To the editor:

A front-page article in last week’s Post outlines Marshall’s new proposal for Metacomet. There’s also an editorial that pretty much leaves for dead Metacomet (as we know it). As a side note, the online version of the article complimented KMG on its passion and its efforts, while claiming that we will ultimately lose the battle.

Also in the paper is an article on a recent Waterfront Commission meeting. The story focuses on the great success of the Phillipsdale Landing complex in Rumford. Also mentioned are development projects such as two new storage facilities and a 30-acre mixed use development, also in the Rumford area; a revamped Sutton Place residential complex; and the South Quay facility on the Providence River across the Parkway from Metacomet. Not mentioned are residential complexes off Barrington Trail, the old Waters/Burnside School property and at the old VAMCO site. I am sure there are others that have skipped my mind.

To my understanding, businesses come to a city that offers good infrastructure, governance, public safety, and an acceptable tax structure. This is good for a business’s bottom line and also good for the workforce they wish to retain and recruit. Employees look for the same things, as well as a good education for their children and amenities such as recreational facilities and open space, and a peaceful quality of life above all. All of that describes our City as it exists now.

The real new businesses mentioned above will surely bring into the city coffers the $8-10M annually, in tax revenues and job creation, that Marshall touts it will generate... eventually. While based on Planning Department analysis, the claim  hinges purely on hypothetical businesses and a hypothetical economy that no one can predict with any certainty in the post-COVID world.

Mayor DaSilva campaigned and entered office declaring himself the economic development candidate. So far, that’s been going great. He’s achieved that goal already. We watch this frenzy and are boggled by the speed of all this development. Our heads are spinning as we try to take it all in. 

East Providence’s long-established businesses, such as Aspen Aerogels and Eaton Aerospace, and the new businesses coming in are drawn to a city by what they see as positive attributes for their businesses and their employees as described above. Two of the most desirable amenities of all—the green and open space of Metacomet and the peaceful quality of life of our community—are about to be bulldozed. Does that not concern our Mayor at all? Did we extol our City’s quality of life amenities to lure them in, and now we’re paving it over?

And where do our members of the Council stand? All but one—with whom I disagree, but respect for his transparent and unwavering stance—have been mostly silent on this since September. Are they with us... or are they not? We deserve an answer. And we demand to know all the facts and figures, including the result of the appraisal, before a decision is made on eminent domain. These elected officials represent the people of East Providence, not Lianne Marshall, and I hope and pray that they will remember that when the time comes for them to cast their vote.

Candy Seel

East Providence