Members of the council, please take your seat.

I'd like to call this meeting to order.

Meeting of the November seventeenth City Council meeting.

At this time, I'd like to call the meeting to order as the clerk to please call a roll.

Present.

Present.

Console Traficante.

Councilwoman Vaseri.

Present.

Present.

Consident Banano.

Present.

Here.

Thank you.

At this time I'm going to ask everyone to please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Boys U two ten U Super Bowl Chief Champions, the Chiefs.

Done such good work.

We all know the efforts and the hard work that team sports require.

Councilmember Bernardo.

Thank you, Council President.

Um behalf of all of us, I got a couple things to say.

Although I'm a I'm a pretty big Patriots fan.

Um, but I love these Chiefs.

I want to tell you that right now.

I want to wish every single one of you congratulations, and uh, Coach Hopkins and Coach Palazzo have told me they get a pretty big game coming up against Springfield, right?

Now, is that right?

You guys excited for that?

All right.

This is the one time you can yell in the council chamber, and nobody will get mad at you, okay.

Um, I just want to tell you from the bottom of my heart how proud your city is of you.

And while we definitely want you to beat some serious Springfield butt coming up, no matter what happens in the game, your city will continue to be proud of you, and we wish you all the best.

So without further ado, I want to um go back to the council president, who's gonna call you guys up by name, line right up here.

If you want to give each of the council members a high five, because this is our favorite part of being council members to do something good and to bring some kids in here that you know, like you guys that really represent Cranston perfectly.

All right, so council president, back to you.

I'm gonna ask you to hand them off.

Yep.

I'm gonna do my best to print.

Here's the first one, by the way.

I stole that, so I could read it.

Um, if you could come up here, as your name is called, uh, Adrian Kemen.

Alonzo Boyd Braden Prope Bryson Stilwell, Christian Caracakis, Chris Christian Karakakas.

Thank you.

Dominic Richie Everett Baker Gian Tiberi Isaiah Danzler John Palazzo Justin Avila Ken Hopkins the third Mason Fraser Matthew Mozola Nicholas Inusante Thomas Hazard Tori Fuentes Exabian Williams.

And now for the Chiefs coaches, head coach Randy Baker.

Offensive coordinator Ken Hopkins Jr.

Defensive Coordinator Mike Kira.

Assistant coaches Alonzo Boyd.

Stephen Danzler.

Gary Tiberi.

Kyle Totoro.

And David Squillance.

Congratulations both to the team and their coaches.

If anyone would like to take pictures, by all means.

So I'm gonna let them know, all right.

Now, uh gentlemen, if you could remain, uh, director Moretti has also a citation on behalf of Mayor Hopkins.

Director.

Hello, men, boys, parents.

Uh my name is Anthony Moretti, chief of staff of Mayor Hopkins.

Unfortunately, he could not be here tonight.

Things like this are the reason why he loves being mayor.

He wish he could be here.

Certainly anyone who knows him knows he would have been here.

From also some very personal reasons, also.

You know, in the city, the mayor believes that basically all our kids are champions, to be honest with you.

He believes in that, you know, he was a school teacher for many years in our system.

Um, you know, his wife, uh Mary, uh, certainly a school teacher, always believed in the children and the future of the city.

Um, the mayor was an athletic director in the city of Cranston.

And in fact, he even said this term, the second term is dedicated to the kids of the city to do everything he can in terms of capital spending and for the schools.

And that's what he's committed publicly.

He's committed uh to me as one of his closer friends, closer advisors.

So each of you kids, especially near and dear to him.

And uh it's especially uh fulfilling that tonight you guys are the champions for our city of Cranston.

And you know, it's not just you kids, it's obviously your coaches, and when you go home, thank your parents and grandparents for making you who you guys are today.

Okay.

So with that, rather than going through all the names, I'd like to give uh these citations to Coach Baker to pass out to everyone because we'd be redundant otherwise.

But I would just like to say with each of the citations that the mayor is uh requested to be given to each of you what they say, and I believe also your jersey numbers attached.

So just I'll just the citations go to the coaches also, but by way of example, saying the city of Cranston.

Uh, this is to certify and make known unto all to whom these presents shall come that Mayor Kenneth J.

Hopkins issues this citation to each of you folks, uh CLCF Chiefs, 10 100, I believe, 10 U Football, 2025 Super Bowl champions.

On behalf of the city, Mayor Kenneth J.

Hopkins extends his congratulations to the CLCF, CLCF Chiefs for winning the Super Bowl championship and bringing it to victory.

This achievement is a testament to your hard work, dedication, and teamwork.

The entire community is proud of your successes and the sportsmanship you have displayed throughout the season.

Your victory serves as an inspiration to youth athletes everywhere, proving that with perseverance and determination, great things can be accomplished.

He witnessed that in each one of your games too when he when he saw the saw your games.

Once again, congratulations, guys.

Best of luck and keep up the good work.

See you Friday.

All right.

At this time.

Under Rhode Island General Laws four two four six B to amend the agenda.

And this will be amended under Council President Communications to give an update on the open meeting decision on the pattern versus Cranston City Council decision from the Rhode Island Attorney General for discussion purposes only.

Is there a motion?

Motion.

So moved.

Is there any discussion?

There being none.

I'm going to ask the clerk to please call the roll.

Yes.

Yes.

Council Vice President Haroon?

Yes.

Yes.

And that discussion will take place during Council President Communications.

Next item business is the approval of minutes.

At this time, I'm going to entertain a motion for the approval of the minutes from the October twenty-seventh, two thousand twenty-five regular meeting.

Is there a motion?

Motion to approve October twenty-seventh, twenty twenty-five as drafted.

Second.

Is there any discussion?

There being none, I'll ask the clerk to please call a roll.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Thank you.

Moving right on.

Next will be the approval of minutes from the November sixth, two thousand twenty-five special city council meeting.

Is there a motion?

Motion to approve the November 6th, 2025 meeting minutes as drafted.

Second.

Any discussion.

There being none, Clerk, please call a roll.

Consulwan McGraziano.

Yes.

Cosminando har?

Yes.

Casper Ritz.

Casper Traficante.

Yes.

Consulwoman Vazeri.

Yes.

Casper Camp Piano?

Yes.

Conservative Panano?

Yes.

Vice President Haroon?

Yes.

Yes.

Thank you.

All right.

Moving right on to public hearing.

Is there anyone in the chambers this evening who would like to make public comment on docketed matters only?

If you do, step up to the podium.

You'll have four minutes to speak.

And please state your name and address to the record.

My name is Carol Cooney.

My address is eight Eva Lane.

And I would like to talk about the fire about a year ago at the lawn beautician.

I just I have a couple of concerns.

First of all, I think they're doing a very good job cleaning up the front part of the lawn petition.

And I appreciate that very, very much.

My concern is where over a year, and this is still going on.

I think we have to always, I don't want people to forget what happened because it was real.

That fire was there.

And the I'm very concerned about the safety.

And I'm just, I want remedy, uh, some kind of go forward so that this doesn't happen again.

Nothing happened per se.

However, the safety issue is still present.

I went there today and I took some photos, and if you'd like, I'm happy to share with you of the current from Evelyn, my street.

I don't know if I can hand these in, but it just gives you an you know an idea.

Yes, um, we'll have someone give it to the clerk so we can thank you.

And it my concern is like maybe they could do a little bit more regarding the height of those piles and the distance from the tree line, because that's where the problem lies.

So with that being said, I wonder could an ordinance be something that would be considered.

Um, you know, a safe, reasonable distance away from the tree line.

Um that's what I wanted to say.

I mean, like I I already stated, I think they've done a great job with their efforts, and I very much appreciate that.

However, there's more work to do.

Um, if we could take example about working together like those children, I I think we'd all be better off.

So thank you for your time.

Yes, those are your copies.

It just gives you an idea.

I mean, I'm five foot two, okay, and I took those from the ground, so they're pretty high.

Thank you.

We'll make sure the councilman gets them back to you.

All right, thank you.

Um, can I ask for a motion to enter the photographs into the record, please?

Is there a second?

Second.

Any discussion?

Clerk, please call a roll.

Caswell McGraziano?

Yes.

Casman Duhar?

Yes.

Casper Ritz.

Yes.

Consultraficante.

Yes.

Consulwoman Vazeri.

Yes.

Conspect Piano?

Yes.

Consider Vice President.

Yes.

Console Panano.

Yes.

