Town Council - Regular Meeting

part of caution that we allowed everybody a little bit extra time to dig themselves out to uh get here safely. We have some guests here tonight who are traveling from uh across the state. So, we wanted to make sure everybody got here safely and are able to get home safely this evening. In the event of emergency, uh we will be leaving the building and going outside to freeze and waiting for our first responders to show up. Uh there is an exit right here where you came in. There is one behind you uh behind your left shoulder and there's one behind Mr. Ree here. In the event emergency, we go out vis uh go over to the uh school administration building and wait for further instructions from our first responders. If you would now please join me in a pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence for all of our men and women in harm's way. Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you everyone. Madame clerk, can we have a roll call, please? Mr. Gleason here. Miss Plank here. Miss McDow here. Miss Patton here. Mr. Pierro here. Mr. Reese here. Mr. Hamilton

here. Uh I would like to take you just a quick second from president's exe executive summary to thank the men and women of the DPW who had did a fabulous job over the past two days uh clearing the streets. They will be back at it again tomorrow I'm sure doing some touch-up work and uh continue to clean and keep the roads open. Uh they spent the better part of the past uh 24 hours almost 36 hours out there shoveling and uh plowing. So, thank you to all the hard work that they did over the past two days. Tonight, we're having a um special recognition for a young woman who um embodies the spirit of courage and strength. And Carrian Nelson had fought a 7 and 1/2 year battle with cancer right to the very end including on her deathbed making sure that anything that was usable to further research to help end this evil disease was done um through her body to um Dana Farber and the cancer institute to try and find cures for this awful disease. So, I'd like to ask her mother, who I believe is here, um, to come up and we're going to give a special presentation for Carrian this evening. So, I apologize if I mess up a couple times, but

yes, it's you are allowed to cry anytime you would like. Um, the loss of a child is the worst thing anybody could go through. The proclamation honoring the life and legacy of Carrian Nelson. Whereas the Porsche Town Council on behalf of all the people of this community proudly recognizes individuals whose lives exemplify extraordinary strength, courage, and the endured spirit of hope. And whereas Carrian Nelson, a beloved and courageous young resident of Portsmouth, faced an 8-year battle with cancer with remarkable bravery, resilience, and grace, inspiring all who knew and all who learned of her journey. And whereas through her unwavering spirit, Carrian became a powerful symbol of hope, determination, bringing community together in love, compassion, and steadf steadfast support for her and all for those who are affected with cancer. Whereas February 8th, 2026, the day that would have marked Carrian's 25th birthday, stands as a meaningful and fitting occasion to honor her life, her courage, and her countless cancer warriors whose strength and perseverance inspire us every day. Whereas the fight against cancer is strengthened by the collective support of families, friends, caregivers, medical professionals, and entire communities whose compassion uplifts and sustains facing this challenge. Excuse me. Sustains those facing this challenge. See, I told you I would mess up. Now therefore be it proclaimed that Porson Town Council hereby designates February 8th, 2026 as Carrian Nelson Day, also to be known as Cancer Warrior Day on behalf of Carrian who requested that that all cancer warriors would be recognized on this day as well. Let this day stand as a solemn and hopeful reminder of courage of all those who battle cancer, the memory of those who have lost, and the enduring power of unity, compassion, and community. and the witness thereof I

have set my hand and caused the seal of the town of Portouth to be affixed this 26th day of January 2026. Um for those of you who knew Carrian, she was a light um that should have shown for much much longer. But what she accomplished in her brief 25 years on this planet um I don't know of any of us who have accomplished more and her memory will live on forever. And I am so sorry for both of you for all you have gone through. Um I can only imagine what you've gone through for the past few years and we give you nothing but love and hope for the future. Thank you.

Thank you everyone. Thank you so much. Thank you. I would speak but it's it won't come out well. That's okay. That's okay. Aiden, you you want to come up first or you want Chris is going to go first. Okay, I'll hand you Sure.

My name is Chris Garceller and it's both an honor and a privilege to stand before you tonight. Last year, we gathered to celebrate the courage and strength of Carrian Nelson. This year we gather with full hearts and deep gratitude while also mourning her passing on Christmas Day. Though Carrian is no longer physically with us, her presence has not left this world. Her light continues to shine through the lives she touched. There is one word that truly captures who Carrian was. Remarkable. Remarkable in her courage, her kindness, her resilience. Remarkable in how her care for others never wavered, even in her hardest moments. Remarkable in the way she faced seven years of cancer, not with bitterness, not but with grace, music, humor, and hope. Carrian didn't just fight cancer. She changed people. She changed me. She changed this entire community and far beyond Portsouth. Her spirit brought people together. Her voice lifted others. Her compassion reminded us what really matters. Even while facing unimaginable hardship, Carrian never stopped thinking about others. When this day was first proposed, she didn't want it to be about her alone. She wanted it to honor every cancer warrior. That selflessness is one of the many reasons she was so extraordinary. So today, as Portsouth once again proclaims February 8th as Carrian Nelson Day and Cancer Warrior Day, let it be more than a remembrance. Let it be a promise we live out. Let this day be a day where we honor Carrian's legacy by doing something good for someone else. By advocating for someone who needs a voice, by showing kindness when it's

easier not to. By lifting someone up the way Carrian always lifted others. Let this day remind us to live more like she did with empathy, generosity, courage, and joy. And I want to take a moment to thank Carrian's parents, Paul and Tammy. Thank you for sharing your remarkable daughter with us. Thank you for raising a young woman whose love, strength, and light changed an entire community and beyond. We are forever grateful for the gift of Carrian. Carrian showed us that one remarkable person can transform the world around them. Her impact will continue to ripple outward through the people she inspired, the lives she touched, and the love she left behind. Carrian, thank you for your music, your heart, your strength, and your unforgettable spirit. You changed my life forever. You changed this community forever. And we promise to carry your legacy forward, not just today, but always. Let us honor her not only with words but with actions worthy of someone truly remarkable.

Thank you, Chris. Very well said. Aiden, you want to say a few words? Hello everyone. My name is Aiden McDonald and I am a lifelong Portsmouth resident. I was Carrian's partner and best friend since we were 12 years old. I along with Carrian's entire family wish to thank the town of Portsouth, all of Aquitnik Island, the state of Rhode Island and all that supported Carrian on her 7-year cancer journey. The incredible support for Carrian and her family made a tremendous difference in her ability to battle osteocaroma. She was able to live with comfort and care, which allowed her to focus on her advocacy work throughout her entire cancer journey. She truly loved living in the town of Portsouth and she felt so loved and embraced by everyone. She used to say how lucky and blessed she was to live in such a supportive and compassionate community. It was a blessing to know Carrian and have her be a part of my life. I will forever be in awe of Carrian's singing voice, her strength, grace, and willingness to help others despite dealing with imaginable unimaginable circumstances. We will miss Carrian endlessly and do our best to continue her legacy through advocacy and charitable efforts that were near and dear to her. May Carrian rest in peace. We know she is singing with the angels now. She is looking down at her beautiful island community and smiling at the continued outpouring of love. I will love Carrian for an eternity. Thank you all.

Thank you, Aiden. Very well said. Uh for those of you who are interested, there is a celebration of life for Carrian uh this coming Sunday, February 1st, at the Windham in Middletown. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's 12:00 to 5. Correct? 1 to 5. Okay. 1 to 5. Um and we are all going to do our best to uh will this next storm that's supposed to come off the coast uh up the coast out to sea so that that celebration of life can come on. In true Carrian fashion, her mother was going through some of her stuff and found a thank you note that Carrian wrote herself last year for us proclaiming um February 8th Carrian Nelson and Cancer Warrior Day. So, if you would indulge me, I'm just going to read it real quick. It hasn't even been opened yet. Dear Porssworth Town Council, thank you from the bottom of my heart for creating a beautiful day in my honor. I have been fighting for such a long time and to know my journey inspires people is so heartwarming. It brings me great comfort to know that my day will continue to shine a light for all those fighting cancer. My family and I truly appreciate all the kindness and support from the town of Portsmouth. I would love to to pay it forward in any way possible. True Carrian fashion. She wanted to pay it forward for her day. So, um I can tell you for as long as I will be here, uh February 8th will be the port will be Carrie Nelson cancer warrior day and we will um celebrate the memory of her life every um well either February 8th or the meeting before the February 8th. So, um, thank you to her family for being here tonight. Um, I don't think you have to stay for the rest of the evening. Um, and if there's anything else, if all Tammy, if you guys want to say anything.

Um, otherwise, God bless. Um, and I hope, um, we can bring you a little bit of comfort during this time of, uh, of sorrow that, uh, Carrian is no longer with us. Any other counselors want to say anything? Mary?

Yeah, I I just want to say that we were all in the midst of an extraordinarily wonderful, beautiful young woman. And I am just so grateful that I had the opportunity to meet her. And I'm sure on Christmas day those gates opened with open arms and welcomed her in with song. So rest in peace Carrian and thanks for the opportunity of meeting you. Anyone else? Well, this this seems like a very hard transition into new business and talking about um the town and the school budget, but thank you all very much for coming in tonight. S Chris, thank you. Sakana Bridge will be lit up again on Carrian Nelson Day.

Awesome. Great. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Right. So, the segue of all segways, we go from honoring a wonderful young lady to uh our opening presentation of our town and school committee budgets. Mr. Rener. Good evening, Mr. President. Town council. Ladies and gentlemen, um if we can go to the first slide. Not sure.

That's not the first slide. [laughter] If it is, it's a very boring presentation. Thanks. Now, just forward one, please.

