Providence redevelopment plan stalls amid community concern

By: Dan McGowan,  WPRI
Posted: Jul 10, 2018 11:25 PM EDT
Updated: Jul 11, 2018 11:24 PM EDT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A proposal to redevelop 233 acres of mostly industrial land along the Woonasquatucket River in Providence was met with sharp criticism Tuesday evening from business owners and residents who raised concerns about whether the city will seize their properties.

Repeated assurances were offered by city planning director Bonnie Nickerson that the proposal focuses on “public improvements to public property” and will not result in private properties being taken by eminent domain. But that did little to dissuade dozens of opponents who turned out for a public hearing in City Hall in front of the City Council Committee on Urban Redevelopment, Renewal and Planning (URRP)…

Nickerson agreed to conduct more outreach and return with an amendment that removes eminent domain language from the proposal.

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After millions of dollars in settlements, Providence still faces 1,000 lawsuits

By: Dan McGowan ,  Walt Buteau  WPRI
Posted: May 30, 2018 05:06 PM EDT
Updated: May 31, 2018 05:27 PM EDT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The decision by Providence officials to settle a high-profile lawsuit challenging the city’s controversial speed camera program may close the books on one high-profile legal challenge, but the city remains a defendant in more than 1,000 civil lawsuits, according to report released by the city’s law department this month.

The report, prepared for the City Council, shows Providence is involved in 1,114 open civil cases, 41 of which the city is the suing entity. Two hundred lawsuits involve entities challenging their property tax assessments, including the building at 100 Westminster Street owned by former Mayor Joseph Paolino.

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Life or Death for Fane Tower?

PROVIDENCE CITY PLAN COMMISSION NOTICE OF REGULAR MEETING

TUESDAY, MAY 15, 2018, 4:45 PM Joseph Doorley Municipal Building, 1st Floor Meeting Room 444 Westminster Street, Providence, RI 02903

CITY COUNCIL REFERRAL
6. Referral 3429 – Rezoning of a portion of AP 20 Lot 397 Petitioner: Fane Organization, Jason Fane and I-195 Commission The petitioner is proposing to create a new height subdistrict – D-1-600 – in the D-1 zone, and rezone AP 20 Lot 397 from D-1-100 to D-1- 600. The additional height is intended to allow for construction of a high rise residential building on the site. The petitioner is also proposing to change the zoning ordinance so that the Downtown Design Review Committee may waive regulations relating to building height, massing and required transition lines – for action (AP 20 Lot 397, Downtown)
Full Agenda

A Budget Primer

Everything you should know about Providence’s improving-but-still-shaky finances
By Dan McGowan
Published: February 8, 2018, 1:12 pm  Updated: February 8, 2018, 1:51 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Mayor Jorge Elorza used part of his State of the City address this week to tout progress on Providence’s short-term finances but also warn that the city still needs to address its massive unfunded liabilities for retirees. And he wasn’t just being cute with his words.

So how is it possible report budget surpluses while also staring down billions of dollars in long-term problems?

Here’s a cheat sheet that might help explain things.

Report: Providence tax deals lack compliance, transparency

By Dan McGowan, WPRI.com Reporter
Published: January 9, 2018, 12:45 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – There is “widespread noncompliance” with annual reporting requirements for recipients of tax breaks in the city of Providence, according to a review of the special deals released Monday by the city’s internal auditor’s office.

The 95-page report on the city’s 52 active tax stabilization agreements (TSAs), prepared at the request of the City Council, also suggests there “is not an easy or transparent way” for the public to learn about the incentives that are currently in place.

Full WPRI Story

Task force learns how RI could fund billions in school repairs

By Dan McGowan, WPRI.com Reporter

Published: October 23, 2017, 8:32 pm  Updated: October 23, 2017, 10:44 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Rhode Island could fund billions of dollars in needed public school repairs by moving to a system that funds projects as they happen, placing a general-obligation bond question on next year’s ballot or offering incentives to cities and towns that commit to quickly making infrastructure improvements, General Treasurer Seth Magaziner suggested Monday.

Magaziner, who co-chairs the Rhode Island School Building Task Force, stopped short of making any recommendations during the panel’s second meeting, but he warned there is no amount of “financial wizardry” that will get the state out of spending more than it currently spends if leaders want to commit to making $600 million to $3 billion in school repairs in the coming years.

One thing Magaziner made clear to the group: “Just pouring money into this existing system isn’t going to get us there.”

