City Council - Regular Meeting

Roll, please.

Ellen Pinnock. Here. Stephanie Smyth.

Here.

Jean Marina Politano. Here. Lynn Underwood Segley. Here. Carly Holder.

Here.

Cy Camps of Oregon.

Here.

David Carlin. Here. There is a quorum, President and Mr. Chair.

Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,

All righty, folks. Before we get started, I just want to just take a moment. As most of you, or I'm sure all of you know, at this time, the City of Newport experienced an unfortunate and tragic event this morning. In light of that situation today, I want to publicly thank Chief Ryan Duffy, the officers of the Newport Police Department, Harbor Master Steve Land, and his team in the Harbor Master's Office, as well as all the members of Newport's Public Safety Committee.

for their swift and courageous efforts today.

Chief Duffy, once again, you have shown that your brave officers will always be ready to stand up and protect the citizens of Newport by any means necessary. To the officers involved in today's situation, and especially Jack Billings, who was injured in the line of duty, we hope them a speedy recovery and hope that they're back in uniform soon. So I want to publicly thank you, Chief, and your team. Thank you very much. Council Carlin, do you want to take a minute? No. All right. Madam Clerk, anyone sign up for the citizens forum?

Yes, Bob Plain.

I'll say your name and address, please.

Hello, Mayor Holder and city councilors. My name is Bob Plain. I live at 50 Vine Street in East Greenwich, but I work for church community housing and I'm the CDBG program manager there. We help Trish in the planning department administer Newport's community development block grant program. And I'm here tonight to tell you all and the entire community that a CDBG competitive round opens on September 8 and runs through November 10. This is the round when non-housing uses can apply for CDBG funds. Just to refresh all your memories, CDBG is a federal HUD program that flows through the states, often to cities and towns, and then from there, often to local nonprofits. CDBG can be an extremely tricky program to qualify for, right? So you have to be 51% of the people benefiting from these dollars have to be at 80% We're lower of area median income. And let's see if memory serves. I bet I'm going to have to look this up in Newport. That's $74,950 a year. So at your request, we're doing our level best to make sure anyone that's eligible to apply for CDBG funds this year knows about it. We are. That's why I'm here tonight. letting you all know that the round is opening. I've met with the Renew Newport group. I've met with the Newport Partnership for Families. I've reached out to all the usual CDBG suspects that tend to apply for this kind of funding. I know Trish and the planning staff are going to be posting it to the city's social media and to the city's website. with that you know i'm just here to try and make sure as many people as possible know that this opportunity is available to newport if anyone has any questions i'm happy to field them now you can email me you can call me or just stop in at 50 washington square i'm right down the street anyone has any questions please let me know yeah i do have a question did you say non-housing I did say none.

OK. So is that organizations that support the identified population.

So CDBG was designed to reduce poverty and blight, right? So how Rhode Island does that is we have basically three CDBG rounds. One is for housing, right? And that's like when municipalities and really anyone else can apply for these federal dollars for housing projects. There's a home repair round, right, where you can apply to make repairs to your home if you qualify. And then we call this round the competitive round, and that's because it's really competitive. I don't know exactly how many dollars are available this year yet, but I do know that it's less than previous years, so I think this year is going to be a particularly competitive year.

Okay, thank you.

Bob, thanks so much. Anyone else, Madam Clerk? That's it?

Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion to move the resolutions portion of the meeting to just after the consent calendar. Second.

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

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

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

Aye. Okay, we'll move to resolutions. The 1st, 1 is requesting school zone designation, improve traffic signage and additional stop sign at Newport head start center. Thank you.

So I'm just going to go through it quickly. So whereas the East Bay Community Action Program operates the Newport Head Start and Early Head Start Center at John H. Chafee Boulevard serving infants, toddlers, preschool-aged children and their families, whereas John H. Chafee Boulevard experiences significant vehicle and pedestrian activity associated with the Head Start Center and the Community College of Rhode Island, particularly during student arrival and dismissal, and whereas Rhode Island General Law's 31 provide for our 20 mile per hour Prima face a speed limit within 300 feet of the entrance or exit of school grounds during daytime hours on days when school is in session, when appropriate signage is posted, and whereas the circular drop-off area serving the Head Start Center creates an additional vehicle and pedestrian activity and requires clear and effective traffic controls to protect children, family, staff, and motorists, and now therefore be it resolved that the City Council directs the City Administration to designate and appropriately post John H. Chaffee Boulevard as a school zone extended 300 feet from the entrances and exits of EBCAP, Newport Head Start Center, and CCRI, consistent with applicable, sorry, applicable provisions of Rhode Island general laws and be it further resolved that the city administration shall review and improve school zone warning, directional and traffic control signage along John H. Chafee Boulevard and at the entrances and exits of the two facilities and be it further resolved that the city administration shall evaluate the existing traffic controls at the Head Start circular drop-off area including the exit of the circular drop-off area and determine whether an additional stop sign Or other traffic control measures are warranted to improve the safety and orderly movement of vehicles and pedestrian. And be it finally resolved that the city administration shall coordinate as appropriate with the Newport police department, the Rhode Island Department of transportation and other relevant stakeholders to implement reasonable traffic safety improvements. And. I asked my fellow counselors to pass this.

