Town Council - Regular Meeting

All righty, good evening, everybody, and welcome to the May 26, 2026, Washington Town Council meeting. And it's fine Tuesday evening. I hope everybody had a enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. Prior to our session tonight, we had an executive session just as an update for some potential and current litigation. We apologize for being a little over. We were hoping to get it done within the half hour, but we did not. So if you would all now please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. In a moment of silence for men and women in harm's way and also for our recently departed DPW worker, Mr. Elliot Marshall, who was laid to rest today. Thank you, everyone. In the event of an emergency, if we were asked to leave the building, you would please either exit out the door you came in, the one behind your left shoulder or behind Mr. Reese. We would all head over to the school department building and wait for further instruction from our first responders. Madam Clerk, roll call, please.

Mr. Gleason?

Here.

Ms. Blank? Here. Ms. McDowell?

Here.

Ms. Patton? Here. Mr. Pereira?

Here.

Mr. Reese? Here. Mr. Hamilton?

I am here. Thank you very much. We have no public comment this evening, so we're going to skip right down to our consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve as presented? So moved. Second. All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion passes 7-0. Next up, we will be sitting as our Board of Licensed Commissioners. We have a new peddler's license for a mobile food establishment, Road Rage LLC, doing business as Road Rage 16, Diamond Avenue in Bristol. Motion to approve. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes 7-0. Next up, we have a private detective license new for Mr. George Ponte, the DVA Ponte Investigations Group, 10 Beach Street.

Motion to approve.

Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes 7-0. And next up, we have both the entertainment and the victor's license for the Portuguese... GMA Portsmouth Portuguese American Citizens Club 35 power for their annual St. Anthony's feast. Before we discuss this, the staircase has been rebuilt. The fire inspections have been completed. The building inspections have been completed and they have passed all of those inspections that we asked for in our April 27th meeting. I think it was. Okay.

That being said, Mr. President, motion to approve.

I'll second, but I do have a question after the second. I know one of the conditions, and I thought I saw Leah. I'm not 100% sure. Yes, you did. There you are. Okay. I know one of the conditions was that it was supposed to be done by, inspected by someone outside of the town. Was it done that way? And who did it?

I can offer that. I was involved in the process just to make sure all the T's were crossed and the I's dotted. There was a third party engineering certification that was requested and was received by their engineer separately, which was then reviewed as part of the building inspection process. Perfect. Thank you so much.

Any other questions? Mr. President, motion to adjourn as the Board of License Commissioners. We haven't voted yet, sir. Sorry. You're jumping the gun on me.

I did. Okay. My bad. Any further questions on the entertainment license or the victuals license? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes 7-0.

Motion to adjourn as the Board of License Commissioners.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye. Opposed? Motion passes 7-0. We have minutes from our 5-11-2026 meeting and the executive that was prior. Any corrections or additions?

No.

Motion to approve both minutes.

Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes 7-0. Mr. Raynor, your administrative report, sir.

Thank you, Mr. President, Town Council, ladies and gentlemen. I want to provide a quick update regarding restroom facilities at the Portsmouth Community Playground. As many know, the playground was renovated through the tremendous efforts of the Four Hearts Foundation and community fundraising support. Historically, the town has not provided restroom facilities at our playgrounds. However, portable facilities had previously been made available at this location through Four Hearts. We heard from an astute young citizen at the last meeting that there is a desire to continue having restroom access available at that playground this season. So Four Hearts and our Public Works Department have been working on a solution, and through an agreement with a local vendor, porta-potties will be placed at the playground this year. Just a friendly reminder that curbside collection is delayed by one day this week due to the Memorial Day holiday yesterday. That means that curbside collection normally scheduled for Friday will be conducted on Saturday this week. Staying on the theme of waste collection, we expect to start selling transfer station and curbside stickers. Our target date is June 9th. On that date, existing customers, if that is the date that we do in fact start selling them, Existing customers may renew online via credit card payments. New sign-ups and residents wishing to change programs will still need to sign up at Town Hall. I'd also like to remind everyone that the town is currently accepting nominations for the 2026 Portsmouth Award. Nominations must be received at Town Hall by Close of Business on Friday, June 26. More information and nomination guidelines are available in the news and announcements section of the town website. We have seen a significant increase in e-bike use across Aquidneck Island, particularly among young riders. And the town has received reports, complaints and concerns from residents regarding safety and use of e-bikes throughout town. Rhode Island law requires riders to be at least 16 years old to operate an e-bike. Helmets are required for riders between the ages of 16 and 21, and e-bikes are not permitted to be operated on sidewalks. So I encourage residents and parents to take a few moments to review the guidelines available online via our police department Facebook page or at the Bike Newport website. A public hearing on the provisionally approved fiscal year 27 budget will be held starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10th here in the council chamber. With regard to recycling events, our next recycling event will be a hard plastics collection event. It will be held June 13th at the Headley Street Transfer Station. That event is for Portsmouth residents only and will take place between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. or until the container is full.

Is that open to... Any resident or just... Any resident. For a transfer, okay. Yes. Just to be clear.

And Rich, can you define what hard plastic means for the residents?

Yeah, these are like those playground equipments that you buy for kids, those big, giant, bulky, really tough plastic... Plastic Adirondack chairs.

Yeah. The little cars that are really hard but have these... Those little plastic cars.

More for public clarification. From my generation, big wheels. Big wheels. Last Friday was Colby Kresge's friend day with the town. He was our waste diversion manager. Colby has accepted another opportunity and will be moving on to a new chapter in his career. Colby has been an outstanding employee and played an important role in the implementation of our curbside collection program, as well as supporting the town's broader waste management efforts. I want to thank him for his dedication and contributions to Portsmouth and wish him the very best as he moves forward. I am pleased to report that we have already extended an offer to a candidate for the position, and I'm hopeful we will have somebody on board in June. In the meantime, I appreciate our Deputy Public Works Director, Gavin Lopes, for stepping in to ensure the continuity of operations and oversight of our waste management programs until that transition is complete. I just want to provide a brief update regarding the installation of Verizon's underground fiber network in town. Verizon has begun the process of expanding underground fiber infrastructure throughout Portsmouth. And we have received questions from residents regarding utility marker flags that have recently appeared along roadside and within the town's rights of way. These flags are a normal part of the utility location and planning process and are used to identify existing underground utilities and infrastructure before installation activity begins. So residents may see temporary markings and flags in various locations as the work progresses. Additional information regarding this project, including updates and notices can be found in the town website under news and announcements. At a previous meeting, some members of the council expressed interest in the ongoing renovation work taking place at the Arthur Daniel Howe House, formerly known as the Phelps House or the Red Cross House. A walkthrough would provide an opportunity for you to see progress being made and receive an overview on the project, including completed repairs and upgrades, and then remaining items needed for occupancy, the project timeline, and the overall business plan. For any counselors interested, we would like to arrange an optional walkthrough of the property for you. If you're interested, please contact our Director of Business Development, Rich Talipsky, and we'll coordinate the scheduling and logistics. And then lastly, before I conclude my report, I would like to recognize the passing of one of our Public Works employees, Elliot Marshall, who passed away last week. Elliot served as a mechanic in our Department of Public Works and was somebody who brought years of experience, knowledge, and dedication to his work. The loss of a member of our town family is always difficult, particularly for those who worked alongside him every day. On behalf of the town, I want to express our condolences to Elliot's family, friends, and his coworkers within the Department of Public Works during this difficult time. We appreciate Elliot's service to the town of Portsmouth, and we will keep his loved ones in our thoughts. That concludes my report, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. Rainer. Any questions, Mr. Rainer?

No?

Mr. Gleeson.

Mr. Raynor, would you consider, if there are councils interested in viewing the Arthur Daniel Howell House, to also look at the Glen Farm Barnes while we're in the vicinity? I'm sure we can set that up, too. Okay. Thank you. And also, I just want to say, I was a good friend of Mr. Marshall, Elliot Marshall, and I appreciate the efforts that you made in allowing the DPW department to attend his... funeral and arrangements. So thank you very much for that. I'll pass it on. Thank you.

Mr. President, can I make a note on the report as well? Only because Mr. Tulipsky asked, and I promised I would reinforce this. If you have a walkthrough, I think we talked about this when we first came on board. These are not official meetings. They're not recorded. There's no minutes. But in order to make sure we don't violate any rules, we have to make sure that if there are four or more of you at that walkthrough or either walkthrough that we don't talk about any policy or discussions. You can certainly ask questions of the people giving the tour, but try to limit any substantive comments amongst yourselves. Thank you, sir.

Just whisper down.

In regard to the Four Hearts playground, is the vendor donating these porta-potties? Is that what they're doing?

I believe Four Hearts is paying half. We're paying some at a reduced cost, which will include ADA. We're able to fund that through our facilities, grounds, and maintenance.

Thank you.

Follow-up on that. When is the expected date of when those would show up?

I think they're already there. June 1st.

Thank you.

Any further questions? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Next up, we have old business. First action on old business is the session in action for bylaw change. The pension advisory committee can include a secondary objective of the committee to matters relating to general investment of the operating reserve funds of the town. Ms. McDowell.

