Coventry council adopts resolution opposing two state bills after hours of public comment from Western Coventry residents

The Coventry Town Council on Thursday adopted Resolution 2025‑63, a formal town-position statement opposing 2025 S1010 and 2025 H6249 and directing the Municipal Fire Commission to continue its study of fire and emergency services, after more than two hours of public comment from Western Coventry residents and fire district officials.

The resolution, introduced by Councilman Joseph Capaldi and seconded by Vice President Anthony Verducci, passed on a roll-call vote with Councilman Brown, Councilman Capaldi, Vice President Verducci and President Hillary Lima voting yes; Councilman Pasqua recused himself from the matter. The council also unanimously voted to enter a June 2 letter from Senators Rogers and Rep. Tackus into the meeting record.

The vote followed repeated concerns from residents of the Western Coventry Fire District who said the proposed state measures and the commission's current work could strip Western Coventry voters of a direct say over their local fire district, raise taxes for Western residents and fail to reflect the district's operational record. "Don't take away our voice," said Britney Boyer, 318 Town Farm Road. "Let democracy work and listen to what we have to say."

Several speakers representing Western Coventry said the district has invested in staffing and facilities and that those local decisions and costs would not be fairly reflected in a townwide change. Robert Heavey, 607 Weaver Hill Road, provided mutual-aid data the council heard from the public record: for 2022 Heavey said Western Coventry received 89 mutual‑aid responses into the district and made 281 out‑of‑district responses; in 2023 he said it had 13 into and 360 out; and in 2024 he said 85 into and 509 out. Stephen Bosque, chair of the Western Coventry Fire District board, told the council that the district has modern facilities and higher staffing and argued that the district's audits and quarterly filings have not triggered auditor concerns.

Council members said the resolution does not decide whether Coventry will adopt a municipal fire department. "This resolution is about allowing the town to put on its big boy pants and take control of stabilizing a life and death service," President Hillary Lima said, framing the vote as permission for the town commission process to continue without state interference. Lima and other council members repeatedly invited residents to participate directly in Municipal Fire Commission meetings, which the council said are being held twice monthly and are livestreamed and recorded.

Speakers from Western Coventry also raised process questions about the commission's outreach and requested clearer answers to technical questions about staffing, assets, and how structural deficits would be treated. Several speakers asked for a firefighter designee to be appointed from Western Coventry; the council said the commission's membership rules allow districts to nominate nonunion designees and that public input remains welcome.

The council's action also included a procedural vote to enter into the record correspondence submitted by state legislators; the clerk recorded the letter from Senators Rogers and Rep. Tackus. Council members emphasized that the commission's work is ongoing and that no final decisions about departmental structure, assets, or collective bargaining have been made by the commission or the council.

The council adopted the resolution and closed discussion by urging residents to attend future commission meetings and to submit written questions about specific disputed data so staff and commissioners can respond in detail.