Politics & Government

Middletown Town Council Aims to Change Regionalization Laws

Regionalization, Navy surplus land, sidewalk snow removal and storm water project funds are among the business items before the Middletown Town Council Tuesday night.

The  has a lengthy agenda planned for its meeting tonight, including items regarding regionalization, Navy surplus land, sidewalk snow removal and storm water project funds.

Business items up for discussion before the Middletown Town Council include:

  • The issue of regionalization comes before the council again, as members are asked to consider adopting a resolution that would support proposed changes to state laws as proposed by Councilor Antone Viveiros.
  • Julie Oakley, property reuse coordinator for Aquidneck Island Reuse Planning Authority, is scheduled to give a special presentation and update on the conveyance as it relates to the town’s West Main Road/Coddington Development Master Plan.
  • Town Administrator Shawn Brown, along with the firm Woodard and Curran, will present the town’s long-termcontrol plan, as it relates to the Esplanade and Newport Avenue areas. The Town Council is also being asked to authorize the borrowing of $3 million in bonds to finance the engineering and design of stormwater projects in the areas of the Esplanade and Newport Avenue. In a memo to the Town Council, Town Administrator Shawn Brown noted the work would be done in the spring to comply with a previous settlement with the state and that, under state law, the council may authorize such bonds to comply with any lawsuit or settlement not covered by insurance. The Consent Order with the state Department of Environmental Management was reached in 2007 for the town to mitigate stormwater runoff and prevent pollution in Easton’s Bay. Brown noted in his memo that the bonds would be financed within a total $5 million package that also would include the in the November election to fund road and sewer work in the Continental Drive neighborhood.
  • The Town Council has been asked to approve resolutions to commend Middletown’s police, fire and public works departments for the departments' responses to recent events, including an early December fire on Wapping Road, the on Jan. 5 and the  on Jan. 12 and 13.
  • Middletown resident Manuel J. Mello, Jr., has asked to speak before the council regarding his concerns about the removal of snow from sidewalks and to present his proposed solutions.

To view or print the complete agenda and all business items, see the document attached to this story.

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