Town Council - Regular Meeting

Are you good? Want to salute the flag?

I want to salute the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I'd like to announce no votes were taken in an executive session. I'll entertain a motion to seal the minutes of executive session. So moved. Second. All in favor?

Aye.

Thank you. Town Council sitting as the Board of Lights' commissioners. We'll open the remonstrance hearing regarding an application for the transfer of a classic retail beverage license now held by Commons Launch Inc. DBA Commons Launch to LC's on the Commons LC DBA LC's on the Commons for premises located at 48 Commons. Anyone who would like to speak on this, that would be the time.

I'll make a motion to approve. I'll second the motion. Any further discussion? I would just add a one quick question. How was the state? If somebody wants to come up to the dice and answer this, how is the new parking situation the state put up there going to affect you? I know they kind of did they take spots away from the commons lunch?

I'm not sure I fully know, but I- There's a green button. There's a green button. I think she's on.

Is it green?

Green.

And just, yeah. Am I speaking? Okay. Just state your name and your address.

Sure. Caitlin Donahue of 147 Lawrence Drive, Portsmouth, Rhode Island. So at this time, we started looking at this property quite some time ago. And since then, there's a number of handicapped parking spots in front of 48 Commons. We're hopeful that this change in the parking triangle is a way that is the plan that that will help us. So yeah, thank you.

What type of restaurant are you planning?

We really want to pay homage to this community and has been here before and the Crothers family who's here with us tonight. We want to be able to offer breakfast and lunch to start and then grow our capacity depending on where we're at.

Any other questions while we get over there? There you go. Come on up, Cheryl.

Good evening. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Cheryl Tamarow, and I'm here tonight representing my mother, Barbara Crother, who owns the Commons Restaurant. This business has been in our family for 50 years, since 1966, and we have held the beer and wine license after the fire. So it's been over 20 years. During that time, there has never been any issues at all with the liquor license. And we are fully endorsing the transfer of that license to Caitlin and Adam Donahue as it's their intentions to bring a restaurant back to town. We know that the people of town are very much in support of having the restaurant reopen again. And Caitlin and Adam have ties to the town. Caitlin was brought up in town. Her mom is here in support of her. And we fully endorse this. And we recognize that there have been changes made to the parking. Unfortunately, that is something that was mandated by the state and have any control that. But we know that Plan is to change the traffic pattern around the comments. At least that's been the talk to make it a one way to help make more parking. And we understand just from having run the business for so long that the busiest time of the year for the business is the summertime. And fortunately, during the summer, we don't have to contend with all of the parking and the traffic from the schools.

Thanks very much. Very good, thank you. Anyone else? We have a motion and a second. Anyone else like to speak on the remote stream? Okay, not seeing any all in favor. Aye. Opposed? Not seeing any, thank you. Good luck. Thank you.

Good luck. Good luck. I said we can't wait.

Announcements any announcements.

And then we're all watching through the minutes of the last time counsel me. A 7 unless anybody has any comments or questions. That are open.

For me to report that one I T orman. April through May 2026 activity report. We have Jonathan Gabriel here, our IT cyber security expert, when I understand you. And keep it short.

No problem. Good job. Thank you, Mr. President. So, yes, well, this is kind of a combined verbal report. Well, I've been out for a little while, recovering from surgery. Back from that. Made significant progress on back-end systems, cybersecurity, systems management improvements. So that's been exciting for me, rather boring for everybody else, I realize. But I would like to thank all of the town staff who were more than patient while I was supporting things remotely. I know it's not the ideal way. I prefer to be in person as well. A bit of teamwork. We were able to still make everything happen. It was great. We also used that time to prepare the launch of the new town newsletter, which many people have been looking forward to. And one of the proposed names, I think, has caught on more than others. So launching on June 2nd, which is a Tuesday, Umpden Download, that was the official name, will be a convenient regular update from the town delivered straight to everybody's inbox, or at least everybody who decides to register. Initially, we're going to target a biweekly schedule in advance of each town council meeting. So you'll have the latest information on what's coming up that week and next. Yes.

It's going to call the little Compton download. The little Compton people sign up. they're going to have all the information that's going on a little confident right in their mailbox. Is that what you're saying to me? That's correct. So we're not going to have anyone say, I don't know what's going on. Where do I find something? As long as they register.