2nd, we have a motion in a 2nd, any discussion. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye. Thank you. And I just want to real quick thank Deputy, City Deputy Manager, Stand-in City Manager Mike Carullo and Chief Duffy for your assistance on this. It's greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Okay, next resolution requesting improvements to TOPA athletic field to support Newport youth. I will read a few of the whereases. Whereas the current TOPA field is a shared athletic facility for both Newport Public Schools and Salve Regina, which has jointly benefited both populations and is a model for collaboration between institutions with limited resources, whereas renovations to TOPA athletic facility and surrounding infrastructure may positively affect the experience for both Newport Public Schools athletes and Salve Regina University athletes, more than 1,000 total, and the surrounding neighborhoods' homeowners who have experienced significant flooding. And whereas the 2026 Newport Tree Park and Open Space Master Plan identifies under equitable system priority E5 that the sports stadium at Freebody Park needs capital investment to meet ADA standards and to provide equitable experience for athletes and fans. And whereas if the project is found to be feasible and moves forward, Salve Regina is willing to raise funds from both public and private sources to support the renovation of the stadium building. whereas the city offers its support to explore the logistics and feasibility of improvements to a shared TOPA athletic field project, given that this project follows the necessary processes and consultations for approval, but further resolved that the city will investigate the cost of infrastructure improvements, including stormwater management, sidewalks, and upgrades to utilities, and be it further resolved that the City will coordinate this planning process with its wider active recreation planning efforts for Newport youth, and be it further resolved that the City's offices of the City Solicitor Public Services and the Departments of Planning and Development, Finance and Utilities, and Salve Regina and the Newport Public Schools will begin working jointly to develop a planning process that supports the needs of Newport youth and the Newport residents in the surrounding neighborhood. Therefore, be it resolved that the, so. Do I have a second? Second.

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

Aye. Aye. Mr. Chairman, what I'd like to do, briefly thank her while doing this, is to introduce, for those who do not know her, our friend, the president of Salve Regina University, Dr. Kelly Armstrong. Dr. Armstrong, thank you for being with us. Thank you for... all that Salve does to improve the neighborhoods and to improve facilities like that which was just mentioned. Thank you, Councilor Sedley, for sponsoring.

You're welcome. Thank you for co-sponsoring. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Okay, moving on to licenses and permits. Motion to approve a sidewalk cafe license temporary Newport Community Schools doing business as community cookery. 18 Market Square for a temporary sidewalk cafe from September 17th to September 20th, September 17th through September 20th, 2026 during the Newport International Boat Show. Do I have a second? Second.

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

Motion to approve a sidewalk cafe license renewal, Broadway Tavern LTD doing business as Tavern on Broadway 16 Broadway. Do I have a second? Second.

All right, motion and second. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye.

Next, Mayor Holder will recuse. Motion to approve an entertainment license new Gardner House LP doing business as Gardner House 24 Lees Wharf to have indoor entertainment Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and outdoors Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sundays of a holiday weekend. This is a second hearing. Second. Do I have a second? Okay. Does anyone have any comments? This is a public hearing. Does anyone like to be heard about this matter?

Council? No? Okay.

All in favor? Aye. This is an easy meeting. I don't know what's going on. Okay. Motion... Okay. Motion to approve an entertainment license new Midtown Race Club LLC doing business as Midtown Race Club 255 Fame Street to have indoor entertainment daily from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. and outdoors from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and until midnight on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays before holidays. This is a second hearing. So this is a public hearing. Do I have a second? Second. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion from council? Any discussion from the public? All those in favor say aye. Aye.

Motion to approve an entertainment license expansion 24 Memorial Opco LLC doing business as Joe's American Bistro 24 Memorial Boulevard West to expand indoor entertainment by increasing the hours on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. And this is the second hearing. Second.

Motion and second. Any discussion? Anyone from the public? All right. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye. Next, appointments to boards and commissions. Chair Humber. All right.

So we have one appointment to the Juvenile Hearing Board, Sophia Domingos, three-year term expiring 8-26-2029. Second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

We have an appointment to the Juvenile Hearing Board. Christopher Luya, three-year term, expiring 11-1-2028.

Second.

Motion to second. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Historic Cemetery Advisory Commission. Bob Conway, three-year term, expiring 10-14-2029. Twenty-second.

Twenty-second? No, not.

We got a motion to second. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Okay, next communications. Communication from Staffis Manousis, superintendent of parking for Park Newport, a unified public parking system. We have comments.

Hi, thank you for your time.

Staffis Manousis. So I believe it's up. So you had a. You have a copy of this, too, right? Not sure how this one is working exactly, but. OK, thank you. So we are proposing an initiative to create a unified parking system for Newport. And do you want to call it Park Newport? Okay. So this opportunity is part of a larger multimodal effort to identify ways to improve parking experience overall, improve efficiency, and to decrease congestion in the streets and into and out of our parking facilities. So from an operations perspective, it would be, as it said, one system. It would be one brand. It moves all the operating functions of the parking system under one brand. From the public perspective, it It basically identifies all of the municipal parking under one logo, one brand, to give it a consistent identity. And even though different functions are still being operated through different departments, it would still be, everything would be completed under kind of one roof, and it would look to the public like a professionally operated system, managed system. and which would support mobility, tourism, business community, and residents. So the brand would be organized under a dedicated website. It would be created. It would be Parking Report. That would be the source, really, of all parking information for the public, visitors, We would be able to have residential permits purchased through there. People could pay their parking tickets, file an appeal, any information, maps of where the locations are. Once we get more technology, we can push some of that data to the website as well. General information, rates, policies, and procedures. So for customers, it would be a much easier way to navigate to our parking facilities. It would improve our operations, and it would create a much stronger public image. So the proposed logo is on the screen now and has kind of a nautical maritime theme, which is consistent with Newport. It's clean and simple, which was mindful because we're gonna have to put these on uniform signage, you know, wrapping equipment, things like that. So that was done with that in mind. So you'd see that logo emblazoned pretty much on everything across the system from signage at facilities to meters to we would create a white label ARC Newport app that wouldn't replace what everybody's using now. The back end could still be the same, but the forward facing piece would look like this at the sides of the logo. And people would know, there wouldn't be any confusion anymore of whether people are actually in a municipal facility or not. Because sometimes we actually field calls from people thinking that they're not sure whether they're in a municipal lot, and they're calling us. And sometimes we have to just troubleshoot that. As far as operational integration, we would white label that app like I was telling you. It would be branded Park Newport. As far as enforcement goes, it would be a branded uniform that would be similar to, with the logo on it, a recognition to the general public. Technology would be redone, basically, as far as the white-labeled app goes. And thinking of the future and changing contracts and vendors that may or may not happen in the future, you wouldn't have to revamp anything because the forward-facing piece would stay the same, and everything would basically just change in the background. So it would be pretty seamless to the users. As far as customer service, the website would really be the one-stop shop for everybody, which would make it a lot easier. The logo would also work on all of the upgraded equipment, all the meters you saw in the last picture. So it would help people, even in wayfinding, it would help people get to their facilities a lot quicker. And as far as communications, we'll work with the multimodal committee and the communications department in planning on any of those messages and other operational items that we need to. So at the end of the day, our goal is to make the parking experience a lot better for all users of the system. which is really a benefit to all the stakeholders, the residents, the visitors, the businesses. So once we get this recognizable system out there and branded, it would be, as long as we have easily accessible and available locations, and that's one of the goals, easy and convenient payment options, if we do all that right, We'd reduce a lot of the traffic circulation, which causes congestion in the streets. We'd get people to their locations quicker. The efficiency would be improved. System efficiency would be better. And the byproduct of that would be revenue would grow. So if this body, if the council supports our initiative, we'd begin this website design and functionality as we would simultaneously work with the integrations with our current technology providers. And then we would start public rollout sometime after that. We have an RFP process coming up soon on expiring contracts. So our goal is to try to get your support on this now so we can put that out the RFPs. I hope that was quick enough. If there's any field, any question.

