City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

We're going to get started. Madam Clerk, will you take the roll call, please?

David Carlin. Lynn Underwood-Segley. Here. Carly Holder.

Here.

Cy Kemp-Savorva.

Here.

Jean-Marie Napolitano. Ellen Pennock. Here. Stephanie Smythe. Here. There is a quorum present, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States

Please remain standing for a quick moment of silence. I want to do a moment of silence for William Pendergast, who just recently passed away. For those of you who don't know, Bill was a longtime Newporter, born and raised in the Fifth Ward. I was a member of the Newport Police Department for over 20 years, where he retired as a sergeant, and then continued working as an IT manager for the department as well. Bill and his family, his wife, Sophia, are known for their work in school bus safety for students in Rhode Island. They lost their daughter at a young age to a school bus accident. And since then, since 1986, they started families insisting on safe school transportation. And since they started that in Rhode Island, not one child has been killed by a school bus. So I just want to take a quick moment for Bill and remember him. Thank you. Thank you very much. Madam Clerk, is there anyone for public forum?

No.

All right. And then before we get on with the consent calendar and our agenda tonight, we do have a proclamation. to honor Liz Davis. And then I'm going to ask Mr. Hakeem, if Hakeem want to come up and introduce Ms. Davis.

Good evening, everyone. When I say this is on, you say Liz. This is on.

Liz. This is on. Liz. This is on. Liz.

That's what I'm talking about. My name is Hakeem Coggins, Executive Director of Newport Bridge. A few years ago, while conversating with Chief Hop, he told me he was talking with Ms. Pauline Moyes-Perkins, and she says sometimes she feels invisible. Those words stuck. Service work shouldn't be undervalued and overlooked. Entitlement and lack of appreciation spoils the passion to serve. Newport Bridge launched a broken cycle January 6th in 2024. The concept was to fill weakened service gaps. We host activities, breakfasts, and provide basic needs. At first, it was just me and Ellen.

Then came my friend, Wallace.

Liz is what she calls herself, my right hand. We're like Jordan and Pippin. but I'm Jordan. After her came Miss Pauline, Paula from Turnaround Ministries, and so many others. Thank you all for your service. Liz, I appreciate what you do, and I also appreciate you as a person. Someone the community can count on, that's without a doubt. You would always say, I got your back. Those words kept me going when I felt tired and alone. I've learned a lot from just being around you. It is a blessing. You're the real deal when it comes to service. Thank you, Alan Pinnock and the city of Newport for helping make this day happen. It shows that sacrifice without reward still matters. When I told Liz about this day, she said, you think they'll approve it? If anyone deserves it, you'll be at the top of that list. She said, can I come? So it wouldn't be Liz Day without you, Liz. Liz, enjoy this day and every Liz Day to come. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for your service.

Good evening. I'm Liz, as you well know. As I said before, I don't do what I do for money, fame, or anything else. I do it because you're people, and people need people. And I've only been in church for four years, and I learned something from that. It's not what you get, it's how well you put it out. And so every day that I get up, and I don't sleep much, but I get up and I go to the Martin Luther King Center and the Housing Hotline and Bicycle Newport, all the places that I do for nine jobs, I tell people, there's a reason why I do it. And I love the fact that I can say good morning to everybody, good night, or whatever, but the real deal is that I'm there because you need me. And I thank each and everybody that's in this room, including my son, my kids, my daughter, my granddaughters, and my grandson. But the most of all that I have to do is I have to turn around and ask them to come back up here for one more hug.

Thank you.

Liz, we're going to ask you to stay at the podium for one more minute. Yes, please. It is. Council Pinnock has a proclamation that she'd like to read.

So, Kaylis? Yeah. Ms. Liz? Okay. First, I want to say thank you very much for your service. I've known you my entire life since I was two years old. You've always been a pillar of strength and service in our community. Shirley Chisholm said, service is the price you pay for being on earth. And I think you've paid that price 10 times over. So thank you for everything that you do. A lot of organizations wouldn't be able to function without volunteers like you. And I wish there was a better word for volunteer, but that's the word that I've got right now. So I just want to say thank you, Ms. Liz Davis, for everything that you bring to our community and to our lives.

Thank you very much.

