Jamestown pursues CDBG funds for senior center; announces $500,000 award for housing authority renovations

Jamestown officials said the town will apply for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) competitive funds for a senior‑center project and move forward with a separate housing set‑aside application when that funding round opens.

At the meeting the town’s administrator reported that Jamestown had received word it was awarded $500,000 toward bathroom renovations at the local housing authority. Officials said that award would add to previously allocated funds and that, combined, the work on the housing authority should total about $1 million; the town historically invoices construction costs and is reimbursed through grant procedures.

Town staff explained the senior center project was part of the current competitive grant round for federal funds (referred to in the meeting as the 2023–2024 round) and that the state’s schedule for distributing competitive funds had been accelerated; staff said decisions for that competitive round are expected by about July 1. The council voted to approve the application and to waive the reading of the resolution related to the CDBG application.

Separately, the town administrator summarized other infrastructure and public‑safety items in the administrative report: the police chief had requested authorization for the town to execute a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety to migrate local dispatch and records to a shared CAD/records platform over the next 18 months, a change that the administrator said would produce interoperability benefits and a moderate increase in annual subscription fees (the five‑year annual cost quoted in the report was $19,703.33). The administrator also briefed the council on a proposed settlement and termination of a contract with New England Building and Bridge Company related to seawall and sidewalk work; the town retained approximately $62,000 in retainage in lieu of redoing some panels the town rejected for workmanship.

The administrator also described a new infrastructure bank program in which the state‑level bank contracted directly with consulting engineers (Fuss & O'Neil) to produce preliminary engineering for a Taylor Point/Freebody Drive erosion and stormwater project; town staff said the work is being advanced at the infrastructure bank’s expense to help small towns move projects toward shovel‑ready status.

Councilors asked about scheduling and how any grant awards could affect pending local bond or capital questions. Town staff said some bond questions included debt service in the proposed budget and that other bonds, if approved by voters, would be accounted for in future budgets. Staff also described planning for the upcoming financial town meeting, including a printed budget book to be distributed to voters and a single paper ballot the moderator would use if specific questions are called for paper ballots.

No council vote was required to accept the CDBG award announced to the housing authority; the grant award was reported by staff. The council did vote, by voice, to approve submitting applications for the competitive funds and to waive the reading of the related resolution.