Sure. Thank you. I am the liaison for the pension committee and have attended every meeting of that committee in this role. I have been impressed with the committee's work in carrying out the objectives of oversight of our investments, reviewing the pension actuary reports, overseeing pension issues as they arise and so on. They are an extremely knowledgeable group when it comes to investment practices, investment vehicles, and investment markets. As a town council member, I feel confident that as an advisory committee, their expertise in financial matters extends beyond anything that many of us are capable of. I am sure that that was the reason for such a committee when it was formed. to give counsel in matters of financial investments, specifically the pension plan. What I had seen as a reasonable and simple request to request input from an advisory committee that was formed to oversee our pension plan investments has turned out to be quite a debatable issue. I have a high regard for this committee and feel that their input in our general fund investments would be of great value. They do not set policy. They do not change investment vehicles. They do not do anything but offer us advice. in an area that they have expertise in. They are just like any other advisory committee in town, nothing more and nothing less. We should not be afraid of their input or suggestions. We should be grateful for them. A bylaw change to this committee is necessary in order to proceed. Hence, my introduction of the proposed bylaw change. Our town solicitor has crafted a bylaw change that he feels encompasses the concerns that were brought out at our last meeting. The first change made falls under article two, the objectives. And I'll read that. The secondary objective of the committee is to advise the town council and the town administrator on matters relating to the general investment of the operating and reserve funds of the town. These secondary duties shall be undertaken by a permanent subcommittee of the committee as further established herein. These secondary duties shall include, but not limited to, an annual review of the formal investment policy of the town. review of investments and returns on funds held by the town for operating or reserve purposes, and a written report to the town council as to recommended changes, if any, to the policies and practices relating to the investment of such funds. The second change made creates a new article, which was added regarding the permanent subcommittee on investments. And that goes as follows. It's section one composition. The permanent subcommittee on investments shall be comprised of regular members holding the position of two council members and the finance director who are non-voting members. The three finance professionals and the one town citizen at large. section two administration the subcommittee shall elect offices in the same manner as the full committee and shall conduct its business following procedures as applicable to the full committee and consistent herewith Section 3, Annual Reporting. The subcommittee shall meet no less than annually, and the report of the subcommittee shall be transmitted to the Town Council no later than April 1 of each calendar year. Such report shall be consistent with the stated objectives and duties as defined herein. I want to be very clear on something. This request does not in any way, shape or form imply that our finance director cannot do this. We have a return this year that will most likely be in the vicinity of $400,000. That is not insignificant. It states in our investment policy of 2012 that the primary objective of the town of Portsmouth is the preservation of capital and minimizing any risks which could jeopardize the safety of the principal invested. Kayla is doing just that. The question becomes from my point of view, are there other vehicles which can meet our investment policy criteria yet yield higher results? I don't know that. What is the harm in trying to find out? The investment policy that we have also reads that an annual review of our investments must take place. This is our first annual review, I believe, in some time, and this is the time to look at what's out there with the help of our pension committee. Knowledge is power and we should not be afraid of gaining as much knowledge as we can. So at this time, I would like to make a motion to accept the pension committee bylaw changes as outlined.

Mr. President, point of order. Mr. Mayor. I have a couple of questions. One, was this passed through the current pension committee?

Can I just ask just procedurally, I think there should be a second before you get up. It's a point of order. There's no second needed. No, no, not for your point of order, but the motion was made, but not seconded yet. Second for discussion.

Thank you. Not a discussion item because it's a point of order. And so currently based on the bylaws that you have on the original section sit, excuse me, Article 5, not this new Article 5, given you guys will clean it up later, will be the new Article 6. Your Section 3 states that parliamentary procedures need to follow Robert's Rules of Order. We've had on this council sometimes where we cry about process, but we're not following the process. Robert's Rules, Section 57, clearly states that there is a procedure to be done when amending bylaws, and we're throwing that out. I'm not gonna get into the minutiae of why I think this may actually even fall into the job description of the finance director. And then that would be a violation of section 305 of the town charter. But I think right now, this is an inappropriate motion because of the fact that the current bylaws of this committee state how the parliamentary procedure is to be handled and was not done as such.

I'm having to chime in on that. The charter, I believe, is what would control this, which allows you to make subcommittees appoint subcommittees appoint this subcommittee. So the Roberts Rules point is if a body is amending its own bylaws, so if they were going to recommend some changes and then send it up, that would be one thing. But this is a top-down process because it is only advisory committee and the bylaws are created by this council. I don't believe that...

is a rules issue at this point. It would be a rules issue because the rules set forth by this council already state that there's a procedure to be followed.

You're talking about the bylaws that we're reviewing?

The bylaws of this pension committee.

That's right. And if they were reviewing their bylaws, but that committee is only advisory. It has no ability to limit or interfere with or delay or have anything to do with the adoption or amendment of the bylaws that this council adopted.

But Mr. Solicitor, with all due respect, the council approved a set of bylaws and is now going ahead and changing its own approved bylaws in terms of this advisory committee to just circumvent that in order to just do this.

Yeah, I respectfully disagree. I don't believe that there's any limitation. If the committee, if the pension advisory committee wanted to suggest amendments to its bylaws, you would be correct. In this case, it's the reverse and I don't believe there's any limitation.

Then if we're going to do this and when there's no harm and no foul, why can't we just send this back to the committee to have them review this and take a vote on it? We've done this before with others. We're going to be asking another committee to do it for other reasons.

You would have to make that a motion, but we already have a motion.

That's why I can't.

I would like to discuss the motion. I think the subcommittee is too large. It's pretty much the entire pension committee, other than the two pensioners.

It also has four members.

It also has four members, which is usually... Not a good recipe. I would think we just leave it as the three finance professionals and remove the town citizen at large.

I'll motion or second whichever. If that's your motion, then I'll second it.

I can't make a motion.

Fine, then I will motion it.

As an amendment to the main motion. Thank you. Second. So we're going to vote on the amendment first, Mr. President.

If there's no other comments or questions. Can I just ask that included in any amendment be the correction of the numeration in the draft, which I realize that I missed. Article numbers going forward. I know it's administrative.

Article 5, Section 1, composition. It should just be the striking of the and one town citizen at large, which would make the committee, the voting committee, three, as opposed to four. it would still have the two counselors and the finance directors as ex-officio, I guess, technically. So first vote is on the amendment to remove the town citizen at large. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes seven to zero. Thank you. I didn't hear you that loud. Next would be on the bylaw changes in total. for the pension, which would now be called, I was going to pick on you, but I decided against it, but the initial changes are on the top where it's the pensions. It will now be called the Portsmouth Pension and Investment Advisory Committee. And as amended as of today, those are the other amendments I should say. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed?

No.

Motion passes five to two with Mr. Payero and Ms. Blank in the negative. All right. Next up, we have our finance report. Ms. Marston. We are getting down to the nitty-gritty. Six weeks, no, not even six weeks, five weeks to go.

Good evening, Mr. President and Honorable Counsel. As of the end of April, the town was 10 months or 83% through fiscal year 2026. Year-to-date general fund revenues were at 82.13% of the budget, primarily driven by state aid, mooring fees, Glen Manor 2025 commission, and Melville campground revenue. Here to date, general fund expenditures are at 82.17% of the budget. Significant cost drivers there include bond payments and civic support payments. Performance remains consistent with the prior year's actuals for this time. Revenues and expenditures are now monitored on a weekly basis, and discretionary spending still remains frozen. Thank you.

I just asked you one quick question on the state revenue. There's one big one missing, and that's the excise tax. Is it excise tax? Is it zeroed out? Sorry, I lost it. There's one of them we haven't gotten reimbursed yet. It's a reimbursement we haven't gotten. Do we normally get that in June?

If it's the motor vehicle excise tax, it might have grouped in with the phase-out reimbursement. So at year-end, I can do a reclass. I don't know if you're looking at the page. Page 5, we were over $99,000. We were short $94,000 in the excise. And that's

As long as we've gotten the money.

We've gotten payment.

Thank you. That's my main concern. Mr. Morris, you have a question on the finance report?

I do. Thank you, Mr. President. Larry Fitzmaurice, 50 Christian Court. And I apologize if I missed it, but is there an estimate for end of year surplus or deficit?

Sure. So based on current trends right now, we are projecting a small surplus at year end. The projection is primarily driven because of, um, REVENUES TRENDING ABOVE THE BUDGET, BUT EXPENDITURES ARE REMAINING RELATIVELY STABLE, SO I AM PROJECTING A SLIGHT SUPPLUS.

WOULD YOU GIVE ME AN ESTIMATE?

I'D SAY NO MORE THAN 500,000. NO MORE THAN HALF A MILLION.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT.

THANK YOU, MS. FIGS-MORSE. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THE FINANCE REPORT? And I also see that the end of the month interest income was about 407 already. So with a couple of months to go. So good news is we're going to be a little bit higher than the 400 you were looking at. It's great. It's good news. That's great. Do we have a motion to receive and place on file?

So moved. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes seven to zero. Next up, we have new business. We have two requests to advertise for public hearings. One is for a sound variance would allow live amplified music at Safe Harbor Race Week at Safe Harbor Boat Works. And the other is for a... Sound variants to allow for live amplified music in the backyard at 48 Aquidneck Avenue on August 1st, 2026. The clerk has asked that we schedule both of those for June 22nd. Do I have a motion to do so? So moved.

Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes seven to zero. Next up, we have a request. Christian Tua saw a permanent sign in the town right away on Headley Street across from Maplewood Farm. Mr. Anderson, there you are. I saw you come in and then go back out again. So he came back in again.

Stephen Harrison, 234 Headley Street, Maplewood Farm, Portsmouth. Since 1950, we've been a potato farm. My grandfather has had a potato sign out there. My aunt has had a potato sign out there. I have had a potato sign out there. For years, we have cut the grass on both sides of the road, even when my grandfather's brother, Joe Carvalho, ran the public works. It was brought to my attention that the public works... had a problem with our sign. Now, I'm not sure if it's because I used wood or I didn't use metal stakes, but I decided to use wood this year. I don't know if it was a problem, but it seems to be. I didn't change anything on the sign, the location. I just went a little taller. I'm short. Maybe that happens. I've asked the people next door. It was the Aquitina Island Land Trust. No problem. The prior owners, no problem. The neighbors don't mind the sign. But for some reason, the Public Works has a problem with our sign.

It's not the Public Works. It's the sign ordinance that was passed last month. So... Not allow for permanent placement of signs. Since 1950, we've been a potato farm.

I understand. Farming is hard enough as it is. I already know how this is going, so why waste my time?

You're not wasting your time. I have questions for you to try and solve this on both sides. Have you asked the land trust if you could put it on the other side of the wall, onto their property?

No. Yes. And they said no. Okay. I did not. I just don't understand. I came before this council. Exactly one year ago, I believe I was targeted over our banner sign on my property that said flowers by one individual. Don't need to say that person's name. We all know who. We didn't have a problem putting our flags up there for over three years. We had the banner flags. On the top and the bottom of Headlee Street, we've always had potato signs. We've always had sunflower signs and flowers and annuals and herbs. But all of a sudden, I came before this council and I asked this council for farmers to be exempt under the right to farm from the sign ordinance, not take a step backwards. And I'm flabbergasted that I feel we've just went backwards because there's a couple farms on Middle Road that are left. One of them who's going to have produce coming very shortly. It's how do you go forward? I asked for farmers to be exempt and I feel you just went backwards. I don't know what more you want me to say. Farming's hard enough as it is when fertilizer is nearly $700 a ton and it's up another $100. Okay? What do you want me to do? Put up LMI? I mean, that's a lot. That's a lot. And if you want to tell me I have to move my sign and take it down, then I'm going to ask all of you to write a letter and give it to my 83-year-old aunt and tell her the signs that have been there since her father, my grandfather, we have to take down because of some ordinance that was written and went backwards. You can't go forward by going backwards.

When did you discuss this with the land trust?

A while ago, I submitted the letter to Leah, the email. I think, if I'm not mistaken, I forwarded to her via text because it's easier to send a text than my fat fingers hit a – send an email and think I sent it to the wrong person because there's a dot or backslash, semicolon, or whatever.

It's right there with you. That's why I have these things. I still have –

The land trust doesn't oppose it, but the law, it went backwards.

But if you were able to take the sign out of the ground, because it is a permanent sign now, and just move it on the other side of the rock wall, which would be land trust land.

It's not visible. Can you see me? Sorry, my hair. It's not visible. The whole point of our sign being across the street, there is a telephone pole right there in our driveway. Understood. It's visibility. The sign is visibility. It's not one of these stick figure blow up things. It's just a sign. All I did was improve it. If it's because of wood or the wood is the problem or the metal.

It's because it's permanent. And it's in the town right of way. The town doesn't even cut the grass.

I cut the grass. The town mows my stone wall. They push it over. It's pushed over right now. I cut the grass. If I don't cut the grass, the people are going to drive down and say, well, how come the town's not cutting the grass? Because I hear it's a lucrative contract to cut the grass for the town. Very lucrative. Probably much more than farming. They have all the equipment. And I'm sorry for the loss. I'm sorry for the loss. But for what that contract is, that's two or three people. It's not rocket science.

Mr. Gleason?

So you don't have to beat up Keith. You can beat up all of us. We passed this new ordinance. You went backwards. We actually... gave you the ability to put more flags on your property. And with the frontage you have on your property, you could probably get a lot of attention with all the flags you could put in that space that would be legal. The point Mr. Hamilton, our council president, is making is that is across the street. And if you had put the sign in front of your property on the town property, it would still be illegal by our current law. zoning ordinance, okay? It needs to go on your property. What you could do is ask us, because I believe, if I'm not mistaken, you're entitled to one permanent sign. I might be mistaken. You could ask us, could you put a second one on your own property and put it in another position that would be more strategic? We want to work together with you. But what you're asking for would set a bad precedence if we say, okay, we're going to give this to Maplewood Farms. We're going to allow you to put it on.

We've been here since 1950, sir.

I haven't been. I was 54. Okay. I didn't make that rules back then. Now we're into what year is it now? 2026. The rules have changed. Farming has changed. We're trying to work with you. You want to attract people to your business, correct? My good looks aren't going to keep doing it. They might work. You could stand in the street and make one of those. No, you can't do that. Yes, you can.

No, you can't do that. No, we don't want them standing in the street. You can't do that. On your property. We don't want the guerrilla marketing that was going on down at the end of Quaker Hill years ago. We don't need that again. But if you were to make the sign bigger and put it on the other side of the street, with the permission of the land trust. It would serve the same purpose.

You can't see it.

If you went taller. Oh, Christ. Or to Mr. Cleason's suggestion, perhaps maybe a secondary sign on the west side of your driveway.

And that existing sign probably could go closer towards the stone wall. As long as it's on your property.

Give you a hint, digging a hole for it. How's that? I thank this council for its time. I'm tired. I'd rather deal with elder care than deal with this. Thank you.

I apologize, Mr. Anderson. It's tough.

No, I know the answer. I've been rejected before. Thanks. But I want a letter from all of you signed to my aunt.

All right. Just a question. Did the land trust say he could do that or are you going to be working with them? Because I thought the land trust said no.

Ms. McDowell? Yes. You're not supposed to be talking on this topic.

No, I did.

You recused yourself. So you can't talk about the topic. Well, if you're recusing, then you're not voting.

I will ask the question of our planner on somebody's behalf that I, that shall remain nameless. Was the land trust, was there a request to the land trust to put the sign on the other side of the wall?

I REACHED OUT TO ALEX CHUMAN AND TERRY SULLIVAN AFTER RECEIVING THE E-MAIL FROM MR. ANDERSON ASKING IF THEY WERE AWARE OF THE NEW SIGN ORDINANCE. THEY WERE NOT AWARE AND THEY VERBALLY ON THE PHONE TOLD ME THAT THEY WOULD NOT WANT THE SIGN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STONE WALL AND THAT THEY WOULD BE CONTACTING MR. ANDERSON ABOUT THAT.

Okay. I will contact the land trust on his behalf and make some sweet berry arguments. We'll just leave it at that.

I have a question.

Mr. Reese.

Now, this is cutting a fine line. Can he straddle the wall where one leg goes?

I think that would look ridiculous.

It might not to him.

Is it right out there? No. It would be a permanent sign on... I don't know. Maybe he owns a little bit.

The ordinance says that it's not supposed to be on any portion of the right-of-way.

All right. So he'd need a survey to see, because usually when you put a fence in, you usually put the fence more on your property. He might have enough to stick a leg down.

It's not his property on that side. I don't know.

It could be.

It's the land trust. It's either the land trust or town. It's on his side.

I tried to explain in the illustration that he has 800 feet of frontage on the south side of Headley. Excuse me?

He's probably got a lot of room to put the sign. And it's a small road. I don't see why people can't see it.

It's just there's a lot of trees. He's done a very nice job of putting trees in.

I have a question. So his other sign that he had before he made this wood sign, if he would have left it there, that would have been okay?

That's considered a directional sign, and under the state Rhode Island general law agricultural language, that's allowed. And we've never touched that.

Temporary sign. So if he just took the sign off of the wood post and stuck it in the ground, he'd be okay?

Yes. Okay. Thank you.

And did you explain that to him?

I tried.

Okay. I'll stop by and talk to him. All right. Thank you, Leah. Next up, new business number four, request to pause, review, and restructure the Parks and Recreation Committee.

Can I just ask, just for procedural, can we just, through consent, if you guys would pass that last matter. I don't want to, it's not a rejection at this point to be an assigned request. I just don't want to have any confusion as to the fact that that wasn't a rejection. There was no vote to reject his request, the request. Would you prefer to just pass? To table it? However you want to do it.

You can just do it by the chairman's, the president's. He's requesting permission to install a sign that's already there.

But the matter should just pass. I guess that's all I'm saying just for the record. Okay. So you want us to.

No votes taken.

If there's no objection.

I don't want to be his marketing staff person, but I'd like to work with him and show him like what I think would be a good idea to where to put his signs.

i'm legally can i ask so would you want a motion where we um table it pending further info information that you're going to generate i think the motion should be to deny the request for the permit installation but ask staff to work with him to find other alternatives i just worry that if he comes back with something substantially similar but not i just i don't want to be prohibited from coming back with the same motion right so We deny the permanent installation, but ask staff to work with him on other solutions.

So moved.

Thank you, Ms. Page. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes 6-0 with one recusal.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you. Now, Ms. Cardoza, I apologize. We want to make sure we get things as right as possible.