Okay, city of Newport proclamation, whereas the city of Newport recognizes the extraordinary contributions of of individuals who dedicate their time, compassion and energy to strengthen our community and supporting those most in need. And whereas Liz Davis has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to serving the people of Newport, particularly our on house residents and some of the most vulnerable members of our community. And whereas through her tireless advocacy, compassion, and willingness to help wherever she is needed, Liz has worked to ensure that individuals facing hardship are treated with dignity, respect, and compassion. And whereas Liz generously volunteers her time and talents with multiple nonprofit organizations, continually answering the call to serve and making a meaningful difference in the lives of countless individuals and families. And whereas Liz's dedication extends far beyond any single organization or cause, her willingness to step forward, lend a helping hand and advocate for those who may not always have a voice reflects the very best of the spirit of community service. And whereas the City of Newport is grateful for residents like Liz Davis, whose selfless service, compassion, and unwavering dedication helped make Newport a stronger, more caring, and more inclusive community, now therefore be it resolved that the City of Newport extends its sincere appreciation to Liz Davis for the countless hours she has devoted to helping others and for being a steadfast advocate for our unhoused neighbors, our most vulnerable residents, and our community as a whole. In witness whereof, I have here unto set my hand, cause the seal of the city of Newport to be affixed the 16th day of September the year 2026, and it's signed by our mayor, Charles Holder.

Thank you. Can I say one other thing, please? This goes out to all our homeless and anybody that lives in Newport that know me. I try to get them to act like humans. I tell them this every morning when I go to work. Life doesn't have to be what you make it. It's what you grew up to be. And I had a hard time doing that, but now I understand what people that are older than me or younger than me were trying to say. And I think, I hope that I've approved, I've done, wait a minute, I messed that up. I hope I've proven what I was supposed to learn from yay till now. And I hope I got you approved. That's all I wanted to say. Thank you. Hey, thank you. You're welcome.

That's yours.

All right. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Vice chair. Yes. Motion to approve the consent calendar in its entirety.

Motion and second. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Motion to approve a daily entertainment license Broadway Partners LLC doing business as The Tavern on Broadway 16 Broadway September 26, 2026 from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. Second.

Motion and second. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Motion to approve an annual entertainment license, Broadway Tavern LTD. Doing business as Tavern on Broadway for a Class A indoor entertainment license, Sundays through Saturdays from noon to 1 a.m. And this is a hearing, Mr. Chair.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Anyone from the public that needs to make any comments? No?

Motion to close the public hearing and approve.

Motion and 2nd, any discussion all is in favor say aye.

Aye. Appointments to boards and commissions, Mr. chair.

We have 2 re, appointments tonight. The 1st, 1 is to the trust and investment commission. Mr. David Galvin, a 5 year term, expiring 1031, 2029. Motion and second. Any discussion?

Mr. Chairman.

Councilman Carlin.

Appreciate Mr. Galvin's service. He's a resident of the Third Ward, neighbor, a fine Newporter, and a great investment professional. I don't know if David is here tonight, but this is a well-deserving reappointment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Councilman. Any other discussion? All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Uh, 2nd, reappointments, the waterfront commission, Mr Alexander Donlan, a 3 year term, expiring 10282029. 2nd, motion a 2nd, any discussion. All those in favor say, aye aye.

Moving on to communications from the city manager action item 6672. I'd like to make a motion to withdraw this item. 2nd.

Motion in a second. Mr. Solicitor, would you like to opine on this?

I just want to point out that this is action being taken at the suggestion of the Vice President of the union.

Okay. Any discussion on the council? All those in favor withdraw, say aye.

Action item 6673. The administration recommends approval of the license agreement between the City of Newport and SW 244 LLC for the use of a small parcel of city-owned land located adjacent to and surrounded by SW 244 LLC's parcel identified as Lot 244 on the Newport Tax Assessor's Plat 27. which parcel is the location of the smokehouse restaurant and a commercial parking lot for a term of 20 years commencing upon approval of the license agreement by the council this is no fiscal impact i'll second that matter vice chair all right we have a motion second any discussion

All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Action item 6674, the Department of Public Services recommends awarding the Cliffwalk Replacement Fencing Contract to the lowest responsive bidder, AEP Fence Services, Inc. of Johnson, Rhode Island, at the total project cost of $22,800. This is currently budgeted. all right motion and second any discussion all those in favor say aye aye action item 6675 the department of public services recommends approval of one the memorandum of understanding by and between the rhode island department of transportation and the city of newport for access for enhancements to the pell bridge realignment dog park And two, the construction and maintenance agreement by and between Rhode Island Department of Transportation and the City of Newport for the Pell Bridge ramp landscaping as part of the statewide beautification projects. I move approval. This has no fiscal impact. All right.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion?

