PORTSMOUTH — Voters will be asked to authorize the town to borrow $21,439,299 for major upgrades to its four school buildings when they head to the polls for a special election on Nov. 2.

The Town Council Tuesday night unanimously approved the language of a ballot question that, if approved, will provide funds for the School Department’s Stage II submission to the R.I. Department of Education for various capital improvements within the district. 

The original proposal was once estimated at $65 million, but the district has since scaled back its plans to focus on health and safety improvements to bring the estimated cost down to $21.44 million.

The new Stage II plan, which is required for the town to receive a minimum state housing aid reimbursements of 35 percent, is in the hands of the School Building Authority at RIDE.

The proposal calls for renovating all school bathrooms, installing air conditioning in the high school field house, installing an elevator at Hathaway, reconfiguring parking along Patriots Drive, abating remaining asbestos materials in the schools, and more.

Larry Fitzmorris of the taxpayer group Portsmouth Concerned Citizens questioned cost controls, pointing out the cost of building a new police station exceeded the $10 million bond that was approved by voters. Mr. Fitzmorris suggested adding language to the ballot question ensuring that “no additional funds may be used from any other source for these projects.” 

Council members pointed out, however, that the question already states the bond’s maximum amount.

According to PFM Financial Advisors LLC, which prepared a debt analysis for the town, the project would increase the tax rate by about 23 cents — an additional $79.38 on the annual tax bill for the owner of a house valued at $350,000.

Basketball at Glen Farm

After some often-contentious debate, the council voted 4-2 to enter into a memorandum of understanding with Portsmouth Youth Basketball (PYB) to develop an outdoor basketball court facility at town-owned Glen Farm.

Jeff Swider of PYB said the organization would fund-raise about $300,000 to build four regulation-sized courts and add the associated lighting, scoreboards and equipment necessary to power them. PYB would not be charged to use the courts, which would be managed by the town’s Parks and Recreation Department also be available for pickup games by other residents.

PYB originally asked to set aside a space near the Leonard Brown House on the lower (east) end of the special events field. However, on a suggestion by council member Keith Hamilton, the MOU was changed to locate the proposed courts further east into the parking area.

Council Vice President Linda Ujifusa and council member J. Mark Ryan voted against the motion. Ms. Ujifusa said she isn’t against the proposal, but urged the council to wait until its recreational master plan is completed early next year before adding more activities at Glen Farm.

Several residents spoke out against the plan, saying Glen Farm was intended to be enjoyed as green space, and that the property may not be able to accommodate more activities.

We’ll have a more detailed report about the proposal in next week’s paper.

Beach bathhouse contract

The council voted unanimously to follow Public Works Director Brian Woodhead’s recommendation to hire Nation Wide Construction Corp., the lowest qualified bidder, to make needed renovations to the bathhouse at Sandy Point Beach.

Seven companies in all submitted bids for the job, which included an alternate for the exterior sidewalks in case the prices were above the approved amount in the town’s capital improvement fund for the project.

Bids ranged from Nation Wide’s proposal of $188,285, ($11,870 for the alternate job) up to $331,393.

Audio/visual system

The council also voted unanimously to hire a contractor to upgrade the audio/visual system in the Town Council Chambers.

There were three bidders, the lowest being ePlus Account at $70,540.15. However, the council agreed to follow Mr. Woodhead’s recommendation to hire ADTECH Systems, which bid $84,937.67, because it was a better fit for the improvements the town was trying to make, particularly when it came to live-streaming meetings. 

A one-year maintenance agreement with ADTECH, at a cost of $6,750, brought the total cost to $91,687.67.

Fireworks approved

Sitting as the Board of License Commissioners, the council unanimously approved an entertainment license for the Island Park Preservation Society to hold its annual Island Park Picnic and Fireworks on Sunday, Sept. 5.

The event will be held from 5-9 p.m. at Thriving Tree Coffee House, 706 Park Ave.

Resignation/appointments

The council accepted with regret the resignations of Brendan Abbott and Cynthia Bogart from the Design Review Board; Karen Gleason from the Juvenile Hearing Board; and Carolyn Gillman from the Solid Waste/Recycling Committee.

Christopher Brown and Frederick Stevenson Jr. were both unanimously reappointed to the Prudence Island Planning Commission.

Future meetings

The council will next meet on the following dates and times, all at Town Hall unless otherwise noted:

• 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 13

• Noon on Saturday, Sept. 18, on Prudence Island

• 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 27

• 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 12