Deborah Faber, 74 Highland Ave. I am respectfully requesting the council suspend the activities of the Park and Recreation Committee until stability can be returned to the group. I believe that the chair of the committee has a duty to provide an environment where the members are comfortable and the group's business can be... Just for the folks at home, we can hear you better. Okay. So where was I? I believe the chair of the committee has a duty to provide an environment where the members are comfortable and the group's business can be conducted in a respectful manner. When I was appointed over a year ago, our appointments were contentious. Our first meeting with Disc Golf and that project was very contentious. But our April 16 meeting, when reviewing the bylaws, it was so dysfunctional that I transcribed the minutes. When comments are made, we do not follow the bylaws. The bylaws are old and we don't need to know the budget. I believe it's time to review and update them. So the topic was placed on the agenda. Park and Recreation Committee bylaws require Article 1, Section 3 to review the annual budget, goals, and objectives for the department and provide oversight. When I requested a copy of the budget, the chair and two other members stated we don't need to know the budget. When I suggested the director submit the budget and the goals for the fiscal year, I was told by a member that I was micromanaging the director. When I mentioned to the chair the committee did not make a decision, or vote on the playground. The chair responded, the committee does not decide what the director wants to do. We are an advisory committee. We advise issues that go before the council. But there was no discussion and the playground is required to go before the council. When I asked the chair what is our purpose and function, I was not directed to the bylaws. He responded to do whatever the director wants. Article 3, Section 5, the director shall attend meetings at the request of the chairperson with a prepared quarterly report. When I requested the quarterly report, the chair and the director looked confused. I said, it's in the bylaws. He responded, we don't follow the bylaws. While another member added, the bylaws are old. In practice, the director sets and drives a monthly report agenda item and the committee reacts. No quarterly reporting is evident. I suggested the director attend meetings at the request of the committee, not the chair, because the director attends every meeting and limits our time. The chair responded, I want the director here at every meeting. According to the bylaws, the director shall not be a member of the committee. When the director attends every meeting and receives all the emails, what's the difference? When council liaison Ms. Patton requested to be included in the correspondence, the chair replied, because you're not part of the committee. When I asked the chair not to operate outside the committee, but include the committee in decisions and actions that pertain to this committee, he responded, this is censorship. The chair first denied, then acknowledged going to the town council to request funds without first notifying the committee is operating outside the advisory structure of the bylaws. The chair has also denied an agenda item requested from a committee member, contrary to the committee's own 2020 ruling on the town solicitor's advice that any member may request an agenda item. On April 16th, I submitted a few clarifications to the bylaws for consideration. On April 20th, a member sent an email to the committee acknowledging and named three members that were absent. Without any knowledge of our discussion, continued to state, you already know where I stand. For the record, I am voting no on all clarifications, then included his opinion. In my view, that would influence the committee before their vote and constitutes an Open Meetings Act violation. After this, I tabled the bylaws. Instead of offering any changes or suggestions that they disagreed with or stated they don't follow, they argued against every effort that was made. Another area of contention is when controlling statements are made by the chair. What we are or are not doing as a committee removes our choice, shuts down discussion, or be prepared to argue your point. and this is in reference to the master plan and the ice rink. Unfortunately, one member has missed four consecutive meetings, while another rarely attends. Under the conditions outlined above, we are unproductive. For the record, nothing was taken out of content. I have no issue with the director. I have an issue when the chair directs the committee to be subject to the director instead of the bylaws. I respectfully request the council evaluate and review the operations, policies, and bylaws of this committee. Thank you.

Yep. Great. Highlighting my own rules. Thank you, Ms. Carrosa. Any questions for Ms. Carrosa? Mr. Piero?

Hello, David Fiorello, 45 Hamilton Drive, Portsmouth. Good evening. My name is David Fiorello, chair of the Parks and Rec Committee. Six years ago, the council created the Parks and Rec Committee and asked volunteers to give their time to this town. Tonight, based on a single complaint from a single member, you're being asked to for that member to pause review and restructure what those volunteers built and I think that deserves a closer look. What I want to be clear about tonight is I'm not here to argue about personalities or relegate grievances. I'm here because the committee has served this town very well for six years and it's worth pursuing. Our committee record. The committee was created by this council in 2019 to support the underfunded Parks and Recreation Department. Since then, we have established bylaws set meeting cadences, conducted comprehensive public surveys that yielded results, worked with Wendy to start summer programs, the music series, supported many projects around town, including the playground development at Glen Park, advocated for infrastructure improvements across multiple town properties. like Carson's Playground, and work consistently to help one of the most effective departments in this town, the Parks and Recreation Department. As we all know, the Parks and Rec Department operates on a roughly $400,000 budget through the town. It brings in about $200,000 in revenue each year. That net cost of this town is very minimal. The return in the programs, the camps, the events, the facilities, the upgrades, the quality of life is substantial to the residents of this town. All of this is done with two full-time Parks and Recreation employees and this committee. We have been part of making this possible and that is why this committee is so vital. I want to address the open meetings violations. The violation at the center of this request is really straightforward. One, I was late filing meeting minutes when it was brought to my attention. I submitted them that day, and I took corrective actions to make sure it doesn't happen again, and it has not happened again. But I do want to ask one question. If you go to the Secretary of State's website, late or missing minutes are not unique to the Parks and Recreation Committee. You go on there, the Economic Development Committee last posted minutes in 2024, but they regularly meet in 2025, throughout 2025 and 26. That's years of missing minutes. The Conservation Committee has had several minutes past the 35-day threshold set by the timeframe by the Secretary of State. These are just a few examples. I'm not trying to point any fingers, but I'm just saying it's not unique to us. We're all volunteers. I'd ask that this council move, just for these examples, I'll ask, has the council moved to pause or restructure any of those bodies that are late on any of their minutes? If the answer is no, the council should look at itself, ask itself why the committee is being singled out. The violation is the same, but the response is not. Second, the council should know that the letter submitted by Deborah included an email by committee member Jim Kitzmiller. Jim's email was sent to the council as supportive evidence of an OMA violation, but what Deborah omitted was the email that she sent first in that exchange, and I have that, and I'd like to pass that out to everybody. Take one copy, sorry. Jim was responding to bylaw amendments proposed by Debra. She had circulated to the full committee outside of a public meeting, soliciting written responses and setting a deadline for input before the next meeting. If any email in that chain raises an OMA concern, it's Debra's, not Jim's. The council was only given half the picture. Deborah circulated substantive bylaw amendment approval proposals to the full committee, instructed members to submit responses in writing before the next meeting, and she set a deadline in her email. That starts to look like deliberation happening outside of a public meeting. After the supposed violation, Deborah asked to place an item on the agenda for discussion. At our next committee meeting, I placed on the agenda the discussion regarding committee communication and open meetings compliance. At that meeting, we discussed email communications among members, and I advised everyone to get caught up with the compliance. I mentioned that I would email everybody links to the Attorney General's website and information about the Open Meeting Act along with Robert's Rules of Order, and I have since done so. I'm going to address the bylaw changes. bylaws our bylaws the same bylaws cited in this request provide a clear mechanism for amending them any proposed amendment must be noted at one regular meeting and voted on by the following meeting the process exists so that changes happen through deliberation not through an end run to this council no amendment has gone through this process instead a single committee member went directly to this council bypassing the committee entirely if the concern is that the bylaws are being ignored. The answer is not to ignore the bylaws themselves. The concern, what concerns me the most about the pause is that it says to the five other committee members that, sorry, what concerns me the most is what this pause is that it says to the five other people on the committee that they didn't file this complaint. They didn't ask for this. They show up every month, every meeting, meeting after meeting, and they do the work. They walk the fields, they review grant applications, they conduct surveys, they attend events. They give up time from their family because they believe their service matters. A pause tells them it does not. And once you send that message to volunteers, you don't get to take it back. People remember when their service was treated as disposable and they don't come back. It also sends a message to every other volunteer in this town who is considering giving their time to a board or commission. The political winds can undo years of work overnight, and I don't think that's a message this council wants to send to the residents of this town. What I'm asking for. not i'm not asking for this council to take sides i'm asking for fairness and consistency and balance if there are legitimate concerns about the bylaws bring them bring them to the committee through the proper process and we will address them if there are concerns about the oma violation we will uh we have already taken at corrective actions for that if there are concerns about the committee is functioning i would welcome that conversation What I am asking you not to do is pause or restructure a committee that has served this town faithfully based on a single complaint by a member that bypassed our own procedure and present an incomplete account of the facts. The Parks and Recreation Committee is not broken. The people on it are here because they care about this town and they deserve better than this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Figueroa. Any questions for the chairman? If anything pops up, we'll let you know. Good evening.