There you go. Thanks. So, as staff can definitely attest to, we are now well into the development of the proposed uh fiscal year 27 budget. Uh that process started last August and will be completed over the next two months. This brief will provide some highlights with respect to the budget drivers as we see them. Next slide, please. So, we'll start with revenues. And on the town side, uh, as you're aware, the governor's proposed fiscal year 27 budget generally holds uh, municipal aid programs uh, level. Uh, that includes pilot and most formula funding with no material changes anticipated for Portsmith at this time. State pass through revenues, meals, hotel, and public service taxes are projected to increase statewide, which may provide modest uh a modest upside uh for local receipts. On the education side, uh the proposal does include a small statewide increase to the funding formula and Dr. Riveros will speak to that. With respect to property taxes, as you know, the car tax was eliminated a few years ago, but current legislation uh does provide the same reimbursement as last year, which was the same reimbursement as the year before, the year before. Uh legislation also provides a $50,000 tangible tax exemption to all tangible tax accounts, and current legislation does provide for the reimbursement of the town, and it's reflected in uh the governor's proposed budget. With respect to new housing and building construction, we expect uh those levels to remain at about the same uh level as last year. So, we aren't projecting any significant increase in those revenues. While there is growing uh expectation of potential Federal Reserve rate cuts later in the year, uh we are budgeting conservatively and assuming a softening in interest income compared to recent years uh while continuing to benefit from uh still elevated short-term rates

on town deposits. And fiscal year 27 will reflect the full impact of the town's most recent property revaluation. While this updates assessed values to current market conditions, it does not by itself generate new revenue as the tax rate is adjusted to achieve the council's adopted levy levy. Uh Dr. Beveros.

Thank you, Mr. Rainer. Good evening, members of the town council, members of the school committee, and the community. From the school department side, this slide summarizes our key revenue assumptions for FY27. Beginning with state aid, the governor's recommended budget reflects an increase of approximately $67,000 for FY27. While this is a positive adjustment, it remains modest and subject to final approval. For high-cost special education, we are projecting an increase of $57,000 in reimbursement. Group home aid is projected to be level funded for FY27. However, it's important to note that with the closure of Boytown, it's expected to impact this revenue in the future. With respect to federal impact aid, we are anticipating a decrease primarily due to a reduction in the number of military connected students attending our schools. Finally, tuition revenue is expected to increase moderately driven by our three-year uh tuition extension at Hill Compton and the continued out of district interest in our CTEMIES. Overall, these assumptions reflect a conservative and realistic revenue outlook for the school department. Thank you.

Next slide, please. So with respect to expenditures, unfortunately, so everybody knows, the cost of goods and services remain stubbornly high. State aid is is proposed to be effectively level funded from last year. We are working to identify cost savings throughout the entire budget so as to mitigate these drivers to our expenditures. I've asked all departments to keep their overall growth to the lowest extent possible. On the town side, fire dispatchers and PMEA union contracts expire uh at the end of next fiscal year. So, the proposed budget will reflect ongoing wage and staffing pressures with an emphasis on recruitment and retention and public safety and operations. Due to the significant increases in the cost of health care, we have been informed to expect fairly sizable increases in healthcare premiums next year. The exact increase won't be known until March, so we are budgeting 6% for now. We are hopeful our favorable utilization rates will result in a better than anticipated rate for Portsouth. Our other postmployment benefits or OPED pay as you go expense is projected to slightly decrease in the next year. We will continue to continue to increase the OPED fund uh for this year to decrease our liability risks. With respect to the town's defined benefit plan, the proposed actuarily determined contribution or the ARC payment will decrease by approximately $650,000. The town will continue its practice of applying surplus funds to reduce long-term pension obligations. With respect to waste management operations, the state's landfill tipping fee is expected to remain 63,000 $63 per ton uh or $63 per ton plus $250 added cost per rejected recycling load. The CPIU for sewer and trash services continues to apply upward pressure on operating costs, though. We anticipate

rising utility distribution and supply costs and that will continue to impact uh operations budgets. Significant capital requirements remain across facilities, fleet and public safety infrastructure. We will concentrate on immediate capital needs and plan to use this expenditure growth to offset the debt ser debt service on the anticipated school bond which will be due uh if approved. Uh that first dirt debt service payment will be due in fiscal year 28. And lastly, the road restore municipal road program is expected to continue providing ongoing support for local road paving projects. Dr.

on the school side, the following are the major cost drivers we are building into our FY27 budget. Starting with salaries, the current NEA teacher contract expires at the end of this school year. As a result, the FY27 budget reflects placeholder assumptions as negotiations have not yet been finalized. For health and dental insurance, we are budgeting a 6% premium increase for both health and dental coverage. These assumptions are consistent with the recent trends. Under retirement, there are two notable changes. The pound pension arc is projected to decrease by $139,000 and the ERSRI, employment uh retirement system of Rhode Island pension contribution rate is scheduled to decrease by 35 basis points, bringing the rate to 14.75% of salary. Transportation continues to be a pressure point for our district. Our current contract expires at the end of FY26. We've received a bid that reflects a 15% increase for FY27, which is reflected in this budget. Finally, utilities remain a challenge, particularly our electricity costs, which continue to be elevated and very unpredictable. The FY27 budget reflects these ongoing cost pressures. Thank you.

Next slide. With respect to debt service, there will be just a little over $200,000 decrease in bond debt service in the next fiscal year. Assuming a $35 million bond referendum is passed, uh we're using that number as a placeholder. And assuming that that is passed and approved in November, the debt service um will increase by $1.5 million in fiscal year 28. capital lease service will remain unchanged over the last fiscal year. Next slide please. So here you can see it graphically. So even with the anticipated school bond the the next two drops in debt service will be in 2037 and 2039. Next slide please. So, some other drivers, as I've stated, the fire dispatcher and PMEA contracts all expire at the end of the next fiscal year, and we'll begin contract negotiations later this year. That will obviously affect fiscal year 28. Additionally, we do remain very satisfied with our collaboration with the the school across three important areas, facilities management, information technology, and the school resource resource officer program. And we will seek to continue this in the next fiscal year. Next slide, please. So, the fiscal year 27 capital program is being structured with a multi-year finance uh financing strategy in mind, recognizing the potential impact of the pending school bond referendum by continuing targeted capital investment in fiscal year 27. We are building capacity to absorb the projected additional debt service of approximately $ 1.5 million in fiscal year 28 in a phased and manageable way. This approach helps avoid concentrating the full

impact of the new debt in a single fiscal year and supports compliance with the state's 4% levy cap while maintaining progress on critical facility fleet and infrastructure needs. Of note, we will try to factor in town hall exterior painting, public works equipment and improvements, fire department facility and safety equipment, um emergency management support, police and public safety requirements and IT upgra IT upgrades and uh recreation facilities improvements as able.

All right. On the school side, uh this slide outlines both the status of our current capital plan and our next phase. Our five-year capital plan totaling 21.4 million is now expiring. As of December 2025, all projects under this plan have been completed and delivered under budget, reflecting strong oversight and careful project management. Looking ahead, we are proposing a stage 2 capital plan submission totaling approximately $40 million focused on critical repairs and targeted renovations across our schools. More detailed information on the stage 2 submission will be shared later this evening by our architectural partner Studio Jade including scope, priorities and next steps. Thank you.

Next up please. So with regard to initiatives, uh some initiatives that we're planning for include uh as we've stated debt capacity planning will continue to evaluate the town's capacity to absorb potential new school related debt service in a phased and sustainable manner consistent with the 4% cap. We'll be pursuing and implementing required IT system upgrades and controls to maintain the town's security posture and compliance with evolving insurance and risk management standards. The ad hoc waste uh management working group will continue to focus on program costs, participation levels, and operational efficiencies across both the curbside and transfer station programs. We'll finalize and implement the updated sign ordinance to ensure it meets constitutional standards while providing fair, consistent, and enforceable regulations for the community. We'll seek to continue the pilot program uh regarding the park steward program uh to provide on-site stewardship and maintenance for Melville Park. And we hope to partner with the school department to develop a work-based uh learning program that provides students with structured real world experiences in municipal operations and public service. On the school side, we have several key initiatives that are guiding both this budget and our long-term planning. We've embarked in on a new five-year strategic plan, and FY27 represents year two of implementation. This plan continues to serve as the roadmap for district priorities, resource alignment, and continuous improvement. We're moving forward with a full implementation of highquality science and social studies curricula in grades K through 8 and are beginning to explore highquality science and social studies options for Portsmith High School, ensuring all students have access to rigorous learning opportunities. The district has been awarded our second

DODIA grant totaling a half a million dollars through May 2029. These funds support career and technical education programming in grades 5 through 12, strengthening pathways to college, careers, and service. Portsmith High School currently offers seven ride approved career and technical education programs open to both uh PHS students and out of district students. We continue to expand work-based learning experiences. And as Mr. Rainer has stated, "We've been um having ongoing conversations about opportunities to secure student internships within the town offices." Finally, Portsmith High School is engaged in the NEAS accreditation process, reflecting our commitment to continuous improvement, accountability, and nationally recognized standards. Together, these initiatives demonstrate our focus on student opportunity, workforce readiness, and long-term district sustainability. Thank you. So, Mr. President and Council, that concludes our brief and our kickoff for the fiscal year 27 budget process.

