I.     CONSENT CALENDAR

A.     APPROVAL OF COUNCIL JOURNALS

January 2, 2008 – Regular Meeting

B.     ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CLASS F-1 – JANUARY 27, 2008   

St. Francis Xavier, Parish Anniversary Dinner, 81 North Carpenter Street (02914)

C.  CANCELLATION/ABATEMENTS (Requested by Tax Assessor)

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

II.    APPOINTMENTS

1.   EAST PROVIDENCE HOUSING AUTHORITY (by Mayor Ramos)

Richard Smith (reappointed term ending 01/15/2011)

26 Brookfield Road (02915)

No Confirmation Needed

2.   CAROUSEL PARK COMMISSION (by Councilwoman Perry)

Pier Toledo (replacing Marge Babbitt for a term ending 1/2009)

65 Ravena Avenue (02915)

On motion of Councilwoman Perry, seconded by Councilman Silva, and on a roll call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve

LICENSING COMMISSIONERS RESUME SITTING AS CITY COUNCIL

1.   LICENSES NOT REQUIRING PUBLIC HEARING

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

From:  HBR, Inc., Crescent Market Place, 745 Bullocks Point Avenue (02915)

To:  Convenience New England, LLC, d/b/a Crescent Market Place, 745 Bullocks Point Avenue (02915)

Subhash Chander, 29 Woodbine Street, Attleboro, MA (02703) was sworn in by the City Solicitor.

Mayor Ramos asked if the hours would be the same.

Mr. Chander stated yes, everything the same.

Councilman DiTraglia asked where and if he had experience.

Mr. Chander stated before the carousel he had experience in MA & RI.   He owns it and his son runs it.

On motion of Councilman DiTraglia, seconded by Councilwomen Perry, it is unanimously voted to approve.           

2.      Holiday Sales (Subject to approvals from Chief of Police, Building Inspector and Fire Marshall)

From:  HBR, Inc., Crescent Market Place, 745 Bullocks Point Avenue (02915)

To:  Convenience New England, LLC, d/b/a Crescent Market Place, 745 Bullocks Point Avenue (02915)

On motion of Councilman DiTraglia, seconded by Councilwomen Perry, it is unanimously voted to approve.     

IV.   PUBLIC HEARINGS

ORDINANCES – FINAL PASSAGE           (Given First Passage January 2, 2008 Advertised – Prov. Journal –January 4, 2008.)

V.    CONTINUED BUSINESS

VI.   NEW BUSINESS

A.     CITY MANAGER’S REPORT                                     

1.      Mutual Aid Agreement for Utilities

Mr. Brown stated this comes from the Director of Public Works Steve Coutu and Water Utilities Superintendent Ken Booth it’s an application for membership for the Rhode Island Water/Waste Water Agency Response Network (WARN).  Our neighbors are all members of this and because of the tie-ins we believe this would be beneficial and seek approval of this application.

Mayor Ramos asked could you explain what this is.

Mr. Brown stated when we have a major emergency involving water/waste water issue and we need additional service we can call on our neighbors and vice versa. 

Councilman Silva asked if we have a cost on this.

Mr. Brown stated hopefully it will net out evenly.  The capital items the replacement for the lines would be the responsibility of the jurisdiction where the break occurs we’re just lending man power.

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

2.   Lease/Purchase of four F250 Dump Trucks

Mr. Brown stated in October 2007 we solicited bids for lease/purchase of four dump trucks to be used by our highway departments.   We received those bids at the end of October, at this time we are requesting City Council approval be granted to award the bid to Colony Ford for a total of $119,984.00 for four trucks and an extended warranty.

Councilman DiTraglia asked lease or owning.

Mr. Brown stated we will own them.

Councilman DiTraglia asked for more clarification in paperwork next time.

Councilman Cusack asked to refresh our memories as to why this equipment is needed and address why this type of financing is cheaper.

Mr. Brown stated it’s a technique that we have been using for the last few years because we don’t have sufficient volume with capital goods at this time to go out for a bond issue.  We have the need to replace our fleet in Public Works.

Councilman Cusack stated the four vehicles that we are buying are replacing four vehicles that we are taking out of service.  Are we getting a good sale price for them?

Mr. Brown stated at some point we will but it’s not factored into this because when we sell them we sell them on our own.

Councilman Cusack asked is there some imputed rate of interest that this lease/purchase technique uses as opposed to the 5 ½% to 6% in a tax exempt bond.

Mr. McDonald stated this is a two prong purchase.  What you’re being asked to approve tonight is the purchase of the vehicles from Colony Ford.  It’s a 16–20 week delivery time. It’s too long for a leasing company to quote a rate.  We will be back to you at some point 16–20 weeks from now recommending the leasing company that we’re wishing to borrow the money from so the interest rate would be stated at that time.