Yeah, quick question. I'm sure there are some other ones, but is this going to take over the residential parking program as well?

Yeah, that would be. Those systems are still in place, but we could migrate it into the app and into the website so they could link right to it. Is that the question was?

Yeah, well, we just came out, we just rolled out a whole new residential parking program, which is, you know, there was a lot of confusion, you know, going into that. And I don't want to, I would hate to see a whole nother confusing parking system put in place where we have multiple, multiple layers of parking permits. And I know we don't do the stickers anymore, but. I would think it would be in everyone's best interest if we had just kind of basically one program, one platform that we all work out of. Because what it seems like to me is this would be separate as of right now. And anyone from the administration can correct me or fill me in. The city controls residential parking program stickers, so they have to go online under the city, uh, city website, or come into the city to city hall and get their stickers with their registrations, their permits, et cetera, et cetera. Whereas this is more just like, you sign up on the app and go. So, is there is the plan to incorporate. All the different parking mechanisms into 1.

So all those functions that exist today could still stay in place, but this would just migrate the public look under one kind of umbrella. So the technology provider that residents use now still exists. We're still under contract. So that wouldn't change. It would just really be the way people access it. So collections could still do that if we choose to do that. Hopefully, you know, it would be seamless to the president.

Thank you. Thank you. Just real quick. I was just wondering about the accessibility for multi-language users in the app.

I'm sorry, for which users?

Multi-language. So are there multiple languages in the app?

Well, I mean, we're kind of in this concept phase, and we're working with our technology provider, so I'd have to find that out, but I can get the answer to that. Thank you. A lot of them that I'm familiar with, they do have multi-language. So, yeah, I'll make a note of that, though.

All right. Thank you.

Council Palantano?

Yeah. Would you have different designations for those that aren't using a car, but maybe are using a bike or... scooter or motorcycle as far as the parking goes.

So you mean as a permit or just?

Just to park, yeah, if they came downtown and parked. Because I noticed a lot of go right next to a car, you know, and I just kind of wonder if we couldn't set up some sort of designated parking for certain vehicles that aren't cars.

Sure, I think we could look at that.

Okay.

I don't know what the answer would be yet, but we can certainly look at it and try to figure that out.

I don't oversimplify this. This is just a rebrand to build continuity across a bunch of different parking programs, correct? What is the projected cost?

Well, the good news is there's no cost to taxpayers because this is going to be paid through the parking fund, which is an enterprise fund. And as far as We have uniform rebranding, which is part of the ongoing operating expenses anyway, so not really much of an additional cost there. Maybe when we wrap, rewrap the vehicle at some point, that might be a cost. And signage, which if you've gone through the facilities now, they're all going to need to be replaced anyways.

Well, so we'll run with that for a second. Then if, if it's an enterprise fund and we're going to say in theory, that's not taxpayer money. And I might disagree with that respectfully. I think any dollar collected in the city is the taxpayers money. But, um, under that same theory, one of the initiatives the council had actually asked for was dynamic signage for parking. It would tell people when they came into the city, okay, there's no vacancy in the Mary street lot. You want to park in the communal lot. Where are we with that project that the council specifically asked for?

Um, so, um, That's something that we're still discussing. So right now, I mean, I don't know if you know, I've been on the job here full time now for about a month and a half. So the signage plan that you're referring to is probably the one at Mary Street. which is a variable kind of occupancy sign. There was a system that was purchased prior to me starting, and we were working on setting that up so we can have signage right at the entrance there so people would know before they got there if it was full or not so they're not circulating. That information would be planned to be pushed to an app or the website so we can get that. I think ideally in the future, the bigger plan would be to get variable message signs somewhere off the bridge. So now that we're going to be taking over that new access, what we're calling the access hub lot, if we can get signage there that tells people before they make that turn where to go, that would be the plan. And we're working with the multimodal committee and planning on that.

That'd be great. And I think that's the reason why the council made that one of our priorities. Where's that budgeted out of right now? Is that a general fund revenues or enterprise revenues?

What's that? Oh, yeah.

Which out of the parking fund?

That's coming out of the parking fund, and to just go back on your question a slight bit, the dynamic parking signage and the overall outlook on parking and signage throughout the city falls under a multimodal transportation planning team as listed in the strategic plan, and that team is comprised of members of parking, Our planning, economic development offices, as well as the police department. So all of those matters under multimodal transportation, including parking, the dynamic signage. And this will now fall in place as well as part of that overall program, not just to improve parking efficiencies, but user-friendly options as well. So all connected.

So are we going to do that as part of this process?

Yes, correct.

Awesome. Yes. Thank you. All connected. Awesome. Love to hear it. Thank you.