Thank you, Mr. Rener and Dr. Versus. Does anyone have any over questions about the overview and what are the general guiding lights of our budget coming up? Miss White,

uh, a couple questions. Um, in one of the slides it had said that there was you're projecting fewer military families. Is this due to the number of families in the area decreasing or the families are choosing other schools? When we collect our impact aid forms every year, there has been a a decline and that I believe is due to families either not coming to Portsmith, not living in the Portsmith community and able to find affordable housing here. Um, so that's understood. Um, it was also mentioned an increase of 15% for the transportation costs. Are we looking at other companies or have an do they have an explanation to us on this increase on what was already an expensive line item for this?

So, we're currently having conversations with them and we're hoping to um get to either a better percentage or going out again for another RFP. Appreciate that. And then one final statement. I just want to say how much I appreciate the team effort on coming in under budget on that five-year capital plan. The improvements really have been impressive and Keith and I are both on the the committee and seeing the the in-depth step-by-step tasking as it has gone through, seeing the development, it really has been impressive. I appreciate the entire team.

Thank you, Miss White. Anyone else with questions? Okay. Um, Mr. Rainer, are you going to kick off the right to submission discussion or you want to have Dr. Viver cut that? Kick that off. That'll be Dr. Viveros, baby.

Yep. Thank you. So, thank you to the town council for the opportunity to be here this evening. Over the past several months, the district has worked closely with our planning partners, Studio Studio Jade, the Paragrin Group, and Civic Design Firm to engage the community, assess our facilities, and develop our stage two submission. This work reflects both careful planning and a growing sense of urgency. Our buildings are aging and the educational needs are increasing. Tonight's request is about readiness. Approval of this submission does not set a bond amount. It positions Portsmith to move forward responsibly and strategically. It ensures that all eligible projects are fully documented and included, allowing the district to maximize potential reimbursement and maintain flexibility rather than limit our future options. This step is critical to maintaining safe, functional, and competitive learning environments for our students now and in years to come. With that, I turn it over to Phil Ki from Studio Jade, who will walk you through the proposal. Phil,

thank you. Good evening everyone. Uh, next slide. I want to briefly introduce the team. Erica Shakar with Peragan Group, the OPM is here with me this evening. Another important team member who's not here this evening is Manuel Cordderero with the civic group, our educational facilities planner. Uh, a very valuable resource to this entire exercise. We're going to go through a couple of things. quickly reviewing the ride process, explaining to you what our justification and reasoning was behind the projects that we're proposing in this submission, go over the next steps, and certainly answer any questions you have. Next slide. As the superintendent mentioned, it's important to celebrate the work that you've recently completed over the last 5 years. Those projects focused mainly on keeping the schools warm, safe, and dry. and a significant if not almost all of it was focused on the elementary schools and I believe it has had a tremendous impact there regarding indoor air quality and improvements to the restrooms and the building envelope. Next slide. There was minimal work done at the high school such as Memorial Drive, air conditioning of the fieldhouse. Unfortunately, even less though at the middle school where we were really only able to renovate the restrooms there, which was a significant project. The school was able to also improve the media center as well as the auditorium. But the middle school, as you will see in this presentation, is in need of more work. Next slide. It's important to keep in mind that your neighbors, Newport, Middletown, have or are investing in their school facilities as well as a number of districts statewide. And Portsmith and I've had

the opportunity to work with you all since 2010. And you are an I um a pinnacle of stewardship of your facilities throughout the state. We have the opportunity to work with a lot of districts and you certainly uh understand and and know what you're doing when it comes to your facilities. So, we want to keep that momentum going and look to projects that can improve the teaching and learning in addition to making sure that we are maintaining them and keeping them warm, safe, and dry. Next slide. This is a graphic developed by Ride that explains the process from the beginning to the end. And as you can see, you are right now in the middle where we are looking for local support to submit the stage two uh here this evening. Next slide. Stage one, the necessity of school construction has already been approved and in its simplest form, it identifies the needs. What are the needs in Portsouth? And that is identified through a facility condition assessment as well as an educational adequacy assessment when we go through your facilities. Next slide. That assessment identified over the next 10 years a district-wide need of almost $80 million. That is a significant amount of money. But I can tell you there are other municipalities and districts that far exceed this amount. And even the most well-endowed institutions carry deferred maintenance. So what was surprising when we looked at this was the number associated with the middle school seemed disproportionately high to the size of it. So that you know did not surprise us too much after we looked into it and realized well we have not really been spending capital dollars there. Next slide.

I do want to remind you that there is this state law requirement that you invest minimally in your school facilities to avoid the catastrophe that was um that Rhode Island fell upon a decade ago with its school conditions. So there is an approximately 1.5 million per year that is spent on school facilities here in Portsouth. Next slide. The educational adequacy assessment of the facilities and how it supports your program started in November led by Manuel Cordderero and the Civic Group on uh a number of methods and vehicles used to solicit information from parents, staff, administration. We held a community forum where people were able to share what they thought of the school facilities. Next slide. What we saw was there a a considerable amount of concern in the middle school regarding the classroom environment itself, the building envelope, roof, windows, indoor air quality, etc. and and an excuse [clears throat] me, high interest in the high school science labs as well as some of the CTE programs. Next slide. The stage two part of the necessity of school construction identifies the proposed solution to the needs that we've already submitted. It is necessary for ride eligibility for reimbursement and it focuses on the project type. We want to create a list of projects to submit as part of the stage two so that if Portsmith moves forward with any type of funding that those projects are reimbursed by the state. It is your next five-year capital plan and as the superintendent mentioned, your current plan expires at the end of this year and we have completed all of those projects

that we've identified previously. Next slide. I want to be very clear about what the submission is and of course what it is not. So it is timesensitive. We are only able to submit these in February and in September. It is necessary to receive at a minimum the 35% reimbursement from RIDE and it is the mechanism to receive state reimbursement. For example, you could do any project you want. You just simply would not be reimbursed, excuse me, for that project. Uh that is not a prudent path forward. Next slide. What it is not, this is not an approval to bond. It is not establishing any bond amount. There is an expectation that you're doing at least half of what you're submitting over the next five years. Next slide. This is a breakdown of the $40 million submission. Haway and Melville are about the same at a million dollars. And we're going to go through each one of these schools to quickly identify the projects. Portsmith Middle is the highest at approximately 29 million. and then Portsmith High School at 9 million. We're going to see this slide again later in the presentation. Next slide. Haway Elementary School. The $1 million would be focused on site improvements and any mechanical, electrical, equipment, and building control systems that are open items within the schools. Similarly, similarly to Melville, next slide. Same scopes of work. We want to improve some site work deficiencies as well as some remaining mechanical, electrical and building control issues there. Next slide. The middle school. There are three main areas of the middle school. Roof and building envelope is a

significant investment. This is a very large one-story sprawling building. A lot of roof area, a lot of wall perimeter. That's almost $13 million. Additionally, and we're going to talk about the additions and renovations a little bit more, there's a $13 million investment for interior improvements with site improvements at about 3 million. Next slide. Because this is a significant submission request, we wanted to identify some of the areas for you so that you are familiar with why we are at where we are. You could see some images of the roof. The roof is beyond its useful life. We want to avoid the issues that fell upon us at the high school. The HVAC system is integral to the window system, making it a little bit of a challenge when it comes to maintaining it. Next slide. The interiors [clears throat] are dated and a number of them do not have natural light. We're going to show you that a little bit more in the next slide. This may be hard to read, but I want to focus your attention on the areas of work. There are two small red squares that represents some minor interior renovation work. The larger rectangle in the bottom right is our area of focus. That is the eighth grade wing right now. The way this school is designed, it is broken up into grades five, six, seven, and eight. And if you look in that red box, you're going to see eight classrooms. Four stacked on top of four. What does that mean? That means that there are four interior classrooms with no natural light. But that also means that there are four perimeter classrooms that are only egressed through another classroom in front of it. Uh we understand why this was done at the time it was built, but it's certainly not

adequate for today's teaching and learning methodologies. Next slide. What we want to do is to take those uh let's say for example four classrooms and turn them into these two types of classrooms where the size actually meets the ride suggested guidelines where we are able to introduce rooms that support teaching and learning such as those breakout rooms that can provide some additional space to the educators. Next slide. These are images of current classrooms. The two on the right are interior classrooms that you would traverse to get to the exterior classroom. And again, these spaces are wfully inadequate for today's teaching and learning. Next slide. This is just a rendering of a new proposed classroom where we're able to produce uh introduce a significant amount of natural light into the room, appropriate spaces for uh instruction as well as supervision to that exterior to the farther space uh breakout space. Next slide. This is the existing corridors at the middle school. Next slide. We want to introduce natural light into the corridors, open them up, make them much more transparent, provide lockers that are actually adequate for uh coats and bags, etc. Next slide. Hopefully, you have had a chance to see the middle school restroom renovation project that was done. The image to the left was the existing to the right is the new. Um, I believe in speaking with the administration that this project has had a significant impact on the students. Next slide.

The high school includes $9 million worth of work across a variety of project types that range from the remaining roof section that's left to be done to select lab renovations. Next slide. Again, here there are a variety of pictures that just indicate the condition of the section of roof that is left. Some of the site improvements that would be anticipated. There are some select HVAC equipment that facilities would like replaced. The bathrooms are dated as well as the science labs. Next slide. Again, this is how we arrived at that $40 million submission request. Next slide. Keeping in mind this is not an approval to bond. It does not establish a bond amount. Next slide. And it is necessary for housing aid and the mechanism for state reimbursement. Last slide. The overall schedule. We have received building committee recommendation on January 12th. School committee approval on January 13th. We are here today to receive town council vote to submit the stage two. The stage two is due February 15th. We are on track to make that submission. We would anticipate ride approval in May of 26. Last slide. I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

Thank you, Phil. Appreciate that. I have one quick question about the old bond. The gray countertops have been replaced with the white the Bulls. I would have to ask Rachel. Was that done, George? Yes. Yes. Yes. Was supposed to happen over Christmas break. I just wanted to make sure it happened. Okay. Um, thank you. Um, it's a pretty it's a big number. Mhm.

