINANCES - FINAL PASSAGE (Given first passage March 7, 2006. Advertised-Providence Journal – March 10, 2006)

 

The following is an ordinance amendment regarding a COLA increase:

 

SECTION I.  Article V entitled “Firemen’s and Policemen’s Pension Fund” of Chapter 11 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of East Providence, 1998, as amended, entitled “Personnel,” Subsection 11-236 entitled “Service retirement annuity” is amended to read as follows:

 

(e) Effective May 1, 2006 those members who retired from service between 1962 and 1984 shall receive an increase of $900.00 per member per year except in the case of a widowed member, whose increase shall be $600.00 per year, and those members who are receiving an annual cost of living adjustment.

 

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

 

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilwoman Perry, and on a roll call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve for Final Passage.

 

Click here to view Ordinance

 

VI. CONTINUED BUSINESS

Multi Purpose Center Project  (by Joseph Crook, Parks & Recreation Director)

 

Motion by Councilman Caine, seconded by Councilman Midgley to defer.

 

VII. NEW BUSINESS

A.  CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

 

1. School Department Projected FY 2006 Deficit – Report from Finance Director

Ms. Boyle discusses the projected $1.2 million dollar deficit in the School Department budget.  Finance Director McDonald gives a summary of the situation and the implications of the School Department deficit.  He states B&E Consulting provided an extensive review of the School Department’s budget.  If we allow the School Department to run a $1.2 million dollar deficit on top of the deficit already on the books, which is in excess of $2 million dollars, the total would be about $3.5 million and we won’t be able to maintain our bond rating.  We can reduce expenses or increase revenue to balance the shortfall, but the School Department is the only one that can do that and they have indicated that they don’t feel there is anything they can cut.

 

The budget was passed last October and suggests a 3.5% tax increase.  You could increase taxes somewhere between 3.5% and 5.5%.  The Tax Assessor certifies the tax roll in April.  We cannot delay the tax bills going out.  The tax rate will have to be official by the second Council Meeting in April.  Another alternative is a one-time supplemental tax.  Or we could do a deficit reduction bond, where instead of taxing the taxpayers this year, we would sell a longer bond for maybe a five-year duration.  If we do this, we’d want to cover the entire deficit.  The downside is your raising taxes and your also paying interest back on it.  The last alternative is to use some of the sale of City property money to reduce the deficit.

 

We met with the Auditor General and explained the situation and don’t expect any immediate solution from him.  They expect a plan devised by the School and City administration to address the problem.  He will only get involved as a last resort.  Hopefully, the School Department can meet us part of the way, but we’ll probably have to come to the rescue with some funding.

 

Councilman Caine states we’re looking at a huge deficit and that will only continue to grow unless we get control of the expenditures.  There is a declining enrollment environment in the schools, but expenditures keep increasing on the school side.  There are contracts and health care, but the School Committee say their hands are tied, they have contracts, and nothing can be done.  We’ve tried to come up with new ways to reduce the deficit on the City side.  Currently, anyone on the City Council and the Department Heads are paying 10% of their healthcare costs without a contract or anything and that is not happening on the school side.  We have been negotiating with each collective bargaining unit and if we’re going to give a decent raise, we need to get co-sharing of healthcare on the table.  We are still in negotiations, but each recognizes the need in the long run to co-share their healthcare costs.  The City Council has assumed the debt service repayment and so far we’ve paid $1.5 million, money we could have used for other services on the City side.  The crossing guard funding, roof improvements, School Resource Officer, the IT Director hired by the City who will work for both the City and the School, all this is assumed on the City side.  Regarding the buybacks, they are not premium-based and anytime you pay someone not to take healthcare is bad public policy.  From 1993 until now, people are getting paid not to take healthcare.

 

B&E’s report showed many budget weaknesses and made recommendations.  This wasn’t a full audit, but it is clear their budget process needs to be changed.  One issue I raised was getting a written response from the Superintendent and School Committee that they would adopt these changes and put something in place that would show us this was happening.  Special education and needs are a significant drain on the City, but it doesn’t excuse the budgeting requirements of any School Committee.  We could have saved something on the buybacks.  These are hard times and people need to take responsibility for what they are doing.  We’re trying to find extra in our budget to cover the gap, but I like to work with a team perspective and I haven’t seen that on the school side.  We have to set the budget by April 18th and need to decide what we’re doing with the $1.2 million deficit, from the School and from our perspective.

