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Scituate council approves $3.5M bond change orders, school water project work and several municipal hires
Summary
The Scituate Town Council voted to approve $3.5 million in bond-financed change orders, multiple school and municipal contracts, the hiring of a tax collector and two dispatchers, and awarded a workers’ compensation insurance bid to the Rhode Island Interlocal Trust. Several smaller community measures also passed.
The Scituate Town Council approved a package of municipal actions at its October meeting, including bond-financed contract change orders, school water-project change orders and several personnel appointments.
The council voted to authorize change orders financed by $3,500,000 in bonds previously approved at the town financial meeting. Council members moved and seconded the resolution and approved it on a voice vote.
The council also approved three change orders for the Scituate Public Schools Water Project, including a line item read in the record as "concrete curb blocks for Weld 3 Landscape Island" with an amount read as "not to exceed $565.8" (units not specified in the transcript). Separate routine contract actions approved included removal and disposal of asbestos concrete between two underground tanks (amount not to exceed $4,389) and a courtyard sewer-line relocation (amount not to exceed $16,893.57).
On personnel matters, the council voted to hire Lisa Benson as town tax collector, effective Jan. 31, 2025, at an annual salary of $74,984. Members praised Benson’s 18 years of experience in the office. The council also approved hiring Tracy L. Cook as a full-time dispatcher and Christopher Branch as a per-diem dispatcher at a stated hourly rate of $24.12.
Councilors accepted the recommendation of the treasurer and purchasing agent to award the workers’ compensation insurance bid (SCIT 063) to the Rhode Island Interlocal Trust, which submitted a low annual premium of $65,402; a competing Beacon Mutual Insurance Company bid was recorded as $66,241. A council member thanked Dennis Schellen for his input on that procurement.
Smaller community items approved included a $960 withdrawal from the recycling-initiative account to support composting at the town art festival and authorization for IBPO Local 502 to run a No-Shave November fundraiser (Nov. 1 to Dec. 1, 2024) with proceeds donated to charity. The meeting adjourned after confirming the approvals.
Votes on the recorded motions were carried on voice votes (recorded in the transcript as "Aye" and "Motion passes"). One council member recorded an abstention on a prior closed-session consent item; where the transcript named recusal or abstention, the article reports that disclosure rather than inventing further details.