As long as they register. And they can register two ways. Two ways. So you'll either be able to sign up directly on the website or in the clerk's office. Heather has been taking some names that we have available there. And you will, of course, be able to unsubscribe, change your preferences, anything like that at any time. But the initial focus will be upcoming town meetings, events, public reminders, service announcements. Excuse me a second. There's already talking in the back.

Please stop that. In the back talking. Back.

Thanks. So yes, public service announcements, reminders of upcoming events, anything that we want to make sure the community is aware of will be the initial focus with the longer term goal of having more departments and committees also be able to contribute their content. So the frequency of those updates, things like that may change over time, but we really want to make this one central place where any resident can really get all the communications, all of the goings on in town again, delivered straight to your inbox. All of that is really part of a continuing effort to try and consolidate more and more of our services and resident portals. We're putting a lot of effort into reducing systems, manual processes, lowering costs, especially through consolidating these with the ultimate goal of one easy to use, secure account for residents where they can conduct all of their business with the town in a single place. Some of you may be familiar with OpenGov. That's a platform that we use for some of our existing permitting, fire inspection services, things like that. Many of our additional processes will also continue to go through there, including, which kind of brings me to a short-term rental update, our short-term rental registration process will also live in that portal ultimately. So a public-facing web page is now available on our website. You can get to it by going to littlecompton.gov slash STR, or it's right on the community resources page, short-term rental information is what it's called. And while the actual registration portal is still being prepared, we anticipate that's going to launch on July 1st. The website's already preloaded with some FAQs and information about the ordinance and what the requirements are going to be. And we will certainly be providing more information on the LC download. So a great reason to sign up if you're interested in hearing more about that in the near future. That continues kind of an ongoing town-wide evaluation of all of our contracts, our cost-saving opportunities, been reviewing some opportunities for printing, copying, telephone, cellular, some other productivity applications. Excuse me. and also pooling resources between departments and the school. We have some real opportunity to save money while also enhancing service delivery, doing things like cross-site backups between departments and locations, sharing the costs of utilities that we can pool together. So we don't have a final figure yet. We're still going through everything, but we definitely anticipate it will be in the tens of thousands of dollars per year just to start in the savings realm. We also provided some support for Financial Town Meeting, which was a lot of fun. Updates to the websites, maybe a couple of firsts. I don't know if we've ever done a how-to video before. Larry Anderson, the moderator, recorded one. We got that online. We did maps, signage, and other logistics between the town, the school department, our vendors. And while it wasn't fully utilized, we did have the three overflow areas ready to go. It was an excellent test, and I think no matter what happens in future years, we will be well prepared to hold a financial town meeting of any size. But yes, everything from technology to communications to even the pedestrian traffic flow went very smoothly. So I think that's a great testament to all the hard work and planning that the town clerk has put into that day, certainly. And then lastly, you might have noticed on some of those signs some slightly bolder, cleaner, crisper copies of a lot of our town logos, the code lead moms, things like that. We're working on updating a lot of the branding materials, modernizing those things so that we can be ready to pivot as soon as a new website vendor is selected. So we've begun the process of evaluating a few different options, looking at what is the best for our particular needs here. But within the next couple of months, I don't have a solid timeline yet, we are looking to launch a completely new public website, something sharper, cleaner, with a little bit more professional branding, more relevant information in more prominent, easy-to-find places, and the ability to rapidly update information and respond to what people want to see on the website. That's been one of our biggest limitations that we keep running into, so it's definitely time to address it for good. Any questions for John?

Motion to approve John's. I was just going to make a motion to approve John's. I'll second it. All in favor? Aye.

I just wanted to publicly thank Jonathan. I think he took about four hours off for his surgery and then made all sorts of arrangements to make sure that we were still in business and that all the issues that pop up on a day-to-day basis were getting addressed. So thank you.

Thank you. Old business once. Chief recommendation from Director of the Brownell Library for purchase of furniture at the library. I think we've come to the end of this rainbow. and I'm happy to turn this over to someone. Who's that, the audience, is that you? Are we good? Yep. I'll make a motion. Do we have a recommendation? Second. All in favor?

Aye. This is going to be supported by a grant.

Yes.