Yes.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else in chambers who would like to make public comment on agenda matters only?

State your name and address for the record.

Uh David Moyo.

Uh lawn beauticians with this matter that was just uh brought up.

So uh I noticed that we're on the docket tonight.

Sir, can you state your address?

460 Natick Avenue.

Sorry, I never did this before.

Is that better?

We can hear you.

Yep.

Okay.

Um so I noticed that we're on the docket today, so I came and I was I asked a few questions of you know, what is the problem?

Because it keeps coming up.

I watch at home on uh, you know, the computer.

So they bring up the whole composting thing.

We have a DEM permit for composting.

So DEMS came out, issued us a composting permit to take in brush and leaves.

They've seen the site, they have a map of the site.

They come out there, I don't know, a few times a year.

So that's that.

Uh the mulch.

We make mulch under farming, nursery.

Uh they say the piles are high.

The piles are only 12 feet high, maybe 10 feet high.

They're as high as a loader goes up.

We don't stack on top of piles to create enormous amount of heat.

I've also brought up the fact that, you know, like uh that woman just said, close to this the property lines.

I mean, all of our wood chips and everything are in the middle of the property.

So there's really no wood chips that are near any property lines.

So I don't, I mean, that shouldn't be a concern.

Um we have, like I said, the compost is in the back.

That's already with that.

There was also something to do with trucks.

So New England mulching is a DBA of lawn beauticians.

So that's a lawn beautician's truck that's there.

We also rent one garage and the office and a little bit of land to Brightview.

Brightview is a landscape company.

The property is grandfathered in pre-1960 something.

There's been zoning decisions about it.

And um, you know, it's it's the same thing.

It's landscaping.

So they run they run trucks for landscaping.

We do the same.

It's the same, it's with the property.

It's not with the owner of the property, it's with the actual property itself.

So I don't know.

That seems to be legal also.

Um was there something else that I'm missing?

Um, sir.

At this time, yeah, we don't have a back and forth.

Later on the agenda, Councilman Ritz has this on his communication.

Okay.

At that time, if you're still available, we may he may have some questions.

Right.

All right, but and thank you.

This is just public comment.

We I'll be sitting here waiting.

Thank you.

Is anyone else in the in the uh the room tonight who would like to make public comment on agenda matters.

Good evening, everyone.

Joy Fox 411 Fair Street in Warwick.

Um of you, it's good to see you again.

I was at the ordinance committee last week um speaking on uh, I believe it's going to be agenda item under ordinance.

Um 2.04.060 on the special advertising.

Um I came up to express appreciation for the direction in which the ordinance is going tonight, but also just to continue to raise questions about how this even came up in the first place.

Um again, knowing that it was originally stated to us that it was part of a charter commission that voted on in 2022 as part of charter commission work.

Um so we're still waiting for clarification on that.

And we do work we do understand when things are out of date and they need to be updated to modernize practices.

Um, but as we have since learned too, it was not actually voted on in 2022.

So it still begs the question where this actual ordinance came from.

But uh regardless of how and why, um, again, I think we're all in agreement as council president Wall stated last week that we should be increasing obligations for transparency among our elected officials and not rolling them back.

So as I as I've written for a couple of weeks now, and and our reporter, who's who I think you all know here too, has reported on the issue.

Um, you know, while we monitor Facebook and chase down leads and all sorts of things, we have to we have to be able to be as accessible as possible to the voters, and we must continue to provide reliable ways um to keep them informed.

So the ordinance before you tonight, I think is a very good first step.

Um, I still think it should have print as an option because uh according to Rhode Island open meetings, it's a 48-hour notice.

I understand that we are a weekly publication, and sometimes that is not feasible for what we're trying to do.

A special meeting is different than an emergency meeting and still requires that 48-hour notice.

So I would um implore you to continue to take a look at this ordinance um because it is silent on the actual time for posting a special meeting.

Um again, I want to thank you for for working with us on this and for being um an advocate for transparency, but I do still think that there is more to do here, and um, we do need to get to the bottom of why this was presented as a charter change because that's a pretty steep um that requires a pretty steep requirement in terms of a vote by the voters of the city of Cranston.

So thank you very much.

Thank you.

Anyone else in chambers who would like to speak on agenda matters?

Hi, good evening.

It's Marsha Fowler, 35 Melton Av.

I'm speaking about the housing court.

And although I fully agree that something does need to be done about abandoned properties, neglected properties that endanger neighborhoods, I have a few concerns about the proposed housing court.

My main concern is about the unknown cost of adding a new court, especially on the cusp of school budget season.

We all know that school budget season hasn't fully been funded for a while, and cuts in staff and services are made each year by Cranston Public Schools, which most of you have either been on the school committee or fully understand.

And while this council has historically made cuts to the city budget in order to fund as much of the school budget as possible, there never seems to be enough in the city budget to fully fund the schools.

With that in mind, I find creating a department that will carry a cost without the council making cuts in other areas to fund it is not appropriate at this time.

Although it was stated a few meetings ago that the court will bring in money, I feel it's not fiscally responsible to rely on a court to fund itself down the road.

I understand Providence has a specific housing court, but they are a city more than twice the size of Cranston.

And from what I could find, have only three judges on the housing court.

I also feel that there's not enough knowledge as to how many houses and buildings are actually in disrepair.

How many of those are rental properties that could be brought to the state for issues with lead?

How many are owned by someone with mental health issues who needs services?

How many have something as minor as overgrown grass that might be handled with a knock on a door?

I also question how much is backlog due to the city being short staffed of an inspector for a while.

So again, there's definitely a need for something to be done about specific houses and buildings, but I do think this ordinance isn't fully ironed out yet.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is anyone else in chambers who'd like to make public comment on document matters only?

All right, I see none.

Tom, is there anyone online?

Drake Patton.

Ms.

Patterson.

Yes, good evening.

This is Drake Patton.

And just since you'll be discussing the OMA, it there's no R in my last name, just Patton.

Um 684 Natick Av.

I just uh thought that what Marcia Fowler said was uh so well put on the housing court, could not say it better myself.

Um I have asked in the past for uh a better fiscal note that defines what the potential income might be.

I think that's quite reasonable.

And many of the things she said speak to what I've asked for also, which is to be data-driven.

Where are the data for this decision?

Um, how can we do this in the best possible way?

And I think the comparison with Providence is quite valid.

They have a much larger um you know, population to manage, and yet their court is comparably smaller.

So I think this is premature.

I would encourage the council to take a pause, pump the brakes a little bit, and engage in some more uh data collection and perhaps conversation with the community, um, including landlords, et cetera.

Let's let's find out what's happening before we do this.

Um I also uh want to follow up on the newspaper notice.

Um, I I like uh Ms.

Fox would uh say that it's great that the online has been added, but let's add that in addition to newspaper print being left in there.

And other municipalities do use the Providence Journal.

That is an option.

It is statewide and it is a daily right now.

Um I think it is verging on discriminatory to not provide opportunity to those who may not have computers.

Um, and often the elderly who just are not prepared to do that, or or that's the way they've always understood things.

Um I I really would like to see us not take away um options for participation, especially while the country is really, I think, at risk for that generally.

I want Cranston to be much better.

Um and then I wasn't going to speak on lawn beauticians tonight, but I was delighted to hear that the lawn beauticians have a DEM permit.

Um I'm a little confused by that because there isn't anything um listed on DEM site.

So if the city doesn't have a safety plan, then either they don't know about the permit or there something has broken down.

Uh and that should be fairly easy to um figure out.

And I will have to push back on Mr.

Moyo's statement that composting is uh or mulching is a farm activity.

Farm activities are limited to the to the uh materials we produce on our farms.

I am a farm, I'm registered with the state, and we cannot bring in outside material.

Um that is a very clear regulation.

Uh, I have spoken of this before.

I am saying it again.

And uh it is a complete misstatement to say that the piles are not high.

I'm sorry.

I encourage every one of you on council to go out there and to please take a look with the scale of your body, just as Ms.

Cooney spoke of tonight.

That seems particularly important, but let's get a copy of that permit.

And um I want to also mention, and it's come up before, that this business is not the same business that it was in the 60s.

All we need to do is look at the aerials.

This has also been mentioned before.

It was also mentioned by councilwoman Graziano.

Um, and uh it is very clear when the function of what was a nursery.

I shopped there back in the day when it changed.

So it is this is really not hard.

We can do this.

