The following was written by City of Newport Mayor Jamie Bova. It was sent out in her weekly email to constituents.
This Wednesday, the City Council will officially receive the letter of resignation from School Committee Member Kathy Silvia. Kathy served on the School Committee for many years and before that she served as City Clerk for Newport. We cannot thank her enough for her years of service to our City. The Council held a workshop on February 5 to discuss the approach we are taking to filling the vacancy on the School Committee. If you are interested in applying to fill the vacancy, find more information here.
There was a workshop this weekend with our State Legislative Delegation. The agenda was lengthy, and we discussed items such as the potential impacts of the Governor’s proposed budget, amending our tax classification law, the state school funding formula, and more.
Here are a few items of interest on the docket for the regular council meeting this Wednesday:
- There will be a public hearing on the proposed FY21-FY25 Capital Improvement Plan. I mentioned on this in my last newsletter and I strongly urge folks to read through the CIP and come talk to the Council about it on Wednesday.
- The City Council will be officially receiving and voting on the submittal of the Rhode Island Dept of Education Stage II application to build a new high school and construct an addition at Pell Elementary School. If the Council approves the application, it will then be submitted to RIDE for review and approval. After that, the next step would be for the Council to vote on putting the school construction bond question on the November ballot, which would allow the public to make the final decision.
- The Director of Planning and Economic Development, Patricia Reynolds has submitted a communication for the Council with an update from NBBJ, the consultant developing the North End Urban Plan. We are currently in the Discover phase of the plan development and NBBJ has been meeting with residents, businesses, community groups, and other stakeholders to learn about critical concerns and issues, identify opportunities, and more. I have attended multiple outreach meetings and this effort is creating a strong base for the plan. Public engagement is key to making the North End Urban Plan a success, so I urge you to attend any outreach meetings you can.
As always, the full docket is available online. You are invited to come and voice your questions and concerns at the meeting.
-JB