Preserve Taxes Added to Special Meeting Agenda

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA

November 22nd 2024

RICHMOND – The agenda of a special Town Council meeting on Monday, posted on Nov. 20, contained a single item:  the discussion and reconsideration of a request by Rhode Island Energy to install two new electrical transmission poles on Shannock Hill Road. The poles would transmit electricity generated by the new solar energy facility built on Beaver River Road.

The council voted to deny the request at the Nov. 19 meeting, but after learning that the denial could result in legal action by the developer, Green Development, against the town, members agreed to reconsider the request at a special Town Council meeting on Nov. 25.

Four Agendas

The Secretary of State’s website shows that a second, amended agenda for the special meeting was posted just a few minutes after the first agenda, on Nov. 20. The new agenda included a second item: “Potential litigation, 29 Buttonwoods Road,” the address of the Buttonwoods MX motocross track.

However, the next day, Nov. 21, a third meeting agenda was posted, and Buttonwoods MX was not on it. The only item was the electric poles.  

There were more changes to come. A fourth and final agenda, posted on Nov. 21, about three hours after the third agenda, includes a new item, to be discussed in executive session. In addition to the electric poles, there is a collection of appeals by the Preserve at Boulder Hills, regarding tax assessments from 2020 to 2023.

The Preserve’s tax appeals are currently in court-ordered mediation, with council members Michael Colasante and Samantha Wilcox representing the town. (Wilcox was not able to attend the mediation session in question.)

Another Meeting Date Changed

In addition to the amendments to the special council meeting agenda, the date of the Board of Canvassers meeting was changed.

The Nov. 25 meeting of the Board of Canvassers to certify the results of the general election was moved to Nov. 26. That change will permit the current members of the Town Council to meet and take action if warranted, before the new council is certified.

Some council members were not expecting to discuss the Preserve’s tax appeals at Monday’s special meeting. Council Vice President Richard Nassaney said he was not aware of the agenda amendment.

Council President Mark Trimmer, who was not reelected to the Town Council, said he would urge his fellow council members to leave the Preserve tax issue for the incoming council.

“That’s going to the next council,” he said. “To me, it’s just a principle thing. If I was reelected, I might have chosen to do it differently.”

Mark Reynolds, who, in November, was elected to the Town Council, also chairs the town’s Tax Assessment Board of Review. Reynolds agreed that decisions on the Preserve’s tax appeals should be left to the new Town Council and said he would convey his opinion to Trimmer before the special meeting.

“I may send him an email expressing my feeling that that’s what should be done,” he said.