I was kind of shocked that 22 chairs would cost almost $18,000. Poor little stools were going to be $6,000.

They're nice chairs.

They must be nicer chairs than I have.

That's all. I can talk about that if you want.

You can go right up and Tell us who you are and everything you want to say.

Sue Russo, I'm the director of the library and I live in Portsmouth. So I'm happy to answer any questions you have about the bid. For a public library, for a public place, you need public chairs. You can't just buy dining room chairs like you would at home and put them in a library because they wouldn't last. These chairs actually have special joint process so that they won't come apart. The cushion is removable and cleanable and reupholsterable. The frame is solid wood and it can be refinished. So these are, and they have a warranty of something like 20 years. So they can be refinished and used for a good long time. The tables are solid wood tables. Again, they have to be sturdier than home use in order to be in a public building. So while it's expensive, I don't think it's not out of the expected expense for a public building.

Susan, would you mind explaining for everyone's edification the financial relationship between the library and the town and why it is that we need to approve a bid for something that you've got grant money for and you have your own?

So in this case, the grant is being granted to the municipality. So the library works for, I work for the board of trustees, which you guys appoint. So I'm kind of adjacent to, but not directly under Anya. But because this is a municipal grant, I have to, you guys are receiving the money for me. The other, like the grant aid that I get from the state that comes to the library through you, but it's awarded to me where this grant is awarded to the town. And so that's why you've seen a lot of me.

Thank you.

Thank you, Susan. I think we voted on that. Didn't we? Yeah. Okay. Uh, new business, one, three appointments to pension committee. Um, no, old two. I'm sorry. Well, business to draft origins. Thank you for a deputy tax assessor position. As requested by the test. Act assessor Denise cause group back and forth with emails here. I've been on some, I haven't been on others. I think we've got something here. Is this at the end? I have solicitor written next to it.

Would you like to speak on this? Yes, it's reached the culmination point, which is a new word that I've been using lately. A good one. But here's the thing. The ordinance that you have in front of you is the existing ordinance. with one provision. The original one that you got was missing a provision. Heather, I thank you for the assist. That's been put in. The new section is E, the deputy tax assessor. There may be a deputy tax assessor appointed by the council upon recommendation of the tax assessor. The deputy will have all the powers and perform all the duties which are granted to the tax assessor in the tax assessor's absence. That's the main thrust of this new section. That would allow the assessing department to function properly, even if Denise is on vacation or otherwise unavailable job. That's the purpose of this.

Am I right that our role is to now vote to advertise not to vote to approve is that correct.

That's what I'm led to believe.

Well you already accepted. Well yes. I didn't receive it in time for the meeting last meeting. Yep. Received during. So I put it back on the agenda so you could actually view what was being proposed. But the public hearing has been advertised based on last meeting.

We voted to advertise at the last meeting. Now we're just sort of catching up with it. Got it.

So no action? You want action on this? Yes. I'm going to make a motion to accept this written. Do I have a second?

Second. Second.

And for the discussion. All there. I thank you. Business 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,

That have put their names in our three current members of the pension committee trip Samson, Allison McNaughton and John Sweeney, not Bob motion.

Well, that's how much I want to stay on the council. I would. been very successful with Bob on the council the last 22 years. So I'll make the motion to appoint those three.

Second the motion. If I could just say, we are greatly benefited by having the three people who currently serve willing to serve another term. These are all three bring a different particularly in the retirement area, and I think it's to our employees' great benefit. So I was pleased to see that all three did, and there weren't others that would be, although I would discourage somebody from putting his or her name in. We've got a good slate here, and I recommend we focus.

Thank you, Bob. I have a motion and a second on the table. All in favor?

Aye. Opposed? Thank you.

New Business 2, this is worded a little bit different. It's from Little Compton Celebrates America 250, and it says for the transfer, it's not a transfer, of existing Little Compton Fire Work Committee funds to Little Compton Celebrates America. Um, so the town council, um, votes on how the Fire Work Committee allocates their funds. So we are in charge of these funds for FY26 is $7,000 in there. And FY27 is also another $7,000 in there that was just approved at the FTM. So I'm not clear on if they're they want the FY26 or FY27. I don't know if anyone's here that wants to speak on that. Sure, go ahead.

