More parking for downtown

Town Administrator Diane Mederos informed council members the owner of Robin Rug, Russell Karian, has permitted the town to use his parking lot on the corner of Thames and Church streets, across from the Prudence Island Ferry.

“He’s allowed the use of the lot to see if there is a need and if people will use it,” she said. “He is charging us one dollar a month to do that.”

Ms. Mederos said she publicized the parking lot’s availability through the Downtown Bristol Merchants Association.

“We’re reaching out to employers and visitors to see where they are parking,” she said. “As long as people aren’t parking there overnight or with a boat trailer we’ll be happy they’re using the lot.”

Mr. Herreshoff said it would be a good idea if people could be encouraged to walk two or three blocks downtown from the lot. Councilor Mary Parella suggested store employees could use it to free up parking spaces closer to merchants.

New storage shed for team

A shed will be erected next to Mt. Hope High School’s football field to provide storage space for the Bristol Mustangs team’s equipment. The team has been storing their equipment in the shuttered Walley School building on the corner of High and State streets for the past two years but can no longer use the space because of safety and liability reasons.

The storage shed will be constructed by the high school’s homebuilding project class and will be designed to integrate with existing structures. The town council voted to donate $2,015 from their contingency fund toward the $4,500 total cost for materials.

Open space land donation

The council accepted donated land on the northern end of Jones Avenue to be preserved as open space. The two merged lots, totaling 5,600 square feet and valued $87,600, was given by the heirs of the Frances Rebello estate. Joseph Rebello, of Bridgewater, Mass., wished to make the donation in the name of his mother, who passed away one year ago. If the town were to develop the land into a park, Mr. Rebello asked that it be named in his mother’s memory.

The Open Space Committee supported the idea, according to Director of Community Development Diane Williamson, and suggested other families could make similar land donations in memoriam.

Reval process evaluation

Town Councilor Halsey Herreshoff urged members of the council and administration to develop guidelines concerning future property revaluations. He suggested the council should be responsible for appointing a property revaluation company as well as establishing limits regarding the percentage of change a property can experience during a revaluation year.

“Maybe we allow for a more liberal change in the next revaluation year to correct some of the matters of the recent reval and then settle in with smaller changes for [subsequent] revals,” Mr. Herreshoff said. “If we can set a road map to develop such ideas we can improve the process.”

Council members and the town solicitor agreed to meet in early fall to address potential changes in the revaluation process and procedure.

OTHER COUNCIL NEWS

• A public hearing was scheduled on July 15 regarding the proposed expansion of the historic district from Franklin Street north to Poppasquash Road.

• Michael Ferreira, owner of Gillary’s Tavern, was given a temporary expansion of his liquor license to serve alcohol in his establishment’s driveway area on July 3, from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.

• Town council members gave special recognition to the Bristol Colts U12 girls’ soccer team who won the state championship.

• Diane Davis thanked the council and Town Administrator Diane Mederos for their support in sending 130 members of the Mt. Hope High School Marching Band to Washington, D.C., where they performed at the World War II Memorial. Ms. Davis presented them with the band’s group photo in front of the U.S. Capital Building in their appreciation.

• Mt. Hope student Jonathan Silva thanked the council for their contribution to this year’s American Legion Boys State program and presented each council member with a program pin.