That may have a little more of a cost, though, just so you know. The big signage.

Well, there's no cost. It's from the Enterprise Fund. Thanks, Colin.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I agree with Council of Coms of Orvong that all of the collected revenue is, in fact, taxpayer-funded. It may not be with the enterprise funds. It may not be. It is not money collected from real estate taxes, residential, commercial, industrial, etc. But the council, with very few exceptions, as it relates specifically to the utilities department, can at any time take money which has been designated to an enterprise fund and use that money to offset some other costs for the city. If we wanted, for example, to use the money, hundreds of thousands of dollars, which are in the parking fund, to reduce residential taxes, we could do that. So there's no such thing as... not taxpayer money. It's all, as Councilor Comsovorov said, taxpayer money. Two questions, three questions. First, I'll give them all three to you at once. Two to you, and I appreciate your service, and I understand and am also sympathetic to the fact that you've only been on the job, so to speak, for a couple of months. First two questions to you, and the last to the administration. First, what's wrong with the system we've been using, very specifically, what's wrong with what we have been doing for the last, let's say 20 years, just to use a target number. Second, it is not even in the enterprise fund budgets for fiscal 28, I'm sorry, fiscal 27, budgeted in any manner. Where will you be taking these proposed funds or where will you be taking the funds for this proposed project from within the enterprise fund that has, or funds, but specifically in this case, the parking fund that has already been authorized by the council. And then I'll hold until I ask the administration my third question.

Okay. So I'm not suggesting there's anything wrong with the system, but there's always room for improvement. Every community I've been in, Reparking operation you always want to make it more accessible easier to pay for residents and visitors and You want to improve mobility and so that there's that there's anything wrong with it, but we just think that that Newport has become like a victim of its own success. There's so much activity here, so much tourism, that when you drive through some of the facilities, you don't know that it's a municipal facility. And so just simple things like signage, I think, could improve the situation. Technology has seen improvements from years ago when there were single space meters. So that has improved, and now we're going to digital permits with license plates and getting rid of those stickers. So there's always been improvements and I'm just trying to do kind of what I was tasked to do. And this is how I see one way to really improve the parking system and Newport.

So as a follow up to that first question, what would be wrong with, not that there's anything wrong, but The council, through the adoption of the last two budgets, authorized funding for the purchase of parking enforcement vehicles. What is wrong with the signage on those vehicles? And then part B of that follow-up question, what do the parking enforcement agents, if you will, employees, wear now to do the job that they're doing? Is there a signed... Are there assigned uniforms or why the need? I can't recall a very specific uniform that folks have been wearing for the last, again, 20 years as an example. Why the need suddenly for a uniform structure and presumably to wear rebrand the vehicles that we just paid a lot of money for.

So we would roll this thing out over some time. I'm not saying it's going to happen on day one. But that said, if you're going to go through a rebranding process, you don't want to do it half-assed. You want to do it right. So this is just part of that process. And a new uniform that made nothing wrong with the uniforms now. They look more like you know, they're more like police officers. And we think maybe there might be a different approach to being a little more ambassadorial. So maybe the uniform's a little softer. Maybe the approach to ticketing and enforcement is different. So that's part of that system. So if we're going to have a logo change or a branding effort, we might as well at some point carry it out through the entire system. And as far as the vehicle, There's nothing wrong with it. So we don't have to do that right away. But if we find funds to do it, maybe from savings and the increased efficiency, my suggestion is that we do it.

So to refresh on the second question, where are you getting the money from the Enterprise Fund parking specifically, which was not budgeted for this in the fiscal 27 budget that exists now, obviously?

Yeah. So first, I'm not sure the exact cost. Again, I don't think it's going to be. much, but I don't know exactly what account it's coming from yet. As we go through this, I'll be able to come back and tell you where I think it should come from with obviously the help of the finance department and the chief.

I appreciate that. And this question has nothing to do with you specifically. So please, pardon my even asking it in front of you, but since we're talking about your department, if you will. Uh, I, the council was told during the process of adopting the fiscal 27 budget that creating the position that you now occupy, uh, would essentially free up, uh, or give the city administration the ability. And I should look that way instead of this way, because it's not directed towards you. Uh, we were told that, uh, by creating the position of, uh, parking superintendent.

Yes.

The superintendent, the superintendent, that the city would then have no need for three positions, which were budgeted in fiscal 26. Have those three positions been eliminated? Or where have those savings flow to with regard to the creation of a new condition?

The intention was not the elimination of positions. The intention was consolidation at the time. Pardon me, interrupting.

Do you recall that we were told, the council, I believe, at the time, twice, that the positions would be eliminated, not consolidated?

I don't recall that specifically.

Okay, all right.

I can speak to the intentions of creating the position. At the time, I do recall there were responsibilities that were assigned to members of the police department in the traffic division, as well as sworn personnel, which were... Which were broader, uh, than, uh, than the job descriptions of those personnel and in the, in the intent of bringing. The superintendent department authority, and at the time, per recommendation of the chief. Was to, uh, was to consolidate some of those positions and, um. And have those, uh, have that have that personnel more in alignment with, um. With their with their duties and responsibilities, it was up the bandwidth of the individuals, um, the amount of work that was, uh, that was being bestowed upon them. Some supervisor responsibilities on personnel that weren't supervisors. Um, there were some part time, um, personnel that were included in those positions counselor. Um, there was a, uh, as a, as, as you are aware are. The majority of our parking or traffic personnel are, um, are part timers. And, uh, 1 of those positions, um, that had those additional responsibilities assigned, including supervision was a was a part time employee. So, um, again, if you would. Like specifics on on the, uh, on. What was discussed or or what was told to counsel. Uh, by the administration, or, um, I could, I, I'd be happy to. Ask ask the chief if he if he step up, he has more to offer than that. But okay. But to my consolidation.

