PORTSMOUTH — At Monday night’s meeting, the Town Council voted to rescind a May 2019 resolution that charged a $200 administrative fee to vet and process permits for concealed carry weapons (CCW), as well as a $50 fee to process renewal applications every four years.

Former Police Chief Thomas F. Lee had originally requested the fees, saying police dedicate significant administrative and detective work to the process, and that the number of applicants increases annually.

In a May 22, 2019 letter to the council, Chief Lee said a single concealed carry weapons background check takes anywhere fro 90 to 120 days to complete. The background checks are occasionally delayed beyond the 120-day mark when the department is experiencing a heavy volume of criminal investigations or are conducting police recruit or other background checks for hirings, he added.

Chief Lee provided a list of administrative and investigative requirements he said the permit applications required: reviewing and processing written applications for accuracy; fingerprinting the applicant; checking the applicant through local, state and federal law enforcement databases; checking and reviewing court records and other sources for pending criminal cases; checking restraining orders and no-contact orders; checking for prior history of mental illness; speaking with references and employees; potential personal or phone interviews to clarify information; neighborhood canvassing by detectives of the area where applicants live; and following up with applicants on missing information or discrepancies in the packet.

In a Feb. 13 letter to the council, however, current Police Chief Brian P. Peter stated that “upon further consideration, the department no longer wishes to charge these administrative fees and requests that the council vote to rescind the resolution.”

Chief Peters told the council that the request was necessary “to be consistent with standards for the rest of the state.”

Town Administrator Richard Rainer, Jr., responding to a question by council member Len Katzman, said he’s reviewed the matter with Chief Peters and there is enough money in the budget to accommodate the administrative fees.

Stonewall initiative

Mr. Rainer gave an update on the Aquidneck Stone Wall Initiative, a joint effort being led by The Preservation Society of Newport County and Preserve Rhode Island to protect and improve the island’s scenic quality by preserving its historic stone walls. 

The town is seeking up to 24 volunteers to restore the stone walls along Linden Lane at Glen Farm. An informational meeting for volunteers will be held in the Council Chambers at Town Hall at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 30.

Volunteers will be trained May 14 and 15 by the Vermont-based nonprofit, The Stone Trust. The work on Linden Lane will run from Jue 1 to July 10.

Cutting the cord

The council received correspondence from the Portsmouth-based group Aquidneck Light outlining its efforts to bring high-speed internet services via fiber to the premises (FTTP) to local residents and businesses for a reasonable monthly rate.

In a Feb. 19 letter to the council, Aquidneck Light’s Theodore Pietz and Andre Gonzalez said they “have met with various stakeholders and potential providers to formulate a plan to bring 1 Gbps (upload and download speeds)” internet services via FTTP.

They added that “FTTP leads to further potential savings via the ability of residents to ‘cut the cord’ and switch to Internet Protocol (IP) streaming ‘television channels’ and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as an alternative to traditional landline telephone services.”

A FTTP deployment could be successfully implemented in Portsmouth for a one-time cost of under $1,000 per premises, they stated. “We advocate for a measured build-out approach via a ‘pilot zone,’ which will represent roughly 1/10th of the total premises in Portsmouth (up to 800), then scale to the remainder of Portsmouth,” they stated.

For more information, visit https://wiki.aquidnecklight.org.

Resignations/appointments

The council voted unanimously to re-appoint John Parquette to the Tree Commission and John Fitzgerald as tree warden.

The council accepted, with regret, the resignation of Chris Reeves from the Conservation Commission. In a letter to the council, Mr. Reeves said due to time and travel commitments of his career, he has been unable to meaningfully contribution to the commission for some time.

Future meetings 

The council will meet again on the following Mondays, starting at 7 p.m.: March 9, March 23 and April 6.