Mr. Chair, just one thing. I know that we're looking to certainly improve that dog park, which needs some help. And it needs shade, it needs more trees, perhaps better footing. And I'm wondering if perhaps we could get the NACTECH students involved in the carpentry program to build some Benches and maybe even a gazebo or something. So just to make it more easier to sit there in the sun and the rain. And also, I'm just throwing that out there as a suggestion.

Believe that the administration. Don't work with them. Thank you.

I believe Maureen Cronin would like to. Add to that.

Good evening and thank you for asking to talk about that. I'll keep it short. Maureen Cronin, 10 Harvard Street, Chair of the Tree and Open Space Commission. We have discussed the enhancement of the dog park because we think it's important and very, very necessary. We've also had some professionals, Brad Shearer, the Executive Director of Potter League, show us some of the work that's been done nationally that would be of the caliber that I think our citizens deserve. So we are going to have it, Councilor Shegley, on our agenda to be looking at when it comes through. We probably will have to raise some private funding for it, and that has been discussed about looking at having some funding come in so that we can really make it the place it should be, and that it unfortunately never was even before the realignment project. So it's a very important aspect of of the project, absolutely.

Mr. Chair. What about the dead trees that are along?

Those have also been discussed with the planning group. We've talked about them. We've given them a zone map on the trees that have been broken. Not broken, killed, dead, however you want to call it. And Mr. DeSimone has been very helpful in assigning somebody to come and look for it. Director Riccio has also been involved in helping with that and mapping that out. So yeah, we're well aware of that. And as soon as this is done, it was our understanding from right on that shovels would hit the ground within probably 30 to 45 days because the planting season is now. And the landscape plan is pretty robust. And it's been fully vetted and gone through. And we had public input. And it's really pretty. It's going to look really nice. And the Rotary will be part of it. And so we'll be welcoming signage as you enter America's Cup.

Okay.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Maureen. All right. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye. Thank you. Action item 6676, the grants office within the Department of Resilience and Sustainability in collaboration with the Department of Finance, Planning and Development and Public Services recommends that the City Council authorize Newport to accept up to $6,015,225 in additional federal highway administration grant funds made available through fiscal year 2025 SS4A regional grant program to Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth. Following Portsmouth's reduction in the scope and budget of its projects and Middletown's decision not to pursue the available funds, Newport has the opportunity to add up to $7.52 million in project funds to its allocation consisting of $6.02 million in additional federal funds and approximately $1.50 million in additional local match. I move approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All right, all those in favor say aye.

Aye. We approved it under the consent calendar, so you're all set.

Sorry.

Action item 6677, the Grants Office within the Department of Resilience and Sustainability in collaboration with the Police Department recommends that the City Council authorize acceptance of $137,000 grant award, $1,000 grant award from a pass-through grant from Rhode Island Emergency Management through fiscal year 2025 Homeland Security Grant Program. The grant funds will support the Newport Police Department with the development, implementation, and support of an explosives canine program. These funds will supplement the acquisition and training of an explosive detection canine, as well as the acquisition of a special equipped police cruiser, training aids, and other required equipment to support the program. The program will be funded through the grant, and there is no match requirement. I move approval.

Motion and second. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye.

Aye. Action item 6678, it is the recommendation of the Director of Public Safety to amend the following ordinance related to subjects including bicycle operations, bicycle equipment, bicycle safety, bicycle slash vehicle engagement, and related definitions. The affected ordinances include definitions well two chapters of definitions traffic control signal legend flashing signals parking prohibited in specific places and bicycles uh i move approval second we have a motion in a second um there is a lot of information uh in this ordinance change uh we can unless there's any questions from the council on specific uh

Parts of the ordinance changes. We can just take it all as one.

But I'm going to give you the opportunity. At the appropriate time.