Good evening. Hunter Shin, 3338 East Main Road. I just want to quickly address the minutes because it came up. So the Portsmouth Parks and Recreation Committee bylaws clearly state that they're supposed to elect a chair, vice chair, and a secretary every single year. The secretary was not appointed last year, hence why the minutes was a problem. Members of the council. Over the last six weeks, I've had the opportunity to observe several of Portsmouth's boards and commissions to gain a clearer understanding of our town's governance. Among these include the Portsmouth School Committee, the Portsmouth Dog Park Committee, the Portsmouth Planning Board, and the Portsmouth Parks and Recreation Committee. I continue to be thoroughly impressed by the diligent efforts our volunteers demonstrate as they consciously make decisions for the benefit of our community. As someone who actively participated in Portsmouth Youth Sports and leads a varsity athletic program, I was particularly intrigued by the prospect of observing Parks and Rec. While I had heard speculation about the combative nature of these meetings, I, for one, like to personally experience things before rushing to any conclusions. As April 16th's Parks and Recreation Committee meeting progressed, the environment quickly became toxically contentious, highlighted by a series of attacks directed at fellow committee members and, incredibly, at the town council liaison. Further disappointing is repeated comments made by members that attempt to devalue or belittle the role the council liaison plays because, quote, she's not on the committee. I remind our volunteers that without the town council, you do not get to serve on a committee. A greater concern of mine from an operational perspective is a pattern of unilateral suppression, where agenda item requests punctually made by committee members have been blatantly rejected, evidenced as recent as April's meeting. General Parliamentary Rules, as written in Article IV, Section 1 of the Portsmouth Parks and Recreation Committee Bylaws, state that committees act as a whole when deciding what agenda items are on the table for discussion. By not fulfilling these requests, it is both a General Parliamentary Rules violation and a restriction of constitutional rights. Equally concerning is committee members conducting business outside of the committee room, privately or electronically, in clear violation of the Rhode Island Open Meetings Act. Rhode Island general law states that business performed in an open and public manner is essential so that citizens can be advised of and aware of the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy. It is paramount that all of our boards and commissions receive the requisite education and guidance so offenses such as these are not replicated in the future. I politely ask the council to assume their responsibilities by holding their appointed volunteers accountable and to a higher standard. Please heed this request by taking the necessary steps to ensure there is effective communication between our volunteer boards and residents, a consistent orderly environment is exercised, and that cooperation with all parliamentary procedural regulations are fully met so that our town can govern both openly and equitably. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Mr. Fitzmaurice.

Thank you, Mr. President. Larry Fitzmaurice, 50 Christian Court. I've attended the last two meetings of the recreation committee parks and recreation committee. On April 16 and may 21 in both cases, they were very contentious and I think there's a great deal that can be improved upon in terms of how the committee does business. And in part, it maybe needs a review of the relationships it has between the council and the director of Parks and Recreation and each other. But I think the bylaws need a good working over. And I know that that was begun, but it's now apparently in a vision. So, in my view, public committees in this town, and boards as well, depend a great deal upon the service of volunteers from our citizenry. And if we don't treat them decently and with fair treatment, we can't really expect these people to continue to attend these meetings and to volunteer for them. It's important to understand that they invest their time and, in many cases, specific expertise in these committees. so committees need to be run where they recommend or at least they respect the opinions of all members of the committee we're not here i'm not here to advocate anything else but that needs to be done and the leadership has an obligation to make sure that these these um committee meetings are run Fairly and evenly that's a primary objective of the chair If we expect the citizens to continue to show up to these things we need to clean up some of these problems and that's what the this Faber is attempting to do I also would second previous comments. Our council members need to be treated with a great deal more respect than they're getting at these meetings. This is not acceptable. That needs to change. So the committee hasn't done a lot to date to fix some of these problems. Maybe this attention will do so, but they do need a pause so they can get focused on how to do business in an appropriate way. We have fine attorneys work for the town that could help them do this, and it's an easy thing to work out. But the need to understand the relationships between the council and themselves, as well as themselves and the director, the parks and recreation that seems to be confused now i may be confused but they seem to be doing contract work on behalf of the town without submitting these contracts to the council and and i can be corrected but i think that's a requirement the council signs contracts for contractors to come and use our facilities at the Glen and other places. So I would suggest that as an area that needs to be looked into.

Can you be specific about that? The Recreation Department has the ability to sign agreements for land use with outside groups without having to come to the council. Okay, I was told. Unless there is a permanent structure or licensing needed, like the Beast of the East Entertainment, that kind of a thing.

But that essentially delegates to that committee or that department.

It delegates it to the recreation department director.

The authority to sign contracts on behalf of the town, does it not? I think it does.

If it's a rental agreement for land space, yes.

I'd like to have that reviewed if that's possible. Thank you.

Mr. Hamilton? Hello. Can you hear me okay?

There you go. Thank you.

Is that better? Everybody can hear me? Good. My name is Cynthia Burke. My address is 1360 East Main Road. So I joined the Park and Recs Committee February 2005. I wanted to do something. I wanted to give back. I was really excited. I attended the first meeting in March. The atmosphere of the room was not at all what I had expected compared to a lot of the other committees that I'm on and I served on. I was used to open discussions, being productive, and always had the focus of working together as a team to reach our goals. From the beginning, the environment at PACS and REC was very different. As discussions progressed, it became increasingly toxic, contentious, and unfriendly. I initially gave the experience the benefit of the doubt, decided I'll hang around for a few more months and just see what happens. I ended up going to the April meeting and the May meeting. After I left the May meeting that night, I decided I had just about had it. I no longer wanted to volunteer my time and waste my free time getting nowhere. Following the meeting, I returned home and I submitted my resignation, effective immediately, to the town clerk, Jennifer West. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

I just want to make one last statement about that first meeting. I brought dessert to that meeting. I've never done that. That meeting to me was great. I mean, I welcomed everybody. I sent Deborah and Cynthia welcome emails. I sent them the bylaws upon their appointment. I caught them up to speed. I sent them the disc golf presentation. Again, I bought desserts for the group because we had new committee members. I don't consider debate in any committee or council or board contentious. There will always be a differencing of opinion. Some may like it. Some may not. Some may agree with what's being said. Some are not going to agree with what they said. Just because you have a differencing of opinion doesn't constitute contentiousness. You may not like the outcome of what some of the committee members are saying or informing you about or trying to get you caught up to speed on disc golf because you came into this months later. And when there's an understanding gap and we're trying to catch them up and they're asking questions and whatnot and we're trying to... Explain to them what we've done so far. I don't consider that contentiousness. That's that's debate. That's just basic information as As far as the contentiousness with all due respect I would just ask the council and just say when did these meeting get? Contentious when did things change? I've been on that committee since day one. I know many I know a few previous committee members have emailed the council Yesterday, today, some reached out to me. Our committee has never had any contention. I would just say, look at when this happened. And it seemed like it started from the get-go on that March, from March. And that's all I have to say about that. I had six years of meetings without an issue, without a complaint, working very well with Wendy, hand in hand. And since March, it has been... Still a productive committee. We still do our work. But there is this in the background. Thank you.

Mr. Kitzmiller.

Good evening. Jim Kitzmiller, 140 Adams Drive, Portsmouth. I don't normally like being the center of attention, but apparently I created a lightning rod back in March. What happened? Oh, that's right. I wrote you all a letter, an email. And then I sent a heavily edited version of that to the Portsmouth Times and it was published. I stand by my words then. I stand by them now. I exercise my First Amendment rights, freedom of speech. By sending that letter that created issues with the committee specifically, that speaks to the request by deborah to make an agenda item to discuss my letter now i didn't comment at the time to david or anybody but david rejected that said no that's not appropriate to go on the agenda to talk about my letter to the portions time and i personally agreed with that um at that meeting deborah made it a point to talk about the letter and was continually rejected. I offered her publicly, and I'm sure I have witnesses here would say, I said, I would happy to talk to you about the letter after the meeting. It is not appropriate agenda item. I'll be happy to talk to you or anybody on the committee. Why I wrote the letter and why I, and when I wrote it, um, meeting went on at the end of the meeting. I said, Oh yeah, Deb, I owed you five minutes. You want to do it? She goes, no, that's not necessary. Um,

I'll just leave it at that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kitzmiller.

Mr. Hamilton.

That's great.

Council, as far as the April meeting, thank you for the cookies, I don't remember, but I guess other people do. I want to say the March meeting rather, but the April meeting was a real problem. The April meeting was horrible. What went on that day was awful. I was mortified at what took place. I didn't bring the details here tonight, but it was awful what went on in April. It was a terrible meeting.

All right. So we're not here to litigate the meetings. We're here for a discussion as to whether or not the bylaws need to be changed, which should be done by the committee. I would ask the chair... and other committee members to reach out to all of the committee members to make sure everybody is at the next meeting. So you can have a robust conversation about the bylaws and then bring any of those changes that the committee has agreed to back to the council, probably in July. The meetings not till June, correct? Correct. So we wouldn't see that till July.

I'm open to bylaw changes. They were being addressed by Deborah, and she took them off the agenda to come to the council to ask to pause. I'm fully willing to work with them. We all are. I mean, bylaws do change over time. I'm willing to do that. But skipping over the procedural process to come here is not the right move.

I agree with you. I am asking you all, as adults in the room, To sit together and work together, please. We as seven counselors don't agree on everything. I agree. I last week raised my voice to Ms. McDowell, which I apologize for. I'll do it here. Sometimes in the heat of the moment, my Irish gets up. I am asking you all to sit together and review the bylaw changes at your next meeting. And if you can, bring them forth to us or run them through the solicitor to bring them forth to us in our July meeting, which is the 27th or 26th, 27th?

27th.

Because we're taking one off, yeah. No, that's all good. Mr. Aero.