That's fine. The bottom line is how much money, with the addition of this position, were we able to reduce in other parts of the city's budget? It appears as though the answer is none. I do not believe there was any reduction. OK. So we added about fiscal Dollars are stretched left and right. I mean, it depends on all sorts of circumstances, or budgets are stretched left and right, I should say. But we added about $156,000 to the budget. We didn't reduce any other expenditures. Is that right? I believe that's correct. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Any other questions Thank you Thank you and welcome to Newport. Um This is exactly what I've been wanting for like 12 years and I believe having a better communication program for parking is going to be helpful because there's actually been a a lot to be improved in our communication program when it comes to parking. Just the proof of that is in the Gateway parking lot that is rarely full. Now, I go to the Marriott a lot to work out in their gym, and it's rarely full. Even in the middle of the summer, there's plenty of parking spaces. It just goes to show, as far as I'm concerned, that the signage, there's really no signage, the signage is lacking, and that people do not realize that they're actually downtown when they have an opportunity to park there. We also have the new lot, which is going to require signage and it's going to require communication. And then, of course, even at the Gateway, we have a tree that blocks the sign that says public parking. So I know how we feel about trees, so I'm not suggesting that that come down, but we need to do something to make sure that people can see that there is a parking garage there and that there is public parking. So all of that combined with dynamic parking and I think is going to help people understand that when they are At the Gateway, they are downtown. And I've always said that we should have something like, you know, it's, I don't know, 250 steps to Bannister's Wharf or whatever. Now, the other day, I happened to see on the bike path that there was a sign that said, a mileage. And I thought that was fantastic because it tells people how far they have to go in order to get to where they want to go. So I think that's very good. So I believe that this is something that we need to have it look professional. We need to and I thank you for this and I thank the planning department for this because I've been asking for this kind of program for a long time.

Thank you.

Yeah, I think just recommending that the staff get together and do something comprehensive. I like the idea. And we still have a parking problem. But maybe we can alleviate some of the problems and some of the people going around in circles, you know, just to find a spot. I do think that having a uniform of some type gives them some credibility. And certainly they can be an ambassador to the city. We had done that several years ago and it worked out great. We got so many compliments about it. They were really very helpful. I would also hope that you work with RIPTA. And the reason I say that, and it came up at the planning meeting, 60-foot buses don't work in Newport. If they could get the smaller buses, they could make money instead of losing it at Ripta. And I would hope somebody is willing to approach them with the idea of smaller buses because people sometimes want to go at the beginning of Fame Street or toward the end or around the drive or something. But these mini buses, I watch the 60-foot buses all the time with three people on them. Ridiculous, ridiculous. No wonder RIPTA's in trouble.

Great points. Just so you know, we are working with RIPTA through the chief and Mike, so hopefully it will be free.

Hopefully they don't watch my testimony.

How does this integrate with the Transportation Master Plan's recommendations?

I do not know, I would defer to somebody else on that.

Trish. The transportation master plan included, I believe, a recommendation that the city look into streamlining and signage and creating uniformity. So it seems like this would fall in line with that. I'm wondering, is this a one off to that? Or is this being integrated as part of that overall recommendation from that plan that we should be following?

That's an excellent point. Thank you for bringing that up. That's one of the things that was identified in the Transportation Master Plan that we have a lot of different types of signage and it's really confusing for people. We do, the planning department is part of the strategic plan transportation group that gets together with Stathi and other representatives and we are looking at coordinating all of these different efforts. So we did hold off on some signage for the new access hub Hoping that this is approved so that we can coordinate all that signage. Thanks for noticing the signs with the markers.

And I might just recommend to the resiliency department, we invested a lot of money in that plan. And it's a very good plan. And I think it really supports efforts like the one that you're very thoughtfully leading right now. And it might be really helpful when we're thinking about major capital projects and expenditures that we read that plan before we kind of put other recommendations out. So I would ask that that be considered since that was a collectively very large effort for the council and the city.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Mr. Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Stacey, for your presentation and for your hard work on this. I think you have a lot of good ideas. And parking can be confusing in the city. I've been here my entire life and I'm still confused sometimes. But that might be me. I don't know. I just wanted to ask if there was any collaboration or conversation with Bike Newport

with Bike Newport. Yes, so there will be. I mean, they park their trailer at Gateway. They have kind of an open invitation to be there. So from that perspective, we do. But I think they will be part of all the collaboration, especially when it comes to the access hub lot and access to and from Gateway.

Okay, awesome, and then my last question, going back to the app, you mentioned earlier about there being a possibility for people to see if certain parking lots were closed, or full, rather. Is there also opportunity for people to maybe on the app Find spaces that if they're paid for, like, prepay and those spaces assigned to them. So people aren't like circling on.

So what you're talking about are reservations.

Yeah.

So there's a lot of aggregator companies out there that, um, that post available spaces or parking, um, at different facilities, not just ours, but, you know, private lots as well. Um, so, yes, we could coordinate with that with them. There are a bunch of them out there and they would be especially helpful, you know, at folk festival, you know, jazz festival, all the big events. That's where they are really, I think, most productive.

Thank you very much. I just have one more. You made a good point about the private parking lots that charge people to park, and many times they have a big P, and it looks like a municipal parking sign. And this will actually be able to help people understand that when they're parking in the city and when they're parking in a private lot. So I think that's very good. Thank you.

Mr. Chair?

Councillor Smyth?

um will the app be able to show where the handicapped spots are throughout the city to make it easier for people to to find them um i'm sure we could probably build that in i don't know if we'll be able to identify the space themselves unless we have space sensors in those spaces um but we might be able to say you know how many spaces are there i don't know i have to look into that but i'll make a note of that okay thank you

Any further questions? Sasi, thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, next communication from Heidi Mahoney, Manager of Government Affairs, GoNetSpeed Broadway, I'm sorry, Broadband Installation Project Briefing, GoNetSpeed Newport Fiber Deployment. Second.

