[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6612150,"mediaKeyId","2892000-3294f6a827fa517200a41ef5cfe1a6d1","parentId",2892000,"title","Narragansett planning staff to reapply for EPA watershed grant for Flowering Farm causeway; requests $150,000 for comprehensive-plan update","audioSeconds",550,"startMs",868000,"endMs",1418000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2892000-3294f6a827fa517200a41ef5cfe1a6d1&start=868&end=1418","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2892000-3294f6a827fa517200a41ef5cfe1a6d1/thumbnail_868000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6612150/Narragansett/Washington-County/Rhode-Island/Narragansett-planning-staff-to-reapply-for-EPA-watershed-grant-for-Flowering-Farm-causeway-requests-150000-for-comprehensive-plan-update","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6612150-24df4cf812e2dafefc767883cb3b0504/orig.mp4?Expires=1770447702&Signature=iwxTbDn1Y4fDg74kNX5e5mZtYOYhSDZkTbpEkrgDtMuFjISBYGi9648XE~BXNR2low8r4iIyD6gT0d4INv6KfTN4nRufLLhmvHbQdr3At4JBIsg2h9XDUb05f0KJf8S2QWBmTThnA9C~EPH80vBHNlt8VfyXVUyzqJ4ilkFHqgH88T4-kOXVaCaBuYBhr7XSNdTr76S6vjY0KFc13nRy7uqTSTMFG-KQRuypdJghdIsg0YpEhafLnapBwWYgTfvsyv4~Q~V1yG9DG5iao8k1-H84NcZk76PllyvKZcclApHL8KSI-IeNRRPSPf-65-3zNIdgfosajvoq-NFcxapCPA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Narragansett","date","2025-04-07T23:04:35.513Z","article","Jill Sabo, director of planning for the Town of Narragansett, told the council the department will seek money to study and implement a water-quality component for the ongoing Flowering Farm causeway project and requested funding to update the town’s comprehensive plan.

Sabo described the Flowering Farm causeway project as ongoing since about 2017. The causeway separates Long Cove and Champlin Cove; Long Cove has known water-quality issues and the town has been looking at options \"to dovetail\" road-raising work with measures that could improve the coves, including the potential addition of a culvert. \"We have the opportunity right now to apply for a grant from SNEP,\" Sabo said, identifying SNEP as the Southeast New England program administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She said the SNEP grant this year is a SWIG (watershed implementation) grant and that the grant requires a 33 percent local match.

Sabo said the town applied for the same grant last year and did not receive it. The town provided $57,500 in matching funds in 2024. She said FEMA-funded work currently under way supports road raising for life, safety and property purposes, but FEMA funding \"won't support the environmental component.\" Sabo said she spoke with EPA staff after the previous application to clarify that FEMA money would not cover the water-quality work.

On the comprehensive plan, Sabo asked the council to fund $75,000 per year for two years (a total request of $150,000) to update the town’s plan. She said state law has changed to make timely updates more urgent and warned that municipalities that fail to update within the required interval risk losing the ability to use their plan in municipal decision-making. The last plan started in 2012 and did not finish until 2017; Sabo said she expects the update work will be faster this time and proposed a three-and-a-half-year schedule as an upper bound to meet deadlines.

Council members asked about the security of FEMA funding for the road-raising work. Sabo said, \"We have a grant right now. We're operating under a FEMA grant right now ... It's not being taken away or anything like that.\" She also described the proposed comprehensive-plan work as consultant-led: the town would bid and hire a consultant to do the bulk of the work.

No formal council action or vote on the grant application or the comprehensive-plan appropriation occurred in the session; both items were presented for council review and will be considered further in the work-session and budget process.

Ending: Sabo said staff will proceed with grant planning and comprehensive-plan procurement steps as the budget process continues and will report back to the council during upcoming workshops.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Narragansett Town Council - April 7, 2025 Work Session","oneSentenceSummary","Jill Sabo, director of planning for the Town of Narragansett, told the council the department will seek money to study and implement a water-quality component for the ongoing Flowering Farm causeway project and requested funding to update the town’s comprehensive plan.","taxTitle","Narragansett, Washington County, Rhode Island","taxId",79580,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6612155,"Narragansett reviews IT budget: phone service consolidated, cybersecurity and security-system upgrades planned",648,99000,747000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2892000-3294f6a827fa517200a41ef5cfe1a6d1&start=99&end=747","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2892000-3294f6a827fa517200a41ef5cfe1a6d1/thumbnail_99000.jpg","/articles/6612155/Narragansett/Washington-County/Rhode-Island/Narragansett-reviews-IT-budget-phone-service-consolidated-cybersecurity-and-security-system-upgrades-planned","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6612155-4718c9788dc8be46a94686ebb8757e39/orig.mp4?Expires=1770447702&Signature=PjGvKgYni0le9FDwf0ZfA2JCqJbzz8XxcMS-A17yZTPBbIfY7FHr-cgdpW7fA7ebfVv-9byQBuaJY3felN-CjY2Hbh69bAYQtsNo9Ol1OqoK3NzcIMmswvs0-JS6ccpPsmbGW3~fvmdtWvBPRzPkri26m6smmgC0tvemxA2N9dmIpI5XIYVFBqDWI2RrlCHj1Q6F3ZZLbUAIvqZk5mMFJBN2rcjdmO0CXDq4R-SKjHDqni2xs-i7dF00ZULjmlej7g4mfIqjieIeM0V89s8BJ5MRH-76nCnC2bTU2~hpr-thLbGSiCtd4Vyx58ed9mPxisXlmCADo62EUSdPsJN~pA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Council President Menzies opened the Town of Narragansett’s first budget work session of the season with a review of the Information Technology budget.