I'd say just some reading there. It's probably best if we give them two months just because the discussion and they have to bring them back up according to where it's written. So if we get it. So it'll be August. In August. Yeah.

Okay. So you have to have a first reading and a second reading?

Yeah.

Type of thing. Yes, Ms. Bennett.

Yes. So I just want to also say a couple of things, you know, this is not easy for any of us, you know, for the committee members, for, you know, people, residents, for myself as liaison or the council. You know, I feel that I've done Myself i've gone to the meetings i've you know reached out try to be supportive and available to help to the chair into the committee i've asked numerous times to be included. I get the agenda and I get the minutes. Um, I'm on other committees are liaison for other committees and I'm included in everything. I know what's going on and what they're planning on doing. Um, and I think there is a gap in. some things. And again, you know, I agree, we're not all going to agree with everything that we're all doing. I, you know, I myself was going to, you know, I do agree that we need to take a step back, maybe take a pause, if that's something that is necessary. I was also thinking of maybe an ad hoc committee to try to move forward and get this all together. But if we think that we can change, have them change and work on the bylaws to move forward, I would suggest that If I'm allowed to be included in those, I would like to be, and I would like them also to be forwarded to GO to take a look at those before they come to the council.

So you're not allowed to vote on any changes?

Right, I understand that.

But yes, we'll certainly send them to GO for massaging if needed.

But... Just to be included in the process.

Understood. I want to make sure that we are not stifling our volunteers. We have a lot of them. They do a lot of work in all the different committees. I would like to see them fix whatever is, I don't want to call it dysfunction, but disagreement that's going on on their own before we have to step in with a heavy hand.

I agree.

Okay.

Ms. Miguel.

Yeah. I'm just, you know, um, I'm just wondering, you know, I think it goes beyond just looking at the bylaws. I think what's being brought up is the feeling of contentious, you know, behavior and they don't, or they're having a hard time getting beyond that. And I will say that I have attended a few of the meetings of park and rec groups committee over the past year. And my experience of those times that I've attended, it just feels that it does not mimic my experience on other town advisory committees. The first time I went was about a year and a half ago, when we as a town council appointed a person to the committee, a new person, and she withdrew her desire to serve on that because she had had a conversation, she told me, with Mr. Fiorello. who indicated that the meetings were contentious and maybe he just wanted her to know that. So that was a year and a half ago. And now another member is coming and saying this. So I think it goes beyond just talking about bylaws. because continuous contentious behavior, it's not healthy and it's not productive. And I don't know what the answer is in dealing with this. I know in schools and in the courts, they hire a mediator to help. I don't think we have the extra financial resources to do that, but we do have the ability to try to work through it with the existing resources that we have and the people that we have in town. You know, in order to deal with this contentious behavior or contentious feeling, I would be in favor of some sort of mediation or reset or something or pause to work on some of the issues and try to resolve them. I think in the long run, it'll be best for the town, and most importantly, it'll be best for the good work of the Park and Recreation Committee. I think it goes beyond the bylaws. I think there needs some mediation on behalf of somebody to help move past this and move through this so that productive work can continue. And I don't know what the answer is, bottom line, I guess.

I think we let the committee try and fix themselves. I will say that one person's contentious is another person's spirited debate. It can be taken either way. I think we have good people on the committee. I think we have people with good track records. And I think cooler heads can prevail and a day can come out of this. If they can't by August, then we can look at doing something different. Mr. Gleason. Sorry, it's blanking. You both reached at the same time, sorry.

The work effort and results from the Parks and Rec Committee has absolutely made a positive impact to our community. I appreciate the work of the volunteers, both on that committee and across the town. It certainly is a thankless job. And I just want to acknowledge that there has been an outpouring of support from the community that I've received in support of the chair and recognize that the point of the committee is to debate, certainly in the minority, but I don't often get my you know, I'm in the minority at times here and recognize that it can be frustrating, but it is, that is why there is a committee of seven here and keeping to the rules, I feel should be the right course of action.

Thank you, Ms. Veidt. Mr. Gleason.

Thank you. You know, it is... It is tough to find volunteers, people that want to spend their time to make improvements in town because it can be thankless, but you are advisory to the council, and I certainly appreciate your efforts. I mean, I started joining committees, and that's how I started feeling like I was making a difference here in town. Lately, we've had a lot of... with a regret here, because a lot of volunteers have, you know, maybe they're reaching out a certain age and they don't want to do it anymore, or they have other issues, We are losing volunteers in town, and my intent is not to lose additional people that want to help the town. But I do think this committee has some issues. I don't know whether it's true that a chair would say we don't need to know the budget, we don't need to know our goals, we don't need to follow the bylaws. Certainly if those things are said correctly, That seems like an issue to me that needs to be resolved. And just doing bylaws isn't going to change that. I mean, if we think that we could start by changing the bylaws and it's going to be a positive change for this committee and these members are going to work together, I would fully support that. But I agree with Ms. McDowell that there's additional issues here that need to be addressed. maybe desserts at every meeting. I don't know if that's going to help, but it does seem like a broken committee. I know when we wanted to look out at our issues in trash, our curbside, our Prudence Island, our transfer station, we did form an ad hoc committee, and that's certainly something I would consider doing here as well. You know, putting a pause on this committee and, you know, having... members a member of the committee two counselors maybe somebody from hr um wendy yourself now how can we move forward with this committee i think the committee can move forward by itself i i i think there are people who can make it work

if they all come together with open minds. I think that's the big key.

So based on what I've said, we're in disagreement, but basically this is probation, if you will.

I agree with you 100%. They get a three-month break.

If it doesn't work, this is what I'll be bringing back to the council.

And I would support you at that point in time. Very good. But I think we all have adults on a committee that should be able to monitor themselves.

and I hope they succeed.

Ms. Patton?

So I just want to, the timeframe again is work on it for two months and then they'll bring it back.

They only have a meeting a month.

Right.

So they'll have the first meeting, make adjustments, have a second reading of them, actually make the adjustments, send them to GEO. GEO brings them back, says, okay, these are good, change this word, whatever. So like August. And then they bring it back to us in August. Okay, thank you. So probably the, depending on the timing of their meetings, I don't think it'll fit for our July meeting. So probably the first meeting in August.

It would either be the 11th or the 24th.

The 11th, I think should be fine, right?

Okay.

All good? Can I get nods from all the committee members that are here? I got a thumbs up. Okay, okay. Thank you all for coming in tonight. Next up, we have a, Ms. Patton brought forward a discussion that I didn't think we needed to have, but I'm going to, Let you start, and then I'm going to complain about the General Assembly. Go ahead, Ms. Patton.

Yeah, so I put this on there just to get additional clarification. This is, I know we've, they spoke about this at the Park and Rec Committee, and the fees were increased to cover the new state tax. But I was just wondering if we can get some more clarification if we were

able to do our own resolutions similar to little compton and maybe get something back so last year i'm going to mess up the house bill but there was a house and a senate bill subcommittee sub not something companion bill yeah to create a sales tax for parking fees whether it's a parking garage temporary anything that was less than a month that was brought forth by the mayor of providence as a way for him to gain money for the city of Providence because they have a lot of parking meters without having to raise taxes. The General Assembly brought those bills forward and said, that's a great idea, but we're going to hold it for further study until the last minute in the budget. And they said, we're going to do this, but we're going to keep the money. So instead of having money going back to the cities to help keep taxes down, the state threw it into the black holes, the general fund. So what really happened was a General Assembly last minute bait and switch. what Little Compton is asking for now is for a resolution to not have to pay the sales tax to the state. Good luck. I mean, that's where I'm more than happy to make a resolution to say, give it back to us in the city and town. I mean, it's going to amount to parking fees in Portia, they're going to amount to what? 50 bucks in taxes, if that. We're not talking big money, but that's the story behind it. And I've already penned off a letter to two of our representatives explaining my displeasure of how that went down.

Thank you.

But if you'd like to put a resolution together and send it up there, we could. We can ask Gio to make it up and have it in the next meeting.

Happy to do that. I would just ask for a little bit of guidance. Would it be an exemption for Portsmouth individually? Would it be if your tax is less than $1,000, you don't have to collect it?

I would actually go a different way. I would go back and say the original intent of this bill was to give the money back to the cities and towns. So change the law and give the money back to the cities and towns and don't throw it into the black hole.

I thought part of the problem, and again, I apologize, I don't know. I'll speed on the issue, but I thought part of the problem was that the compliance cost for staff was 20 times the $50 we collect. So that, I don't know, I can't remember where I got that in my head, but it sounded like a small amount of money.

I mean, their fees at South Shore have got to be even less than what we collect at Sandy Point.

Right. Well, I'm happy to take a stab at it. I guess I'll just take the guidance from the counselor.

Appreciate it.

Thanks. Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you. So no other action on that one. We've just emptied out the entire fire department with all three engines going down the street. That's the captain. There we go. All right. New business number six, review and update the existing MOU with the Prudence Island School Foundation to reflect present day circumstances. Ms. McDowell.

Yes, thank you. In 2009, this MOU was established because Prudence Island was educating students on the island in the schoolhouse. We have kept our part of the agreement up until the present day, even though there are, I believe there are not students being educated in this building. Just before I go further, is that a correct statement?

