CITY OF EAST PROVIDENCE

JOURNAL-SPECIAL MEETING

BUDGET PROPOSAL FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020-2021

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020

CALL TO ORDER:  6:30 P.M.

145 TAUNTON AVENUE - CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS

EAST PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

 

City Council:

Council President, Robert Britto - Ward 1

Council Vice-President:  Bob Rodericks - At Large

Councilwoman Anna Sousa - Ward 2

Councilman Nate Cahoon - Ward 3

Councilman Ricardo Mourato - Ward 4

 

City Solicitor, Michael J. Marcello

City Clerk, Samantha N.  Burnett

 

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting will be conducted both in person at City Hall and virtually, through an application called, “Zoom”.

 

IN ORDER TO VIEW THE MEETING, USE THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS:

 

By phone:

Call the toll free number: 1-877-853-5247 (audio only) and enter the following information:

MEETING ID: 993-0796-0324

You will then be asked for the meeting passcode.

Enter the following passcode:

PASSCODE: 653929 (please note this is corrected)

 

By computer or Smartphone (this is the audio and video option):

To participate visually (with audio) you will need to log into the following from your computer or smart phone, go to: www.zoom.us

Enter the following information when prompted:

MEETING ID: 993-0796-0324

You will then be asked for the meeting passcode.

Enter the following passcode number:

PASSCODE: 653929

 

Once entered, you will be able to join the meeting.

 

The meeting will also be available live on our city website, located at:

 

http://www.clerkbase.com/RI_EastProvidence_Live_CityCouncil.html

 

 

(I)   CALL TO ORDER – Council President Britto called the meeting to order.

(II)  PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

(III) BUDGET SESSION – Council President Britto stated that they would be continuing the budget session where they left off previously starting with the Law Department, the IT, then Capital Budget, and then going into the Public Hearing at that point.

Page 34 and 35 is the Law proposal.

Mayor Roberto L. DaSilva was present in the absence of the City Solicitor, Michael Marcello to answer any questions the Council may have.

Councilman Mourato about the part time position in the law department. Councilman Mourato asked when was the last time we had a part timer in this department. Mayor DaSilva answered that they just brought a female employee into the department, and she works two days a week. Councilman Mourato asked why we needed this positions. Mayor DaSilva responded she is there to assist the law department with their day to day functions and learning the process. Council Vice President Rodericks asked if she was an attorney, and Mayor DaSilva stated that she was not.

Councilman Mourato asked about the increase of $10,000 in Purchased Professional Services. It was $195,000 last year and now it’s proposed at $205,000. Councilman Cahoon asked if that is the line that pays for specialized counsel. Mayor DaSilva stated that this was actually to pay our City and Assistant  City Solicitor. The mayor stated that we have been saving money by having our City Solicitor by taking on many cases himself, but they still “farm out” some high level and complicated court cases because he doesn’t have the time to dedicate to it, and the same for the Assistant Solicitor.

Councilman Mourato mentioned that due to the line item moved to the City Council, the Law item should actually go down and not go up. The mayor mentioned that there are other litigations ongoing, for example the street light issue. Councilman Mourato stated that even with split, it doesn’t make sense. The mayor did state that other items come up outside of what they were contracted to do, and it saves the City a lot of money, but they do sometimes have to hire specialists.

No other questions or concerns.

Council President Britto requested the City Clerk, Samantha Burnett, to perform a roll call of al Council members present. All Council members were present, for the exception of Councilwoman Sousa, whom the City Clerk stated that she may join later through Zoom.

The Council then proceeded onto the IT Department budget. Ms. Kelly Ahrens, Chief of Information Technology was present for the Council to answer any questions or need to clarify.

Ms. Ahrens provided the services offered through IT and a brief inventory of the equipment. She shared highlights of the year, included the Cyber security training hosted by the National Guard.

Ms. Ahrens thanked her IT Department for the hard work, especially during this epidemic.

Budget was presented to the Council in the amount of $738,640, reflecting a discount of $128,084 from last year. The decrease was a reallocation to other departments, and funding from the pandemic to purchases other equipment to update the City’s inventory.

Councilman Mourato asked about the departments that never had a line item of Technology Software now have this through the reallocation? Ms. Ahrens answered that it has gone back and forth with departments, and gave the example of the City Clerk’s department always had a line item because they always had their own software programs. Councilman Mourato inquired further into the reallocation and why there is an increase due to FICA and other payroll items of $73,000. Ms. Ahrens responded that increase was due to Office 365 and increase of 155 users due to others (for example, Central Garage) that did not have email accounts previously. Also, the $22,000 was added due to the cyber security initiative.