Dan Holland, director/manager of Information Technology, said the department’s personnel and benefits costs are set by the town’s bargaining agreements and insurers, and that IT and Community Development budgets both fell by almost 8 percent from the prior year in part because of staffing changes and the consolidation of one planned position. \"IT is responsible for everything IT related in the town, which is everything we do now,\" Holland said.

Holland walked the council through operating and capital items. On operating lines, the town consolidated voice-over-IP telephone charges from separate departmental accounts into one centralized budget for easier billing and accounting. \"The idea was to combine it, from each department because it's the same amount no matter what it is,\" he said.

He said the operating budget also covers internet service providers, the town website, wireless connectivity, software subscriptions, antivirus and email filtering, firewall support, two-factor authentication and backup services. Core enterprise items listed in the materials include Tyler Munis (the town financial/ERP system), OpenGov (billing, permits and licensing), the town’s asset-management and work-order system, and Microsoft 365.

On capital, Holland outlined four line items: a fund for repair/maintenance of town-owned fiber optic cable in the community; an IT equipment reserve for unanticipated replacements; and a planned physical security system replacement beginning at town hall and extending to public safety and other buildings. \"We actually own [the fiber optic cable] ourselves. And every time it breaks, we have to have it repaired,\" Holland said. He described the existing access control system as a proprietary, early-2000s installation that is expensive to modify; the replacement would move to a more open platform to allow multiple vendors and reduce long-term costs.

Council members asked about the town server and disaster response. Holland said the town’s virtual-machine server infrastructure is new — \"one of them is 2 years old, the other one's a year old\" — and that the town maintains a disaster recovery plan. \"We do have a disaster recovery plan,\" he said, but added that the town does not spend enough to guarantee immunity from every possible cyberattack.

Holland described cost-saving practices: extending PC hardware life beyond industry norms, reusing and cannibalizing older equipment, using open-source or consolidated vendor solutions when feasible, and virtualization to avoid large hardware replacement costs.

No formal votes or motions were recorded during the IT presentation; discussion continued to other departmental budgets.

Ending: Holland and council members agreed to continue reviewing IT items in upcoming budget workshops and to refer follow-up technical questions to town accounting and IT staff.","During the Town of Narragansett budget work session, the council reviewed the Information Technology budget, including consolidation of the town's voice-over-IP phone billing, funding for enterprise software and cybersecurity, town-owned fiber maintenance and a planned physical security system replacement across multiple buildings.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6612145,"Narragansett holds boards and commissions spending flat; affordable-housing request to be considered in work sessions",131,1423000,1554000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2892000-3294f6a827fa517200a41ef5cfe1a6d1&start=1423&end=1554","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2892000-3294f6a827fa517200a41ef5cfe1a6d1/thumbnail_1423000.jpg","/articles/6612145/Narragansett/Washington-County/Rhode-Island/Narragansett-holds-boards-and-commissions-spending-flat-affordable-housing-request-to-be-considered-in-work-sessions","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6612145-64ba5b70f7a1940415450839c2664487/orig.mp4?Expires=1770447702&Signature=JboUdjLofbnGbVUqKMLsN0Rqiux~rFlbFpC0ifIMLCnVWOFEBmOrMfNcvOj9mzVft3G4EGWGymT8okN8ABw4D18x-2qNQY~suGlq-5daMoJhR5WY~jy-1ty7qw-GT2zgjgw8ZywV-FVlAIbqIdgqKofL~6bAeBeXiQ-kZHhAxnI1gmF65NrtgChSEf5sfKzshuowgkCZruGIbAo3GwRyECsUM2y75WA18PtjZ9V6Lk4ueopEhESWjia2EyUXQdBt~y4IbVnmcf3B4d-gSUZ8vVqoMYUTLLzvUoatfvtBOLCTUJ4FWw7i9YZkkOydQnPc9L~3hxEgW2TeXst~4yH9mA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Town of Narragansett council reviewed proposed budgets for boards and commissions and heard that most are level funded for the coming year.

Planning Director Jill Sabo walked the council through the allocations for the Historic District Commission, Zoning Board, Conservation Commission/Tree Board, Planning Board, Harbor Management Commission, the Land Trust and the Affordable Housing Trust Collaborative. Most line items are level funded; small increases in zoning and planning cover mailing and copier-service contracts and additional costs for printing and mailing.

A council member asked about a previously submitted request from the Affordable Housing Trust Collaborative. Sabo said the request \"would be considered during the work sessions\" and, if approved during the budget process, would be included in the adopted budget. Council members also asked how committees request funding; Sabo said a committee may submit a request (for example by email) and the town would decide whether to include it in the budget.

No formal votes were taken on boards-and-commissions funding during the session; items will be evaluated further in later budget workshops.

Ending: Councilors and staff agreed to review any outstanding committee requests during the remaining work sessions and the formal budget hearings.","Councilors reviewed budgets for boards and commissions with largely level funding. Small increases cover copy and mailing services. An affordable-housing request for $50,000 was noted and will be considered later in the budget process.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Narragansett planning staff to reapply for EPA watershed grant for Flowering Farm causeway; requests $150,000 for comprehensive-plan update

Narragansett reviews IT budget: phone service consolidated, cybersecurity and security-system upgrades planned

Narragansett holds boards and commissions spending flat; affordable-housing request to be considered in work sessions