Yes, she is. Kathy. I think you have to unmute yourself on your side. Yeah, you're still, you're still muted. There you go.

No, I might still. Okay. All right. Kathy Holman, 369 Narragansett Avenue, Prudence Island, Rhode Island. I'm also the chairman of the foundation of the Prudence Island School Foundation. It is correct that we have no students at this present time.

Okay, thanks. So we have done this in good faith and we have been happy to do it. That's how I feel. But fast forward to 2026, we have continued to give the foundation sizable amounts of money. And I'm just going back a few years, 60,000, 60 plus thousand in 2020. 2025, 50 plus thousand in 2026. And the foundation is requesting this year through civic through the civic fund there, 50 plus thousand again this year. The MOU states in number seven, that in the event that at any time there are no elementary age students homeschooled at the Prudence Island Schoolhouse, then this agreement shall be suspended. That's what the MOU says. I do believe that the time has come to take a look at this MOU, either to suspend it, to update, to terminate this agreement. On May 13th, 2019, under new business three, the agenda item read for this town council, termination of MOU between town council school committee and Prudence Island School Foundation. Although I have not listened to that meeting, but in the minutes it says that no action was taken. Apparently the town council considered at that time in 2019 of terminating the MOU. We received a sheet indicating the work done and items bought this year for the school. With that sheet, there are no amounts next to any of the work that was done or bills or invoices attached to the items. And I have just looked at it and in my own little knowledge of construction but i do have some um it just seems that the costs associated with those items that were done i think this past year i i don't see how it can go over twenty five thousand dollars if that now that again that's just a guess and i'm just saying these things i'm i'm hoping that we can have a discussion about it um The question is, was the work done by contractors or by volunteers? Because as it has been mentioned in the past, the foundation has an active volunteer base or force. So to me, there's lots of unknowns. I'm guessing, however, that the list of improvements does not exceed that 25 that I talk about. So those are some of my thoughts of why I'm bringing this forward. And now here are some of my questions. So is, and Kathy, I think you can probably answer each of them. Is the school also paying the portion of the, in the MOU, it talks about Portsmouth school is paying to the town council, some equal to the civic support contribution made by the town council. Is that happening?

You refer to the Portsmouth School District?

They had a part of the MOU.

Right. In 2019, they suspended that.

They did.

Exactly.

Because of no students.

It was more because Ride told them that they could no longer support a school. It didn't meet the Ride standards. So back then, the discussion was the building would become part. It was turned over from the Audubon, I believe. Kathy will correct me if I'm wrong. to the Portsmouth, I'm sorry, the Prudence Island School Foundation. You're right. There was an agenda item brought before the council in 2019 to suspend that support, but the council took no action but agreed that they would continue to support through civic support in an annual review of that civic support request funding for the maintenance of the building.

Okay, thanks. That's where we're at. So... The MOU number two in the MOU, this lease shall be subject to the foundation's responsibility for all other costs and expenses related to the facility, including but not limited to utilities, repairs, et cetera. Now, does repairs mean maintenance?

Yeah, I can actually see where you're going. And absolutely, the... the council agreed that they would continue funding the civic support for the maintenance of the building. Um, so obviously the MOU while in principle, uh, obviously exists, but it's kind of obviated by the fact that the council agreed back in 2019 that they would, uh, just review these on a year by year basis with regard to what was submitted by the Prudence Island school foundation.

Okay. Thanks. So in looking back, and Kathy, I just wanna say that the reason for these questions is we as a council have a fiduciary responsibility to our citizens as well. And Prudence Island is part and parcel of that. But I do think in terms of the civic support of this, that we should be getting much more accountability for that 50,000 or more that we're giving every year. I don't have an objection to helping to maintain the building, but... To me, the foundation, when I look at the maintenance line items or the maintenance items in your budget for 24 and 25, in one of them, I see that it's like, and again, you can clarify and set me straight on this, but in one of them in 2024, it has $480. for maintenance. And then they have a figure of 7241. I'm not sure what that is. And then in 2025, there is something that's in the budget line there in the sheet that says improvements of $19,000. And then there was another figure of 1748 for possible maintenance. And in one of those lines, it said money unspent from last year. So I guess I really, we haven't, I thought we kind of put a placeholder for civic support for Prudence Island Foundation until we talked further about this. I guess I'd like to hear your response to some of the things I'm saying and how you feel about it.

Go ahead, Kathy. You're still up there.

Okay. I can't figure out all these buttons. But I welcome your questions. I'm sorry, but you jumped between two civic support reports, and I can't get there fast enough. I'm sorry. I've got it all spread out in front of me, and I can't grab it.

I know the feeling.

We as a foundation welcome any questions that you have. The only thing that I would bring up is that I think possibly it would be easier if we had, like you mentioned an ad hoc committee. I don't know if that's the right terminology at all, but you as a representative of the town council, maybe another one, a couple of the foundation members, and we could sit down and go over all these different things that quite honestly, I can't grab at the moment and give you an answer. I can give you some of them, but I don't think it would be exactly what you want. But we'd be more than willing to meet with the town council, maybe with the town administrator at any time you would see fit.

I guess, Kathy, my question to you would be, if you could take a look at my standpoint, I guess, are we paying for all the maintenance? First of all, it's not used each year. what is being used for maintenance? And when I look at your financial statement, it does look, it appears that you have $235,000 in cash and cash equivalent. And I guess I'd just like to know, when we give you $50,000 a year, what is happening with that in terms of I just think it's an extraordinarily large amount of money for the foundation that we are giving, I think.

Gotta love Siri.

So anyways, I mean, I would be very...

So you're just looking for a better accounting of where the money has gone. Yes, in order to make a decision here come our budget, the final... We can leave the money in civic support and direct staff not to expend it until that accounting happens.

I know, but if we trim, let's say, $25,000 or $30,000 off of... our budget.

I mean, it's... You're tripping a half a cent off, yes.

25-30.

It's a principle.

I get you. Mr. President, if I may, as the only member of this council, I was also a member of the school committee when we negotiated this agreement, there was a huge issue that When we did transfer the property over. The 1 thing that was not resolved was a maintenance of issue funding mechanism that was going to cost the town a whole lot more money because the state. There were just 2 separate issues on whether or not students were in the building and whether or not they were homeschooled. So this was actually a cost savings for the town to be able to provide this level funding year after year. Not only was it. a cost savings to us, to the school committee budget, but then also preserved a really important piece of property on Prudence Island that many residents of the island did come, because we didn't have Zoom at the time, to the actual committee and explained how important historically that was to the island. And the school committee found it really important to yes, we needed to be able to trim that off the budget and make the necessary changes. I'm not disagreeing with being able to find better accounting. That's perfectly fine. And I think that they're implored to do that, especially through their annual financial statements. But I just want to be able to provide that context of that there was a greater cost savings to the town when the agreement was made back in 19. Okay.

Yeah, I would definitely say that that must have been true. Although, you know, that's why I'm fast-forwarding to now to look at the MOU.

I'm not disagreeing with you. I just want to make sure that lens is good when we're doing this.

So Kathy has made an offer for a few of us to go over there and review what's going on. I think, Kathy, if you could either work with somebody on the island or or an accountant to do a better tracking of the expenses that you've gone through and bring them back? Are you saving $230,000 roughly? Thank you. Are you saving that for a large repair, say roof or something like that?

We have several large repairs coming up. One is... the insulation of the original building, the roof and the floor are insulated, the walls are not. And in order to do that, we have to go from the outside in, which means we have to redo the exterior of the building. So that's one. Our well needs to be, I'll call it refurbished. And also we need to... address our 45-year-old heating system. So all of those are very, as you know, expensive items. We've been trying to go through RIDE to assist us on that, but that is still in abeyance. That hasn't seemed to have worked out. So we have those items out there. We also maintain a... You'd call it a large sum of money for the... the time when the children will come back to the school and we are of the opinion that they will because they always have in the past. So we maintain that for teacher salaries, the curriculums, the books, all of the stuff we would need to restart. So, and just so that you would know, Our budget, 41% of our budget comes from the civic support from the town, which does include obviously the maintenance, et cetera, et cetera.

Mr. President, if I may, and Marion, not to step on your feet, as someone that is intimately aware of the current MOU or the one that's standing and the school committee's liaison, I have no problem leading and representing the council on this one. No learning curve on my end on that one.

I think we need to get to full accounting first. Yeah, no, if we move forward. You guys work together and develop a new MOU or update the MOU from 2019. would be the best step. Step one is the accounting and see where that is. And obviously, we all know that any work done on prudence is imminently more expensive than work we do here because there's no bridge.

And Kathy, you know, the list that you sent us that was done this year, could you just indicate, like, or put an invoice or a bill with it or indicate if it was volunteer labor or whatever the case may be just for a little bit of clarity on that, on that list.

Absolutely. Be glad to do that. And, um, okay. We, I will also, um, I will also get our treasurer who is a, um, He will send you a itemized description of, we have some things on the budget, but you want a more detailed, I know the list that I sent you, but you want a more detailed itemization than what is shown on the budget. Is that correct?

Yes. Besides the details that we know that you paid contractor XYZ $10,000 to fix the stairs. I'm just making things up, but whatever it is.

An expense, a sheet, and then, yeah.