Okay. And then before we get into council, is there anybody from the public? I know we have a lot of people here from whether it's BPAC or Bike Newport, if anyone wants to make any comments.

Mr. Chairman, I actually have an administrative question that I'd like to address before.

Yes, sir. Go ahead, Councillor.

The question, having read that and having been told by some constituents and others, business owners and others, is there... Am I reading it wrong, are others reading it wrong? Or with regard to the prohibitions, does this proposed ordinance change not include Spring Street to City Hall, which is in the General Business District? Let's just say all of Spring Street to 40 Broadway, most of which, 90% of which is in the General Business District, if not 100% of which. Are you friends the prohibitions in in parking? The prohibitions specifically first on a sidewalk Sidewalk riding and then secondly Well, we'll hold off on that.

Yes Good evening Ryan Duffy chief of police so There is no delineation In these ordinances to include or not include specific parts of the city, so the ordinances are encompassing of the city wide.

Question in part it does chief Thank you specifically. the general business district is listed directly in the proposed ordinance and there are I believe some specific streets mentioned the concern that these folks had is by not specifically identifying all of spring up to again 40 broadway we would inadvertently be allowing

unruly behavior in that area understood if i'm understanding you correctly that um that the intention our intention is to apply the changes citywide and yet what we may have missed a gap in identifying certain spots that need to be identified in order to apply to citywide is that correct that is correct chief it's a 27 page proposed ordinance change so understood uh it's it's certainly uh

I mean, these things happen all the time, and it is absolutely inadvertent. But at the time that the solicitor draws up the final plan, we should make sure to include those places. Certainly. Or those geographic areas.

Yeah. Counselor, do you, is there a specific? No. No, I can't point it to you because I don't have the document in front of me.

But I have confidence that the city administration understands what I'm saying. We'll take care of that. The second part of my question is, and I realize that state statute dictates a lot of what we do, what we're permitted to do and not permitted to do, but Where in the proposed ordinance changes are we making it financially or otherwise difficult for folks who disregard these ordinances that exist now and these proposed ordinance changes? Let me pause and say that all of us have received Countless emails, texts, phone calls, in-person conversations with folks who are fed up with particularly youngsters who ride these e-bikes much below the age of 16 where you would be required to get a driver's license. And they ride on the sidewalks. They go the wrong way. They hit vehicles or vehicles hit them. They hit pedestrians. All sorts of problems. But yet. According to state law. We cannot. I've read it. I hope correctly. We as a municipality without the state of Rhode Island's permission. The legislature's permission. We cannot assess a fine to those individuals because. the legislature has not yet given Newport or other municipalities the right to home rule, if you will, on issues like that. Am I correct, Mr. Behan? Am I correct, Chief?

For the most part, yes. We have been informed, though, by Representative Carson that the General Assembly, at least several members of the General Assembly, are going to take up the issue of the e-bikes and other motorized vehicles on the streets knowing Other communities are experiencing the same issues. You know, to some degree, it can be unique. We, we do have some unique issues, but overall communities are. Addressing this and representative Carson made a point of letting me know that. They're taking this up in the next session. And we're going to do, obviously, a wait and see. And we will update this further if we get that type of authority. Whatever authority that we're given to address those issues with those types of vehicles will follow up at that time. But you are correct overall with your what you stated.

And again, I appreciate it, Mr. Vian and Chief. And I thank Representative Carson, who in 2025, no, 2024, introduce legislation to give the city of Newport no other municipalities. If they don't want to do it, fine. Give the city of Newport the authority to institute ordinances, rules, and regulations governing e-bikes. passed the House of Representatives virtually unanimously, and it was held up and did not see the light of day in the Senate. So that's something I think we should all work on in the 2027 legislative session. And I don't want to take up too much more time, but as I further understand it, and this is very, very odd to me and perhaps to others, The governing authority with regard to e-bikes is not the Department of Transportation. It is the state of Rhode Island overall. But believe it or not, the governing authority at this point is the Department of Environmental Management, which is absurd. And the DEM was asked to draw up regulations regarding e-bikes and use of e-bikes because these e-bikes And they are motor powered. They're not human powered. They might be a combination, but motor powered are used in the state parks and apparently abused in the state parks. So there is a current state law which allows the Department of Environmental Management to regulate e-bikes within state parks. But there is no other regulation on state law, within state law, that gives us the power to assess fines, to dictate that youngsters must be wearing helmets, to dictate that you must take a course like we all do when we receive a driver's license, to dictate that you cannot, for example, drive up a one-way street, the other the wrong way, etc., etc., etc., which brings me back to my original question. I contend, Chief, Mr. Behan, not with respect to bicycles, human-powered, but with respect to any other motorized vehicles as it relates to e-bikes, that we are powerless to assess fines and enforce any ordinances. And if somebody can tell me that I am wrong, I would be very happy to be wrong. Thank you, Chief. Thank you, Mr. Behan.