Um, and I encourage you to use all the tools possible to make sure the neighborhood stays safe.

Thank you for time.

Perfect timing.

Thank you.

Is anyone else online who'd like to make public comment on docketed matters only?

I see no other public comment online.

Thank you, Tom.

At this time, I'm gonna close public comment.

And we're gonna move on to committee business.

Uh committee reports.

Um, first up would be councilwoman Vizieri, chairwoman of the claims committee, councilwoman Vazeri, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Council President.

The claims committee met on November 3rd, 2025.

The paid claims report is included in all council members' packets, and I have nothing further to report at this time.

Thank you, madam chair.

Moving on to the safety services and license committee.

Report out will be from Council Vice President Heroyan.

Council Vice President Heroyan, the floor is yours.

Safety services and license committee met on November 3rd.

Class B V liquor license.

It's a new one for Alexis Pizza Impasta, LLC doing business as Campanellas, located at 9 30 Oaklawn Avenue.

We did vote it out of committee.

The owner has been in touch with Brittany, the clerk for licensing almost daily.

He's been reaching out to me.

His attorney was able to get the Rhode Island um division of taxation license.

In the letter of good standing, it'll be in the city hall portal tomorrow morning.

I am asking we put pass this subject to receiving the letter of good standing tonight.

Is there a motion to pass this?

Um subject to receiving the letter of good standing.

So move, Mr.

Chairman.

Second.

All right.

Is there any discussion?

Seeing none, clerk, please call a roll.

Councilman McGraziano.

Yes.

Councilman.

Yes.

Councilman Ritz.

Yes.

Council Trafficanti.

Yes.

Councilman Vazeri.

Yes.

Conspiano?

Yes.

Council Banana?

Yes.

Consul Vice President Haroyan?

Yes.

Council President Wall.

Yes.

Is the same owner and he is online on Zoom in case we had any questions for him.

Cafe Rose LLC doing business as Cafe E Tree, located at 1686 Cranston Street.

This also is over CAP.

It needs a full council approval.

The letter of good standing will be in the city portal tomorrow.

I'm asking we pass this, subject to receiving the letter of good standing.

Is there a motion to pass this license subject to receiving the letter of good standing?

So move.

Any discussion?

I would like to thank the owner for being as transparent as he has been.

Welcome them to the city and say thank you for reaching out to us through every step of this.

Thank you.

Is there any other discussion?

I see none.

Clerk, please call a roll.

Councilwoman Graziana.

Yes.

Councilman Tohar.

Yes.

Councilman Ritz.

Pastor Treff Cante.

Councilwoman Vazeri.

Yes.

Councilman Campiano.

Yes.

Council Banana.

Yes.

Council Vice President Haroyan?

Yes.

Council President Wall.

Yes.

Uh thank you, Council Vice President.

Moving right on to the chair of the finance committee, Councilman Andah will be reporting.

Yes.

We're uh the finance committee meeting met November 3rd of 2025.

I urge passage for the resolution authorizing real estate tax abatement as requested by the tax assessor.

Is there a motion to approve?

Motion to approve.

Second.

Any discussion?

There being none, Clerk Peace Call a roll.

Consulwan McGraziano?

Yes.

Conspanando Har?

Yes.

Conservats.

Yes.

Conspect Trafficanti.

Yes.

Councilwoman Vazieri.

Yes.

Conspiano?

Yes.

Consman Banano?

Yes.

Council Vice President Haroyan?

Yes.

Council President Wall.

Yes.

All right.

Moving right along to Public Works Committee.

We'll be hearing from uh Councilwoman Graziano is chair of the Public Works Committee.

Councilwoman Graziano, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Council President.

The public works committee met on November 6, 2025.

And at this time, we have no action to report.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

Moving along to the chair of the ordinance committee, Councilman And be reporting.

The floor is yours, Councilman Andah.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

The ordinance committee met on November 6th, 2025, known as the Chris Banano show.

So I urge passage for ordinance 92502, an amendment of title 10, chapter 12, section 130 of the city of Cranston Code of Ordinance titled entitled Right Turns at Certain Red Lights.

Motion to approve.

Second.

There's a motion and second.

Is there any discussion?

I see none at this time.

I see none.

Clerk, please call roll.

Consulwan McGraziano.

Yes.

Consman Andujar.

Yes.

Conservatized.

Yes.

Council Trafficanti.

Yes.

Councilwoman Vazieri.

Yes.

Conspect Campiano?

Yes.

Consult Banano.

Yes.

Consul Vice President Heroyan.

Yes.

Council President Wall.

Yes.

Next next up, we have Ordinance 92503, an amendment of Title 10, Chapter 20, Section 40 of the City of Crescent Court of Ordinance 2005 and titled No Parking on Certain Streets.

I urge passage.

Is it a motion to approve?

Second.

And there's a second.

Any discussion?

Councilman Benano.

Thank you.

Um I don't know if I assume everybody got it, but late today, we got a basically a sign off from the traffic engineer, the Bureau of Traffic Safety.

And I without uh objection, I would like to read this into the record.

Uh says city clerk, for the sake of expediency, we're a full M U T C D warrant analysis is not deemed necessary.

Please accept the C mail response in lieu of a formal staff report for the subject ordinance.

And he's referring to 92503.

Based on review, this office finds no apparent traffic safety issues associated with the approval of the proposal as submitted.

However, it's highly recommended that the area of residents be surveyed to gauge a community consensus prior to final adoption.

Um so that that's what the uh Bureau of Traffic Safety had to say.

So in lieu of a uh traffic study, it's been approved.

And I would like to uh editorialize um not part of this email.

The uh the residents asked for this particular ordinance, uh especially the ones um living in the single family homes that are uh adjacent to the garden city apartments.

So the ones immediately affected and uh and sort of a butting where this is going to be uh going into effect if it passes in a moment, um, have essentially you know asked me um to put this forward.

Um so they uh they were uh gauged for their consensus and their consensus uh is positive for this particular ordinance.

Thank you, councilman.

I too heard many uh concerns regarding this issue on those streets, and I uh I want to offer uh also a uh way of thank you for the hard work you did to this was a little bit more of a heavy lip than we we thought was going to be and a little more time consuming than we thought it would be.

And thank you, Councilmember Banano.

Is there any other discussion?

All right, so we have a motion and second, clerk please call a roll.

Consul McGraziano, yes, Consor Ritz, yes, council traffic, yes, councilwoman Vazeri, yes, Conspiano, yes, Consano, yes, Consulvice President Heroyan, yes, Council President Wall, yes.

Next up we have ordinance 92504 ordinance and amendment of title 10, chapter 32, section 180 of the city of Creston Court of Order since 2005 entitled No Parking on Weekends.

I urge for this to go back to committee.

If I may, um Mr.

President, yes, we look we still don't have this one right.

Um I guess some of the polls are not correct, and because of the nature of this one street turning into two streets, the identification of exactly where we want the no parking to begin and end has been uh confusing at best.

So we're still working with the traffic engineer um to get this one right.

So I make a motion to send this back to committee in the next ordinance committee meeting.

Okay, there's a motion to send it back to committees second, second any other discussion.

There being none, clerk, please call roll.

Councilwoman McCraziano, yes.

Councilman Andrewhar?

Yes, Councilman Ritz.

Console Trafficante?

Yes.

Councilwoman Vazeri, yes, Conspect Piano?

Yes.

Consider Banano?

Yes.

Council Vice President Heroyan?

Yes.

Council President Wall.

Yes.

Next up, we have uh resolution ordinance 102503 ordinance and amendment of Title 2, Chapter 4, Section 60 of the City of Prince and Court of Ordinance 2005 entitled advertising special meetings of the city council.

I urge passage.

Is there a motion to approve?

So moved.

Second.

Any discussion.

I see councilman Campa Piano's hand up.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, first of all, it's as uh public officials.

I don't like to use the word politician, I hate that word, but it's public officials.

We have three things that uh we have to be careful, and that is transparency, transparency, and most important transparency.

I don't mean to make light of it, but uh whenever we give any type of notion that we're not trying to be transparent, it it could turn uh it could turn against you really quick.

Uh I checked in my four and a half years here, uh there wasn't that many uh special meetings that I can think of, except for a couple of months ago uh between the prior council president and um lawyer.

We had those and then last week when we had the one about um the uh playgrounds, which I believe was very important to get that in, but even that could have been done if it was done more diligently beforehand.