But being as someone who went through the learning center process at the the middle school and the fact that it's 53 years old now, right? 72 it was opened up. Um, the roof is certainly a mustave. Um, and changing the learning environment is I I think a great idea for the for our future students at the middle school. So, does anyone have questions for Phil on the FA the stage two submitt? So, again, the submitt process puts through all of these projects and then the expectation is that you do at least half of them.

Correct. So it was 40.3 I think. So it would be looking at at minimum $20 million worth of projects which would be done based on timing

availability of projects money and all that fun stuff. Um we'll discuss this in the building committee but one thought I had concern concerning the roof was decoupling the roof project from the eighth grade wing. So that way, if you're the general contractor and I'm the sub for the roof, I have to mark mine up, you have to mark yours up. If we go directly to a general contractor for the roof, similar to what we did at the high school, we might be able to save some money. Um, that $13.3 million for the building envelope includes the roof and windows for every classroom or just the eighth grade wing.

Um, minimal windows. So, I would say the eighth grade wing. Okay. All right. Mr. Gleason. Thank you. I just have a couple questions. The the concept that you've shown on slide 13, if you could pull that up, please. Um, if I understand your presentation, it looks like those classrooms are pretty much on the north side of the school. Yeah. Northeast. Northeast corner northwest

norththeast facing towards grade faces towards Jeff. So if I understood the concept there is uh at the lower b bottom of the screen is the exterior windows and you're kind of combining those classrooms that are kind of bound the one that you can't access right there. There you go. That that correct. Yes. We would be converting those eight classrooms, right,

to four and then putting a small addition in that corner where the red box continues beyond for the remaining classrooms. So that there so that the eighth grade wing comprised of two teams has all the same appropriately sized classrooms, breakout rooms, storage, etc. Okay. And just for somebody like myself that hasn't been in a middle school in a long time, um, explain the concepts behind the breakout room and what is that is? Sure. Let's go to the next sl um, next slide, please.

There you go.

So, RIDE publishes a recommended classroom size guideline that we struggle to achieve anywhere. The fact that we could do it in Portsmith, uh, I think is a great fit. What that affords us is some additional space along the corridor side to introduce a breakout room into every classroom. Which means if there is a group of students that may need additional support, they can easily be managed. And if we could go to two more slides. Within the upper left hand corner, you see the breakout room easily supervised from one teacher in the classroom. If there are a couple of students that are working together collaboratively or if a specialist needs to come into the classroom, they can do so within the classroom setting but still be removed enough that that student or group of students can receive that additional support. It really offers the greatest amount of flexibility to the educators. Maybe this is a uh a social studies classroom that is going to be doing a uh project that can be a little bit of a project room where they could work on it together without being in the main classroom. What we have learned through the last several decades of trying to design adequate teaching and learning spaces is to offer the instructors as much flexibility as possible but flexibility that allows everyone to be supervised easily managed and within close proximity to each other. I am very excited to bring this concept to ride because they will see that what we are trying to do here at Portsmith Middle School is the exact template that they want throughout the state which is difficult to achieve in new builds for

example they can't afford that additional square footage in other schools they are not configured adequately we're taking lemons and making lemonade out of this area Sounds good. Um, can you talk about the skylights? Um, you're Is that all part of the roof project? We would like to make it part of the roof project. Um, if you've been in the middle school, it's kind of dark. It's very large, so you have some deep interior spaces. and introducing some skylights when they are appropriately built and designed um can certainly function to provide natural light view and not leak. So at at this point we would like to at a minimum plan for these as part of the roof project and I I can say even though some members are here on the building committee. You have a very good group on the building committee a very diverse smart group of people who will challenge us and we will work with our OPM to make smart decisions going forward. I believe the last five years all of those projects were done very smartly and successfully and we would continue that for the next five years.

Thank you very much. Any other questions? Bill Sandra, um just a quick question and I think we had talked about it but I don't remember and I just want it publicly. Um does this change capacity um with such augmentation of classrooms going from the the four to the two and I know we're adding some the overall eighth grade capacity. How has that changed?

That has not changed. We're still going to have two teams. We have had an enrollment forecast done for the next five years that shows that you will still be having two teams and that would be our path forward. Excellent. Thank you. Any other questions? Any members of the audience have any questions? Hearing none, I think we need a a motion to approve the submission of the stage two to ride for their approval. So moved. Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 70 to zero. Phil, thank you very much. Thank you,

Dr. River. Thank you, man. School committee members. Thank you. School staff, thank you. We'll see you all back here in a few weeks with the full budget.

Next up, uh we have our consent agenda. Uh typically the consent agenda has actionable items on it. This evening it does not. Um when we do have actionable items such as uh approval of licenses or things like that, we do need to make a motion to approve as presented, not just to receive and place on file. But there's really nothing actionable on this particular one. So today we will make a motion to receive and place on file. Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 7 to zero. Next up, we have our minutes from the 112 2026 meeting. Anybody have any corrections or additions? If none, do we have a motion to approve? Move to approve as as pres presented.

Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 720. Next up, we have our town administrator report. Mr. Rainer.

Yeah, Mr. President, town council. Um the Rhode Island Bridge and Turnpike Authority has begun the first phase of installing a dehumidification system on the Mount Hope Bridge uh with work uh expected to continue through April. This phase involves installing scaffolding above the bridge deck to support future construction while keeping the bridge open to traffic. So, as people have noticed, there are alternating lane closures uh in effect Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and then on Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. residents and commuters should plan for possible delays during these hours and use caution when traveling uh through this work zone. Uh we highlighted earlier uh in the budget brief that the governor's proposed budget has been published and proposed state aid for the school district is uh proposed to increase slightly while aid to the town is projected to remain relatively flat over last year. With respect to the proposed town budget, we are on track to deliver it to the council at the end of March and budget meetings are scheduled to begin April 27th. Uh, at the town council's request, the town clerk has updated the boards and committees pages on the town website to improve access to meeting information. The pages now include direct links to upcoming meeting agendas as well as links to past agendas and minutes through the Secretary of State's website. Uh last week I was included in an email request uh from one of the town's contract inspectors asking that the per inspection fee be re-evaluated along with some comparative information from other communities. Uh FYI for your information the current rate for electrical inspections is $35 per inspection. The finance director, planner, and I will re review this as part of the upcoming bud budget process and any recommended adjustments will be brought forward to the council for consideration during the budget discussions this spring. Um, the Rhode Island Department of

Environmental Management has completed its winter trout and salmon stocking. Uh, they did that last week and the upper Melville Pound in Portsouth was one of the selected locations. So, the pond was stocked with trout and salmon, and anglers are reminded that a current fishing license is required for those 15 and older, and that applicable trout stamp and regulations uh do apply. And then lastly, uh I would like to just take a moment to note the passing of Leon Luzinski, who retired recently after more than 13 years of service as the planning board's administration officer. Leon was a steady and familiar presence at town hall and he took great pride in supporting the work of the planning board and serving the public with professionalism and good humor. On behalf of the town staff, I extend our sincere condolences to his family and loved ones. That concludes my report, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. Rener. Leon did a lot of great work for this town. He will be missed. Um I forget I failed to mention in the beginning of the meeting that we had a few um concerns about specifically people online being able to hear counselors and um folks at the podium during discussions. As a reminder, these microphones are directional. You have to speak directly into the front of them. If you're off to the side, you don't get the same effect. So, if we could all please just be cognizant of that when we are speaking into the microphone, it would be greatly appreciated for the folks at home and the folks in the back of the room as well. Next up, we have resignations and appointments. We have one resignation from the solid waste recycling committee.

Mr. President, motion to accept with regret the resignation of Laura Carile. Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion passes seven to zero. And then we have two appointments with uh two applicants, two vacancies with two applicants for the Prudence Island Planning Commission. Motion to approve Joseph Fertitta and Zachary Wine Weinberger to the ports, excuse me, Prudence Island Planning Commission. Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 7 to zero. Next, we have old business. Uh we have a new uh renewed presentation of our flock safety cameras and captain album if you want to come up sir. Welcome back.

You want me to go through the whole spiel again or I I think well the the spiel from before is I think we all understand that. I think the biggest thing is the memorandum of understanding and what if any safeguards have been added since the last time you were here. Well, you have you've read the policy and you have theou, correct? So, do you have any questions regarding those? I I do not. I don't know if any counselors do. I mean, sorry. Yeah. I mean, I can recite whatever you want. I also have with me tonight uh a representative from Flock and also online another representative from Flock. Should you have any questions that are beyond my expertise and knowledge of fly cameras?

I am sure like me it's probably it related and it's up here when you start discussing security and things like that. So um any counselors have questions or concerns? Um mine still goes back to the security of the cameras and the security information that they're receiving.

What about it? um specifically the safety [snorts] of them being kept by flock and not by the state police directly. Um having a third party having that information scares me a little bit that's all. And the ability for it and you know I've read their website and the claims that they've never been hacked and they have never had a security breach but that's not third party tested. That's their own in-house discussion. So, I mean, I can read you the policies. I can read you the MUS, but I'm sure you've all read them, so I don't need to. No, you don't.