Chair, please.

I just want to echo Councillor Carlin's concerns. I'm on Melbourne Road. I've got to tell you, I've seen the e-bikes flying by, no helmets. I've seen people with children on the back, no helmets. And it's really concerning to me. And I think in this day and age, when we have all this regulation going on, that we should find a way to protect the people that are not only on these e-bikes and e-scooters, but the children that they put on with them. And I'm really upset about it. And David is absolutely right. They don't even stop at stop signs. Somebody's going to get killed, and then you're going to hear everybody in an uproar. I really think it's time for the city to seriously look at it, express their concerns to the state. I appreciate what Councillor Carlin said. I totally agree with him.

Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I just have a question for the chief. Could I ask the chief a question? Could I just ask one? It's okay. It's okay. I'm just a question about enforcement. You know, people say, oh, you're going to have all of these on the books, and then if you don't enforce it, then what does it matter? And, I mean, that's true. Are there methods of enforcing these laws? these ordinances? I mean, how do we go about doing this?

When the e-bikes have pedals, they're being used as human and e-assisted. We do enforce the one-ways. We enforce the standard motor vehicle law. Um, and additionally, we run a. Especially the beginning of every school year. We run an educational program where our community police officers, they go to the schools, they see who's arriving on schools. They talk to parents, they talk to kids, they call parents when when kids are not, uh, of the right age. and we help them with identifying if that's the only method that they have for riding to school. We help them try and find another bicycle to get to school. So we are taking a proactive educational and enforcement when we can.

Okay. It's difficult, though. I understand. Yes. It's difficult. Moving targets all the time. Yes. But, yeah, I was just curious about, you know, how you work it out. So, thank you.

State your name and address, please.

uh jim fry fifteen slocum street i am one of the ten members of the bicycle pedestrian advisory commission first off i want to thank this city council and mayor mayor holder for focusing on the city commission process very early in this session and in this term bpac had gone quiet and with a number of members who are no longer active We're now well into our second year of dealing with a robust agenda under our chair, Tara Zambrotta. One of the most important issues we've faced is the law surrounding bicycling in Newport and in Rhode Island. And again, a thank you goes out to the city council, city staff, particularly our police chief who worked closely with Bike Newport in taking on the first in Rhode Island comprehensive municipal update of bicycle ordinances. When this issue reached BPAC, spent several months on it, This summer, I have personally tried to take care of my daily business as much as possible on my bicycle. I want to know what people in our city experience, residents and tourists. Many people tell me they would do the same thing, but they don't feel safe on some of our streets, particularly in the summer's heavy traffic. This comprehensive update will contribute to making our streets safer. The updated ordinances provide clarity to cyclists and will require businesses that provide free or rental bicycles to ensure their customers know the rules of the road involving bicycles. And these ordinances will help drivers properly avoid conflict with cyclists. I think it's pretty clear we have more work to do on e-bike ridership. The issues surrounding it continue to grow. And after the state legislature takes more comprehensive action on e-bike governance, we're set to dig in on the issue. with updated e-bike definitions that you see in this ordinance, we're already set and ready to go on this. Can I ask, did you already vote on the resolution regarding funding for safe streets? Yes. Yeah, I just want to add that the BPAC spoke about this in our meeting last night, and we look forward to working both with you and city staff on funding for Safe Streets.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Jim.

Mr. Chair? Who's that? Yeah, it was me.

I just wanted to say thank you to BPAC and to Bike Newport and to our city administration for all of the hard work and just hold up the fact that the results that are coming because BPAC is involved is the reason why our boards and commissions are so important. So I just want to say thank you very much for all of the work that you have done and continue to do to help our city become safer. We appreciate it.