So it very rarely comes up.

I would like to see maybe something in this that says if time permits, it would be in the paper.

And then even we also have the option of the Providence Journalist was spoken up earlier.

We could we could even put it there.

I I just don't want to make any type of idea that we're getting away from transparency.

Not everybody has a computer.

Uh I mean, most of you know that uh might attend church every Saturday, and I get people buzzing by me in my ear, and and there was three or four people this weekend that says go for transparency.

I we don't want to see you know this go away.

So I voted against in committee.

Uh, if it's not tweaked, I I think I'm still gonna vote against it.

Uh, I I guess I would like to see even if something in there with time permit, and also we can do the province journal.

So there is other avenues that we can do to keep this going.

So with that, that's my opinion.

Mr.

Any of the comment, I see Councilman Anderhai's hand, and I see other hands as well.

No, thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I just want to thank uh council vice president Chrissy Heroyan for putting this forward.

It is a step in in that it is a step forward that we need.

Um, it might not be correct, everybody might not be happy, but at least we're moving forward with this.

So I applaud you and I thank you for putting this through.

Thank you, Councilman.

I see councilwoman uh council vice president Heroyan, pardon me.

Okay, unfortunately, there has been a lot of confusion and frankly some misinformation concerning this ordinance.

And I think it's important to let everyone know how this came about.

About a month ago, the clerk, city clerk suggested that the ordinance related to the newspaper advertising of special meetings needed to be amended in result of a home rule charter change that had been approved by the voters some years ago.

Okay.

In fact, the notification that the clerk was referring to of the charter was related to the notification that had been sent to her and other council members prior to a special meeting, and had nothing to do with the need for the council to advertise special meetings based on the misreading of the charter amendment.

The clerk suggested that the current ordinance was will be repealed, and she believed that in contrary to the charter, that is how I got before the city council on this recommendation of the clerk.

She made a simple mistake.

It is important to note that under our open meeting act, neither regular or special meetings of the city council need to be advertised in the paper or general circulation before they can appear.

The only thing that is required is for the agenda of any meeting to be posted on Secretary of State's website, the place of the meeting and the other prominent place within the city, at least 48 hours of the meeting date, week weekends not included.

Since the local paper is only published once a week and the advertising of special meetings, it's difficult to schedule to ensure that we meet the advertising deadlines of the sprint.

It creates a delay inability for the council to conduct its business under special circumstances of special meetings needed and an extra cost of advertisement.

However, since the issue has come to light in the interest of transparency, the regional audience has now will be amended and allow for the continuing posting of special meetings, notices online rather than in the newspaper.

This will enable the council to schedule a special meeting when necessary and still give the public notice without worry about printing and deadline of a newspaper.

This process will remain transparent, save city taxpayers, advertising costs, online publication, and is less expensive than the printing.

While still giving the council the flexibility and needs to conduct our business at the council will continue to post all of its meetings and according with open law.

That is why I'll be supporting this ordinance tonight.

I did walk my neighborhood.

None of them seem to read it on Projo.

Well, that we don't advertise on the Cranston Herald.

They said if they have a question, they call the clerk's office.

Most of my constituents didn't even know it was posted on the Secretary of State.

And I take offense to an editor, a letter to the editor that was written in.

That's all I have to say tonight.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

Did I see Councilman Ritz's hand up?

Yes, I I just had a uh a few comments to make uh similar to Councilman Campo Piano.

You know, it's kind of the balance between transparency and practicality here with having this here.

I did have three residents that that reached out asking for it to still be in print.

Two of them sent me lengthy text messages.

So I have to assume they were able to go online and find it.

But the third one uh was an older resident that that had trouble going online.

So I I do like the idea of being flexible here.

So when time permits, I do still like the idea of putting it in the newspaper.

I also think it's a good idea to maybe look at the Providence Journal.

Nothing uh I love the Herald, but with the weekly circulation, that that is kind of a hindrance if we have a special meeting that way.

So I do like the idea of putting in the province journal when we can.

Um, but if we can't, I I'm also in favor of not delaying the meeting to have it there too.

So a little bit of a balance of putting it when we can is definitely something I wanted to mention.

And then one other thing was just from the the few folks I took spoke to that sent the text messages.

We did have follow-up phone calls.

There it they do have the ability on the Secretary of State's website um to go on there.

And you can get a text alert anytime, any meeting from Cranston is put on the Secretary of State's website.

So I just wanted to share that uh on the record so other folks could know that too.

Thank you.

Thank you, councilman.

Councilwoman Graziano.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, I just wanted to state that many times the reason we're having the special meeting is to accommodate businesses and safety services.

Um, I think it's really important that we don't put businesses on hold waiting for a paper in circulation.

I appreciate that the Projo does daily, but I do postings for public hearings all the time.

I work for municipality, and I do a daily one, and it still takes over a week to get it into the paper based on when I post it in.

So, and that's a daily paper, and that's ProJo, and I don't even know how much it costs the taxpayers to put it in the Projo.

Um, I personally believe that this is this is a uh nice happy medium if we can do it with the Herald and post it online.

I think that is a great way.

And I do understand that we're not going to get to everybody.

Um, I don't believe that's a lack of transparency.

I think it's a need to accommodate our residents and the public.

Um, I don't want to leave them waiting.

I mean, legally we're allowed to post a meeting in 48 hours.

Um, if we could work out something with the city to do the same sort of thing, because I we do that too.

Like we notify people.

Um, they get on a list and they can be notified via text message or email when there's a meeting.

So I don't know if that's something Cranson can look into.

Um, but I I really don't want to delay the special meetings for a reason.

If it wasn't a special meeting, it would be a regular meeting, and then we'd be waiting.

So I just I'll say I support it and I work for municipality, and we definitely don't do this.

Um, and I caught talk to a couple other municipalities in the state of Rhode Island, and they don't do it either.

Not saying we have to follow suit, but we're not out of out of the realm of reasonable, like being reasonable.

Thank you, Councilman.

Any other comment?

I see Councilman Benano.

So I think this is a uh one of those situations where everybody's right.

Okay.

And um I'm hopeful maybe we can find a uh sort of a compromise here.

First of all, you know, I am probably the oldest 41-year-old you're ever gonna meet.

And I subscribe to the Cranston Herald, I I subscribe to an online version of the Providence Journal, and I read them when I get them.

But you know, as a council member now, it's it's quite different.

But even before I was a council member, and even before I was involved in uh government at a level um that some people are, I never got my notice for public meetings from the Cranston Herald.

I still read it from cover to cover.

I saw those advertisements, but I I was never informed um of those meetings for the first time by the Cranston Herald.

That is not a knock on the Cranston Herald, by the way.

Cranston Herald is a phenomenal paper.

I love reading it every week, and I and I think you guys do a fantastic job.

Um, and it's and and it's I never got it from the journal, I never got it from anywhere.

I got it from the city of Cranston website or you know, Google, when is the Cranston Council meeting?

Um so to say that it needs to be there uh for total transparency, I don't necessarily buy.

However, I also agree we should err on the side of caution.

My votes have consistently been for more transparency, even when they might not have been very popular.

Um so I I want to throw this out there.

Um, I think that if we tweak the language of this and essentially leave it the same and simply add sort of what councilman Ritz was talking about, and when you know, be published in an online version of a newspaper of general circulation within the city, or you know, if time permits, be printed in a newspaper of general circulation within the city.

I think that will cover everything.

And um, I understand that the spirit of this is in uh in good faith.

I don't think anybody's trying to get one over on anybody until I was talking to a friend of mine until a couple of years ago.

Um, you know, the town crier was supposed to go into the center of town with a trumpet and post a warrant about elections.

And and and and nobody does that anymore, quite obviously.

So I understand that that we need to modernize, but I also understand that we still do have printed papers.

So I don't think that it would be detrimental to this particular ordinance to perhaps send it back to committee, add that one sentence after we deliberate it and move forward.

I'm gonna I'm gonna um make that motion so at least we get out of here and everybody is satisfied.

Not everybody could be thrilled, but everybody could be satisfied.

Council councilman, before before we take that, um I'm just gonna take a second because uh offline um attorney uh Marcello and I were speaking of something uh similar to that.

If we made that amendment or something similar to if time permitted to publish in the print version of a paper of general circulation, would that have to go back to committee?

And here's where and I'm just gonna speak before I go around because I think everybody's had an opportunity for a moment.

