PORTSMOUTH — In an effort to enhance visitors’ experience in Portsmouth, the town has selected five local recipients of a one-time $7,500 community support grant from the Newport & Bristol County Convention and Visitors Bureau (Discover Newport).

Town Administrator Richard Rainer, Jr. told the Town Council on Dec. 12 that the following organizations will each receive $1,500 to support specific projects, which are expected to be completed by July 2023:

• Portsmouth Department of Public Works — to support construction of a sign for Mt. Hope Park

• 4 Hearts Foundation — to support procurement of equipment for the Turnpike Avenue playground upgrade

• Aquidneck Land Trust — to support the installation of benches at Spruce Acres Park, a 22.7-acre former tree farm off East Main Road in the south end of town

• Portsmouth Recreation Department — to support the installation of a swing set at Glen Park

• Island Park Preservation Society — to support a fireworks display in 2023

Sound variance requested

In other business on Dec. 12, the council voted unanimously to advertise for a public hearing on a request for a variance from the town’s noise ordinance for operations at the seasonal LNG facility on Old Mill Lane.

R.I. Energy, formerly known as National Grid, has been operating the facility, located within a residential neighborhood, during periods of peak loads in the winter after a severe outage on Aquidneck Island in January 2019. 

Initially, R.I. Energy said it planned to keep LNG at the facility for up to 10 more years. But last year, the utility announced it was seeking to use the facility at 111 Old Mill Lane as long as needed, and that it was the only viable option providing uninterrupted service of the natural gas distribution system on the island. Critics of the plan, including the council, say the utility should seek alternate methods to remedy its longterm gas supply needs.

Several abutters have complained that the noise generated by the facility far exceeds the town’s acceptable levels of 55 decibels at nighttime and 65 decibels during the day.

However, at a meeting in October, George Watson III, a lawyer for R.I. Energy, told the council that “they’ve changed the operation” on Old Mill Lane and that noise levels may have gone down, a comment that was met with skepticism by abutters.

The public hearing was scheduled for Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

Judge’s pay doubled

The council reappointed Municipal Court Judge Richard D’Addario and doubled his compensation package. 

“There’s been a steady increase in municipal court activities,” Rainer said while recommending the council increase the judge’s pay from the current $4,500 to $9,000, beginning Jan. 1, 2023. Judge D’Addario has indicated his case load has increased substantially, and it’s anticipated the court will start hearing building code violations next year, Rainer said.

The court essentially pays for itself with revenues generated through fines, he added.

Resilient infrastructure

The council unanimously approved Town Planner Lea Kitchen’s request for a letter of support regarding a grant application for the 2022 FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure And Communities (BRIC) for a hazard mitigation plan for Aquidneck Island.

The town will contribute a 10-percent ($7,500) match toward developing the plan with the other island communities. The money is already allocated in the current budget.

The town’s current hazard mitigation plan expires on Jan. 1, 2024. Without one, the town cannot seek FEMA funding following major storms and other natural disasters, Hitchen said.

Resort development 

The council voted to advertise for a public hearing on Jan. 9, 2023, for a proposed amendment in the zoning ordinance to expand the jurisdictional limits of land development projects for resort developments.

Under the town’s land use tables, planned resort developments are limited to the area bounded by Willow Lane, West Main Road, Bristol Ferry Road and the Mt. Hope Bridge, as well as one other lot on the Middletown line.

Attorney Cort Chappell is seeking an expansion of the jurisdiction to include the lots currently housing the Aquidneck Club (which he represents), south of Willow Lane.

“The purpose if to give the Planning Board authority to modify and regulate the Aquidneck Club properties viewed as a whole as granted under previous special use permits of the Zoning Board under the previous codified resort ordinance before the Planning Board,” Chappell stated in an earlier letter to the council.

Resignations/appointments

The council accepted with regret the following resignations from town boards: Dave Gleason from the Harbor Commission and Mooring Assignment Appeal Committee (Gleason was elected to the council last month); Edward Aldrich from the Prudence Island Planning Commission; and Jennifer Gaga from the Solid Waste and Recycling Committee.

The council voted unanimously to make the following appointments: Joshua Parks to the Harbor Committee, Stephen M. Dunn to the Melville Park Committee, Irene St. Germain and Henry Peter (re-appointment) to the Prudence Island Planning Commission.

Liaisons assigned

Now that a new council has been seated, the panel assigned the following members as liaisons to various town boards and committees:

• Agriculture Committee — Keith Hamilton

• Aquidneck Island Planning Commission  — Leonard Katzman, Charles Levesque

• Bristol Ferry Town Common — Dave Gleason

• Conservation Commission — Daniela Abbott, Gleason

• Dog Park Committee — Hamilton

• Economic Development Committee — Katzman, Kevin Aguiar

• Harbor Commission — Gleason

• Melville Park Committee — J. Mark Ryan, Aguiar

• Newport Chamber of Commerce — Hamilton

• Parks & Recreation Committee — Levesque, Abbott

• Pension Investment Committee — Hamilton, Aguiar

• Portsmouth Senior Center — Gleason

• School Building Subcommittee — Aguiar, Hamilton

• Solid Waste/Recycling Study Committee — Ryan

• Tree Commission — Ryan

• West Side Development Advisory Committee — Katzman

Potter League contract

Police Chief Brian Peters’s request to renew the town’s three-year regional shelter agreement contract with the Potter League for Animals was approved in a unanimous vote.

Under the terms of the contract, the town will pay the League $42,000 each year, an annual increase of $2,000 over the former agreement.

Future meetings

The council will meet on the following Mondays, all at 7 p.m.: Jan. 9, 2023, Jan. 23, Jan. 30 (ethics training), and Feb. 13.