 Full Story  

RI schools need $2.2B in repairs. Here are 12 things everyone should know

2017 State of Rhode Island Schoolhouses Report  (Jacobs Report)

Rhode Island School Building Task Force

Task Force Members, Agendas, Presentations & Minutes, Upcoming Meetings, Public Forums

State officials prioritizing needs following study into RI school building conditions

Posted: Sep 14, 2017 4:47 PM EDT
Updated: Sep 14, 2017 4:47 PM EDT
By: Chloe Leshner
cleshner@abc6.com
@cleshnerabc6

We're digging deeper into a first of its kind study into Rhode Island's crumbling classrooms. Now that state officials have a pretty good grasp about just how bad the schools are, 2 questions need to be answered. How to fix it and how to pay for it.

That report paints a grim picture of the conditions Rhode Island students learn in and with a $2.2 billion price tag to get every public school in pristine condition, the task force now has to prioritize what realistically can get done first.

Full Story

2017 State of Rhode Island Schoolhouses Report

Click here to read the facilities assessment report released today. The RIDE website also has a clickable map that allows you to read individual reports for every single school building in the state. To see that map, click here.

Notable information from the reports include:

• $627.6 million in immediate work is required to make all RI schools "warm, safe, and dry" (fire alarms, roof and window replacement).
• $2.2 billion would bring all facilities up to "aspirational standards", which includes repairs as well as creating 21st century learning environments.
• 54% of RI's traditional schools can accommodate 350 students or fewer, but average enrollment in 2016-17 was 488.
• Sample facility deficiency costs by district:

             Barrington -- $47.8 million
             East Providence -- $137.5 million
             Providence -- $372.4 million
             Tiverton -- $46 million
             Warwick -- $190 million

• Sample facility deficiency costs by school building:

              Barrington Middle School -- $21.4 million
              East Providence High School -- $38.7 million
              Classical High School -- $17.3 million
              Tiverton High School -- $22.4 million
              Warwick Vets -- $27.3 million

There is already news coverage regarding these reports online from Linda Borg (here) and Dan McGowan (here).

--
Lisa M. Nelson | OEHCRI
Outreach Coordinator
410 South Main Street, 3rd Floor
Providence, RI 02903
c: 315.278.4362

RI schools need $2.2B in repairs. Here are 12 things everyone should know

By Dan McGowan, WPRI.com Reporter
Published: September 13, 2017, 2:30 pm  Updated: September 13, 2017, 7:10 pm

Governor names 16-member task force to determine next steps by December

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Public schools across Rhode Island will need more than $2 billion in repairs or upgrades in the coming years, according to a study released Wednesday by Gov. Gina Raimondo...

So what types of problems do schools have and how will they be addressed? Here’s an overview. (You can read the consultants’ full report here and their recommendations here.)

City of Providence launches new website

by LINDSAY IADELUCA, NBC 10 NEWS

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) —
The city of Providence is getting up to date with the times, launching a new user-friendly website at noon Thursday.

Based on data pulled of what topics are searched for the most, new features were added to make it much simpler for residents, business owners and visitors.

One of the site's biggest new functions is the "I Want To" button on the homepage to easily guide anyone to their area of search.

Full story

The site's URL is providenceri.gov

WPRI: Audit: Providence City Council has given $171K in grants since ‘07

By Dan McGowan, WPRI.com Reporter and Walt Buteau
Published: October 11, 2016, 5:42 pm  Updated: October 11, 2016, 7:32 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The Providence City Council has given $171,000 in taxpayer-funded grants to 96 organizations since the 2006-07 fiscal year, according to a report released by the city’s internal auditor last week.

The council passed a resolution asking internal auditor Matt Clarkin to review every grant it has awarded over 10 years following the May arrest of Councilman Kevin Jackson, who prosecutors say embezzled $127,000 from a youth track-and-field team that was partially funded by the city.

Clarkin’s review shows that 96 different organizations received 139 donations during the 10-year period. He said 71% of the organizations responded to his inquiries, while 6% did not respond. Letters to the rest of the organizations were returned due to invalid mailing addresses.

Read: The full audit | See each grant

Full story

Citywide Conversation 12/13

Please join Mayor Jorge O. Elorza for a Citywide Conversation.

