Town Administrator Rich Rayner told the council the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management has obtained a Federal National Fish & Wildlife Foundation fund award allocated to the Mill Creek project on Prudence (Prudence) Island.

Rayner said a subaward agreement with Portsmouth is being drafted for roughly $1,200,000 and that the award period would run to 2027. The project is intended to restore Mill Creek using box culverts and nature-based solutions to improve shoreline habitat and protect infrastructure from flooding and storm surge.

Rayner recalled that in November 2024, a separate National Coastal Resiliency Fund award of $2.4 million was announced for Aquidneck Island projects; portions of those funds are meant to support restoration work across island communities.

The subaward drafting was presented as an informational item in the town-administrator report; no council vote on the subaward itself was recorded at the meeting.