Yeah. And just, you can, you can come up and just one more further thing on that council clinic. Not only has BPAC has been heavily involved, but they were pretty much dead and buried. And the current, the current group on that commission has, has reinvigorated and has done a lot of work. So I just want to make sure that that's, that's known. State your name and address, please.

Betty Murray I'm involved with the Rhode Island bicycle coalition and I received a copy of these recommendations and I'm just here to thank the city of Newport for taking a step like this to begin to revise and redefine people who use our roads and streets in a variety of different ways in helping us come to touch that our streets and roads are shared by a variety of different people with different transportation. And this is a naughty little question, as we've just heard. But you've defined this for all of us. This will be an example and a model which will go forth from Newport. And other municipalities will use this to modernize their ordinances and bring them into a contemporary view of what actually exists on our roads and sounds. So I just want to thank you, say bravo to the city of Newport. And we're waiting. We would love to see if you're going to change some things in this and approve them. We're waiting to see that approval. We're waiting to see how we can use this as a model in our other cities and towns. So thank you very much.

Thank you.

Mr.

Chair. Councilman.

I just wanted to second what Councillor Pinnock had said that, you know, thank you, Bike Newport and BPAC and Chief Duffy, everybody involved in providing for safer, more walkable, bikeable streets in Newport. And I can greatly appreciate that this is setting the stage as a model for other municipalities to follow suit and provide for safer streets for their cities and towns. So thank you. Thanks.

Any further discussion? All those in favor?

Oh, I'm sorry.

And you are?

Hello, I'm Barry Freeman, Friendship Street and Executive Director of Bike Newport. First, just to put the e-bikes to rest, while this package does not deal with e-bikes other than by definition, I'm part of the work being done at the legislative level. There's a lot of work being done at the state level to look at what's happening around the country. Everybody is dealing with this. Where are the best practices? What is this going to look like in Rhode Island? Understanding the classifications of e-bikes and most of what we're talking about, by the way, are not e-bikes. There are other vehicles that have motors and There's currently no route to registering them or licensing them. So that's what has to get fixed. And we're right in there, along with the Association of Rhode Island Chiefs. It's a fabulous group that's working. Hopefully, the state will be able to address this in the next session. This, however, deals with other issues. have been working on this along with everyone else for many years. I sent a text message. I think it was to one of you today. And I like the way that it sounded so much I wanted to read it to you. It said, we wrote this package with the chief. We, Bike Newport, wrote this package with the chief and his traffic sergeant and the BPAC representatives side by side, word by word, using best practice references for every single item. This is a big book of references and references, much more than you've seen. The end result is this well informed and very well managed collection of public safety code should not only be approved, it should be a model of both process and product for other municipalities, as Betty stated, and for the state. I couldn't be prouder of this. I couldn't be more proud of Newport taking a lead on this. I know we like to be leaders. This is going to go far. This is going to be duplicated in other municipalities. It's going to be a model for the state because there is no other municipality that has looked at all of these codes together and holistically and brought everything up to date. And we should be very proud of this process and how we did it. incredibly grateful to Chief Duffy for this process. I think we have a lot to be proud of in this package. So, yes, bravo, and thank you for moving this forward.

Thank you, Barry. Mr. Rice?

Pete Rice, third ward resident. I haven't ridden a bike for a couple years, but I used to ride about 25 years, 3,000 miles a year, most of it around Newport. I know the roads well. I know the behavior of drivers well and bicycle riders. This thing misses the mark. We could make this better in a heartbeat, one sentence. Let me give you my two cents worth. A little philosophy. To keep bike riders safe and bike riders keeping themselves safe, the first thing they want to do is be predictable so people know where they're going and cars know where they're going. This document does a pretty good job of that, it seems to me. It tells you where you can, when you can cross streets, where you can be in the lane, how far apart you have to be. The thing it doesn't do that's most important to bike riders that will increase safety in a heartbeat is you've got to be visible. You've got to insist that people can be seen. This does nothing for that. Notice that it specifies in the nighttime that people have to have lights on. That's visibility. The best thing that you could do, the quickest change you could make to make people safer is specify lights in the daytime. Have blinky lights in the front and blinky lights in the back of every bike. You're already insisting upon it at nighttime. Why not do it during the daytime? I think Florida does that. I don't think you can ride bikes in Florida without a blinky light on the front, blinky light on the back. be seen, and unless they get a Massachusetts license plate, they probably won't hit you. But this doesn't address the primary problem. The problem is visibility. You've got to make bikes visible to people. You don't see bikes as well as cars. Because they aren't as big. But if they had the same light on it as the car does, they'd be equally visible. And people would pay attention to you. And it would, another attribute for that is it makes the bikes visible in cars when you're catching up, when you have guys in your rearview mirror when you're out driving. Little things sneaking around everywhere. If they got lights on them, you know they're there. You could do that in a sentence with this document. There are a lot of other improvements I think you can make with this document. I went to the workshop back in April, made lots of comments there. I don't see any of the ones that I actor advanced at that point has never asked back to Talk more about this revision up until it get published in the paper. I went six weeks trying to find Revision or what changes have been made? Nobody's forthcoming. I got a secret Thank You mr. Rice