Mr. Brown asked Mr. McDonald what rate we have been getting.

Mr. McDonald stated I think the low 4’s.

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

3.   Fiber Optic Cabling Services

Mr. Brown stated we have sent out a request for qualifications for fiber optic cabling services for City facilities.  Seven vendors were qualified and we will be preparing requests for proposals.  I’m asking for approval for the qualifications.

On motion of Councilman Silva, seconded by Councilwoman Perry and on a roll-call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve.

B.   REPORTS OF OTHER CITY OFFICIALS

Towing Policy (by Chief Hubert Paquette)

Chief Paquette stated what I’m asking the Rules and Regulations that I drafted to be adopted as a City Ordinance.  I had a number of meetings with the Representatives from the Tow Companies.  There were a couple of issues that they would like to change.  One I was able to change and one I couldn’t because it would be a violation of the PUC.

Mayor Ramos asked is there anything in this policy that determines the amount of people on the list.

Chief Paquette stated absolutely not.

Mayor Ramos stated they need to have a background check.  There are four on the list now.

Chief Paquette stated there are four that are actively doing that and one is suspended.  The previous Council suspended him.  He has not asked to be reinstated nor has the City Council taken any action against him.  The procedure was that you had to have a show cause hearing, instead of going forward with that hearing the owner of the company agreed to the suspension pending the outcome of his criminal case in Seekonk.

Mr. Conley stated because of the length of time it may be prudent for the Council to request the Chief check on the status of the criminal charges bring it back to the Council to show cause as to why at this point after this length of suspension without being able to come back and service the City why he shouldn’t be terminated, then the City Council could look toward appointing another company to the list.

On motion of Councilman Silva, seconded by Councilman DiTraglia, it is unanimously voted to have Chief Paquette check into the status of the pending case.

Councilman Cusack stated this would be a good time to look into the volume of business that the City generates to determine what amount of business justifies four, five, six, or two to be an appropriate number. 

Mayor Ramos stated I agree with you we should look into it, I also have another problem.  Anyone getting on the list isn’t for life.  We should look at the list periodically and see if we’re going to make any changes. Someone’s on a list for 20 years.  There are other people in the City that have the same qualities and same qualifications but are not on the list. 

Councilman DiTraglia stated the grandfather clause in the area of requirements; I noticed it’s not caged in or in a storage area, who’s responsible.

Chief Paquette stated the Tow Company.

Mr. Conley stated once the tower takes possession of the vehicle the safety and security of that vehicle belongs to the Tower.

Councilman Cusack had some concerns of typos and grammar Page 1 section D, Page 2 letter F 5.

Mayor Ramos asked can we move on this and any corrections be done by legal counsel.

Mr. Conley stated you can approve this regulation this evening, I’ll edit it with the Chief and bring it back to you at the next meeting for your review to make sure that the editing changes are nothing more than fanatical and punctuations.

Councilman Cusack asked under L 2 if a Tower lost his lease because a development happen no fault of his own, he had to seek another place.

Chief Paquette stated at the bottom part it’s giving the Council discretion.

Councilman Cusack stated could you note that regarding referrals sometimes some tow people are affiliated with body shops and will pay for referrals, pressuring customers to use a particular auto body shop.

Chief Paquette stated that one of the things in the Ordinance prohibits them from soliciting.  It doesn’t prevent them if the customer inquirers, but they cannot solicit.

Councilman Cusack stated the customer is in distress he’s asking for a referral he has to sign a piece of paper before he can ask that.

Chief Paquette stated the reason I requested a form was to eliminate any conflict later on when a person could say I never gave the authorization and the operator said yes they did.

Councilman Silva stated is this going to be a form that they have to make up or are you making them up.

Chief Paquette stated we can draft it so it will be universal and they can copy it.

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

C.     COUNCIL MEMBERS

Polling Places for Presidential Primary March 4, 2008 (by Councilman DiTraglia)

Mrs. Dot O’Gara stated I was asked to explain the procedure that’s going to be used for the Presidential Primary on March 4, 2008.  The State Board of Canvassers met with Canvassing Clerks in all the communities throughout the State to determine the number of polling places and the locations for the March Primary only.  We are not talking about the September Primary or the General Election.  Based on past voter turnout as well as the projection of what March 4^th will have for a turnout and taking into consideration that most of the communities throughout the State as well as the State itself are facing financial difficulties, they recommended that we have four polling places, one for each Ward that’s in line with the rest of the State.  In the last Presidential Primary we had a total of 1622 ballots casted.  It cost us $11,502.00 for that election.  The March 4^th primary is going to cost $4838.00.  The Board of Elections is giving us two extra voting booths for each polling place and we are going to have two extra supervisors at each polling place.