 

Councilman Midgley states we as a Council take care of the City side.  The School Department takes care of the school side and we’re being drawn in more and more with the finances of running the School Department.  They will get out of it because we’ll assume the responsibility and give them the money.  We’ve given them money already from the meal’s tax; we pay for the School Resource Officer and crossing guards.  We’ve extended ourselves in the running of the School Department and we’re falling into a trap.  It is the obligation of the School Department to run their operation.

 

Unanimous consent is given to the School Committee Chairman.  Mr. Gouveia states the School Committee has been doing co-pays on health insurance for three years.  For capital improvements, we should have a capital improvement plan.  Mayor Larisa contacted me regarding a study the City was having done for its buildings and needs and the School Department was included in that.  We already have a five-year capital improvement plan that was done, but don’t have the money to pay for it.  Where the money comes from is the taxpayer as usual.


Councilman Caine states the conversation I had with you and the Superintendent about receiving a written response to the report and adopting the measures in it and I haven’t received that yet.  Mr. Gouveia states that the written response to B&E’s suggestions needs money.  When you say the School Department has to cut another $1.2 million dollars in expenses, everyone forgets that the Council already cut the budget $1.4 million dollars.   Councilman Caine states there was also a $2.2 million dollar increase given this year and $1.9 million the year before.

 

Mayor Larisa states at the meeting with the Superintendent and Jim Hilton, you were saying yes, you would agree to all the items on the B&E report that cost zero dollars.  B&E recommended doing budgeting from the bottom up.  That doesn’t cost any money.  Councilman Caine states if you put something in front of me and I know the process is flawed, it is hard to rely on it and the only way you can is by having good budgeting in place.  I think by doing this, you’ll find some money and then you’ll have an accurate budget from the bottom up that you can modify as the year goes.

 

Mr. Gouveia states there are many large line items in the budget that we don’t have control over.  If we can stop arguing and sit down, maybe we can get to a point where we can sit down with the bargaining units with clear air.

Councilman Caine states no one is finger pointing.  We have only two-weeks to come up with a plan to deal with the deficit for this year.  You’re not suppose to be carrying a deficit, you’re not suppose to deficit spend; it is illegal.  I’ve been talking to healthcare people, the collective bargaining units and I haven’t seen a report from the School Department saying energy costs are down, here’s $60,000.  I haven’t seen anything.  We need you to go back and look at the budget and find areas where you can cut so we can figure if the $1.2 million is a real number or if it less.

 

Mayor Larisa believes speaking out on this is the only way to protect the taxpayers.  Why do we always assume that we must raise taxes?  Why isn’t the School Committee demanding negotiation after negotiation?  Because it’s easier to go after the taxpayers for the money, it’s easier than trying to reopen the collective bargaining agreements.  I’ll say again the school contract is the worse in the history of East Providence and we cannot afford it.  You can’t keep hitting up the taxpayer whose gas, oil, and medical costs are going through the roof.  The only solution is we need cuts in the school budget, need to reopen the contracts, and need to find a way to come up with more money from the City side to solve this problem.  This has to be done; we can’t keep assuming that the contracts are carved in stone.  Open the collective bargaining agreements by increasing prescription drug payments, eliminate the buybacks, and have a real co-pay.  I don’t think it’s a war as was said in the paper.  I think the School Committee is focused on the kids and the Council is focused on the taxpayer, but we’re focused on the kids too.  That’s why we increased the School’s budget by 6%.  The School Committee needs to focus more on the taxpayers.  When you say the teachers won’t negotiate, they wrote back saying that these weren’t real negotiations.  You asked us to do something on co-pay.  This came from Bill Fazioli on the City side.  It wasn’t the Superintendent or Chairman meeting with teachers demanding this.  We need an effort that says we’ve got to focus on reopening the contracts and focus on the expenses.  The City will probably have to come up with some contribution, but we all have to work on this together.