I'm on the committee for the 250th and we simply want to transfer funds left over from previous allocations to the fireworks for this coming summer. So whichever year they were allocated doesn't mean anything to us. We just want the money basically.

In response, I would say we would need to encumber or in some fashion at the end of this fiscal year, take this year's money, which was not spent on this year's fireworks money, and encumber that into the next year so we can use it next year. In addition to your point, we have an allocation for next year so we could marry those two together and for the 250th, both those sets of funds could be available for fireworks.

Great, thank you. Appreciate that very much.

But budget, do you have an estimate for what your fireworks should be?

We're doing the same as last year and we haven't got the exact number yet, but it's probably around 20,000. Okay. Well, it looks like you just got 14. Sounds good to me. Thank you very much.

I think there's a motion coming.

The motion will be to roll those funds over into the next fiscal year into that particular line item.

I will make a motion. I'll leave this precise wording to the finance director who has challenged me on the possibility of using encumber. It's not exactly precise, so I will use a generic term. I move that we hold over those FY 2020 six funds into fiscal 27 and add to those funds, the allocation of last night's meeting regarding FY27 so that we have the sum of FY26 and FY27 fireworks money available in fiscal 27.

Second. Motion. Any further discussion?

Got it.

Thanks, Bob. Yes. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. May I pose? I'm not. Thank you. Thank you very much. You're welcome.

Thank you.

New Business 3 request from Chief Patrick to designate May 17th through 23rd, 2026 as Emergency Medical Services Week with the theme Honoring Our Past, Forging Our Future. I'm happy to recognize this Emergency Medical Services Week this week. So is that your motion? I'm happy to do that, and that's my motion. Second. Second. All there. I thank you. New business for the point one 5 year unexplored term ending July 30th 2030. I mean I'm pushing the serving trust. The bill they can see whether do I have letters of interest.

You do you have to have to do that names. Carter will be.

Jay Miller. I have interviewed Carter Willoughby twice. I don't think I need to interview him again. It would be redundant for me. I'm just one of five. I'll just throw that out there. We have another one, Jay Miller, who we need to set up an interview. I would suggest two Thursdays, our next meeting at 6.30. I'll leave Gary to clean that up.

We'll make a motion that we all go interviewing Carter Wilkie on June 4th, because we've all interviewed him several times, but have Jay Miller come for 6.30 and interview Jay Miller for the position of, the unexpired position of the Ag Trust.

Seconds. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Thank you. Council sitting as part of places commissioners request from known server and that's been one a retail beverage license for a plan made to be no longer second. 2026 at the little common claim game club facility on John Dyer.

Motion to approve a local state ordinances at here to second.

All right. Communications request from BF Wilbur Nelson's Farm for single event entertainment license for Saturday, June 26, 2.30 PM to 10.30, located at 605 West Marion. I'm going to make this motion. Do I have a second?

I'll second this motion. Further discussion? I just want the public to know that this isn't, even though it's at the Nelson Farm, it's a private wedding, which is allowed in town. This isn't a money-making commercial wedding. So it's within the authority of the town council to approve it.

Thank you all in favor. I may oppose not seeing any. Thank you. Communications to request from the Narragansett-Wheelman to use the Adamsville ball field as a press stop on September 13, 2026 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during its annual bicycle ride throughout the town.

Motion to approve with notification to both chiefs and all state and local audiences adhere to. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Aye. Thank you. Communication is three. Email from Sydney Tynan in opposition. The flock safety cameras being installed in Little Helton. Motion to place on file. I'll second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Thank you. application for the renewal of a mobile food establishes license. We're on shore brewing mobile a mobile card. Motion to approve.

And I and I just got to get in yet there can I assume that there's more to this application than just their name there is something that's all here on this one.

It's a it's not there is a second page to the applications, but it's just a signature page.

I don't have a Okay. All right. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you.

So does it say where they're going to be located? They go to the beach. They go to the beach.

They've already got their approval from the beach for this year.

Okay.

I mean, they may do other events in town randomly, but they are primarily at the beach.

I have a motion and a second on the table. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. Communications 5 application for renewal of a mobile food establishment places from a crazy food.

Motion to approve with all state love local ordinances that here too. A second motion. Remember I did the same thing with this. Other that this is going to be that.

