The Warren Town Council covered a wide range of issues during last week’s meeting, though most issues were conversational in nature and did not warrant action.

The evening began with a recognition of the Mt. Hope High School boys wrestling team, which won the school’s first state championship back in June (see a more detailed account here).

Councilors then heard a presentation from Amy Rainone, Director of Government Relations for RI Housing, about federal money that is available to Rhode Island renters through the Emergency Rental Assistance program. The Times-Gazette covered this program in full last week, which can now be found here.

A summary of other measures taken at the meeting is below.

Harbormaster requests actual enforcement ability

According to Ed Cabral, Warren’s harbormaster, existing language in the Town Charter has prevented his team from policing fineable offenses in its own waters — rendering them only able to give warnings of certain offenses and alert boat operators of the law, but leaving punitive measures only possible through involvement of the state Department of Environmental Management (DEM).

For example, under the current language within the charter, if the harbormaster saw a boat full of people without life jackets and there were no life jackets on board, they wouldn’t actually be able to enforce the law against that boat through a citation, but would have to call it in to DEM. Mr. Cabral told Council President Keri Cronin that incidents like this happen often enough that he felt obligated to ask the council for an amendment.

A second part of his request amended the local ordinance regarding fineable offenses in order to reduce the actual punishment that would fall into the same category of offenses that he is looking to obtain punitive control over. Under the current language, each offense could be punishable by a fine up to $500 and up to 30 days in jail. Mr. Cabral’s proposed amendment reduced that fine to a max of $100 and no possible jail time.

The council unanimously agreed with Mr. Cabral and moved the amendments to a second reading to be finalized at next month’s meeting.

Police seek help in acquiring new recruits

The Warren Police Department sought to make it easier for trained police officers to join their ranks from other departments in the state through the use of a “lateral transfer process,” which would eliminate some redundant training practices and, in the opinion of Town Solicitor Anthony DeSisto, keep the town competitive with other municipalities at a time where hiring police officers has been inordinately difficult.

“This will make it easier to hire police officers in the future,” Mr. DeSisto said of the proposed amendment.

The council clarified that any lateral recruits from other departments would already be trained police officers who have passed the state’s certification requirements. Any lateral recruits would also still have to pass a physical fitness examination, a psychological evaluation, a drug screening and an oral examination, as well as a background check.

The council unanimously passed the amendment to a second reading.

Naked Foods coming to Main Street

The council approved a victualing license to Naked Foods Inc., a specialty health food shop that sells wraps, salads, sandwiches, coffee, tea, smoothies and shakes, which plans to open after rehabbing the building located at 458 Main St.

Owners Steve Cortinheiro and Mary Santena spoke of how their original location on Waterman Avenue in East Providence has been so well received that they are now happy to be expanding into Warren. They are hoping to open by Oct. 1, or Nov. 1 at the latest.

The council wished them luck and unanimously approved the license.

Council shuts door on virtual public comments

Following guidance from the office of the Rhode Island Attorney General, the Warren Town Council adopted a policy that ended the ability for members of the public to comment in real time during Town Council meetings via streaming services that had been utilized throughout the pandemic.

While Warren, like all other Rhode Island communities, had been required by temporary state laws to hold virtual public meetings and allow public comments through those same services — Warren utilizes YouTube for live streaming and recording of meetings, and has also utilized Zoom to enable active participation from constituents — those laws have since been nullified by the state. Under the policy, residents will be unable to publicly comment on Town Council agenda items through any other means than pre-written or in-person testimony.

“Remote public participation shall be allowed through the ‘Public Comment’ portion of the Town Council’s meeting agenda only,” the policy reads. “Participants must register in advance with the Town Clerk using the instructions provided on the meeting agenda. Alternatively, written public comment may be submitted to the Town Clerk to be distributed to the Town Council and entered into the record at the meeting. No other forms of remote public participation shall be allowed.”

In what could be described as a pure moment of cosmically comedic timing, Council President Keri Cronin received a text message from a constituent that said they were unable to view the meeting’s live stream on YouTube — at the exact same time council members were talking about the technology not being in a place where they could reliably depend on it for allowing public comments. A quick check revealed that, indeed, the live stream was not functioning properly for an unknown reason.

“In a perfect world it would be nice to be able to accommodate (virtual public comments), but the tech just doesn’t exist,” said Council President Keri Cronin following a unanimous vote from the council to approve the policy. “Not in our little realm.”

Brayton Point activist call for Warren’s support

Brayton Point, which was once known for the two striking cooling towers that facilitated the coal-burning power plant overlooking the Mt. Hope Bay in Somerset, Mass., has become the site of an unscrupulous scrap metal company operating outside the realm of their authority and jeopardizing the health of the people and environment all around the area.

At least that’s how Jeff Kardel, a Somerset resident and president of the activist group Save our Bay Brayton Point, argued the case before the Warren Town Council.

Mr. Kardel testified that the scrap metal operation, which moved in following the destruction of the plant in 2018, runs nonstop during its periods of activity, which causes toxic dust to coat the nearby neighborhoods, generates a cacophony of noise that disrupts people as far away as Warren, and dumps toxic water and waste from its scuttling vessel into the bay.

What started as group of 25 concerned neighbors has grown into a movement 4,000 people strong, Mr. Kardel said, and he asked for the Warren Town Council to join in support of their cause and sign onto a letter that would go to Governors Dan McKee and Charlie Baker.

Town Solicitor DeSisto recommended the letter to also go to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha. The council unanimously gave its support to helping Save our Bay Brayton Point, beginning by committing DeSisto to look over the facts of the case they have presented.

Parking consultant to be hired
Town Director of Planning and Community Development, Bob Rulli, presented the findings of the Ad-Hoc Parking Management Study Committee, which sought to address concerns and find possible solutions to issues related to limited parking in the downtown areas of Main and Water Streets.

The committee ultimately found that:

1. Additional striping should be done and street signs added in downtown areas to prevent cars from parking too close to one another;
2. A parking consultant should be hired via an RFP to determine whether additional or altered striping configurations could result in additional parking;
3. Increased enforcement should be considered to cut down on parking violators, particularly in areas of heavy pedestrian activity, and;
4. Mr. Rulli should continue to review the town’s parking ordinances with Town Manager Kate Michaud and the Warren Police Department.

“The perception of parking issues have become a reality, not just perception,” said Ms. Cronin. “I think a professional consultant would do wonders and a full review of the ordinances as they are now would be very helpful … For us to continue to grow as a destination, and as a place for people from across the region and the world … We need to have smart planning to show we’re ready to welcome people here.”

Town makes large vehicle purchases

The Town Council unanimously approved the purchase of two police SUVs, amounting to $110,455.70, and one street sweeper, amounting to $238,640. Both purchases would come from the town’s capital spending accounts.