 

2. Update on Warren Avenue Streetscape Project

Ms. Boyle discusses the Warren Avenue Streetscape project, which was championed by Norman Miranda.  Construction has begun and is moving forward.  This is being funded by a number of sources.  There is bond money going into it and also received a grant through RIDOT enhancement program.  Expect it to be substantially complete by the end of this construction season.  Phase 2 will be a later phase.  We’ve applied for a second enhancement grant through the RIDOT to extend it.  The current project will go from Broadway to Lyon Avenue along Warren Avenue.  The second phase goes from Lyon Avenue to where the 195 ramps begin.

 

3. Update on Veteran’s Memorial Parkway/Rosa Parks & Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Garden Project

Ms. Boyle states we received enhancement money for this project from the RIDOT.  The grants received were $100,000 from RIDOT and their enhancement program and $54,000 from the National and State Scenic Byways Grant Program.  Veteran’s Memorial Parkway is a designated scenic roadway and is eligible for the national register because it was designed by a renowned landscape architectural firm, Olmstead Brothers.  The project has already begun.

 

We were also approached by our Affirmative Action Officer, Onna Moniz-John, to include a Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks Memorial Garden.  Diane Feather will be working with Ms. Moniz-John on this and additional fundraising will be done through Ms. Moniz-John’s organization to get funding for a plaque or commemoration.  There will be new landscaping and an overlook in the Watchemoket Cove area. This should be substantially complete by the end of this construction season.

 

B.  REPORTS OF OTHER CITY OFFICIALS

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

Marian Cabral, Claim No. 05-108

Defer

Molly Kiselica, Claim No. 06-008

Deny

Eusebio Marques, Claim No. 06-001

Deny

Patrick McGill, Claim No. 06-012

Refer to RIDOT

Beacon Ins. (insured Edward Gelsomino) Claim No. 06-019

Refer to Insurance Carrier

Isaiah Parris, Claim No. 06-015

Refer to RIDOT

Harrison Songolo, Claim No. 06-017

Refer to RIDOT

 

On motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, and on a roll call vote, it is unanimously voted to accept the Claims Report as presented.

 

C.  APPENDIX A – LAND USE AND DEVELOPMENT FEES (By Gregory Dias, Assistant City Solicitor)

Section I.  Zoning fees.

 

(a)  Any petition to amend Chapter 19 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of East Providence entitled “Zoning” and/or the official zoning map of the City of East Providence shall be accompanied by a filing fee as provided for below to be set by the city council to cover the cost of advertising and notice.

(b)  Any application or petition to the zoning board of review for an appeal, special use permit, dimensional variance or use variance, except by the city, shall be accompanied by a filing fee, payable to the City of East Providence, in accordance with the following schedule:

 

(1)  Residential districts:

 

a.  Application limited to one (1) lot

$150.00

b.  Each additional lot

$  50.00

 

(2)  Commercial districts:

a.  Application limited to one (1) lot and/or construction of five thousand (5,000) square feet or less

 

$300.00

b.  Two (2) or more lots and/or construction in excess of five (5,000) square feet

 

$400.00

 

(3)  Industrial districts:

 

a.  Application limited to one (1) lot and/or construction ten thousand (10,000) square feet or less

 

$500.00

b.  Two (2) or more lots and/or construction in excess of ten thousand (10,000) square feet

 

$600.00

 

(4)  All districts:

 

The filing fee shall include a charge of five dollars ($5.00) per each abutter to a maximum fee of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) and a fee for recording the decision of the Zoning Board of Review in the land evidence records.

 

(c)  Any application for development plan review, Article VIII of Chapter 19 entitled “Zoning”, or land development project, Article V of Chapter 19 entitled “Zoning”, shall be accompanied by a fee in the amount five hundred dollars ($500.00) plus twenty dollars ($20.00) per acre for each full acre in the development, payable to the City of East Providence.

 

(d)  In the event the applicant/petitioner or his/her authorized agent requests a continuance, a second filing fee in the same amount as the first, is required prior to said application or petition being placed on the next zoning board of review or city council docket.

