A neighborhood meeting was held at the Riverside Middle School on March 14, 2011 regarding the Forbes Street Solar Project.  This meeting was organized by Councilman DiGioia.  City attendees included:  Jeanne Boyle Director of Planning and Steve Coutu Director of Public Works, Councilwoman Kleyla, Councilman Rose, Mayor Rogers and Councilman Conley (arrived later).  William Martin President of CME and members of CME’s development team.  In addition, Senator Devall and Representative Savage were present as well as two representatives from RI DEM. 

Councilman DiGioia gave welcoming remarks, recognized the participants and explained the reason for meeting.  This was a very preliminary meeting to give a basic overview of the possible project and answer resident’s questions.  Director Boyle provided a brief overview of the project proposal.  William Martin President of CME explained the plan, what the project entailed and then answered questions. 

A number of the residents who were in attendance live in the immediate surrounding area and were concerned that the project will impact the water table.  Both CME, Director Boyle and Director Coutu let the residents know that a full study would be done first to ensure the water table would not be effected but that there was no reason to believe it would shift the water table in any way.  The soil to fill the area being donated by RI DEM and the solar panels will sit on top of the land and there will be no deep digging or excavation. 

RI DEM assured residents that before the plan moves forward a full study would be conducted as  well as a public hearing held for residents to attend as is required by State regulations. 

Director Boyle let residents know that this project if it moves forward has a number of steps to go through such feasibility studies and public meetings and that this was just the very first phase. 

Councilman DiGioia thanked everyone for attending and the meeting adjourned.