Um, I I understand. Do you have any questions? You had questions regarding some of the inside workings of Flock last time. Did you want to reiterate on them or follow up? Just Sure. We received good amount of feedback from our constituents. Um, could we maybe have a three or five minute discussion from Flock? Give you the opportunity to speak to your product. You don't have to, but you got to come up to the microphone though, please. Uh, specifically regarding um concerns of trying to If you could just identify yourself as as well.

Yes. Hi everybody. Thanks for having me. My name is Andrew Haft and I support our relationship with the Rhode Island State PD. Um, happy to field any questions and uh, who's not here with me in person is another member of our team, Carrie, who's on the Zoom call virtually. So, if there's something that I personally can answer, uh, we have all the resources here available. Okay. Is that Carrie McMorick? Yes, sir. Carrie, if you can uh, raise your hand to be recognized. Thank you. And then Kathy, if you can just turn her on. Hey folks, can you hear me?

Yes, thank you Carrie. Appreciate that. And I do have a presentation completely um up to the to the commission, but I do have that if interested. Sure. How long is it? Uh like five or 10 slides or Yep. I can flip through it quickly. Okay, please do. All right. Can I share my screen or? Yep. Uh, give us a quick second. Kathy has to promote you to a uh, presenter. You should be all set now. And if you can try and share your screen. Okay. Can you see me? We can see you.

Wonderful. Okay. I will be uh, quick. I promise. Uh, let's see. I think request I just requested to share my screen. Um, [snorts] let's see here. There we go. Share. Can you all see this? Yes, sir.

Wonderful. All righty. Well, good evening everyone and thank you for having me. My name is Carrie McCormack and I am a member of Flax Safety's public affairs team. So, I'm just going to run through a quick overview and then happy to answer any questions and I appreciate uh the commission's time today, the council's time. So, just a quick overview of the company. Uh we are an American company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Uh and we partner with about 6,000 communities across the country. Uh as well as over 1,500 businesses from small mom and pops to big retail and things like that. Uh we consider ourselves collaborative technology. So, we do not replace police officers, but we support a tool, a critical tool to help police officers and law enforcement to do their jobs. Our license plate reader cameras, which you'll see here, um they take a photo of a back of a vehicle that encapsulates the back of the vehicle and the license plate. Um, and when the state police or another agency submits a plate onto a hot list or it is already on a hot list, um, it will create an alert for that police department. So that could be a missing child, that could be a suspect of a homicide or other, um, type of crime. So, the [clears throat] vehicle fingerprint is a just a fancy way to say it takes a photo of the back of the vehicle. Uh, and it can capture license plate, vehicle make, body type, color, things of that nature. Um, this is important because sometimes, you know, you you'll hear from law enforcement that uh folks will take a plate off um or switch a plate uh especially those that are involved in organized crime. Um, that is something unfortunate that will happen. And so the photo takes a back picture of the back of the plate.

This slide just says it works at night. Uh what so some of the components that are critical to our organization are transparency and privacy from day one of the organization. Uh so not only are we a critical tool uh to fight crime and find missing people, transparency is also critical. So on the left hand side or the white part of the screen uh you'll see just um highlighting some of those components 100% of our data and when we're talking about data and the license plate readers that's the photo of the back of the vehicle is owned by our customers and Flock will never sell that data. Um private customers do not have access to our government data or hot list. So those businesses I talked to you about earlier, they cannot get access to hot lists, wanted license plates, things like that. That is strictly reserved for our law enforcement partners. By default, Flock automatically deletes data after 30 days. Um that is a best practice that we have found to provide, you know, a a period of time um where it's deleted for privacy purposes while also allowing our law enforcement partners a period of time to use that data. Sometimes we don't find out about a crime in our communities until a day, 5 days, 2 weeks later. So, this is kind of a happy middle ground for that data access, but it is hard deleted and scrubbed from the servers um after that 30-day period. We've had instances where a community will call us and say, "Oh, you we found out about a crime 33 days ago. Is there any way, you know, that is recoverable?" And the answer is no. It is completely deleted. Flock has no access to person identifiable information. So, what that means is um again it's a photo of a public license plate on a public road. Um it does not capture you the person in

the vehicle, who they are, you know, um anything about them either. Uh and it also does not run information through police databases. So, that we don't have access to. The local law enforcement partner is the one that runs that information, let's say for a wanted vehicle or something like that. Um and only the agency decides who to share with, not flock. So agencies responsible uh with the equipment, they make those sharing decisions, not flock. Um on the right hand, the green side, this just speaks to our uh data security protocols. Again, the data here is um it's not uh personal data. It's a you know, public license plate on a public street. However, we treat it as if it were much more personal when it comes to protecting it. So you'll see here that that data is uh encrypted end to end. Uh from the moment that photo is taken, it's encrypted um and it is stored and certified by the following lists of um national or thirdparty security protocols which you'll see there. Quick component of transparency. Um, every search requires a registered ID with a search reason and those are all saved into an audit system. So, while the data, the photographs are deleted after 30 days, there is a permanent audit trail um of any time that a a verified user goes into the system, searches a plate, you know, who is that user, what was the purpose of the search, um that information is held into perpetuity. uh and we recommend regular audits of that system. Um and we are also coming up through with proactive auditing uh to alert of potential misuse. On the right hand side of the screen, you'll see an example of what we call a transparency portal and this just outlines um you know uh those

permissions that we talked about. So how many days is the data retained, how many cameras and who the sharing relationships are with along with other items. So this transparency portal um is optional um and that can put that out to the community. So again um going through community safety and values um we flock is doing more and more every day on top of the systems that we already have in place. So important components of this um there are search filters in place to prevent searches related to immigration or reproductive health. Uh we again we talked about those permanent audit logs to make sure that all activity uh on our system is logged. Um there is no federal access to our nationwide or state lookup. Um again only agencies can share that data. Um there is no um federal access to our systems in our nationwide lookup. Um and then also uh you know we are required to alert you um you know any requests for your data. So for example if a FOYA comes in or public records request we send that to the community. Um we do not share your data. Quick myths and facts I'll run through quickly. Um you know these are point in time photos that do not track people and show police everywhere they go. um they do not violate the Fourth Amendment. And actually today we learned of a new ruling out of the Norfolk, Virginia case, which was kind of the outlier that um they ruled with Norfolk and Flock and against um the other party confirming this district court in Virginia that uh LPR technology is constitutional. That came out today. We do not sell your data. And again, I talked about how um private customers

cannot access law enforcement information. The they do not use facial recognition. Hard stop. Um and again, we talked about how they do not collect personally identifiable information. Um we are supported by folks like the Oakland NAACP uh specifically citing the fact that this is objection objective evidence um not subjective. So, it just speaks to the clarity of the evidence and helps to remove bias. Um, and we hear, you know, stories across the country of how our product has made a big impact on crime. Uh, in all of the 49 states, Alaska being the one that we're not in, uh, that we operate in, this makes a big impact on crime. So headlines, real stories, real issues in our community that our technology has supported. In Rhode Island, over 20 law enforcement agencies are currently using our technology. And here are some examples that for time sake I won't walk through uh every detail but just to show you the different communities and the impact that the technology has had in supporting law enforcement efforts and I can send this deck later on. I just want to in respect of time I won't walk through all these. So, quick um example here of the technology and how it's been used. This is a uh example from 2020 where uh a child was randomly abducted abducted in Georgia, which of course is that mother's uh worst day of her life, I would imagine. After contacting authorities, at 12:33 p.m., an Amber Alert was issued. 10:01 p.m. a search was conducted on the Flock Network. 2:30

p.m. the suspect vehicle was located using um our cameras. 5:03 p.m. police made a felony stop and arrest. 6:00 p.m. baby was reunited uh with uh her mother. So, just an example of how the technology can be used to really supplement um a search for a missing person. And we have these cases. I believe we're now over a thousand missing people found with the help of our cameras across the country. a very important component um of what our technology does. As I noted, we're a trusted partner. Our you know, these are some of our official partners, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children as well. This is that example of uh the NAACP uh in Oakland who has come out strongly in support of flock and LPR technology. This needs to be updated. We found out today that this case in Virginia ruled in favor of LPR, but it was the one outlying case um that was highlighted, but this again got decided today. And then we also won't bore you with this, but this is the additional case law um that supports the the uh constitutionality of license plate reader technology. With that, again, just wanted to thank everyone here today, but we're proud of uh the work that our technology has done across the country. Again, we're trusted by over um 6,000 communities from um let's see, let me stop my sharing there. 6,000 communities across the country, every state, big cities to small towns, of all political persuasions because of the tangible impact uh the technology has had uh on fighting crime and finding missing people. Uh and we're proud of

the proactive guard rails that we put in place to ensure that we're balancing the critical balance of privacy um with public safety. So, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and to um the council. Thank you, Carrie. Anybody have questions for Mr. Hort? Sure. Uh, thank you, Mr. President. Uh, quick question. Uh, what cloud computing service do you guys use? AWS. Has AWS ever been hacked? No, sir. Not to my knowledge, has it? Yes. Okay. It's in AWS GovCloud. I'll preface that. It's still been hacked by international governments. Carrie, care to speak on that?

I was not aware of that. I I know that our servers have never been hacked. Um I know that for sure, but the entire AWS cloud I was not aware of that or components of it. Miss Blake, you um in the presentation, Carrie, you had stated was it 1,800 crimes solved a day or or 2,800 crimes solved a day? Can you help me understand what that breakdown of the type of crime that this usually uh resolves?