Councilman Cahoon asked a question of Ms. Ahrens regarding limitations or prohibitions in purchasing. Ms. Ahrens responded giving the scenario of Kaspersky issue where the City had to step away from that due to cyber issues. She also gave the examples of not purchasing surveillance cameras made in China.

The A/V technician did mention that Councilwoman Sousa is now present on Zoom.

Council President asked that even though EEO department was not listed and printed in the budget, the Council would be hearing from a representative tonight.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Director, Mr. Elmer Pina, was present to the Council. Mr. Pina thanked the Council for the opportunity and Mayor DaSilva for separating EEO from Human Resources and that they are looking to diversify the workforce and hire more minorities and women, putting them in positions of power. Council President asked if his department is involved with contracts of employment. Mr. Pina responded that he was.

Councilman Mourato asked Mr. Pina about if this is a new department. Mr. Pina stated that he did have his own department prior to 2012 before the budget commission came in.

Mr. Pina spoke about training that he would like to take, that would be a certification course and seen as a continued education piece.

Councilwoman Sousa asked about who his office is through. He stated that he is located on the third floor and he is in an office by himself.

Councilwoman Sousa inquired about General Office Supplies and why that number is in the thousands. Mr. Pina stated that he is also the Municipal Integrity Officer and helps oversee the Community Advisory Board, which involves many communication items. Mr. Pina also mentioned that he has a City issued cell phone, the first time since 2008.

Councilman Cahoon mentioned regarding hiring and recruitment initiatives to let him know of different ideas on how to reach people to let him know because he is interested in hearing them. Mr. Pina thanked him, expanded on different avenues on attracting individuals.

Council Vice President Rodericks thanked Mr. Pina for his service.

Mayor DaSilva approached the podium stating that Mr. Pina also sits on the board during interviews now in addition to being the Municipal Integrity Officer.

The Council then moved to the next and last item, which was Capital.

The mayor was present for the Council. Mayor DaSilva first spoke of the Carousel scenario briefly about Structural Stabilization, then moved on to the Fire Department regarding the old lease for the fire trucks, rechasie an old rescue. The situation with the rescues are worse then they thought.

IT is putting in an ask of $75,000 to increase the Wi-Fi at City Hall and funding for the fire side for the new state wide CAD system that is being instituted throughout the state. This is a start up cost.

DPW Forbes Street Land Closure Monitoring – required by DEM

Seaview Avenue Drainage Pipe that needs to be reinforced and is starting to corrode.

Pick up truck with a plow. They are asking for a bigger dump truck with a plow.

$1 million dollar ask to improve sidewalks throughout the City. He is looking for support on that. He will need to go out for contract, but would like to use more in house and would actually save money paying overtime, than to go out and have a contractor take on this project, and therefore make the money go further.

$200,000 for traffic counting measures, including things like speed bumps and anything else to help control speeding and traffic.

Tree stump grinder was asked for as a project. Council President Britto asked how many grinders the City has. Mayor DaSilva stated there is one old one.

Parks Department is looking for a ¾ ton pick up truck for a plow.

$175,000 ask for recreational fields and parks and specifically mentioned Roderick’s Field to have lights so night play can be had. The mayor referenced Kimberly Rock Field and how this was done through private fundraising efforts by the Rumford Little League, but the City is helping with that as well, but nothing specific was mentioned. Just manpower

Central Garage sprinkler system installation was mentioned under the Capital budget.

HVAC system replacement for the DPW for about $40,000.

Total was $2,542,966 as shown in the presentation and confirmed by the mayor.

Council President Britto asked about the sidewalk project. The mayor would rather go with concrete than asphalt. He did refer to the areas near the schools, they have been replacing sidewalks there with concrete, as children and the elderly walk frequently.

Councilman Cahoon addressed the mayor and reiterated that he wants to make sure that the roads that are state roads don’t take a back seat because the sidewalks there are so bad. He did refer to St. Martha’s church area on Pawtucket Avenue. The mayor agreed and that he did reach out to DPW and asked them to “step it up a notch”.  Additional discussion was had with Council President Britto regarding the sidewalks and wanting to improve the street quality as well.