Let's see if I can do this correctly. You tell me when you're ready. Ah, there we go. I'll just make sure I'm doing this correctly. Good. Good evening, members of City Council. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm Heidi Mahoney with GoNet Speed. I'm excited to share an update on the progress of our fiber internet bill in Newport. We have reached an important milestone in the project with our first customers being now ready to connect as of today, actually. And I'd like to give you a quick look at where we are today and then what's ahead. So a little bit about GoNetSkid. We are the largest fiber internet provider in the Northeast, currently serving 11 states, communities in 11 states. Here in Newport, we are combining Rhode Island commerce grant funding with our own private investment to build a new fiber network throughout the city. Our goal is pretty simple. It's to bring Newport another reliable, high-speed internet option and be a good community partner while we're at it. This map shows how we've divided Newport into our construction areas. We are actively building today with both aerial and underground construction. We're coordinating closely with Rhode Island Energy and Horizon, who are the pole owners. On the remaining pole work, as the poles are made ready, our crews are moving in behind them to install our fiber. We also recognize that construction in a city like Newport can be disruptive, especially with underground work. We're working very closely with city staff, police, engineering, and on scheduling and traffic coordination to keep those impacts as limited as possible. And I'm very happy to share that as of today, Fiverr is available at approximately 525 locations. As you can see in the red circle on the map there, that's where those locations are. That's where our fiber is starting to be live. That's an exciting milestone for the project as it represents our first release of fiber in fiber service in Newport. We're targeting completion of the overall construction early next year with much of the build to be expected to be done by the end of this year.

So in the next couple of months.

This is our current residential pricing. We offer symmetrical fiber speeds ranging from 100 megabits all the way up to 6 gigabits. One thing we specifically wanted to provide in Newport is a lower cost option. So our 100 megabit plan is $39.99 a month. All of our plans include the Wi-Fi router and installation at no additional cost and giving residents options depending on the speed and the capacity that they need. And our investment in Newport goes beyond constructing the network. As part of our commitment to the community, we are providing free high-speed connections at libraries. We are providing the lower cost 100 megabit plan. We're donating 10 connected devices and discounting broadband service for schools and municipal buildings. We also want to be an active community partner through local events and digital literacy programs. These are commitments we're making alongside the physical investment in Newport's fiber infrastructure. I want to thank the city staff for the continued coordination and partnership as we work through the build. We're excited to reach the point where Newport residents are beginning to connect to our network, and we look forward to continuing the progress over the next few months. Thank you. I'm happy to answer any questions. Also, Brian Thorne from Rhode Island Columnars is here, who is our partner in the grant. He's happy to answer questions about the grant specifically if you have them.

Ms. Paltrow? Yeah, I notice a lot of the poles around the city, there's an excessive amount of wiring. Some of them are tipped.

Yeah.

Is that due to... this process and will it be corrected? Because in some places it just looks weird.

Yeah, the poles are heavily wired. That doesn't have a lot to do with the fiber that we're bringing in. That has to do with the infrastructure, the pole owners themselves. And then, you know, you'll see sort of those double pole situations where Attachers need to move their stuff to the next pole. That doesn't necessarily have to do with our construction, but I know that Rhode Island Energy and Verizon are aware of those issues.

Okay. So the grant funding is the BDAC funding, is that correct?

It is not BDAC. It is CPF, which is ARPA funding.

Excellent. Thank you. Dr. Bennett?

Thank you. I appreciate the slide that showed the discounted rates for residents. Is there any like further discounted rate or special or anything for people who might receive SSI or SSDI?

We do promotional rates all the time. What's challenging for us is that we don't have the ability to look at people's finances to see where they would fall in that, which is why we offered the lower cost 100 plan that anybody could choose. But we do also offer promotional rates all the time. If there was a government funded program like that we had previously, we would participate in that as well.

Okay, thank you. So when there was fiber or broadband, I'm not sure the terminology, but at some of the public housing areas, is this part of that project too? That was part of the infrastructure bill, I think, but...

We are providing fiber to approximately 4,621 locations. I guess that's specific. Yes. I don't know off the top of my head if that location is included in that, but it is the majority of Newport.

So if you're living outside of that red circle, you can still get your service?

You will. Those colored... Let me go back. Want to go back? Each of those colors that you see represents a work order. We will be doing work in that area at some point. We're just focused right now on the area that's in the red circle. Okay. So we'll be doing all of the colored areas that you see there.

So until you're in a red circle, you don't have access to it?

Not yet. Okay. We're building that infrastructure to be able to connect those people to the network.

And then will there be communication to the residents about that?

Absolutely. So two things. We always communicate with people before we're doing construction. So we put door hangers out. We put signs out that say fiber is coming. We try to communicate as much as we can with city staff in terms of marketing. And when people, it becomes available to people, we specifically know the exact addresses that we're going to be available to, and we will market to them to let them know it's available if they choose to have that.

Thank you. Yep.

just another quick shout out for brian um there are a lot of people who work quietly behind the scenes to make our infrastructure better a lot of the infrastructure we don't think about a lot brian from from day one when i started serving on the council got engaged very quickly to say this is a community that deserves better access better connectivity this is something that we have a rare opportunity to focus on and he quietly has been a presence in this community Throughout the entirety of my term, I'm really thankful for, Brian, all your partnership from Commerce and the administration's work alongside, and of course, the new service you're bringing to the island.

Brian has been amazing to work with.

A couple of things, Mr. Chair, if I can. Regarding the double poles and what you see, that's a product of Rhode Island Energy just marrying those poles temporarily while the utilities are transferred from one to the other. Those will come back to normal, back to one pole in the near future. And secondly, as far as cost is concerned, the city did look at this and we're looking at that. It is competitive pricing, approximately 30 to 40 percent less than the competitors. So there was a definitely a benefit to the residents.