You want to come up, Mr. Chairman?

Hi, I'm Emily Cairns, and this is Ren Cairns, and we're Ward 2. And we just wanted to come seeing the document in front of us and talking about bike safety. We bike as a family, and it's just really important to us to have safe biking and infrastructure that's supported in our city.

Newport is a city, and I think this of most of the United States, that it's made for cars and not for bikes. And once e-bikes were made, people are using e-bikes because it goes at the same speed of traffic. But you're still, like in a car accident, the person on the e-bike Is more likely to die than the person in the car. Because a car weighs more. An e-bike weighs more than a regular bike. But it still... Weighs much, much less than a car. And... When you're... If... We just had an easier... Like, if we... I don't know. Like, if we put... Made, like, more stop signs, speed bumps... I don't know. But, like... There's a bunch of bikers who are using e-bikes because they used to be able to go around the streets, but now everything's going so quickly that they need to use an e-bike. An e-bike is... I bike normally every Sunday down on Broadway to a coffee shop to play a board game with my dad. Um, I can go onto the sidewalk and like my dad, we have a tandem bike, which is just a bike with like a, with a, with just one wheel at the back. My sister normally rides that, but it's still like, normally you would stay off to the side. Some people think that's safer, but, um, you're not as visible. Um, I think it's just that if we just made like a little, some little adjustments just so that the bikes could go around without having to use an e-bike, I think it would make a lot, like a lot more, less accidents.

Thank you very much. Councilman Carlin.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. One closing note. which I failed to mention earlier, with regard to the state ordinances, the state law and e-bikes. It's a travesty, I think, that one of the only substantive rules within state law is that if you are 13 years or younger, your parents or your guardian must give you permission to ride the bike, the e-bike. Any way we can describe e-bikes, but these kids aren't buying the e-bikes by themselves. These are $600, $700 motorized vehicles. Of course, the parents know. So we have a very, very steep hill to climb, my friends. Thank you.

Thank you.

I just saw Tara walked in. Do you want to get up and say anything? Because we're about, I think we're about to finish up, but I want to make sure you have an opportunity. I know Jim spoke on behalf of BPAC a minute ago, but... Tara Zambrada, 15... You can raise that up. You can lift up that mic.

Tara Zambrada, 15 Stockholm Street. I'm the chair of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission. And I'm coming late. I apologize. I have little ones at home, including an eight-week-old, so I snuck out here. But we think it's really important to pass this. We've been working with multiple stakeholders, including the police department, our commission, stakeholders throughout the city. This has been a multi-year effort to make sure that we get this right. I think there's always improvements to be made, but I think this is a great baseline to get us in the direction that we need to go. So I really hope that we can approve this tonight. Thank you all.

Thank you, Tara. Mr.

Chair, just to make a comment that, you know, these ordinances are not written in stone. And so even if we approve tonight, things can be added, things can be removed. I mean, it's just there. It's always a work in progress. So thank you.

All right. All those in favor of the bicycle-related ordinances say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Let's have it.

Motion to adjourn as council and convene as Board of Licensed Commissioners. Second.

Motion to second any discussion. All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Motion to approve the consent calendar in its entirety. Second.

Motion to second any discussion. All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Motion to adjourn. Second.

Motion to second any discussion. All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Aye.

Just in time.