The Newport City Council will take up a range of items at its regular meeting Wednesday, July 8, including notice of a projected school budget deficit, a federal street-safety grant and the designation of a new “Newport Access Hub.” The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall, 43 Broadway.
The meeting opens with a public hearing on a Community Development Block Grant application for Mumford Manor at 39 Farewell Street.
Among the notable items, the council will receive a communication from Superintendent Colleen Burns Jermain notifying the city of a projected school budget deficit, as required under state law. The council will also weigh authorization to accept a $321,600 federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant, and a resolution designating the parking lot at 80 J.T. Connell Highway as the “Newport Access Hub.”
Other action items from the city manager include a distribution from the Henderson Home Trust for maintenance and reserves, a contract for modernization of the Station 1 drinking water treatment plant’s control systems, a fixed-rate electricity supply contract, and two proposed parking and traffic ordinance revisions affecting South Baptist Street and Bridge Street. The council will also take up second readings of ordinances on parking restrictions along Russell Avenue and the issuance of wastewater system revenue bonds, along with a resolution from Councilor Steph Smyth requesting a personnel audit, continued from the council’s June 10 meeting.
The consent calendar includes a slate of summer special events, among them the Sallie Hunt Foundation’s “Serial Killers Speakeasy” at the Newport Art Museum from July 16 to 18, a Redwood Library concert series in August, a Rhode Island Philharmonic community concert at Rosecliff on Aug. 9 and the Newport Global Summit on Aug. 18 and 19. The council will also consider a special event license for the Newport Kite Festival at Brenton Point State Park on July 11 and 12, along with several annual entertainment and victualing license renewals.
The consent calendar also includes several resignations from city boards and commissions, the Police Department’s 2025 annual report and a number of appointments and reappointments to city panels, including the Tree and Open Space Commission, the Historic District Commission and the Historic Cemetery Advisory Commission.
After adjourning, the council will convene as the Board of License Commissioners to consider daily liquor licenses tied to two of the summer events.
The full docket is available through the city clerk’s office.