(Ch. 252, § II, 9-7-93)

 

On motion of Councilwoman Perry, seconded by Councilman Caine, it is unanimously voted to dispense with the reading of Appendix A.

 

On motion of Councilman Caine, seconded by Councilman Midgley, and on a roll call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve.

 

D.   COUNCIL MEMBERS

 

1)  Santilli decision and Solicitor as Legal Counsel for School Department (By Mayor Larisa)

Mayor Larisa states there was a recent decision in the RI Supreme Court that indicated a City Solicitor of a town actually by law is the School Department’s legal counsel.  I would ask the Solicitor to prepare an opinion for the Council on the Santilli decision and counsel’s legal right to have the Solicitor and/or his office represent the School Committee and/or hire independent contractors to assist him in representing the School Committee.  This becomes more important when at the last meeting, we found out a 3-2 vote would continue the buybacks and came at the strong recommendation of the legal counsel of the School Department who said we didn’t have a chance of making a case to win that argument.  For the next meeting, ask that the Solicitor to get us an opinion of our legal rights under the language of the Charter with respect to the Solicitor’s Office and School Department legal counsel.

 

2)  Special Election in Ward 2 (By Mayor Larisa)

Mayor Larisa states when we have a vacancy, we must look at the City Charter.  It states if more than nine months before the November election, you must fill that seat.  If we have a special election, if it is less than nine months, if the Council wants it, you can do it, but it is not required.  I think there is a special circumstance here and that would be a primary in September.  All the polls would be open and it would result in a full and fair election.  Everyone will be voting that day and there will be great voter turnout all over the City and State for these primaries.  People will have plenty of time to campaign and to pick a successor person on September 12th.   How would we do a September election?   We could have a primary for the September election in June.  There may be about 7 people wanting to fill the seat and you whittle it down to two and in September, they would pick a temporary replacement for those three months.

 

My view is to skip the primary and get all people on the ballot in September or we can do a special election and the top vote getter gets the seat for three months.  On that same day in September, the same 7 are going to be on a ballot in a primary for the same seat except that would be for the two-year term starting in December.  Other member of the Council support having it sooner and the earliest would be in June.  Would have to allow people a few weeks in April to know about the race and sign up.  They would pick up their papers and have a few weeks to get them back with the minimum number of signatures and then at least a month to campaign and then have an election sometime in June.

 

As Councilman At Large, I’m disappointed when I hear people say that Ward 2 doesn’t have any representation.  I represent Ward 2 and have for eleven years.  I answer a lot of calls for Ward 2 and do many things there.  The last proposal for Ward 2 for a tot park at Hull Street came from me.  We had 263 residents sign a petition wanting a tot park at Hull Street, I met with their leaders, came to the Council, consulted with Councilman Miranda and asked Planning to amend the DEM application to include the tot park, and got it done.

 

Councilman Caine states he believes we need to have a special election, but the question is the timing of that.  What is a fair and full election?  I’m not sure how you run an election with a shorter time frame, you still have to give people time to get their papers and get the signatures certified.   I think we should follow our election process.  The cost of $10,000 or $20,000, at first thought was significant but when I look at how people feel about representation.  We need someone to look at the options we have.  If we’re going to vote on it, we need to have something that talks about the fairness of the process.

 

Councilwoman Perry states we are talking about at least six months without representation and if that were my ward, I would want a representation from my ward.  We’re only talking about a few months and then we’ll have another election in November and people will have time to put everything in order.  I would support having a special election in June and no primary.

 

Councilman Midgley states one thing Mayor Larisa said was fair representation.  We elect whom we want.  It is also our obligation to get the vote out and to make people interested.  It is the obligation of Ward 2 to get the people out and the parties to get them out to vote, whether it is in September or June.  We don’t have a City Manager right now and only have four people on the Council.  I didn’t think it was important, but if one person is out, you have only three people here to decide and two could decide a major event in the City.  I don’t think it is fair to the City or the Council.  I support an election in June.  Every person on the Council can represent anyone in this City.  Ward 2 is represented.  But I won’t stand in their way of having an election.

 

Mayor Larisa would like the Canvassing authority to recommend dates for the next council meeting.