Um I proposed putting the online uh version of the paper of general circulation into this because I uh two reasons, I'll tell you why.

There have been special meetings over the years, there have been a number of them.

Uh I've talked to council presidents, and the idea of the ability to advertise in a paper has been a difficulty when time doesn't permit you that.

So this amendment, it doesn't hinder transparency, it actually makes it truly transparent.

We could leave the ordinance as is, but it's a farce.

You can't have a sp, you very rarely, I won't say can't, you very rarely can have a special meeting with a seven-day time frame.

So I certainly, it's not that special if it's within seven days, but there are times.

All right, but many of the times time parameters don't allow us, and that's just a reality of it.

All right, that's why I proposed it.

And the idea didn't even come to me, it was through a discussion.

All right.

Um, but I certainly uh because myself and uh council attorney uh Marcel heard the same thing.

Um before I'm gonna take, but I'm gonna actually take a brief recess to discuss that matter, but I'm gonna take Councilman Andah first and then take a brief recess just to discuss what the parameters would be.

If something comes up open um special meeting, word of mouth, like it gets out, like phone calls get happening.

This one said this one, that one said that one.

Well, guess what?

There's a special meeting.

So that's all I have to say.

I'll leave it to my colleagues, but I will vote in favor of this to keep it the way it is.

Right.

Do I have to go for that or not?

All right.

So we're just going to take maybe five minutes tops.

And I want to confer with legal, and then we can continue this topic.

We're gonna reconvene.

All right.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're back in public session right now.

Um let me just start off as we convene with legal, the solicitor's office and uh attorney Marcelo.

Um listening, certain I mean, certainly when I propose the amendment to the ordinance, I believe I was doing so to actually increase transparency, not limit it, not be an enemy of it, to actually do something so people actually did see what was posted, as to pose the situation now, which was almost impossible to come uh conform to.

Um listening to uh councilman uh councilman Ritz and uh especially uh councilman Benano, I did hear some things that perhaps there's something we can tweak and add something, some provision if time permitted in the special meetings, but doing that, we'd have to send that back to committee.

All right, because we couldn't, it would be more and and and discussing it legal, this would be more of a substantive change.

So with that in mind, to get it right, I'd be looking for a motion to send this ordinance back to committee.

So move, Mr.

President.

Second all right, have a motion and a second.

Is there discussion?

Is there discussion?

I see councilwoman Graziano.

Sorry, just a question.

Do we need to have who made the motion?

Was it Andy to rescind that motion?

Because we were in the middle of a motion and we were in discussion.

Who made the motion?

Could you rescind it?

You're gonna withdraw it.

You're gonna withdraw your motion.

Do I have to?

All right.

Um, all right.

I will I'll withdraw the motion.

Okay.

So now there's a motion to send it back to committee.

There's a second.

Is there any further discussion?

I see.

Councilman Campa Piano.

Yes, just briefly, uh, Council President.

I think lost in my uh speech there was I did make the recommendation that if we could put in it if time permitted.

So uh I'm glad it got a little bit of circulation there.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Um, Councilman Endeh.

I just want everybody to keep in mind the cost of this.

So I hope we have a budget because I know a lot of people are always looking at our budgets.

I hope we have extra money.

That's all I'm saying.

Thank you.

Councilman Bonanno.

I think um this is this is the right move.

I think that you know the once we debate this further in committee, we get the language right.

So we can still uh advertise it in our local newspaper, either online if it's an emergency slash special meeting, and time doesn't permit it to be printed.

But if time permits, we print it.

Um I think like I said, that that that encompasses everybody's needs.

I don't think it's uh anybody's wish to balloon the budget.

I think the way we're kind of doing it in the publications we're doing it in now work.

It's just uh we gotta sort of conform the um special meeting situation so that can fit into that framework as well.

And I'm glad it's going back to committee.

Thank you, Councilman.

Uh I see Councilwoman Graziano's hand up.

Thank you.

So I'm I mean, I'm going to definitely encourage this.

I'll review the language, but um you know, I was just kind of going back and forth with what the options are, and I think everything's subject to interpretation.

So the language proposed better be pretty good because um if time permits is to me opening a door um of questions, whether or not time actually does permit.

So that's my only concern, and I'll have to review the language, but I'm not gonna make any promises.

Um, but I I do support the online version.

Thank you, councilwoman.

Any other discussion?

I see councilwoman Heroin.

I will not support something with the wording if time permits.

It would have to say an hours, because if time permits is open a can of worms, and we wouldn't want anyone to misinterpret that and com write a letter to the editor complaining.

Yeah, I I think we definitely gonna need legal language that does clear and it isn't vague and isn't subject to interpretation.

I would certainly agree, and I think during that time when we do take it up in committee, we'll definitely have to come up with that.

And if it doesn't work, we could be sitting with the same ordinance again.

That's an option.

If we can't find languages where we may have that, but I'm willing to give it a try.

Any other discussion?

Okay.

I see none.

Clerk, would you please call a roll?

Consul McGraziano?

Yes.

Yes.

Conserverts?

Yes.

Council Trafficanti?

Yes.

Consulwoman Vazeri.

Yes.

Yes.

Consponano?

Yes.

Council Vice President Horon?

Council President Wall.

Yes.

All right, still me.

Uh next up we have ordinance 102504, or it's an amendment of title two, chapter eight, section of one section 190 of the city of Cristo Court of Order since 2005 entitled Department of Law.

Number of Assistant City Solicitors.

My understanding this is just a title.

So I urge passage.

Is there a motion to approve?

So moved.

Second.

Second.

Any discussion.

Solicitor, would you like to to address the council?

Seeing you have the most knowledge on this matter.

Thank you, Council President.

Yeah, Councilman Anderheit is correct.

It's this is nothing more than cleaning up the language.

Uh it is not hiring anybody new.

Um, since I've been the solicitor in 2021, Chris Rawson has been uh deputy solicitor based on his uh level of responsibilities.

And that's all it is is just creating uh uh a title and the same number for uh the solicitor's office, which is already in effect.

So this is not uh should have zero effect on the budget, nor is it uh my office looking to hire anybody.

Thank you.

Thank you, solicitor.

Any other discussion?

All right, was there whom somebody make a motion?

Somebody made a second.

There's no other discussion.

Clerk, please call roll.

Consulwoman Braziano, yes, Consuhar, yes, Conservative, yes.

Trafficante?

Yes, Consulwoman Vizier, yes.

Conspiano, yes, concept banana?

Yes, council vice president Corrian, yes, President Wall.

Yes.

Next up, we have a resolution adopting the city of Cranston safety action plan.

Um I know a lot of people didn't receive it.

Um, so instead of killing it, I would urge to table this to the next motion to continue to the next city council meeting.

Second.

Second.

Okay, all right.

So there's a motion to continue.

There is a second discussion.

Uh Councilwoman Graziano.

Thank you.

Um, thank you, President Wall.

I would just like to address the council and let everybody know that you know, personally, I requested this item.

It was not received to the city council.

Um, I'm I I'm just getting it on my desk today.

We even made strides trying to get it Friday at three o'clock.

And I I mean, I'm not, I'm pretty smart, and I think I can work a computer, and I could not get it off the planning website or the links or anything.

So because I fully support this, but because I have not had a chance to read it, I am supporting that motion to continue.

Once I read it, I'm happy to support it.

Councilman Benano.

I concur with um Councilwoman Graziana's remarks.

I just have a basic question.

By continuing it to the next meeting, there won't be any adverse consequence for the city.

And that's my question.

Is that is that an accurate statement?

Um, I'm not sure who can answer that question.

I did when I did speak to planning, they they didn't say it was a time-bound thing.

It would be all right, but I don't know if uh director Murray has anything.

He stepped up to the podium.

Yeah, I was gonna I was gonna request to say something, but to answer that question, I believe it.

I'm not aware of any uh uh uh ill impact at a result of losing funds.

And the director of uh planning uh she said the same thing because she knew we she actually when she spoke to me, she knew I had request I had reached out with with uh Rose on on Friday and said no one can open this, and we need some time to read it.

It's a 200-page document.

And it's it doesn't read like your best novel.

It's you know, it's it's important stuff, it's good stuff, but I think we need to read it.

And um, I believe everyone should have got a copy on their desk today.

All right, that's what I was told.

I got one.

Um, so uh I'm in support of motion to continue, but Director Murray, you have something more to add.

Yeah, just to add to it for clarification.