Sure. So that uh comes from a independent study through Texas Christian University that analyzes system. Um we so to to say also crime data is housed um within each community across the country. So, I don't have a breakdown of exactly what percentage of what crime, but generally what we see, and I know the um uh officers in front of you today can speak more specifically to Rhode Island, I'm sure, but [snorts] what we see is organized crime from a you know, ring theft um you know, so retail crime, um a lot of um apprehension of wanted criminals, so folks that have committed homicide, rape, um felonious assault, things like that. But then also um a big component is missing people. So that would be um you know senior citizens that have a silver alert that goes out. So that is a senior that has you know cognitive challenges um that their family calls them in missing or missing children. But all of the crime data is housed within each community. We don't have a kind of large um database of that. So, there's not a breakdown of kind of what type of crimes that is.

I don't have that. Um, Nope, that's okay. I just want to make sure I understood correctly. Sure. I I can put that on my flag pole to see if we have that, but I don't have that in front of me. Um, another question. What is an example of a private customer? You had that on your slide. And yeah,

who who would be a private customer who doesn't have access to the government data? So, anyone that is not a law enforcement agency would be considered a private customer. So, that's going to be HOAs, for example, that could be retail stores. Um, so I believe um in in um you know, I don't have all of them in front of me, but some of the retail stores be Lowe's uh as well as other retail stores across the country use our technology. Um and then there are small businesses um across the country that use it as well. So that definition essentially just segregates law enforcement with any other non-law enforcement entity that uses the technology.

Understood. Um I recognize in our town we're not being asked for um front-facing cameras. Uh, just a question though on them on the front-facing camera pictures. Does it have info on the persons in the vehicle?

So, the LPR cameras only capture the back of the vehicle and no, there's no information on the person in the vehicle. So, the way it would work is um the police department puts in a wanted plate for a felonious assault. Plate ABC123. ABC123 drives by one of the cameras. The system then pings the police department and says, "Hey, that plate you uploaded, ABC123 just drove by Fifth and Main Street." The officer would then respond and we encourage and train through our system to then for the officer to visually confirm the plate. So, yep, that's ABC123 in front of me, that purple Toyota. Um, and then before they initiate a stop. Um, so that's kind of how the process works. Short answer is no. They do not know who's in the vehicle.

Am I understanding correctly that all flock cameras are rear cam rear vehicle facing the LPRs? Yes. Thank you. You had mentioned the transparency portal is optional. Um I don't know if we can speak to this in this room, but were we planning on having that in place here in in Portsouth? You know, I'm I'm not sure. Um, it would be a state police camera, not a portion of the camera. So, that would be a cap the question for the captain whether you're What What about the transparency? Are you asking? Would there be a transparency portal?

So, they're saying the transparent is flock they were stating that the transparency portal is optional for us to purchase. Is that something that we are considering purchasing? Do you know? We can we can follow up. The transparency portal is not an additional fee. It comes alongside our software. So we encourage customers to stand it up as they deploy our platform so there's transparency amongst the community. Okay. So it's not an additional charge. Correct.

Can I piggy back on it for a second? What information is available in the transpar transparency portal? So, it's fairly customizable, but you can share who you're sharing or an agency can share who they're sharing with. They can also share uh metrics of success with the platform as far as the the audit log that comes with our platform. Um, but the Rhode Island State Police can decide uh what type of information they'd like to share. Am I also correct to just piggyback that the transparency also helped understand who was searching for what data. Is that accurate or an inaccurate statement?

So, so council, if I may jump in there, really important question that would be in the audit log. So, all activity on the platform is preserved in an audit log uh into perpetuity. The transparency um portal is a live site that anyone can access that shows um again how many cameras who sharing relationships are with potentially you know it it shows what the policies and procedures are as well things like that. Am I correct in assuming we will have access to the audit log? Not not we the the captain.

We we will be uh we will be running the audit log in the state police. Okay. Um two final questions. you had stated um that there's no federal access to to this system. Can you expand on that statement?

Absolutely. So the the way the system works is each agency determines who they share with. So some um you know some folks may share with no one, some share with towns around them, the state states around them. It's it's it's um you can you know change it based on the user. Um and you know there are great examples of why a national sharing or regional sharing makes sense you know because you know for example folks that commit a crime here many times drive somewhere else or a missing person may travel across state lines. So there's general benefit to it. the um by default there are no sharing relationships in place when a customer starts with flock. They can you know change those sharing relationships. However, the federal government is separated out in a couple ways. Number one, it is highlighted in the system anytime uh there's activity within a federal government agency, whether they are asking for information or whether they are in a log or things like that. The agency would have to opt in proactively and this depends on some state laws. I'll qualify it with that into a sharing relationship with a uh with the federal government. Um, with that said too, just to highlight, um, unlike some of our competitors, um, we do not have a contractual relationship at all with Homeland Security or ICE. Uh, our company does not. Um, so again, by default, there is no sharing relationship with the federal government. An agency would have to proactively go in and opt in to a federal department. um if they wanted to do that.

Understood. Thank you. Um greatly appreciate you guys being here providing some more information. Uh final question, how I I understand that you are a private business. How is your private business funded? Is it only through towns and cities and and states signing up for your services or are there other funding avenues for you? Yeah, great really great question. So our revenue comes in yes from subscriptions. So it is cities, towns, states etc. um that utilize our camera system and they pay a subscription fee to do so. Are there any other avenues?

Uh we again we don't sell data. Um you know we we've had investors over the years um but that's more on the capital you know side of things. But our revenue that comes in is through subscriptions. Thank you, gentlemen. That was my last question. Thank you for taking the time and helping uh provide some information. Of course. Thank you. Any other counselors with questions? And I know there are questions and or statements that are coming from the audience if you would indulge. Mr. Dade. No.

Yeah. Yeah. Not not directly to you, but stay stay close if there is one that you need to answer or carry.

Thank you, Mr. President, members of the council. John McDade, 65 Gormley Avenue. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. In 2022, I joined many residents who asked a prior council to reconsider a similar proposal that came from the Bristol Police Department. After hearing our concerns, that council voted seven to nothing to reject it. Their decision reflected a commitment to protecting the privacy of Portsouth citizens, and I am here tonight to ask this council to uphold that same commitment. Now, I know that many people on this council see me as a Democrat, but I am not here tonight in that role. I am a private citizen tonight. This is not a partisan issue. A healthy skepticism of government surveillance is a traditional conservative value. As you have just heard, these cameras do not just read license plates. They capture a vehicle fingerprint, including color, make, model, bumper stickers. That data is stored in a massive searchable database shared across a national network of thousands of law enforcement agencies and accessible without a warrant. Rhode Island has no meaningful laws governing how this data is retained, who can access it, and how it can be used. And that cannot be addressed with a memorandum of understanding that makes uninforcable promises. Promising not to share with ICE makes no difference if the FBI requests the data and then they share it. There is no mechanism in thisou that actually prevents disclosure, only a revocation clause if someone finds out. As a 20-year veteran of it, I believe no claims about owning data that lives on someone else's servers.

Policy cannot override system architecture. These risks are not hypothetical. ICE has used Flock Network to track and intimidate residents. Police in Texas have used it to locate a woman suspected of having an abortion. Multiple municipalities have discovered their data was being shared with federal agencies without their knowledge or consent. The state police may want these cameras, but Portsouth residents will be the ones surveiled. That's not public safety. It's mass surveillance outsourced to a private company with no accountability to this council or our citizens. At this moment in our history, elected officials at every level should have a laser focus on protecting your constituents. I respectfully urge you to reject this proposal and reaffirm Portsouth's commitment to privacy and limited government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McDade. Any questions? Thank you, sir. Mr. Fitz Morris. Thank you, Mr. President. Larry Fitz Morris, 50 Christen Court. I rise to agree with Mr. McDade and oppose this uh installation. I believe it to be on Route 24.

Yes. um for a number of years actually, but but recently I've counted the number of surveillance cameras between when I get on Route 24 near the uh DOT facility and when I get on to um 195. It is 7 as far as I can tell. There's a lot of surveillance cameras along that road anyway. And it appears that the state police look like they're trying to set up full coverage over the full at least major highways in the state because I see these devices in similar mechanisms um in a lot of places throughout the state. So, [clears throat] but we have never had a public discussion in this state about whether or not the citizens are willing to survive uh sacrifice some of their um privacy to the state in order to increase the ability of the police to find criminals. So, there is a balance there. If we go the China route, then if we cross the street against the light, it's reported to the state apparatus by uh surveillance cameras. I don't know if you know that or not, but it's a fact. And the state then decides whether or not you've been a good citizen and withholds state services if they consider you to be a criminal or at least a malcontinent. So this is a system that already exists in our world and I don't think we need to take any further steps in that direction. So I'd urge the council to vote against this unless somebody can come forward with a strong argument that we're trying to fight a

particular criminal problem on Route 24 which I don't see. So thank you. Thank you Mr. Smores. Chief Peters,