 

Mayor Larisa asks for Unanimous Consent to change order of business to move up Communications, John F. Conley.

 

John F. Conley, 115 Smith Street is sworn in by the City Solicitor.  Mr. Conley states there is a strong feeling in the community that the Ward 2 seat should be filled because of the time left until November.  A petition is presented to the Council with over 200 signatures requesting that a special election be held to fill the seat in Ward 2.  We feel with the issues coming up, the hiring of a new City Manager, a new Superintendent of Schools, capital improvements, etc., is important for Ward 2 to have representation.  The Mayor means well saying they are represented, but it isn’t just sitting here, it is the interplay that goes on each day with the leaders of the City and schools.  We are asking that they have representation as soon as possible.  We don’t support having a primary in September.  Too much time will have passed by then.

 

Brian Silva, Chairman of Ward 2 Democratic Party, is present and states we took time to gather these signatures.  The ones that on blue paper are from Ward 2.  The white papers are from the other wards in the City.  They were asked their feeling on a special election and we got an overwhelming support for it and to make it an expedient procedure and not to delay this.  We deserve the right to have our voice.

 

Mayor Larisa states that no one is saying there shouldn’t be a special election, the only question is when and if there should be a primary.  We will get the dates outlined earlier from the Canvassing Authority and have this on the docket for vote on April 4th.

 

3)  City Manager Search Update (By Councilman Caine)

Councilman Caine states the search is underway and ads have been placed and the process is moving forward.  We should have more to report in the next week or two.

 

E.   COMMUNICATIONS

 

Charles Mello, Jr., 8 David Street, is present and sworn in by the City Solicitor.  Mr. Mello states he believes it is time for East Providence residents to be informed as to what the City has as a preparedness plan.  These answers need to be provided to everyone.  Is East Providence prepared for the devastation this could cause?  Last October we had more rainfall than we ever had and look at the flooding that occurred.  We need to develop a plan for emergency evacuations in conjunction with developing our shoreline further.  Have plans been developed to evacuate the senior citizens?  Have citizens been informed that people from Barrington will be coming here?  Is a system in place?  Where are the sites located?  Have emergency medical teams been coordinated as triage units in this area?  Director Benoit’s title is both Human Resources/Emergency Management.  Which is he qualified in?  In the budget, I see nothing for emergency management preparedness and that concerns me.  There needs to be communication between City Hall and its residents.  I propose the Council move this up on the agenda for the next meeting rather than at the end and would like all involved in any evacuation plan in the City to all be involved next week and would the City ask them to be here to provide a progress report and update of what is happening.

 

Ms. Boyle states that Mr. Benoit has been extensively involved in emergency management and coordination, working with the Fire Chief, Police Chief, Director of Public Works and Planning Department as well as with State FEMA.  They have completed the evacuation maps and signs will be posted soon.  As far as training, Mr. Benoit did inform me there has been extensive training for volunteers and there is a training exercise on Saturday being held with City of Pawtucket.  Also a lot has been done with the Fire Department working jointly with the Town of Barrington on emergency response.  The City did prepare a hazardous mitigation plan that was submitted to RI FEMA and also to federal FEMA last year and there was also a public hearing so there is a great deal of work going on and others things we are looking into, such as the code red program, which would be an automatic notification system in the event of an emergency.  East Providence is one of the best-prepared communities.  Asked Mr. Benoit to put together a report to summarize this.  Councilman Caine asks Ms. Boyle to be put this on the agenda for the next meeting to discuss this report.

 

Unanimous consent is given to Mayor Larisa, who states that the Chamber of Commerce and several citizens are very upset with the Providence Journal for moving East Providence from the Metro Addition to East Bay Addition.  We share representatives in East Providence and Providence, we are in the same county as Providence, and our economic development efforts are tied to Providence.  Ask Acting City Manager Boyle to draw up a resolution for the next meeting to request the Journal reverse its decision and put us back in the Metro section.

 

There being no further business, on motion of Councilman Midgley, seconded by Councilman Caine, the meeting adjourns at 10:30 p.m.

Attest:

________________________________

Dana L. Toy

City Clerk

Approved: April 4, 2006

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