Uh the mayor was sponsoring this uh basically to accommodate the planning department.

And um apparently she represented like beginning last Thursday, I believe she tried to get the uh this document to people for whatever technical reasons or not, uh, she was not able to do so successfully, and that's where we are today.

But just to let you know that that wasn't the administration, if you will, the mayor's office had delayed, and I believe she made a diligent effort, but uh maybe swung and missed at being able to execute uh getting out this this large document.

And certainly I don't think there'll be any harm or foul uh by continuing.

Thank you.

And going long with the sports analogy, perhaps we'll get another chance to be up at back.

Um other comments before we take a vote.

Seeing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Consulman Graziano, yes, Consuhar.

Yes, Conservats, Casper Cante, yes, Consulman Vazeri, yes, Camp Piano, yes, Conspinano, yes, Consul Vice President Heroyan, Consident Wall.

Yes.

Next up, we have the resolution supporting the city of Cranston application for the 2026 green space outdoor recreation grant uh for improvements to the friendly parade ground.

And Mr.

President, if I could let uh allow Councilwoman Graziano to speak about this.

Could I just take uh is there a motion to approve and then open it up?

Is there a motion to move or a motion several and seconded?

Um is there any discussion?

And right away I see Councilwoman Graziano.

Um, thank you.

I just I I just want to say thank you to um Senator Vargas.

Um she had been leading this charge when she was um a councilwoman here for the city of Cranston.

Um, she and I had spoken about it a number of times.

Um in campaigning.

I heard about it from the residents.

Um, this is a playground that um was owned by the state.

It is now being given to the city um or has been given to the city, and therefore we'll be able to apply for grants to do improvements.

Um, there are many families in this neighborhood, um, single family homes, apartments, duplexes, families that I spoke to that would love to have this.

Plus, right now it's a huge eyesore, and we can't even ask our parks and rack department to um just do little tweaks here and there.

This really needs a full upgrade.

So as the ward one council person, I fully support this, and I think it'll make a big change to this part of the community.

Thank you, councilwoman.

Any other discussion?

All right, I can I just want to second the fact that I know how hard and how long the senator worked on it.

Um, I see that just about everybody who was in the committee that evening um wanted to be a co-sponsor, so it's a it's a very good thing, and I think it's sorely needed.

So I asked the clerk to please call roll concilman Graziano, yes, Consuhar, yes, Console Ritz, yes, Consult Canti, yes, Consulwan Vazeri, yes, Constapiano, yes, Cons Banano, yes, Consul Vice President Heroyan, yes, President Wall.

Yes.

Okay.

Well, it seems like you've been on for quite some time, Chairman.

I can take the floor back.

Very good.

It's all yours.

All right.

Um, so at that point, uh, public comment at this time we're going to look at public comment on undocumed items.

Is there anybody in chambers who would like to speak on undocated matters?

If so, please step up to the podium, state your name and your address for the record.

You'll have four minutes.

My name is Sue Kelly.

I live at 199 Jordan Avenue in Cranston.

And I did send out a comment, but I think I sent it to the wrong address.

I sent it to all the council members, and I thank you to Councilman Banano for getting back to me and making a comment about it.

And I would like to read the comments so that it goes into public record.

Thank you.

On a cold morning about two weeks ago, as I was driving toward Route 10 along Ganset Avenue, I was shocked to see a man covered in blankets sleeping on a bench.

I am aware Rhode Island has many more homeless people than we should have.

And I know Providence has a system called Regional Access Points, centralized informational access sites through which to get help if one is homeless or in imminent danger of becoming homeless.

Providence also has a dashboard that lists homeless shelters, their capacity, and their use.

This dashboard reports the number of people who need shelter balanced with the number who were able to access shelter.

When I saw this poor man, I began to wonder if Cranston has its own system to care for our homeless friends and neighbors.

With this question in mind, I visited the City of Cranston webpage, hoping to find a similar situation so that the next time I see someone sleeping outside in the code in the cold, I would be able to direct them to our local re resources.

I could find nothing.

I couldn't find information on the number of people in Cranston experiencing homelessness, nor could I find a list of shelters available for the homeless.

I could not find anything similar to Providence's regional access points, meaning I couldn't find a centralized process that would help someone experiencing the crisis of homelessness.

We are living through a brutal time that penalizes those with the least social services of all kinds are facing budget cuts, even food sources are under threat.

It seems to me that one major help the city of Cranston could provide would be a centralized resource for people under the incredible stresses of food insecurity and homelessness.

Within this resource would be factual information on the number of our community who are experiencing homelessness so that the public can understand the need and that our tax dollars are helping take care of those in need.

Also included should be a list of available shelters, whether these shelters are provided by the city or by local churches, the number of beds provided, and the number of beds taken.

In addition, a list of food pantries, their hours, and their requirements should be listed.

It is not a crime to be homeless, nor is the ability to care for others.

I certainly hope Cranston has the will and heart to ameliorate the financial, emotional, and political stresses that come with the crisis of homelessness.

And I think we also need a way for the homeless themselves to be able to access this information, whether it be through libraries or whatever else would be available for the homeless to do some sort of research or reach out in order to find our resources.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, ma'am.

Is there anyone else in chambers who would like to speak on undocumed matters?

Seeing none, Tom, is there anyone online who'd like to speak on undocumented matters?

There's no public comment online.

Okay.

I'm gonna close public comment.

All right.

Next um would be the election and appointment of city officials.

Um at this time I'm gonna entertain a motion to approve of the appointment of Mario Carlino to the tax assessment board of review as alternate number two, filling in the unexpired term for Elizabeth Del Prada for the term ending January 28th, 2026.

Is there a motion to move, Mr.

Chairman?

Second.

Motion made and seconded.

Any discussion?

There being none.

Clerk, please call that roll.

Consulma Graziano?

Yes.

Consuhar?

Yes.

Consider Ritz.

Yes.

Council Traficante?

Yes.

Councilman Vazeri.

Yes.

Consider Capiano.

Yes.

Consent Banana.

Yes.

Council Vice President Heroyan?

Yes.

Council President Wall.

Yes.

Thank you.

Next would be the appointment of Richard Santa Maria to the Board of Contracts and Purchases as Citizen Three, filling the unexpired term of Jesse Dooley for a term ending January 5th, 2026.

I do see Mr.

Santa Maria is in the audience.

Thank you for coming tonight.

Is there a motion to approve?

Motion to approve.

Is there any discussion?

Councilman Andor.

I would just like to thank Mr.

Santa Maria for his time.

And he's uh more than a friend, so welcome.

Any other discussion?

He should be welcoming you.

I guess that's discussion.

Also, also welcome and thank you for uh you've been here quite a while for the appointment, and I know you're you'll be a value to that board.

Very good.

All right, clerk, could you please call a roll?

Consulwan McGraziano?

Yes.

Consular.

Yes.

Yes.

Councilman Trafficante.

Yes.

Consulwan Vazeri.

Yes.

Council Cappiano?

Yes.

Council Banana?

Yes.

Consulate Vice President Heroyan?

Yes.

Council President Wall.

Yes.

Congratulations, Richard.

Okay, moving on.

Report of city officers.

Um there are no report of city officers under executive communications.

I'm not sure if there are any questions, but the legal expense report was provided in your package.

I know the solicitor is here.

If you have any questions.

I see none.

So we're going to move on to Council President Communications.

And if you recall, way back at the beginning, this would be a discussion item only on the uh open meetings decision of the patent versus Cranston City Council decision from the attorney general.

I've read it, but I asked Councilman strike that attorney.

A longer night than I thought.

Attorney Marcella to perhaps give us a little update, and he'll be here to answer any questions on this matter.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, as you know, uh a complaint was filed against the city council for an alleged violation uh related to three meetings that occurred in August uh 20th and 2025, relating to a meeting of the uh Cranston City Council, the finance subcommittee, and then back to the city council.

They're all filed.

The complaint was filed by the uh same individual.

The gist of the complaint was that the uh the agenda was not specific enough, didn't provide enough uh comment uh time period, 48 hour time period for people to comment on the on the complaint, as well as there was no link to the um the alleged amendment relating to the legal contract by the former uh council for the city council, Mr.

Angel.

Um, after a thorough decision and we decision was rendered on uh November 3rd, 2025.

The uh attorney general's office uh found that there was no violation by this body of the uh open meetings act or the posting of the notices that the notice provided was sufficient to inform the public as to what was what was happening.