Mr. President, members of the council, uh I believe as uh the chief of police, it's my responsibility to advocate for uh ways to uh keep our community safe and I believe this technology is that uh that can keep our community safe. Um I believe that the time to prepare for uh a tragic incident is is is beforehand and not after a incident occurs. So, um, one thing that was not brought up tonight is the success that happened with the Brown University, uh, shooting. So, I don't know if people familiar with that and how, uh, important and intrical the, uh, flock camera system was in, uh, locating that individual. And I believe that's worthy of noting, uh, how beneficial that system was. Um, if I can just talk briefly though, I know I've spoken about it uh, back a couple years ago, uh, that the police department's in favor of this. I was here a couple weeks ago uh talking about a favor of it. If I just point out four points if I could uh improving public safety. So cameras uh um help officers quickly identify vehicles associated with crimes allowing investigations to move forward more efficiently. Uh this can lead to faster arrests, quicker recovery of stolen property and reduced impact on the victims. Second is protecting vulnerable residents. So, these cameras are an important tool in locating missing children, seniors, and at risk individuals. In time-sensitive situations such as Amber or Silver Alert or the newly um instituted Purple Alert, uh access to vehicle information can make a critical difference in bringing someone home safely. Uh the third is deterrence and crime prevention. Communities that deploy license plate reader technology often see it as a deterrent effect. Criminals tend to avoid areas where they know their vehicles may be identified, which help prevent crime before it occurs rather than only responding after the fact. And we can look at this in our situations where we've noticed in Portsouth that breaking and enterings into homes have gone down. And we attribute this to

people having ring cameras, people who have cameras on their house, uh that provide a deterrent effect to people who want to uh do that crime. And lastly, uh force multiplier. uh flot cameras provide 247 coverage uh key entry and exit points without the need for dedicated officers to monitor allowing the department to focus uh on other issues uh in the community. So this allows the uh police department to not if we have an issue where we're trying to look for a bolo or we're looking for someone, we don't have to have an officer dedicated up there on 24. we have something that's there 24/7 that if there's an issue, if there's someone that uh is one on one on these uh hot files or on these hot lists that we can locate that without having an officer or station there. So, the police department fully supports this. I know it's in a position up on Route 24. Uh but I believe in this technology. I believe this technology can help our community. I believe this technology can help keep people safe. I believe that we can respond better uh to incidents of uh crime uh incidents where people are in need and uh the police department fully supports this program.

Thank you, Chief. Thank you. Can I just one thing? Absolutely. Thank you.

So, like I said last time, uh 2013, Providence Journal, missing Portsmith girl, 13 found alive, arrest mazing case. Lucky. Good investigative skills. Had we had flock cameras in place at the time, never would have made it out of Rhode Island. 2018 high school. Guy goes in with a knife. Yeah, he lived by there. Okay. Lucky. He was in a car. We had a flock camera. We can identify it. No doubt. Brown University shooting. Worked it personally. I can tell you completely. without flock cameras. We do not have him identified probably to this day unless someone finds him dead in that storage unit. I can tell you that. I know there's reservations, those reservations, everything. I'm sure your computer systems have been hacked, the town count, the town, I'm sure the schools, whatever it happens. Nothing's perfect. Okay, so I know I I pretty much have some inside knowledge that your votes, your minds are probably already made up. this was going to come off the agenda. Uh I implore you to truly consider your vote before you cast it. All right. Um you know, I'm a citizen of this town. I'm a resident. So, if you haven't done anything wrong, what do you got to hide? Why are you worried about cameras? I I I there's there's cameras everywhere. A camera that's reading your license plate or the back of your car, given to make or model, big deal. your cars. I can I can go anywhere and find you, get your face, get the front of your car, get anything I want. I'm telling you this these these are irreplaceable tools and you're doing the chief no justice. If you deny this camera, if you deny the

camera, that's fine. the town of Warren who denied it that night that I went to the town hall. Guess who called me right after the Brown University shooting and asked my camera was still available. It's not. Another town will gladly take your free camera and just be open-minded when you cast your vote. That's all I'm going to ask. Okay. Thank you, Captain. Miss Mike, can I ask a clarifying question from your statement? Sure. Um, you stated that the camera would be free. Can you Yes, we're paying for it. State police are paying for it. Free to the You're not paying for it. Gotcha. Thank you. You're welcome.

Uh, final statement. Sure.

Um, I greatly appreciate Chief Peters your your effort and input on this topic as well as Captain Alurn for coming back here and helping answer the questions. Uh, I also appreciate our police department here in town willing what in the line of duty. Um, thank you to the representatives coming out and meeting to help answer our questions. Uh, it really did provide some insight and clarity for me. I have heard significant input from our citizens who I was elected to represent who have overwhelmingly spoke out against this. I understand the concerns and the positives um from this system and am just concerned with the lack of laws governing this um and where the data goes. But I appreciate I appreciate your efforts. I appreciate you coming back and providing the information that we've requested. So the biggest thing that I've heard from I don't know 20 30 emails that we've gotten in the past two weeks is the concern of the privacy of the data and the control of that privacy of the data and the fact that we don't have any state laws and that we don't have anything that monitors that other than the audit. I also still have the concern about the backbone of the system with flock. Um, if these things were addressed through state law changes to make them specific as to how the information is shared, it would be more palatable for myself. I get your argument that we're on tape. We're on tape everywhere. Everybody who walked in the store tonight and was on two cameras, at least probably three. Um, but this is more of a camera that is constantly being being utilized and looked at as opposed to just passively walking by. People are

paying attention to them. The information can be accessed by well the state police and then multiple agencies we're within. So if it just is there's concerns about the security in the backbone of the system for me. I agree with you about cameras. They're everywhere. can't go for a walk around your neighborhood without being on probably 10 or 15 of them. But the flock still is a little bit I don't know if it's too new, which obviously it's not. It's been around for a while, but it's it's a concern for a a lot of residents in town. Any other counselors? Mel. Yeah, I I would just have to agree with um what's been said already. I don't think I've received as many emails on a subject as I have on this one and um 99% of them have been in opposition to it um with one person in favor of it and and I in responding to these emails um I have looked into it and I I just do not feel comfortable voting for this program unless sufficient laws and um safeguards Guards are put in place to protect the privacy of people. Anyone else? Any action from the council?

Mr. Le, I'd like a motion to not approve the flock cameras in the town of Portsouth. Second. Any further discussion? Nobody online. Kathy. All those in favor of denying the request, which is essentially what the motion is. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion passes. Seven. Thank you. Thank you, Captain. Old business number two, discussion to garner support for enactment of moratorum to examine the effects of 30 bills enacted by general assembly over the last seven years as described by town planner leader hitch on 128 town council meeting. Mr. Gleason.

Thank you, Mr. President. That's a that's a mouthful, isn't it? Yes, it is.

Okay. So, get back on the screen here. Um so as a result of that uh motion uh our solicitor has uh put together a resolution here together with a joint municipal statement. Um I think he's done a fine job with it. I support what he has done here. Um I guess at this point I'm looking for any corrections that people see they want to make. I don't see anything wrong with any of the uh the te's or the eyes dotted. Um and I would ask for support of this resolution uh with joint municipal statement. Other towns uh as you can see by the next two items are also uh feel like they've been put into this uh one-sizefits-all u predicament from these land use changes. Um, Tiveran is one that's not here, but they they were supposed to have their meeting the same last night. They canceled and they also have a similar uh situation over there. There's specifically asked for a and I've seen these on other resolutions where we didn't go on ours to um call it a housing unit when the application is put in. So if your goal is to get 600 more, it kind of gives you that cut off of meeting the 10% uh not a mandate 10% suggestion I guess of what the state has asked for so that they can get a handle on it and say all right we've completed our task um and uh we've met the goal rather than just flood the town with other units. Um but in this case just looking for support on the resolution. Um solicitor

Gio, do you have any comments you'd like to make about this? Um I you know I think it it I I tried to keep it simple and and consistent with the um you know the direction of the council from the last meeting. Um there there are there were a lot of uh bills I 30 plus uh you know I guess depending on how you read them um that that could have fallen under this category of of um you know LMI housing uh modifications in 2025 and around that time. Uh the ones I focused on in the bolded list were the ones that actually are are relevant to a town and the town's authority and the town's uh you know rights for self-governance. So there there are others out there that aren't included here. Um but these are the ones I thought uh were were uh relevant to the to the mission of the the resolution. Um this is essentially direction, you know, to uh explore the legal avenues that the town has and and hopefully in cooperation with other towns. Um, you know, we we we don't represent that any of these are sure things or even even, you know, adequate for um a complaint or a request for an injunction, but we think these are all areas worth exploring and and putting together a legal case for then your future consideration as to whether you want to proceed and and try to secure those rights and secure those uh next steps.

Thank you. Uh the only other thing I would ask the the counselors of of the councilors is to if if this approved as is that the municipal statement the joint municipal statement that we've asked for other towns to consider that that be returned to uh our solicitor's attention with a copy to the town clerk of potential towns that feel the same way and would want to support us um in any kind of potential action or solutions, if you will.

Well, first thing would be to make a motion to adopt the resolution and then we can adopt the joint min municipal statement if you'd like to do that afterwards. Um, I will just make one comment on my main concern about all of this is the state essentially requesting us to drink from a fire hose and putting the pressure on staffs and our all staffs and also our planning board zoning boards to interpret these things on the fly. And my main request is that they just give us some time, which is I think it's section F or bullet point F to stop forcing the implementation and allow us to really figure out how it fits into our own comprehensive community plan. And then again, this is a statement from the council, not necessarily from the staff who do have to work with these folks every day.

Mr. D. So, um, with what you just said, does that are you suggesting that we put some other language in there? No, it's in there. Yeah, it's in there. Right. But, I mean, any other clarity or anything?

It the reading of it is a little bit more heavy-handed than I would have gone with, but, you know, the request is to, hey, let us slow down and see what you've done to us before you make us implement all these changes. or add any new ones this year. That matter. So, so Mr. President, I would make a motion to approve the resolution of the Portsouth Town Council in support of municipalities collaborating and reviewing, analyzing, and responding to the 2025 affordable housing laws. Second. Any further discussion? All those in favor? I oppose. Motion passes seven to zero.