And that you, you know, I know it's difficult out there, but, you know, you got a couple of quotes at it and the $10,000 was the cheapest one that you could do. Just so we make sure that, as Ms. McDowell said, we have a fiduciary responsibility to make sure that the taxpayer's money is being spent wisely.

Absolutely. Be most happy to do that. Did you have a time frame when you wanted this in by?

Yesterday? No, just kidding.

Oh, my favorite day.

Yeah, I know. We have a budget hearing on June 13th, 10th. 10th?

No, no, no. It'll be before that. I just wondered if there was... something else that some other date that you needed.

No, if you can get it to us by next Tuesday, we can put it on the agenda for the 8th as a review. And then if there's any changes that need to be made to the final budget, we can do that before then.

And you know what else would be helpful, Kathy? What you just talked about, the long range, maybe not so long either, but the big projects that are coming up, that the needs that you will be addressing in the building, if you could put those and put a price tag next to them or around, you know, an estimate, That would be really helpful. And when these projects, you're anticipating them being done, that would be very helpful, I think, for us. You know, it's sort of like your long-range plan for the building and your needs. Certainly.

Be glad to see that.

Thank you very much.

Oh, thank you. And Keith, I will have them in before next Tuesday so they can go on the agenda.

Thank you, Kathy. I appreciate that. Okay.

Thank you, everyone.

We'll take this back up again on the 8th.

Thanks.

Kathy, thank you very much for coming on.

Thanks, Kathy. Oh, no problem. Thank you very much, all of you.

Okay.

Take care.

Thanks, Kathy.

Good night.

Business number seven. Good night. Investigate the possibility of generating substantial additional revenue for the town. Mr. Reese.

Yes, thank you. This agenda item is intended to further investigate the possibility of generating substantial additional revenue for the town by ensuring that town funds are professionally managed and placed in higher yielding, safe, and widely accepted liquid investments. I think the council should educate itself and do its own research. We will do our due diligence by further research and by reviewing this information. I did some research and one thing that I'd like to point out is that the professional management of the town fund frees up the town employee's time, ensures safe, secure, high yielding investments by pooling funds with other entities. And this is at no cost to the town. This gives us the ability to be working with certified financial planners as part of their teams. And that is a specific expertise that some financial people have. It's just a certification that they get. There are some that I'm going to tell you about. The first one is the Ocean State Investment Pool. And this was done by the state of Rhode Island. The safety of investments and economy of scale are possible by pooling money with other Rhode Island state investors developed by the state and managed by federal investments. The Ocean State Investment Pool should be considered. And listed in the backup are just a sample of like 14 of the present members. And it can be, it's the actual state of Rhode Island, towns, and quasi-public private agencies. And Fidelity is the state-selected manager, ensuring loan management, operation costs, and profits. They have a local rep that's available all the time. And I'm interested in getting them to come in. The other one, which is another good one, is TD Banking. But they have a government division, which I don't know whether we're using. And they specialize in financial support for the public sector. This may increase the revenue and safety of the funds. But I couldn't find as much data on their site. and who specifically to get in touch with. Whereas the Ocean State Investment Fund is specifically made for the state of Rhode Island. The other one is Wells Fargo, and they offer similar financial support for the public sector. And that's presently what the Portsmouth Water Board uses as an advisor, is Wells Fargo. So... So... To educate ourselves more so that this will go and, you know, at the same time that the, if we get anything back from the pension committee, I'd like the town administrator to contact Fidelity OSIP representative, TD Bank Municipal Investment Department, and Wells Fargo to schedule presentations for the council relating to municipal investments. I think it would help. It would free up our employee who's now having to do all that herself. Um, and they've been very competitive as far as their, um, yields. Um, I mean, this is the OSIP. I've got some from back in, like, May 13th. One day was 3.6%. Seven days, 3.6%. 30 is 3.6%. Their average annual returns the last one year is 4.06%. Three years, 4.8%. And five, they're out to 3.52%. And it's something I'd very much like to investigate, educate ourselves on. So that would be my motion is to have the town administrator contact the fidelity representative, the TD Bank Municipal Investment Department in Wells Fargo to schedule presentations for the council.

Is there a second?

I'll second for discussion.

Okay. Ms. Morrison, do you want to say something? I know you've been working with TDA.

So I've been working with TDA also. So I've spoken with Jason Wagner, whom Dave, I believe, is who you had consulted regarding the Ocean State investment pool. While the program is designed to assist Rhode Island municipalities in meeting liquidity management objectives, I do have concerns regarding the fact that the investment is not insured by the FDIC or any other government agency. I am working with TD at this point. As of today, the 10-month CD through TD Bank currently offers an annual percentage yield of 3.56%. Based on the information provided for OSIP, the current yield was approximately 3.6 before administrative fees, which is 0.13%. TD does not charge administrative fees. So therefore, the difference in effective return, I believe, is very minimal, while the TD investment would be fully insured and fully collateralized, providing a significantly greater level of protection for the taxpayer money. So I have been looking at this.

Now, if they're investing in CDs, we should be investing probably up to maybe $20 million. We don't have $20 million. All right. Well, you've got more than you'd be covered under a CD from the FDIC, I'll tell you that. I mean, as far as that's concerned.

Correct.

So how do they guarantee it? Because... The OSIP is everybody's money pooled together. It's available. It's not locked up in a CD. You can write day-to-day expenses off it and transfer money in and out. And they've got 24-hour banking. You can get the representatives will talk to you on the phone. I guess it starts early in the morning and goes to late at night. I'd still like to have them come in and tell us about it. It might help you because then you're not trying to do as much, and it might be another avenue rather than just locking us into one thing.

I just wanted to let you know that I have currently been looking into this as well.

Due diligence, as they say. Good job. Thanks. Okay.

So there is a motion and a second to invite these three entities to come in and provide a presentation. time frame as soon as i can it could be here next week but we'll i have concerns about fidelity because it's it is there is a risk of losing principal in that fund i'd like to have him explain that rather than us try to it means that if the market crashes we could lose the money that we put in well and that's how the td has theirs too no if it's a cd it's guaranteed up to a certain point very small numbers What is the 3.56 that you have?

So FDIC will cover up to $250,000. And then I have an irrevocable standby credit from another bank, FHL, who will collateralize up to $30 million. And that letter was valid as of March.

So we can have all these presentations.

We're going to ask them those exact questions. And that's why you get information. This is not to change banks or anything. This is just to get more information and see who has better services, just like anything else. I don't go to the first bank I walk into.

I'm sorry, this agenda item could have been an email. We're trying to circumvent the finance director. The finance director has already told us that they kind of looked into this. We're just adding an agenda item to another meeting.

No.

We're going to get more information. We've asked the pension committee to invest something similar to this. And this is just something else. So if the pension committee comes in with similar recommendations, we'll have more information on that. I don't feel I'm qualified. I'd like to hear what they have to say.

But we have a qualified person on staff that we could get the information.

If we hear from three different companies, we can make a decision as to which one is the best interest of us. This also frees up her time, too, because she doesn't have... She still has to be... She still is the fiduciary of the town and responsible for any dollar that comes in and out. So it's still on her shoulders, even though Mr. Rainer has much broader shoulders. Ms. Blank?

I think the point being... We are not experts in finance. And my concern being if the Ocean State one goes poorly, both the town and the state, the town would be negatively affected and we would not have the state to be able to fall back on. You miss you. Yeah.

It's been in business for like over 16 years.

It's been going very well. 14 years, yes. But it had some significantly down years.

Well, the only way to compare that is to compare it with the other company and see how they did. So you can't just...

I'm giving you my concern on that particular fund as it was discussed in multiple meetings.

You can always vote no, but you'll be more educated on what we're discussing, which is a lot. You can make an extra couple of hundred thousand dollars a year. Probably not. Maybe not. If we find that out, we'll leave it in the house.

Motion as second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? No. Motion passes five to two. Last up, we're going to accept the road.

Before you do that, just for the record.

Ms. Blank and Mr. Payero are in the negative. Oh, you are such trouble. Not you, her. So Ferreira Avenue off of Macquarie Lane has been completed and meets our specifications, correct?

That is correct. I should have Mr. Kent on the line as well.

And the planning board has already signed off on it?

The planning board reviewed and signed off on this subdivision on May 14th.

And the young man in the stripe behind you is good with it? Do we have a motion to release the road bond for Ferreira Avenue? So moved.

Second.

All those in favor?

With a maintenance bond being $42,500 that Mr. Kent is working on, and he must record the as-built plans, which are in your packet.

Perfect. Add that to the motion. Got all that?

At least say hi to him. He's been waiting.

Hi, Matt. Not Matt, which can you probably fell there.

Jonathan.

Not there. Not there. Not listening. All right. All those in favor. Aye. Opposed motion passes seven to zero. Correspondence. Anything, anybody wants to pull off on this list of four?

I would like to pull off number three, make a motion to receive correspondence one, two, and four in place on file.

Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes seven to zero. Future meetings, we have June 8th. June 10th, we'll have our public hearing, which will be held here for the budget. June 22nd, we'll have our final meeting of the fiscal year and also the reading of the budget ordinance, the clerk's favorite night of the year. We will be taking July 13th off as our summer recess, and we'll be back on July 27th. Is there a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes 7-0. Good night, everybody.