Councilwoman Sousa inquired about the snow plows and the additions and if what are we doing to maintain the equipment, learn how to use the plows to decrease additional costs due to negligence. DPW Director, Steve Coutu, did share that these plows have been around since 2000. The Trust has provided safe driving practices twice a year and that he has his drivers attend these sessions. Councilwoman Sousa asked due to the light season this last year, what were the cost savings. Director Coutu stated that they saved over $100,000 in overtime costs. Councilwoman Sousa asked about the sand/salt mixture from last year, so that shouldn’t be a cost either. Director Coutu agreed and said the barn was pretty full.

Councilwoman Sousa had additional questions regarding the IT/new CAD system. That it does have a start up cost of $75,000 but what is the reoccurring cost for the Fire Department. This is a new system that will be integrated with many other systems statewide so they will be connected with each other. For example, 911, our police and fire department will all use the same system.

Councilman Cahoon had a questions about Google funds. If asset forfeiture funds anytime during the budget year, to we need to have them budget now if they want to use them. The mayor stated that it is separate and the federal government controls it.

The mayor elaborated more about the Google funds and different projects that were used throughout the city.

Councilwoman Sousa asked about the highway division for $100,000 for six wheeled dump trucks with plows, and there is another one listed. Were they ever purchased? Director Coutu stated that he bought two mid-size for $150,000. The purchase this year will be for smaller trucks. She did state that she still doesn’t have a good understanding of what was purchased from last year. The mayor stated that there was a report provided to the Council just recently from June 30^th but he would like to get a more recent one to the Council. Councilwoman Sousa stated that she didn’t recall receiving it, but it could have gotten lost in the shuffle.

Another point Councilwoman Sousa brought up was traffic and high flow area in regards to the $250,000 to explore different options. She wanted to know if this money was for consults or was it actually for equipment. The mayor stated he is looking at possible speedbumps, or possible re-lining the roads, tree canopies, etc. (tangible items). It was confirmed by the mayor it was for equipment and the Councilwoman was satisfied with the answer provided.

Councilwoman Sousa mentioned Bold Point Park but due to the pandemic, they aren’t planning on hosting events. She believes that improvements need to be made to that city park, with the park upgrade proposed of $175,000 does the mayor have specific parks in mind to allocate funds towards. John Lewis was mentioned by the Councilwoman that there are pools of potholes. The mayor responded that asphalt could be an option, or grating and graveling it. Councilwoman Sousa stated that there should be something that should be a high priority project and could be a wonderful asset to the City if we worked on it.

Council Vice President mentioned about the Pierce Field security position and how much that would be for pay.

Council President closed Capital at that point and opened the floor up to public hearing. Zoom was offered as well for public comment as well as written public comment submitted to the City Clerk prior to the meeting.

The CEO of the East Bay Community Action Program, Dennis Roy, approached the podium to speak on behalf of the budget. Level funding was proposed by the mayor for $20,000 and he is speaking in support of that.

Public comment instructions were offered again to those participating virtually.

Samantha Burnett, resident, spoke about the need for social services, specifically victims of domestic violence, homelessness and disability rights. Also, awareness and movement to fight against agism, sexism and other forms of discrimination.

The mayor did respond to the comment saying there isn’t a lack of services and gave examples of CDBG money that the city awards agencies in and out of the City.

Ms. Burnett stated that not everyone wants to go to the police station, for reasons of attention they may not want to attract.

Councilwoman Sousa did mention that many agencies are at max capacity and there are locations in the City if there was an organization that could be funded through the CDBG that could help right in our City, and why not keep the money in the City. She stated that not that the other organizations aren’t doing good, but why not invest right in our City. Councilwoman Sousa continued that this is something that we should look into and it would be beneficial to our community. She also mentioned that we can work with the children’s agencies and an organization that they could turn to once they turn 18, and that right now there really aren’t outlets to turn to. She mentioned that the CDBG funds would be a great avenue that the community needs.

Council President Britto mentioned that a lot of these shelters fly under the radar from his work at the Boys and Girls Club.

Ms. Burnett stated that she brought it up to just get the conversation started.

Mr. Roy approached the podium and stated that they help in many of these avenues.

Another announcement was made for public comment for the public hearing regarding the budget for both those in public and participating virtually.

There was no response both in person or virtually.

