Newport’s Department of Utilities is set to purchase a property at 81 Garfield Street for an amount not to exceed $500,000 to facilitate stormwater infrastructure improvements and potential flood mitigation efforts.
The City Council approved the purchase and sale agreement with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) during its meeting on July 24. The funding will come from the Department of Utilities’ Water Pollution Control Division capital funds.
Rob Schultz, representing the Department of Utilities, explained the strategic importance of the property: “That location right now, during some flooding events, will have about three and a half feet of water. There’s also an existing 24-inch pipe and a 46-inch pipe that run right next to that property.”
Schultz emphasized the likelihood of needing to directionally drill underneath the new RIDOT roadway at this exact spot for future stormwater infrastructure.
The property’s acquisition presents two potential scenarios. In the worst case, the house may need to be demolished to accommodate necessary infrastructure. However, the best-case scenario involves using the extra space for infrastructure while mitigating the property to make it flood-resistant.
“We do not want to demo the house if we don’t have to,” Schultz said. “But under that worst-case scenario, working with Trish and building and zoning, we would document it as a case study.”
The city’s quick action to secure the property was prompted by an unexpected opportunity. RIDOT, which had purchased the property last October, reached out to the city after receiving a bid at a public auction.
Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong noted the property’s proximity to the new bridge abutment, saying, “You can practically reach out and touch the abutment from the house itself.”
Schultz indicated that similar property acquisitions might become more frequent as the city tackles its infrastructure challenges.
“Topics like this are probably going to come up more frequently,” Schultz said. “There’s certain issues that we have in the city around infrastructure that really one or two properties are central to where we need to have things go.”
