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Council forms grant subcommittee, accepts resignations and advances ordinances including public-safety and background-check measures
Summary
Councilors voted to formalize a grant subcommittee, advanced multiple Ordinance Committee measures including fire-system and liquor-license background-check ordinances, recommended judge salary increases, and accepted two board resignations.
At its Feb. 4 meeting the North Providence Town Council took several governance and committee actions, moved to formalize a grant subcommittee and advanced multiple ordinance and finance items for follow-up.
Grant committee
Councilman LaPorte proposed solidifying a grant committee as a subcommittee of the Finance Committee to track expiring grants and coordinate with grant writers and administration. Council members agreed the group should meet separately as a subcommittee and planned to nominate a chair at the next Finance Committee meeting. Councilman LaPorte noted the town is "entitled to apply for about $500,000 a year" in CDBG funding, and members emphasized routine monitoring of expiring grant funds.
Ordinance Committee items
The Ordinance Committee reported several items for introduction or passage: - A proposed fire-system ordinance requiring upgrades from master boxes to radio boxes, with a five-year compliance period and an added sentence permitting diversion of restricted account funds for communications expenses subject to majority council approval. The committee recommended passage and the council voted to introduce the ordinance at the next meeting. - A proposed ordinance to require liquor-license applicants to undergo a criminal background check administered by the North Providence Police Department (fee proposed at $55), subject to the police chief's approval; the council voted to introduce that ordinance for consideration. - A request to introduce an ordinance creating resident-only parking in front of 16 Redfern Street was approved for introduction.
Finance Committee and judge salaries
The Finance Committee reported a recommendation to increase municipal judge compensation based on a comparative review: $18,000 for the chief judge and $14,000 for associate judges. The council instructed legal counsel and the clerk to work together to determine how to amend the current budget ordinance to effect the salary changes as soon as possible.
Appointments and administrative items
The council accepted with regret letters of resignation from Christopher Petracca (Zoning Board) and Rebecca Schnell (Library Board). Reappointments and a new library appointment were approved; reappointments included members of the Zoning Board, Environmental Commission, Juvenile Hearing Board and Land Trust. The council also referred three citizen claims to the claims committee and accepted a non-report from the claims committee to be included in the March agenda.
Ending
Council members directed committee chairs and staff to follow up and to return ordinance language, grant-committee nominations and financial amendments to the council at future meetings.