Hi, thanks so much. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

All right, moving on to communications from the City Manager. It is recommended that the City Council authorize the Newport Fire Department to explore grant opportunities, philanthropic donations, and other private funding sources for the restoration and reconstruction of the historic fire watch tower that originally stood atop Fire Station No. 5, located on the corner of Touro and Mary Streets. This authorization is limited to fundraising, grant-seeking, project planning, and preliminary design activities. Any future construction, acceptance of major donations, or expenditure of city funds will be presented to the City Council for separate approval in accordance with city policies and applicable procurement requirements. I move approval.

Second. Motion and second. Any discussion?

Mr. Chairman. Councilor Carlin. Good job, Chief. Thank you.

All in favor say aye.

Aye. Action item 6669, the grants office within the Department of Resilience and Sustainability in collaboration with the Departments of Finance, Planning and Development and Public Services recommends that the City Council authorize acceptance of up to a 4.9 million in additional Federal Highway Administration grant funds made available through fiscal year 2025 regional, oh, we are, Oh, okay. Sorry. Okay. Yes, I'm going to make a motion to withdraw action item 6669. Thank you. Thank you.

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

Aye. Aye. Action item 6670, the grants office within the Department of Resilience and Sustainability, in accordance with the city manager and director of finance, recommends the city council adopt a grant award acceptance and authorization policy. The policy defines when formal City Council authorization is required for acceptance of grant awards and when administrative acceptance is permitted. The policy complements the grant application financial thresholds and approval process policy adopted by Council on 114.26, which established financial thresholds and approval requirements for seeking grant funding and move approval. Second.

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

Aye. Action item 6671, the Department of Resilience and Sustainability recommends approval of contracts for $369,510 to DBVW Architects of Providence, Rhode Island. Rhode Island's Master Price Agreement No. 494A, Architectural Services Award No. SC. uh one zero with uh sub-consultant fussin o'neill of providence rhode island to provide architectural and landscape architectural services for the completion of phase three for easton's beach planning for a resilient future funding for this award is supported by the 2024 infrastructure resilience general obligation bond i move approval second motion a second any discussion mr chairman council carlin first question is uh are we putting the cart before the horse with this

specifically Regardless of what plan the council approves for the redesign of Easton speech is this a Project that will not be affected by that decision I In other words, you typically, before awarding grants to do work to redesign the beach, you typically have the redesign of the beach approved and approved by the council, of course, not just the concept by planning.

Right, so this is phase three of the process at the beach. As you know, the received by Council back in May was option number two, which was the partial dune transformation, which at the time was the most balanced and achievable. DBBW are architects who have been continuing throughout this process since its inception and have carried through to the point we're at now in phase three. So phase two was authorized by Council and the consultant team. And at this point, we are bringing them back to determine the future design. So this is just merely in the process. the design process at this point we've reached to bring this to life now and bring this architectural design forward so we can move forward with the actual development and planning for the option in which we chose that partial dune, that partial dune transformation.

So seeing as though this is phase three, I don't recall, did the council approve what would be ultimate result of phase three?

The ultimate result would be the partial dune transformation, which was received by Council on May 27th of 2026. And that has guided us to this point to begin the architectural design for that most balanced concept. I thought that was phase two, the dunes.

phase that was phase two was the partial dune transformation which has led us here to phase so explain again forgive me for a stupid guy like me what is phase three going to do and did the council approve of phase three not just uh what's proposed before us tonight the funding if we do approve it right i'll i'll ask director kareem to step up for more for more detail

Good evening, Teresa Crean, Director of Resilience and Sustainability. Phase two resulted in this light reading. If anyone wants to borrow it, check it out. We also have a summary delivered to all of your inboxes, I believe in early July, the summary document. I don't know if you've read it. And the Beach Commission and Beach Commission Chair Mark Fitzgerald is here tonight, submitted their communication recommending option two, the partial dune transformation as the recommended option by the Beach Commission. To continue the forward momentum of this project, Director Bill Riccio and I met after reviewing the Beach Commission's recommendation. We've been giving the Beach Commission regular updates on this and it was decided We determined that there will be a pathway forward for us to develop a scope of work that is in front of you tonight with a cost estimate so that you all could see what phase three would cost for us to continue the forward momentum with the project to get through schematic design and permitting. which would be the next phase of this. There is also robust public engagement included in that, and we even included an extra $20,000 kind of optional fee for extra public engagement in case we need more public meetings to determine the future of the rotunda, the future of the bathhouses. how we navigate those decisions that would then be brought back forward to the Council before we move forward with construction documents. So this is the continuation of all of the due diligence, all the background work that was done in Phase 2 to take us into the schematic design and permitting phase.

Thank you for that. So I'll go back to my original question. First of all, I'll ask two questions, both on the same subject line. First, what exactly is the $375,000 or so going to buy us as a city?

OK. So in your docket packet, we have a scope of work that is put forward by the same consultant team, DBVW Architects, Buss and O'Neill, and their sub-consultant experts This will develop what are called schematic design level documents. What's in phase two are conceptual design documents. They are not drawn to scale. They are not specific to the dimensions that we have on site at the beach. We have to redesign the parking lots. And all of that requires a more detailed level of design. So this schematic design phase is similar to any design project where you have the next level of detail flushed out in this next phase of the project. So the architecture firm has $117,000. They have a couple of sub consultants for between $6,000 and $12,000. Fuss and O'Neill is coming in. There are landscape architects and engineers are at $124,505. Woods Hole Group are our environmental consultants and shoreline engineers at $73,495. And then we have $27,000 as an allowance for additional public engagement meetings and reimbursable expenses for consultants.

No, thank you very much. I appreciate that, and I did see that in the docket, as did my colleagues and the public, if they want to see it. What I'm asking is, with respect to all those individual contracts, I'll use as best I can an analogy. When somebody is looking at a major project, for example, the building of a house, usually... The entire concept is put before the decision makers as to what the house will look like, what the house will contain, whether there'll be parking, a driveway, a garage, backyard, amenities, etc. And then you go to the individual costs to get that done. So back to my original question five or six minutes ago, are we putting the cart before the horse by paying for what will be the services that show us what could be done before we decide what we want to be done?

