The Newport City Council has rescheduled its canceled Wednesday meeting to Monday, Sept. 29 at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall.
The Sept. 24 meeting was canceled due to improper public notification, according to Councilor David Carlin. The session was not properly posted on the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s website as required by state law.
Under Rhode Island’s Open Meetings Act, all public bodies must give written notice of their meetings at least 48 hours before the meeting, excluding holidays and weekends. The notices must include the date, time and location of the meeting and an agenda of what will be discussed. At minimum, these notices must be posted on the Secretary of State’s website and at the office or building where the meeting will be held.
This marks the second council meeting cancellation this month. The Sept. 10 meeting was canceled due to elevator issues at City Hall and was rescheduled for Sept. 15 at Pell Elementary School.
The rescheduled agenda remains largely unchanged and includes several significant items, including proposed harbor ordinance revisions and major infrastructure contract awards.
The city is poised to award contracts for several major projects, including HVAC system upgrades for the Martin Recreation Center, City Hall retaining wall repairs, LED sports lighting for the John Chafee Recreation Area and reconstruction of the Perrotti Park harbor shuttle landing.
The council will also consider approval for numerous fall events, though some events scheduled for this past weekend have been removed from the consent calendar. Remaining events include the State of the Collections Lecture at Rosecliff on Monday from 6-8 p.m., the Mid-Autumn Festival at Marble House on Oct. 6, and Trinity Church’s Pumpkin Patch running Oct. 8-31.
Two licensing items require council attention: a new victualing license for Principal Nutrition LLC, doing business as Sip to Shine at 260 Bellevue Ave., and an entertainment license expansion for The Vanderbilt at 41 Mary St.
Councilors S. Smyth and E. Pinnock will present their resolution supporting a moratorium on new natural gas hookups on Aquidneck Island.
The Board of License Commissioners will also reconvene a show cause hearing for the Pyramid Club, which has been operating without a valid alcoholic beverage license. The hearing was continued from July 23.
The meeting begins with a 15-minute Citizens’ Forum where residents can address the council on city business for up to three minutes each.
The full agenda and supporting documents are available online.