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Council adopts Thomas property rental policy as town attorney, AG guidance cited
Summary
The council approved the policy for four rehabilitated units at the Thomas property, with advertising and a lottery schedule; town counsel said the attorney general sees the units as reserved for police under the existing consent order and asked to update the site plan record.
The New Shoreham Town Council on July 16 approved a policy to advertise and allocate four newly renovated rental units at the Thomas property, setting a three-week advertising period, an application deadline of Aug. 8, a lottery on Aug. 15 and a target occupancy date of Sept. 1.
Town Manager Amy told the council the timeline is tight but aligned with construction and that the town will advertise three units to the public while reserving one early for a police candidate who has already expressed interest. The policy allows initial priority for town employees and school employees as the policy lays out.
Legal context: Town Attorney James said he had conferred with the Rhode Island Attorney General's charitable-trust unit, which reviewed the file and indicated its present interpretation is that the consent order and related documents commit the property's units to priority for police officers. James said the AG staff asked that the town file a motion modifying the consent order to incorporate a revised site plan so the record matches the as-built configuration (two units in the front house and two in a separate rear building).
Council debate: Councilor Nancy and others questioned whether tying all four units permanently to police occupancy was required; several members favored preserving police priority but also discussed the town's interest in allowing teacher or other municipal-employee occupancy in the second building if appropriate. James said the AG had reviewed the documents and viewed the consent order as covering four units for police, and that a different interpretation would require further legal steps.
Action taken: The council voted to adopt the posted policy to allow immediate advertising and the lottery schedule. The motion passed with the ayes prevailing; no roll-call tally by name was recorded in the meeting transcript.
Why it matters: The policy sets an expedited path to fill newly completed units with a mix of town employees and qualifying island residents and formalizes a schedule to meet the town's school-year and construction timeline. At the same time, the AG guidance about police priority shaped the legal envelope the council discussed.
Ending: Town staff said they would file the AG site-plan modification as a procedural update and execute the advertising and lottery process under the adopted policy.