And most specifically, I think I want to just add this.

So um the requirement that there be a link to the agenda of the document that's being discussed.

Um the attorney general has uh consistently held that public bodies are only required to post attachments or links to additional information when they're when the sufficiency of the agenda item itself is contingent on the information in the link or the attachment.

In other words, if the agenda item might be a little vague, um and and you might mean they might say like uh like a zoning amendment, right?

But then it doesn't have the zoning amendment, not not linked.

The zoning amendment could be anything.

But if you link the zoning amendment to that, then that kind of cures the defect.

In this case, they found that the posted agenda notice that there was a possible vote on an amendment to a legal contract, and we attached, excuse me, the city clerk attached the actual legal contract to the agenda was sufficient, and there was no need to attach the proposed amendment.

So that's where the decision lies.

There was no findings uh uh there was no finding of a violation of the law.

And um, I will say that I'm pleased that the attorney general did get back and render a decision pretty quickly because I thought this was going to take a little bit more time, but um, I think we filed our answer in uh early September and um we got it back pretty quickly.

So if anybody has any questions, we have to answer them.

Does anyone member of the council have any questions uh for attorney Marcella?

Yes, sir.

So it's over.

That's it.

It's over.

Okay.

Any other questions or comments?

I do want to thank Attorney Marcella for the work that he did on this.

I always it was my belief that as a council, I always felt that we did do things in in upfront transparent manner.

Um sometimes when questions arise and you get the decision, it's in your favor.

It's kind of a nice affirmation that we are doing things the right way in a transparent way, which is a way we're used quite a bit this evening.

So thank you, Attorney Marcel.

All right, moving right along.

I believe we're moving on to council member communications.

And the first up would be Councilman Andhar, an update from the administration on the status of rescue five.

I believe uh the floor is yours.

Director Moret.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilman.

Um Rescue Five is a um has been to kind of define it, um, the fifth rescue service within the city of Cranston that has uh been operating um on a part-time uh, I mean they say voluntary basis, part-time being the first shift uh during you know during the day, um, with an agreement uh with the uh with the firefighters union.

Um this has been going on for a good number of years.

Um give the fire department administration be pleased to uh show who we will in time.

The uh the numbers of rescue calls over the years have uh vastly increased um since since say uh rescue four had been enacted.

And uh so there was some uh as a result of the most recent negotiations.

One of the uh items for follow-up was going to be making a final determination.

Um given the uh in terms of keeping rescue five full time uh or not, and not a full-time staffing at full time.

And uh discussions have taken place with the fire administration, the firefighters union, and the city administration.

And uh the failing is to recommend to the council uh to uh staff a full-time uh rescue five.

Um doesn't come in expensively.

What it will do is certainly reduce uh the overtime because it's been on an overtime basis that voluntary uh during the day staffing, and that would re uh and uh convert that to a full-time staffing, which I believe the increment, the um incremental eight uh firefighters or so uh would be would be staffed.

Um the details of that would require a uh there's been a verbal agreement uh to proceed um to bring it forth uh to the council.

Um and it's actually one of the highest priorities right now, sitting with the solicitor's office to develop in uh an MOU to you know to be uh locked into with the with the firefighters along uh with an uh ordinance um to alter the budget um in terms of uh you know fiscal note and and uh and also a uh a companion ordinance to modify the budget.

Those are being worked on, and I think it's gonna be a matter of days rather than weeks uh till uh something is uh produced to um something is produced.

Certainly the process would be sharing that and coming to agreement uh with the firefighters union, um, and then eventually building it into the contract current contract.

Um so over the coming days and hopefully certainly within the very short weeks, if you will, to have that in place, and so we could uh come forward um once agreement is is made to come forward with a specific program uh an outline uh to produce to the city council uh seeking approval.

Should we be successful?

Would you we have every reason to believe we will be successful in uh in getting to that point?

Councilman Anderhound, you have any follow-up to this?

Yes, no.

Um director, thank you for the update.

As you know, uh rescue five is in ward three, and it also generates funds because you do build Medicaid.

So it does generate funds.

I urge that and I thank the mayor for um making it permanent.

And if you need any help, if I could sponsor it, I would love to be on a part of that because it is something dear to my neighborhood.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilman Minano.

Yes, um, I want to echo what Councilman Anahar said.

It's actually about 10 feet into ward five, but it's the closest one to ward three.

Um in that area, all kidding aside, in that area, which is ward three, there is the Cranston Senior Center.

There are, I think, I want to say four to five elderly housing um uh four elderly housing uh complexes, um and uh there is the riverbend complex, which is right down the road on on um um Dyer Avenue.

Having grown up in that neighborhood, I I am floored that it's taken this long to get to the point where we're at.

Um, but I applaud the administration, I applaud the fire department, I applaud um uh uh you know the the mayor's office um for bringing this forward.

Um this is something that's vastly needed because number one, while there is a cost associated with it, as my colleague said, there are there are bills that go out for people that have insurance or or if the federal government through Medicaid will pay for it.

Number one, and number two, it probably will reduce um some of the um mutual aid calls.

You know, it will reduce some of the mutual aid calls, which will in turn um make the service for Cranston residents uh that much better.

Um I recall talking to some of the firefighters when I was campaigning and there was a a case where someone um because Cranston Fire got there so fast, the life was saved.

And um, you know, there's no price you can put on someone's life.

So uh we're moving in the right direction, and uh I support this wholeheartedly.

Thank you.

Any other discussion?

All right, I I support what my colleagues say.

I know we've been here a while, but improving safety in the city, uh, it can't be a bad thing.

We can't do it enough.

So thank you, and I support it as well.

I who's hand councilman traffic.

I'm sorry, I didn't see you here.

Mr.

Chairman, question.

Uh believe me, I'm totally supportive of this.

Um fact when I was mayor, I I uh approved the um construction of a new rescue up in the situation Avenue.

So I know the importance of covering the entire city.

My only question is why was this why wasn't this brought to our attention during the budgetary process during the current yeah?

So critical.

Um at that time, the rescue five was the way it's been for the past decade or so.

I don't have the so there was pretty much the status quo during the budgetary process.

There was coincide coinciding with the fire with negotiations and negotiating the firefighters contract, which was uh uh adopted uh and agreed upon after the budget process was completed.

Um and this was one of the issues that came up as a result of that.

So it would uh so uh chronologically the budget process took place.

Budget was adopted concurrently at the time, negotiations were going on uh when uh negotiations finished up, which was post-budget.

That's when it was uh agreed that uh we would uh take a serious look at this.

Um I believe it was in believe it was uh first week in July, give a take is when the actual firefighters contract was approved, and we uh had a target of October 1st to uh reach a uh conditional approval, uh a conditional agreement uh to proceed or not uh uh uh uh proceed.

And here we are today.

We have reached that, and we're at the point of having it to writing.

So it was the chronological order sequence of which which occurred again.

The mayor and the firefighters union, um, Mayor Hopkins addressed this after probably a decade or more uh of this lingering out there.

So congratulations to Mayor Hopkins, congratulations to the fire administration, the fire union to coming to this point.

It is something gonna be worthy of consideration.

It's it is it's not a it's not a not costly endeavor.

Uh there's a lot of justification for it.

Uh we look forward to uh presenting a very uh comprehensive look at this, both in terms of costs in terms of um rescue runs, etc.

etc.

So it's not gonna be willy-nilly uh to just you know please uh uh try to rubber stamp a worthy cause.

Uh you will you'll when we roll this out, which hopefully it'd be shortly, hopefully be introducing it within this month.

Um that uh you'll see we'll see the you know the full background to it.

And uh doing studying this, the fiscal impact of that took a while also.

So I hope that answers the question regarding the chronology of this.

Um other questions on this matter.

I see councilwoman, uh council vice president royal.

Two slips tonight.

I'll be in full support.

Yes, and I would imagine the would not be the same as what we're paying for overtime or mutual aid from other cities and towns.

It looks as if the it there will be a net cost.

It's it's not it doesn't look like it could be a break-even or a profit, if you will.

Certainly the revenues uh offsetting will offset some of the cost, but it would be a costly proposition, if you will, but uh probably uh with with the thing where everyone will probably agree it's a worthy uh investment in the community.

Thank you, Council Vice President.

Any other comment?

There being none.

Uh thank you, Councilman Anderhour.

We're going to move on to council uh communications from councilman Ritz.