They don't go to the beach that I know of. This is the same gentleman who does McCrae's Seafood. So he actually, his seafood truck is not up for renewal yet for another three to 45 days. So he'll come back again for that one. But he just does special functions or anything like that.

Very good.

I mean, I'm not saying he wouldn't get approval from the beach, but he just doesn't want to go to the beach.

Are you ready to vote on that? Yes. What should place a consent calendar on file that's a very wise point but it's good thing.

Before we do the payment and we have a hand over a. Number of the number of the number of the show that someone about you know being shorn for legislation of the crisis to resolution is a yeah.

I think it's to give, I read it briefly, but it's to give New Shoreham their own authority to manage their deer herd because of the extreme overpopulation of deer on the island.

Good question. The agro says it's deer. a committee that they hunt on some of their land.

And I think that the tree committee has also has a subcommittee that's been working on and talking about our deer herd population. I know that they have been in communication with the subcommittee on the ag trust. I actually put them in touch with each other because I knew I serve as liaison to the tree committee and I knew that they were talking about it. And I also knew that the ag trust were talking about it. So I put them together. I don't know how far those conversations have gone, but there are conversations happening about the deer population in town.

Do you have some more information? Be in touch with those people because I worked on this for other communities.

Great.

That's a statewide problem. They're asking for legislation. They have a specific issue that they want to address. Other communities have been able to do that without legislative approval. Worked with DEM. Be happy to talk to the people that are working on it now.

Okay, I'll connect you via email. Thank you, Tony.

Motion to... Give consent eight to the solicitor for further review.

Second.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Good on the consent.

Yes, all is placed on file. We have that.

We have that one. So before we pay the bills, I'd like to whether you're good?

Fine.

I know it's fun. That was fun. Before we get the payment of the bills, this is Bob Munchin's last meeting here today. And I feel fortunate to be sitting next to you on your last meeting. I wasn't here on your first meeting, but Gary was. And so I've said a lot of nice things about you. I don't know if I have any more left to say about you in the past month.

I would prefer that no more nice things be said about me and that I be used as a public pillar.

So on that note, I'd leave it to the council first, if anyone would like to say anything to Bob or on the record for Bob.

I'd like to say something. As someone who's had the honor of serving on this council for a relatively short time, I feel incredibly fortunate that those 18 months overlapped with Bob. From the moment I joined, he welcomed me with genuine warmth. He made space for my questions and always answered with patience, generosity, and the historical context that I needed to understand how things were done. His deep knowledge, steady presence, and unwavering commitment to this town have set a standard that the rest of us can only hope to live up to. We will all miss him.

On a serious note, it is indeed a privilege to be able to do what we do. And it is because of turnout like this on a modest agenda that doesn't have a whole lot of fire and brimstone in it, And yet we have interested people to come and speak to us and deal with us. And that makes it most satisfying. It's been a privilege to be able to serve in this town in this fashion. And I attribute that to the citizens of the town. So thank you.

Uh, I think we all know that I've been serving on the council longer than anybody. And it was a breath of fresh air to have Bob mushroom on. I served with Jane Cabot, which, uh, I love dearly. Um, she ruled with an iron fist, but this weren't made of iron. He was more accepting, but, uh, it's been a pleasure serving with you, Bob, all these years and we've accomplished quite a bit. So, um, I'm at a loss for words for you to be leaving. I really am.

Thank you so much.

I know that I have only served with you for the last eight years. But it's been a real privilege serving those eight years alongside you. One of the things that I've always respected most about you is your willingness to work with every member of the Council in an honest effort to find common ground and build consensus around just about every decision we make. I know in local government, that spirit of collaboration matters enormously. And you've consistently brought patience, respect, and thoughtfulness to this chamber. Even when we've had differing opinions, you've always approached discussions with the goal of doing what was best for Little Compton. And the town has benefited immensely from your steady leadership and dedication to public service. So with that, thank you, Bob, for everything you've given to this community.

Thank you.

And keep the train rolling. I'm succumbing to say a word. Okay. I don't see any. Payment of bills. Motion to pay the bills. Second. All in favor. Father, would you like to adjourn this meeting? I'd like to make a motion to adjourn this meeting.

If I could, I will take the following action. There being no matters remaining for the council, I declare the meeting adjourned. Second.