It's a very good question. And I did present that to the beach commission a few months ago. Um, in that when they put their recommendation forward to council in late May. That, um, this is a way for us to have done our due diligence as staff to tell you how much it will cost for the next phase. And if you want to put this on pause or continue it to say. Council wants to deliberate on what is the preferred option before we award this contract.

we can absolutely do that and review the phase two outcomes in more detail um following up on the workshop that we did back in february i think i would feel much more comfortable with that i'm not certain about my colleagues but uh we are spending as council in the last two fiscal years hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultants and on other uh i'll call them extraordinary expenses they're not extraordinary but that's the only term i can that came to mind outside of the actual execution of whatever those particular consultants are hired to do. And I think, as I said, and I'll leave it at this, I think we should decide what we want before we spend $375,000 on yet another consulting fee for this particular firm. I'm sure the firm and their subcontractors do a very fine job, but we are now, are we at $1.2 million on expenses for this? Uh, particular firm or or can somebody correct me the last phase of phase 2 was 600.

I have it in the packet. Um, it was 600 and.

$650,000 so if we, if we approve this tonight, we will likely be close to that 1.2Million dollar figure that I just referenced.

I don't have those numbers in front of me, but we can certainly calculate that.

That's all right. Yeah, I think those are around the numbers, uh, without actually knowing what we're doing. So to speak. the grand scheme of things uh i think we should put a hold on it until we jump very deeply into phase two and until we follow up on the letter from the beach commission uh from ms oakley uh which suggested that uh with great respect to my colleagues we're not doing our job which is to look at the plans that uh will ultimately decide what Easton Beach looks like for the next 50 years. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Councilor Palazzo.

We're not going to have a beach in 50 years if we hold off. I think what you're doing is correct. And may I remind the council that they have made millions of dollars in parking fees from the beach. It is the only public beach in the city of Newport. And the elitism just, I'm sorry, but that beach deserves to be attended to and should be. And there's a lot of great people that go there. There's people from out of town that go there. There was an overflow in Middletown, and they all started coming to Newport. It's time. Every project, you've got to start somewhere. You've got to take it piecemeal. We're not going to take the whole thing and pay it off. I just think it's money well spent. I have argued about the money for the parking for the last couple years. Newport and the general public and the residents in Newport with their kids deserve to have the beach and have it maintained. And this year, it's been pretty good, but it needs a lot of help. And the determination has to be made by experts, not us, people that know what they're doing as far as the building or what could be structured there. I totally disagree. with Councillor Carlin's position. I will be supporting this because we have to start somewhere. Unless you guys just don't want any money from the parking, I don't know.

Mr. Chair. Council.

Thank you. Council Pinnock. Do you want a minute, Charlie? You all right? Thank you, Councilor Napolitano. Pete Rice isn't here tonight, but one of my favorite things that he has said is that we have a planning department and we need a doing department. And I think you're probably the doing department. So I appreciate the work that you've poured into this. You're the expert. That's why you're here. So I just wanted to say, I also support this. So thank you.

Mr. Chairman. Councilman Carlin. Director Crean, has the Beach Commission recommended what they would like the council to ultimately approve?

Yes, they have.

Okay. So with respect to this $375,000 award tonight, Does that fit? Are we putting a square into a circle or does A align with B? If we award this contract, is that consistent with what the Beach Commission is asking for in terms of the large plan for Easton's?

Yes, we would be relying on the letter of support that the Beach Commission put forward to

launched into phase three with robust public engagement with the beach commission so i i just want to make sure my colleagues understand when when you vote tonight you're essentially voting for what the beach commission uh has asked the council to approve am i incorrect in that in any way no okay so this council owns that design going forward yeah fair enough Thank you very much. And that total cost is $11.8 million? What's the total cost?

So we have $11.2 million from the bond, the general obligation from 2024 that was approved for Easton's Beach Nourishment. $1 million has been drawn down in the first tranche that will fund the consulting fee for Phase 3 at $369,000.

How many hundreds of parking spaces will be eliminated?

So the option two, as it stands right now, this is an estimate. And we won't know specific parking numbers until the schematic design phase is drawn out to scale. We are currently at over 800 parking spots. It was around 550 parking spots for that option two.

That will be lost or that will be?

No, that will go from 800 to 500. So 300. But that is not an accurate number. It is an estimated number.

So to Councillor Napolitano's great concern in this conversation, what happens to those 300? Presumably the 500 spots will be given, priority will be given to Newport residents, Newport taxpayers for those 500 spots. What happens to the lost revenue from those 300 parking spots?

We don't have that calculated at this time.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. All right, any other questions? All right, thank you, Director King.

Thank you.

All right, all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Opposed. Ayes have it.

Next, moving on to ordinances. Motion to amend sections 13.08 of the codified ordinances entitled sewer service system. This is a second reading. Second.

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

Aye. Motion to amend. I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman. I did mean to ask a question on this. I apologize. Go ahead. With respect to the increased costs for users of the system, can we have an answer as to whether those costs will increase based on the acceptance? In other words, this is a very substantial document I know that we can't necessarily give a detailed number on what future utilities costs will be, specifically sewer costs. But by adopting this, we are most certainly increasing the rate For users, correct? No, we are not.

No.

So why do we, do we need to do this by state law then?

There's numerous portions of it. So we haven't updated one section of the ordinances in about 20 years. The triggering element was we actually got a violation from DEM. And so when we received that violation, we went in and looked at everything. So any increase would go through the normal budget process. We are expecting that there will be one in that budget cycle, but nothing in this ordinance is...

Okay, that's what I was asking. Is that expectation a part of inflationary costs, or is that something that has to do with this document being approved tonight?

It has nothing to do with the document being approved.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Any further questions? All those in favor, say aye.

Aye. Motion to amend section 13.10 of the codified ordinances entitled industrial pretreatment. This is a second reading. Second.

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

Aye. Motion to amend section 13.12 of the codified ordinances entitled sewer service charges. This is a second reading. Second.

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

Next, a 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.