Mayor Ramos was concerned when we had eleven polling places and only 1000 voted and  now we are only going to have four polling places, how will that effect  the turnout.

Councilman Perry asked Mrs. O’Gara could you tell us where the places are.

Mrs. O’Gara stated the polling place must be large enough to hold extra voting booths, easily accessible to elderly and handicap and also have ample parking. Ward 1 Rumford Towers, Ward 2 Teamster’s Hall, Ward 3 Knights of Columbus, Pawtucket Avenue, and then in Ward 4 they were trying to stay away from the schools because they’re going to be in cession that day but there was no other building that was going to be large enough so they are having it at the Oldham School.  

Mayor Ramos stated he recalled there was a problem using the Teamster’s Hall in the past.

Mrs. O’Gara stated that was approved and recommended by the State Board of Elections and the Canvassing Clerk.

Councilman Cusack stated there was a controversy and objections back then the teamster’s union as all unions has as part of its mission political activities to encourage the election of certain candidates and to discourage others and  to contribute to campaigns and contribute to efforts to approve or defeat certain ballot questions.  So there are sign and things up.  I appreciate that the State Board of Elections approves that polling place but Title 17-15-13 the local board shall at least fifty days prior to the primary select the place or places designated by it for holding the primary election provide for by this Chapter.  Therefore it’s the local board not the Board of Elections, it’s not the Clerk it’s the local board.  I would like to have a vote here tonight, is that possible?

Mr. Conley stated under your rules you could with unanimous consent. 

Councilman Cusack stated I would request unanimous consent that we vote on a motion to select another polling place for WARD 2.

Councilman DiTraglia stated what grounds do we have to overrule the Board of Elections, I’m not in favor for the Teamster’s Hall but what laws are we breaking.

Mr. Conley stated there’s a difference between having the Board of Elections approve a site selected and telling the Canvassing Authority you have to use that particular place.  Under that section of the statue it needs to be designated by our Board now if we designated a place, everything is subject to an appeal to the State Board of Elections.

Councilman DiTraglia asked if we have another spot in Ward 2 for this.

Mrs. O’Gara stated she was told there wasn’t another facility that was large enough that would fill all the requirements.  I did go to the Canvassing Office yesterday and looked at Journals dating back to March 24, 1976 when Irene Dias was the Canvassing Clerk and the Canvassing Authority has never determine the location for the polls it’s always been the job description for the Clerk along with the State Board of Elections.

Councilman Cusack stated well if we haven’t complied so far let’s begin right now.

Councilman DiTraglia asked if we could defer because we’re going to take a vote tonight we would have to have another place in Ward 2.

Councilman Silva stated he is going to object to this.  I’m not going to give my consent.  I don’t think the parties involved know about this and this is my Ward and I think the people in my Ward and the two parties should be notified I think it’s too important of an issue to push it through today without any talk about it.  This way both parties will be notified and if we want to put it on the docket for the next meeting.

Mayor Ramos stated we can’t vote on this because we don’t have unanimous consent.

Mrs. O’Gara stated Secretary of the Teamsters Union has sent a letter to the Canvassing Office guaranteeing that there would be no posters, no paraphernalia; nothing whatsoever that would interfere with the election process.

Councilman Silva asked if you’re going to send out notices to the voters that you’re changing this to the one vote poll.

Mrs. Callahan stated all the notices have been sent out for the Presidential Primary.

Councilman Cusack asked so does that mean you already sent a notice out that they go to vote at the Teamsters.

Mayor Ramos stated he agreed with Councilman Cusack you can’t do this without the Council knowing.

Councilman Silva asked you already sent out these notes well I haven’t received mine yet.  I’m in Ward 2.

Mrs. Callahan stated part is going to Hennessey and part is going to the Teamsters.

Councilman Silva stated we are just going to have one voting poll.

Mrs. Callahan stated I’m talking about the Presidential Primary that’s going to be announced in the paper and be on cable.

Councilman Silva stated a lot of people in my area don’t read the English newspaper.

Mrs. Callahan stated we can advertise it in the Portuguese Paper and cable.

Mayor Ramos stated let me get this straight no letters went out regarding the four polling places.

Mrs. Callahan stated yes we did for instance the Riverside Library we sent letters to them like the Teamsters. What we changed the letters have gone out.

Councilman Silva stated you’re just talking about our City primary not the Presidential Primary.

Mrs. Callahan stated yes.

Councilman Silva stated so this is not for the March 4^th Presidential Primary.

Mrs. Callahan stated correct.

Councilman Silva stated this is another suggestion I don’t know if it’s possible the school direct connect telephone system is there a way you can connect into that.

