Council Seeks More Information on Several Agenda Items

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA

January 24th 2025

RICHMOND – Town Council members addressed a number of housekeeping issues at their Jan. 21 meeting, agreeing they would need more information before voting on them. Members also heard from state Rep. Megan Cotter, D-Richmond, Exeter, Hopkinton, who had been invited to attend the meeting to present her legislative priorities.

First on Cotter’s list is the creation of the Inspector General.

“We built a very balanced budget and I’m very proud of the budget that we built, but once the money is released, we have no idea of how well it’s being spent, so I think That’s really important that we have someone on oversight, watching where those dollars go,” she told the council.

Other legislation includes a bill known as “Kids’ Code, to protect children when they are online.

Another priority is a guarantee of regional transportation in the Chariho School District.

“I like to compare us and Central Falls,” she said. “Central Falls is one square mile, whereas Chariho is 120 square miles. Our kids don’t have the luxury of walking to school, and this is not a guaranteed payout from the state every year, so potentially, our school districts have to build a budget and hope for the best.”

Cotter also supports a 6% bonus for regional school districts, school policies for students’ behavioral health issues, increasing the tac credit for disabled and senior residents from $35,000 to $50,000 and increase the tax rebate from $500 to $850.00.

Another goal is a tax credit for forestry workers.

“The average age in that industry is probably 65,” Cotter said. “We need some young folks to get in there and start working in there, that live in Rhode Island. We have a lot of outsource work.”

Cotter is also working on the formation of a commission to study utility costs.

“What we can do, as a body, to reduce energy costs – not just capping profits,” she said.

Other Business

The council again considered a community choice aggregation plan for the town’s electricity, which was first presented at the Jan. 7 council meeting.

Town Administrator Karen Pinch presented a draft request for proposals.

Council members had several concerns the program, in particular, a component known as “additionality,” in which communities that prioritize renewable energy sources could enter into long term contracts with providers such as solar developers. Additionality is an option, not a mandatory aspect of the program.

The main concern, however, is the automatic enrollment, which would require residents to opt out.

Councilor Dan Madnick said,

“I want a very easy, very simple out-out motion,” he said.

Reached Thursday, council President Samantha Wilcox agreed that the proposal would require more research.

“I was very skeptical of the forced opt-in from the beginning,” she said. “I didn’t like it.”

The council did not make a decision on the proposal.

The Property Tax Abatement

The discussion of an ordinance amendment on the town’s property tax abatement ordinance continued, with the council requesting more information before voting on the change, which would increase property tax abatements for lower income homeowners.

“There’s a lot of options, and that’s something that I’ve been communicating with Carmen [Tax Assessor Carmen Labelle] about over the past two or three years,” Wilcox said. “We were advised to pause it. I took that advice. After a lot of questions, we discussed a lot of options off – line, while never really making a decision, obviously, but I learned a lot about it, and got feedback from residents who felt that by pausing the exemption and not making any changes, we were not doing the best we could for people in the lower income bracket.”

Council Vice President Mark Reynolds made a motion to advertise a public hearing to solicit public feedback on the proposed amendment.

“Let’s put it out there,” he said. “We can all think about it too, and then the public has an opportunity.”

The Grant Writer

The possibility of hiring a grant writer was also on the meeting agenda. Councilors discussed the relative merits of hiring a staff member, a “non-employee compensation” arrangement and the third option, a contract position.

Councilor Madnick said he would like town staff to come up with an outline of the grant writer’s responsibilities.

Wilcox said the grant writer position was relatively straightforward and would not require extensive deliberation.

“The grant writer, we had a pretty clear directive of ‘create this job description,’” Wilcox said.

Appointments and Resignations

The council made several appointments. Former Town Council President Mark Trimmer was named to the 250th Semi Quincentennial Commission, Thomas Marron was appointed to the Finance Board, Jim Turek was re-appointed to the Conservation Commission, and Kate Schimmel and Erin Liese were appointed to the Recreation Commission.

Jordan Gouveia was re-appointed to the Dog Park Committee.

The council also accepted the resignation of Bryce Kelley from the Planning Board.