The first one is a liquor license renewal BCI.

Councilman Ritz, you have the floor.

Thank you, Council President.

I'm gonna hold my comments on the uh the liquor license renewal BCI.

Um and as far as the second one with law and beauticians, I know we we asked for an update there, but I think um you know it's kind of a challenging situation for me because I'm I'm kind of in the middle here with two two things I value, which are public safety and then not getting in the way of a business.

And and one beauticians has been here for for a long time, you know, good citizen in the community.

You know, there was a fire a few years ago, so I am um you know, we'll be open to their concerns though, too.

But you know, I we heard from one person tonight and I heard from a few others.

I I appreciate the effort you are making from what they have asked for.

Um, you know, the permits have come up.

You had mentioned that already that you had the permits there too.

I know there was some some asphalt that was there.

I heard from the citizens.

I think you might have mentioned it too.

That stuff was removed.

Um, the one thing that does keep coming up is the the height of the mulch files that you have there.

Um I know you mentioned they are 10 to 12 feet, which is in regulation, but I was wondering if you could look at lowering them just to be a good neighbor to the folks around you too, since that's a concern.

And then the tree line.

If it's possible to pull them away from the tree line, those are the kind of the main things I have heard from the folks, and kind of the only two open ones is just the mulch pile height and the closest of the tree line.

And I understand their concerns because of the fire in the past, but I know you mentioned you move the wood pulse and some of the other things too.

But I just asked that you consider lowering them and moving them away from the tree line.

Thank you, Councilman.

Any other comment on this discussion item?

I see councilman Garziano.

Um thank you, Councilman Ritz for bringing this up.

I I mean, I guess I'll just say, I mean, we're kind of going round and round with this, and I don't see it as a round discussion.

I see it as whether very black and white.

They're either in compliance or they're not.

Um I I do this a lot.

These piles are definitely higher than 12 feet.

I work, this is what I do for a living.

Um I would love to see the composting permit and compliance with large scale medium scale or small scale composting.

Um it looks like the operation has expanded over the years.

Um, I'm looking at aerial photography on near map.

So, you know, I'm not gonna say what's there.

I do administration enforcement in a different state, so I'm not gonna say what's there.

That would be up to the zoning enforcement officer.

Um, but you know, I I don't think we need to go round and round.

It's either in compliance or it's not sir.

You stepped up to the microphone.

Did you want to address this?

Just please once again state your name and address for the record.

David Moyo 468 Avenue.

Um the mulch piles are not really high, but there are piles in the back that's soil.

So maybe I'm thinking that people are getting topsoil and finished compost confused with mulch.

Because the mulch piles are only they're only as high as the loader goes.

The loader only goes, you know, 10, 12 feet high.

So it doesn't go any higher than that.

So I'm not, I I'm not out in sight.

I don't feel comfortable because I do regulatory um enforcement administration.

So I don't want to say just from pictures, but like this one is not mulch, it's definitely higher than 12 feet.

Um, it again, I'm not gonna say what the problem is.

I need the administration to tell us if this is in compliance or not.

And I like it's just not the way I operate.

So, like either you're allowed to do something or you're not allowed to do something, either it's in compliance or it's not in compliance.

And if it's not, it needs to get into compliance.

And if you have a I read through the composting regulations for DEM in State of Rhode Island while we were sitting here, there's all different types of permitting and all different types of requirements.

Some require a safety management plan, operation and maintenance plan, um, certain inspections, um, you know, how you're going to comply with the requirements of importing materials.

Um I mean, I see I I have a really rigorous testing regime for any imported materials that exceed that exceed 500 cubic yards.

So it all depends on what the level of import and export is.

Um, and if it's related, I don't know.

Like that's why I'm not gonna say the administration and zoning enforcement officer need to direct us if it is.

We get continuing complaints.

I want to make sure that we're in compliance.

I'm sure you do too.

Um so to me, it's super cut and dry.

Yeah, I mean, they came there, they gave us a license, they say we're good to go.

I don't know, Lord.

Councilwoman, I council you want to respond to this on behalf of the administration.

Yeah, I just wanted to address the fact that well, obviously that we really shouldn't be having a back and forth here, but that I'm not picking on anybody.

As far as the city is concerned, um law beauticians in that property is in compliance.

Um, should that change?

We will certainly report back to obviously we report it back to law beauticians, and we would report it back to the council.

Right now, inspections has been out there numerous times.

Um it's my understanding they're in full compliance with DEM.

So as of right now, there's really nothing to report.

Um, Mr.

Moyer was nice enough to speak to me uh offline outside, and they are going to try and reduce at least the size of the mulch piles.

The bigger pile uh uh according to Mr.

Moyer is soil which is not combustible to begin with.

So uh however high it is, it is mulch obviously different story, and that's what we had the problem with a year ago um when there was a when there was a fire.

Um, but even after the fire, they were in full compliance.

Um, so I think we can kind of I hope to be able to put it to bed at this point.

And yes.

Through the through the chair, may I yes, absolutely, council.

Um so I I'll just make comment like composting wind rowing.

We do it all the time, and I'm just not seeing it in the aerial photography.

So I'll just make a comment that the DEM regulations when I read them require that you win row all your composting.

Um, and I'm just not seeing it on these this aerial photography.

So I'll just let you know that I'm not seeing that.

We grind our composts and then put them in a windrow and then screen them compost.

Yeah.

You can come look if you'd like.

DM game look, nothing dying.

Thank you.

I appreciate that offer.

Um other comments.

All right.

I think we're about councilman Ritz, you're about to all right.

Thank you.

I appreciate your time.

All right.

If we look, we're gonna head down to new business.

Um, I will make you that the administration is requested to withdraw 112503, but with the exception of 1120 uh 112503.

I'm gonna entertain a motion to take new business as a block.

Second, hold on.

Councilman, I see a motion and second, councilman and uh Mr.

President.

I want to speak about 112501.

Would you like me to remove it?

Yes, if we could just go in order, I think it would be a lot easier.

Well, then we'll we'll take them all one at a time then.

All right, so um, so we're gonna start with 112501.

Is this so we won't take it?

We're gonna withdraw that motion and take it as a block.

Please withdraw that motion.

Withdraw.

Okay, then I'm gonna entertain a motion to approve 1120.

Send 112501 to the appropriate committee.

Is there a motion?

So moved, Mr.

Second Discussion, Councilman, Mr.

President.

Um, I entertained this um ordinance because we were on a time constraint for uh the approval of 192 affordable housing units and housing to me is very dearly, so we kind of rushed it.

Um it didn't pan out, so it has to be withdrawn.

But this is a clear example of if this were to pan out, we would have had to have a meeting by Friday in order for um this person or this group to meet the deadline for their federal funding.

So this is just a prime example of why I didn't I wanted to pass out of the thing, but this will be withdrawn, and I appreciate that.

Um, and through discussion with councilman and hard.

That that is a perfect it illustrates the point that sometimes it is a short time frame, it does happen, and I would agree with that, and um that contingency has to be considered with our audience.

Um all right, so that 112501 has been withdrawn.

Um three has been withdrawn.

So the only thing we have to move to the appropriate committee would be a motion to send 112502 to the appropriate committee, which I guess would be the ordinance committee.

Is there a motion?

So moved.

Any discussion?

There being none, clerk.

Please call a roll.

Councilman Graziano, Casmanduhar, yes, Ritz, Council Trafficanti.

Yes, Councilman Vazieri, yes, council camp piano, yes, banano.

Yes, council vice president, yes, council president wall.

Yes, all right.

So now we go to the resolutions.

There a motion to send the resolution requesting the general is there a motion motion to move move the resolution resolution honorable, yeah.

Second second all right, second any discussion.

There being none.

Clerk, please call a roll.

Councilman Graziano, yes, councilman, yes.

Yes, Cons trafficante, yes, councilman Vazier, yes, Conspiano, yes, concept banana, yes, vice president.

Yes, President Wall.

Yes, is there a motion to send the claims, which are all listed there on your your committee thing?

Is it to the claims committee?

So moved second second any discussion.

There being none, clerk please call roll razion, yes, manu har yes, yes, trafficanti.

Yes, councilman Vazieri, yes, conspiracy piano, yes, but yes, constable vice president, yes, council president wall.

Yes, there being no further business before the council this evening.

I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved, second, second all in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye aye, opposed signify by saying nay.

The ayes have it.

That motion carries this meeting is adjourned.