Mrs. Callahan stated I’ll find out.

Councilman DiTraglia asked for clarification.

Mrs. Callahan stated the letters that went out are for changes in the September Primary and the General Election.

Councilman Silva asked if on the Board of Canvassing website you can put all the polling places.

Mrs. Callahan stated no problem.

Councilwoman Perry asked if the subject of the Teamster’s Hall is going to come back to the Council.

Mayor Ramos stated yes.

Councilwoman Perry stated the Canvassing Board is going to have to advertise by a certain date by state regulations.

Mrs. O’Gara states on September 13, 2007 there was a letter sent to Mr. Raposa at the Division of Elections stating the East Providence Canvassing Authority held a business meeting on September 12, 2007 this is to advise you that at this meeting members agreed to grant Canvassing Clerk Maryann Callahan authority to proceed with the potential combining of districts with small voter registration throughout the City and at that time Mrs. Callahan provided the members a list of the polling places that were suggested and if they had any objections that they were to contact her, and no one ever contacted her with any objections and the Teamster’s Hall was listed on that sheet of paper of polling places.

Mayor Ramos stated but what ended up happening it came before the Council and the Council raised the issue because I recalled it being a problem and I didn’t know if that was ever resolved.

Mrs. O’Gara stated I think someone from the State Board of Elections is going to have to deal with this because they have been printing the ballots.

Mayor Ramos stated not me.

Mrs. O’Gara stated whoever.

Councilman DiTraglia thanked Mrs. O’Gara and Mrs. Callahan for the information.

Councilwoman Perry was given unanimous consent to make an announcement regarding the Neighborhood Meeting.  There will be a Neighborhood Meeting for the Highway Abandonment on Cedar Avenue and Bluff Street on Tuesday, January 29^th at the Riverside Library the meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m.  We had a hearing at the last meeting and there was a lot of discussion about it and we felt we wanted to get some input from the neighbors there.

D.    COMMUNICATIONS

1.      Ralph Germani, 66 Summit Street (02914) was sworn in by the City Solicitor.

Mr. Germani asked if you have any questions for me.

Mayor Ramos stated no but I have a report from Chief Paquette, a memo to Mr. Brown from Steve Coutu Public Works and also documentation of accidents from Chief Paquette.  This is their recommendation they feel no parking is not warranted.

Mr. Brown stated the issue was placed in Council’s Friday Report and the Mayor properly documented the background information.  My recommendation was that no changes be made.  One there is not a compelling report of accidents the other is the Director of Public Works has determined that the street is legally wide enough for parking on one side of the street and if we would start pulling parking in various locations it would have a cascading effect that would impact on the parking of other neighbors on that street so my recommendation to Council is that it remains as is. 

Mr. Germani asked how many accidents are listed across the street.  One is listed and it was two.

Councilman Silva stated you told me that you did not report the second and that you settled it out of pocket because you didn’t want it on your record.  The Police did a good job reporting all this information.

Mr. Germani stated they didn’t do too good they have the wrong information I want everyone to know that there were two accidents so there must be a problem there.

Councilman Silva stated if you don’t report the accident how would the Police know.

Mr. Germani stated do you want a third time so somebody can get hurt.

Mayor Ramos stated the Chief of Police gave a report and denied it and the Director of Public Works gave a report and denied it and you want us not to listen to them and listen to you.

Mr. Germani asked and what basis do you deny it and I don’t see anyone here objecting to it.

Mayor Ramos stated I’m listening to the people in authority.

Mr. Germani stated the street is 23’ wide.

Mayor Ramos stated I also heard you drive a Lincoln too.

Mr. Germani stated yes I do if I drove a MG I wouldn’t be here.

Councilman Cusack stated I read all this information and found it very enlightening.

Mr. Brown stated if Mr. Germani wants copies I’ll be glad to give it to him.  I don’t really want to prolong the debate in fact when I was visited by Mr. Germani he said basically he was going to be coming back to this meeting until he got what he wanted.

Councilman Silva stated he read all these reports.  That’s why he questions me about two accidents not one.

Mr. Germani asked when the next meeting is.

Mayor Ramos stated there’s no meeting you’ve been denied.

Mr. Germani stated it’s a potential law suit for the City.

Mayor Ramos stated I don’t work on threats.

Mr. Germani stated I have a right to come in here and make a complaint anytime of the day I want.  I’ll have to check with my attorney.

Mayor Ramos stated you do that. 

VII.  ADJOURNMENT

On motion of Councilman Silva, seconded by Councilman DiTraglia, it is voted to adjourn.

Mayor Ramos adjourns the meeting at 930 p.m.

Attest:

_________________________________

Virginia B. Nunes

City Clerk

Approved:  February 5, 2008