All right. And then you want to make it so on the joint municipal statement. I would make a motion to approve the U resolution, excuse me, the joint municipal statement that goes with the resolution. Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion passes seven to zero. Thank you very much. Um I had pulled these. Yes.

Yeah, I had pulled these out for discussion. Yep. Okay. I just want to support West Greenwich regarding the LMI and Cumberland regarding the ADUs. And I um I think [clears throat] the solicitor will can generate a general supporting document to use as we need to support other towns requesting the state to amend the legislation on this intrusive zoning changes. So I want to send something like out to them, but write a general letter that we can go to support all the other towns just to initiate more of support. Generally what we do is if you want to pull it off and do a similar resolution we can just Does it need to be a resolution? We could we could just change the West Greenwiches to Portsmouth and bring it back. I

I think uh I could be wrong and and and um please let me know if I am councelor Ree. Uh I I think what you were asking is that we simply send a letter saying we support your resolution here in Portsouth. That's what I would like to Yeah. So I don't think he I don't think he was suggesting adopting a similar resolution but but simply letting other towns know that there are other towns in support of their get the word out for correspondence or that's fine. That would be a letter of the council. I mean in general when these resolutions come across if you pull one off to see they have more bang for the buck rather than just saying hey we agree with you to West Greenwich

is create your own similar resolution and sending it to the state house to your to your legislators to say that hey we agree with this other town. So now you've got two towns and maybe a third town or a fourth town sees it and they and rep for 35 sees rep for 22 and says, "Hey, did you get this resolution from your town that I got from my town?" And maybe they actually start talking to each other and do something. That's the only reason for

Yeah, absolutely. I I I think I think the reason I was suggesting just a simple, you know, we we join you in support was that we have such an extensive resolution on that topic that we're already producing and sending, you know, based on the vote you just the votes you just took um that you were we're already sending out. It would I I didn't want to over [clears throat] um I I didn't think the the thought was to over um load people with this and and rather just have something simple that goes out and and says that West Greenwich is going to get a copy of our resolution. That's right. So, so do you want to just drop that and they're gonna get it anyway? They're going to get our resolution. We're going to send it out to I just want to know the other we supported them and their ef also. The only thing I can't do or we can't do is what we do is put it on correspondence.

All right. Other councils may or may not do that. No, I think yeah, I think the the the I I thought the suggestion was that it would be a direction to send out um you know, correspondents affirming our support, the town support for their That's what I was trying to do. I don't understand. Yeah, I I would concur with the president that it looks stronger as a resolution, as a reply, you know. Um Okay. If that's what you would like to do, I think you'd be better. Maybe I was just Maybe I was just shining it up a little too much. Yeah. No, but if you if you want to draft the res or just change their resolution and like I said puts within where West Greenwich is, the clerk can do that and then I can sign it this week if that's your if that's your

all right for for both. All right. If that is what you're looking to do. So that solicit would generate a res um a portion mirror the res resolutions for um Pland and East Greenwich. West Greenwich. Yes. Okay. That would be the motion then. I would actually suggest you take that as two motions since they're two separate agenda items. Yeah. Okay. So, agenda item number one would be a motion to generate a resolution to uh support uh Wes Greenwich. I'll second your motion. And the other one, the next one would be Hang on one motion at a time on the table.

That's right. We can't do too much. Okay. All those in favor? I oppose. Motion passes six to one. All right. And with Mr. Pharaoh in the negative and and then just generate a um resolution to support um Cumberland and their um in their resolution. I'll second that. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion passes six to one with Mr. Pharaoh and a negative.

All right, madam clerk, just let me know when you have them done and I'll sign them. Thank you. Next up, new business. Oh, excuse me, old business number three. Request approval of legislation priority resolutions. This is uh Mr. Gleason's item, and we have two that have been worked up by our solicitor based off of our list of um priorities. Do we want to make a motion to approve the resolution relating to tax classification?

Mr. Mr. President, u a motion for the approve the resolution of the Portsouth town council relating to tax classification. Second. And I have a question on appropriate time. Yes. Uh has this been reviewed by our uh tax office to make sure that it's sufficient for what they need? We we haven't it was I believe it was drafted by them and I and I reviewed it. Perfect. All right. Any other questions? All those in favor? I I opposed. Motion passes seven to zero. And next up, we have a resolution in support of legislation to modernize and standardize the access to public records act. Motion to approve as you've said. Second.

Any questions on that one? All those in favor?

I just have a question regarding this one. In in the other resolutions, we have um talked about sending the resolution to the town uh legislative delegation to support to develop or submit legislation on that particular resolution. This one we don't is there I know it's sent to the governor and to the speaker but we don't say send to our um delegation like we do the others is was there a reason for that? No, just the way we're it was piped up, but we can add it. We can I think we should because

usually we usually send it to everybody. We have a a blast that we send it to everybody and their brother up at the state house and general assembly. But here in the resolutions, we're asking our legislative delegation to do something about it, to submit legislation. So, I think that that that would be great if we could add that to that as well. Okay. So, the motion is there a second. Can somebody second Miss McDow's motion to add the legislator? Oh, second. Okay. So, now we'll be voting on Miss McDow's amendment. All those in favor? I oppose. Motion passes seven to zero.

And Mr. President, just because my motion I I wasn't prepared here was a little messy. The motion is to pass a resolution of the Portzman Town Council in support of legislation to modernize and standardize the access to public records act and there is a second. Um so add the motion Mr. Gleason's motion as amended by Miss McDall's motion. All those in favor I oppose. Motion passes 70. And again once it's prepared and changed I will come in and sign it. Next up, old business number four, monthly finance report. Miss Marston, how are you? Good. Good.

Good evening, Mr. President and honorable council. As of December 1st, uh 31st, the town was 6 months or a halfway through fiscal year 26. Year-to- date general fund revenues were at 53.64% of the budget, primarily driven by real estate transfer fees, tax receipts, state aid, and interest income. General fund expenditures stand at 48.97% of the budget. that was driven by quarterly pension contributions. Financial trends are remaining stable heading into the second half of the fiscal year. And as a reminder, the audit overview will be presented at the February 9th town council meeting. That's all. Thank you. Any questions for Miss Parson? A motion to receive and place on file. So moved. Second.

All those in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 7 to zero. Next up, we have a request to advertise a public hearing for revisions of chapter 405 zoning article 9 specific development development regulations sign B section B signs, excuse me. Excuse me, Mr. President. Do we need to uh receive the school finance report placed on file? No. No. Okay.

All right. So, um I am of the belief that this should be a special meeting uh because it might be some heavy lifting to go through the entire ordinance as opposed to doing it in a regular council meeting. Um, I would like to try and do it on a Monday night similar to our regular meetings, which would mean that we would have at some point three meetings in a row or um because February has um February has winter break for schools. I would try to avoid that and maybe look into March and we would have to advertise this for three weeks anyways. Yes. So,

and March does have five Mondays. So, we can do it on March 2nd or March 16th or March 30th. Uh, the 9th and the 23rd are already scheduled council meetings. The council have a pleasure as to when to advertise for this meeting. Does that give you enough time, Madam Clerk? March 2nd. Yes. If anyone has an has no objection, uh, would March 16th be better? I probably will be away this the second.

Okay, it's fine by me. 16th. Okay. So, can I have a motion to advertise for a public hearing for section 405 um to be held here in the council chambers at 7:00 on March 16th? So moved. Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 7 to zero. Next up, we have due business request approval to amend resolution 25127 exemption from taxation. This is our yearly update of um reclassifications that we are required to do. Do I have a motion to approve? So moved. Second. All those in favor?

I opposed. Motion passes 7 to zero. And then we have a request for approval authorizing resolution to the adoption of the 2025 Aquinic Island Regional Hazard Mitigation Flood Management Plan. Um, Miss Hitchen or would the council just like to say yay and go home? So, uh, we did um approve this once. Now, it's been reviewed by FEMA and they've sent us

you and the board uh the uh town council had looked at this as a draft plan um almost a year ago back in March of last year. Since then, the planners, Ray Perry, including him, um have modified the plan based on Rhode Island EMA comments. We had um submitted the plan um sorry we had submitted the plan um on late November to EMA and we um then moved it on to FEMA for approval. And on December 29th, 2025, um Reema and FEMA completed the review of of our plan and um found it conditional uh found it approvable conditioned on the three municipalities adopting the plan. So at this point um we we just need to have the town councils um adopt the plan. We'll send it back to FEMA and then we'll be good to go for another five years.

Any questions from the council? I have a motion to approve. Motion to approve the resolution of the town council of Portsouth authorizing adoption of a 2025 Aquinic Island Regional Hazard Mitigation and Flood Management Plan. Some second I mean sorry long take us. Yeah, I know. Any further questions? All those in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 7 to zero. We have correspondence 1 through five. I have a motion to receive and place on file. I'm excited to see two town councils actually read the resolution on general revenue sharing and pass one of their own which was fell on deaf ears at the state house. [gasps] So moved. Second.

All those in favor? I opposed. Motion passes 70 to zero and future meetings February 9th, February 23rd, March 9th, and then March 16th and 23rd. Uh all but the 16th will be regular council meetings. And on the 9th, we'll have our audit report from Shakadi Hagen. Shahadi and Hagen Shahadi and Mary will be here. Motion to adjurnn. All those in favor? I oppose. Motion passes seven to zero. Good night, everyone. Be safe out there, please. Uh they work to anything that melts.