Council President stated that while the Council waiting for a response on Zoom, if the Clerk had dates for the next meeting. City Clerk, Samantha Burnett stated that she did have dates and the next was Tuesday, October 13^th at 6:30 p.m. Other dates were presented by Assistant Solicitor Conley. Any additional expense in a budget item would need to be advertised, his suggestion and recommendation to place an ad on the 13^th to run on the 15^th stating that the Council may add expenses on every portion of the budget to allow maximum flexibility. And, from the 15^th through the 24^th those are the time periods that you can actually add something to the budget and take a final action. If you advertise it on the 15^th you can have your first budget meeting on the 19^th then you can continue to a date certain from that point forward you don’t have to advertise again and only have to publish the meeting notice within the 48 hours are required by the Secretary of State. They last date that we can do anything on the budget would be on the 24^th. City Clerk, Samantha Burnett, stated that on the 13^th would be the budget session for a vote of first passage. Then, the advertisement would occur for the 15^th and then the first budget meeting could be on the 19^th.

Councilman Mourato asked why can’t they vote for first passage on the 19^th and we didn’t do this last year so why are we approving these ordinances before we have discussion.

Councilwoman Sousa stated that the Councilman was correct if they were adding or subtracting the final number would not be correct.

Council President discussed the timeline more with Councilman Mourato.

Councilman Mourato stated that he wasn’t comfortable voting on this prior to discussion.

Councilwoman Sousa asked if the amounts changed, would there be enough time to advertise? (question posed to Assistant City Solicitor, Dylan Conley).

Assistant City Solicitor Conley stated that the Council has until the 24^th.

Council President Britto stated that they will stay with the 13^th for a meeting at 6:30 p.m.

The City Clerk, Samantha Burnett stated that this date was filed with the Secretary of State, as a safeguard and to stay within the 48 hours and holiday weekend, it had to be filed before the meeting.

Assistant Solicitor Conley, suggested that scheduling more meetings, so we can file within the 48 hours, as that is a timeline that we absolutely have to adhere to, and if we don’t need it then it can always be cancelled.

Councilman Cahoon asked what needs to get done on the 20^th during the regular Council meeting. City Clerk, Samantha Burnett stated that there were the liquor licenses that needed to be addressed. Councilwoman Sousa asked the City Clerk if she could please have the list of businesses prior to the meeting. City Clerk Burnett did state she could provide this to the Council by Tuesday. Councilman Mourato stated that he had a resolution.

Public hearing will be set for October 19^th and then comment in the agenda. Advertisement to be published on October 15^th and will allow the five days of advertisement for the 19^th.

Motion to adjourn by Council Vice President Rodericks. Seconded by Councilwoman Sousa. Motion passes unanimously. Meeting adjourns.

A) CITY COUNCIL

B) MAYOR’S OFFICE

C) CITY CLERK

D) LAW

E) CANVASSING

F) FINANCE

G) TAX COLLECTION

H) TAX ASSESSMENT

I)   HUMAN RESOURCES

J) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

K) MISCELLANEOUS

L) DEBT SERVICE

M) CAPITAL

O) PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

P) RECREATION

Q) PIERCE STADIUM

R) CAROUSEL

S) LIBRARY

T) SENIOR CENTER

U) PUBLIC WORKS

V) BUILDING INSPECTOR

W) ENGINEERING

X) HIGHWAY/PARKS

Y) STREETLIGHTS

Z) REFUSE DISPOSAL

AA) PUBLIC BUILDINGS

BB) CENTRAL GARAGE

CC) POLICE DEPARTMENT

DD) ANIMAL SHELTER

EE) HARBORMASTER

FF) FIRE DEPARTMENT

GG) WASTEWATER POLLUTION CONTROL

HH) WATER UTILITIES

 

IV)  PUBLIC HEARING ON THE FOLLOWING BUDGET ORDINANCES AS PROPOSED BY THE MAYOR NOTICE TO TAXPAYERS ON CURRENT AND PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020-2021

(As advertised in the October 1, 2020 edition of the East Providence Post).

 

1)   ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EAST PROVIDENCE ORDERING THE

ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF PROPERTY TAX ON THE RATABLE REAL ESTATE, TANGIBLE

PERSONAL PROPERTY, AND AN EXCISE TAX ON REGISTERED MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAILERS.

 

2)   ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EAST PROVIDNCE APPROPRIATING

$193,603,128 FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING

OCTOBER 31, 2020.

 

3)   AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO BORROW FUNDS IN ANTICIPATION OF TAXES.

 

4)   AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO BORROW FUNDS IN ANTICIPATION OF BONDS.

 

5)   AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE TO BORROW FUNDS IN ANTICIPATION OF REVENUE

 

V)   DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE VOTE ON SETTING A DATE, TIME AND PLACE FOR THE FINAL PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE 2020-2021 BUDGET SEASON.

 

VI)  ADJOURNMENT