Tuesday, December 13 at 6 PM - 7:30 PM
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School
35 Camp St, Providence, Rhode Island 02906

WPRI: Mayor Elorza: Providence posted $9.5M surplus last fiscal year

By Dan McGowan, WPRI.com Reporter
Published: October 31, 2016, 11:44 am  Updated: October 31, 2016, 12:17 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Calling it Providence’s largest operating surplus in at least 20 years, Mayor Jorge Elorza announced Monday Rhode Island’s capital city ended the 2015-16 fiscal year $9.5 million in the black...

[However] Providence is still facing a $3.9-million cumulative shortfall...

Unlike an operating deficit, which only accounts for a shortfall that occurs within any one fiscal year, a cumulative deficit includes all deficits incurred in previous years. In Providence’s case, that means shortfalls during the 2011, 2012 and 2015 fiscal years...

Elorza has warned the city still faces massive out-year deficits, thanks in part to growing pension and healthcare obligations to retirees. As it stands now, Providence’s unfunded pension liability is hovering around $900 million and its other post-employment benefits (OPEB) liability is projected to be $1 billion...

Full Story

A fast track to ruin? Amtrak opponents fear high-speed plans

by SUSAN HAIGH AND MATT O'BRIEN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wednesday, October 26th 2016

OLD LYME, Conn. (AP) — This quaint shoreline community, proud of its role as a nursery of American Impressionist art, fears the destruction of its heritage if a federal proposal to someday run an East Coast high-speed rail line through its historic center becomes reality.

Full Story

Providence may seek to borrow funds for infrastructure projects without voter approval

By Dan McGowan, WPRI.com Reporter
Published: October 26, 2016, 1:10 am  Updated: October 26, 2016, 10:44 am

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – With Providence’s proposed $40-million infrastructure bond all but dead, Elorza administration officials now say they are considering borrowing funds through an obscure city agency that does not require voter approval to issue a bond.

It remains unclear how much money the city would seek to borrow through a revenue bond issued by the Providence Public Buildings Authority (PBA), but the administration considers the agency a “viable alternative” to obtain funding for infrastructure projects, according to Emily Crowell, a spokesperson for Mayor Jorge Elorza.

Full Story

Voter Information Handbook

By now everyone should have recieved their Voter Information Handbook: A Guide to State Referenda and Voting Procedures in Rhode Island from the RI Secretary of State.

The Handbook which is available in English and Spanish has a lot of useful information about each of the Referenda:

• Explanation and purpose
• How much money will be borrowed?
• Project time table
• Useful life
• Total cost

WPRI: 12 key things to know about Providence’s proposed firefighter deal

By Dan McGowan, WPRI.com Reporter
Published: October 19, 2016, 3:40 pm  Updated: October 19, 2016, 7:08 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – The dispute between Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza and the city’s firefighters’ union is finally nearing a resolution as the two sides have signed off on a tentative agreement for a new contract.

So what exactly is included in the proposed five-year contract?

Here’s an overview.

Providence Firefighter's Contract

From Councilman Sam Zurier's October 16 Ward Letter:
As the City Council prepares to vet the City’s tentative agreement with the fire fighters, I have prepared a Web page compiling information about the some of the underlying issues I am studying.  The tentative agreement offers savings by reducing the “minimum manning” from 94 to 88.

Elorza’s Firefighter Contract is Deeply Flawed Says Finance Chair Igliozzi
 Friday, October 14, 2016
Kate Nagle, GoLocalProv News Editor

WPRI: 5 members of the Providence City Council refuse to support $40M bond plan

By Dan McGowan, WPRI.com Reporter
 Published: October 13, 2016, 11:26 pm  |  Updated: October 13, 2016, 11:35 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Five members of the Providence City Council are calling for city residents to vote against a proposed $40-million infrastructure bond unless a “clean” spending plan is released within the next week...

The councilors’ statement came a week after Mayor Jorge Elorza threatened to veto a proposal from Council President Luis Aponte that would give individual councilors more of a say over how $20 million of the proceeds should be spent. Elorza called the proposal a “slush fund.”
Full Story

Watch the Providence City Council

All meetings of the Providence City Council are live streamed
http://www.providenceri.com/city-clerk/live-council-meetings

All meetings of the Providence City Council are also taped and later shown on PEG Access Channels 17 on Cox and 39 on Verizon Thursday from 7-9pm and Sunday from 5-7pm.

Or viewed on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/openprovidence

For meeting dates and agendas
http://www.providenceri.com/city-clerk/council-meetings