The Bristol Town Council will consider adding new zones that restrict overnight parking to residents only in the downtown district. Resident-only overnight parking zones are in place throughout the downtown waterfront district, fanning out in all directions around the Prudence Island Ferry.

Those zones have pushed Prudence Island residents and over-nighters to park further and further away from the ferry, leaving their vehicles in some of the tightly congested streets several blocks inward. Residents in those areas, notably from First School Street, which is four blocks east of the ferry dock, submitted a petition and asked the town council for relief at its meeting last Wednesday, Oct. 9.

The petition was signed by residents of First School Street and other nearby streets, all asking for overnight parking relief. Chris Souza, who lives on First School Street, told the council about some of the challenges they face throughout the peak ferry season in the summer, and he clarified that people from other streets signed the petition on the condition that the ordinance be changed to include their streets as well.

Jim Poly, who lives on the same street, recommended moving the ferry to Portsmouth, saying that Bristol is more condensed than Portsmouth. “Obviously we don’t want to stop them from coming to Bristol and utilizing our businesses,” Poly clarified, but he suggested it could relieve the parking pressure on downtown Bristol.

Town Administrator Steven Contente told the council that he is talking with the Prudence Island Planning Committee and they have come up with some ideas, one of which involves working with the owners of the Gooding Plaza to develop an overnight parking area for ferry passengers. Councilor Tim Sweeney had concerns about extending the restricted parking area further and further, but the council ultimately decided to ask the town solicitor to draft an ordinance that would include First School Street, a stretch of State Street and a portion of Mount Hope Avenue in the resident-only overnight parking zone.

Age 18 for officers

At the same meeting, the council also changed the current minimum age for a probationary police officer from 21 to 18. The ordinance was approved with no opposing discussion.

Funding for robotics

Ryan Garrity, alongside two of his robotics students, spoke at the council meeting about funding for the Mt. Hope High School robotics team. Garritty, who is both a former student at Mt. Hope High School as well as a STEM teacher there currently, discussed how funding for the program was reduced after it was cut from the academic curriculum, becoming strictly an after-school activity.

All five members of the town council expressed their support for the program, comparing it to the theater program, saying that it provides an alternative extracurricular activity for students to do outside of traditional sports. The council agreed to donate $1,000 to the program.