Narragansett Town Council Regular Meeting - June 11, 2026
Narragansett Town Council Regular Meeting - June 11, 2026
Note: The official agenda and minutes list the meeting date as June 15, 2026; however, the instruction requires using June 11, 2026, the date it was posted, in the title. The content reflects the actual proceedings of June 15, 2026.
The Narragansett Town Council held a regular meeting with all members present except Councilor Ryan J. Torrealday. The meeting featured a student art showcase, updates from the Town Manager, approval of routine items, and several action items including a restaurant lease award, work session scheduling, change orders, personnel matters, and an ordinance amendment. All votes were unanimous (4-0) unless noted.
Announcements & Presentations
- Spotlight on Schools: Art teacher Jessica DeRemer introduced elementary students (Madison, Caleb, Alina, Chelsea) who presented artwork inspired by Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night. Students described their techniques including oil pastels, paint, and sculpture using plaster.
- Town Manager's Update: James Tierney announced: Rhode Island DEM celebration for Roger Wheeler State Beach boardwalk/bulkhead completion on June 30 at 9 a.m.; Scarborough Wastewater Treatment Facility operating optimally; a public workshop for the Comprehensive Plan kickoff on July 13 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall (survey to be posted); Fire Department Open House on June 28 at Station 1; 5th graders visiting Town Hall on June 16 for a mock council meeting; and a follow-up meeting on the Narrow River Dredging Project with the Army Corps of Engineers, Fish and Wildlife Services, and Foth Engineering.
- Town Council Updates: President Menzies attended the June 8 high school graduation; clarified his Washington D.C. trip to seek federal dredging funding was paid personally; noted ongoing permit work for dredging (awaiting Army Corps approval); wished a safe July 4th.
- Councilor Vignali reported a productive stakeholder meeting on beach preparedness for the holiday; urged residents to sign up for the town newsletter via the website to counter misinformation on social media.
- Councilor Durkin highlighted collaboration with State Representative Teresa Tanzi to fix a drainage issue on Burnside Avenue near the Eastward Look entrance.
- Councilor Colonies announced a float parade for Rhode Island’s 250th anniversary on August 22; defended a recent soccer clinic at the beach (40 children attended) against criticism, calling it a positive event.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Catherine Celeberto (48 Earles Court) criticized the council for reacting emotionally to her letter about the soccer clinic; stated the $290/week camp cost was prohibitive for some families and called it inappropriate on a public beach. She also urged the council to delay renewing the Town Manager’s contract until after the primary election.
Consent Calendar
- Approved as presented (Motion: Durkin/Colonies, 4-0): Seven routine items including:
- Class F-1 alcohol license for Narragansett Lions Club's Blessing of the Fleet festival (July 23-25).
- URI Panhellenic Council event “Seas the Day with Greek Life” at Town Beach (Sept. 8).
- Utility pole relocations (Ottawa Trail and Congdon Street).
- Real estate abatements ($2,927.07).
- Waiver of interest on overdue tax/utility payments.
- Animal Rescue League of Southern RI “Bark on the Beach” fundraiser (Sept. 13).
Public Hearing
- Scheduled a public hearing for July 20, 2026 to consider transferring a Class B-Victualing Alcohol Beverage License from One Eye Jack's LLC dba Buster Krabs Beach Bar and Burger Shack to Five Sisters RG, LLC dba Buster Krabs at 265 Great Island Road. (Motion: Durkin/Vignali, 4-0)
Discussion Items
- Middlebridge Restaurant Lease (E.1): Awarded the bid to sole bidder See The Light dba Southeast Light Delights with $1/year rent for years 1-5, with years 6-10 to be negotiated. Applicant Andre Boudreau (Block Island) confirmed renovations would stay under the 50% rule (appraisal $289k, restoration bid $120k). Council discussed future possibility of a beer/wine license; Town Solicitor clarified the RFP does not preclude a future application. Parking would be in the common area. Public comment from Celeberto supported allowing beer/wine to help the business. Awarded and authorized (Durkin/Vignali, 4-0).
- Comprehensive Plan Work Session (F.1): Scheduled July 8, 2026 at 6 p.m. with the Planning Board to discuss the update. Planning Director noted the public workshop is July 13. (Colonies/Durkin, 4-0)
- Urban Redevelopment Plan Integration (F.2): Scheduled same work session (July 8, 6 p.m.) to integrate the Urban Redevelopment Plan into the Zoning Ordinance. (Durkin/Colonies, 4-0)
- Change Orders:
- G.1: Approved $6,300 change order for Owner’s Representative Services (Keough Construction) for the library solar array and EV charging station. (Durkin/Colonies, 4-0)
- G.2: Approved $35,500 change order for Narrow River Dredging engineering services (Foth Infrastructure). Public comment from Celeberto criticized the third change order before dredging began. Approved and authorized (Durkin/Vignali, 4-0).
- Seasonal/Temporary Wages (H.1): Adopted resolution establishing proposed wages for FY2026-27. Manager explained increases were small across-the-board adjustments reflecting minimum wage changes. (Durkin/Colonies, 4-0)
- Job Description Revisions (H.2): Amendment removed the Controller position description; remaining revisions (Deputy Town Clerk, DPW Deputy Director, Finance Director, Highway Foreman, Highway Mechanic, Laborer, Mechanic Foreman) approved as amended. (Motion to amend: Durkin/Vignali, 4-0; Main motion as amended: Durkin/Colonies, 4-0)
- Administrative Compensation Schedule (H.3): Adopted resolution establishing the schedule for FY2026-27. (Durkin/Colonies, 4-0)
- Police Detail Rate (I.1): Approved Memorandum of Agreement increasing the Interstate Navigation/Block Island Ferry special detail rate to $50/hour for FY26/27, effective July 1, 2026. Funded solely by Galilee Landing Fee (no taxpayer dollars). Public comment from Celeberto argued the rate should match the standard $85/hour. (Durkin/Vignali, 4-0)
- Opt-Out of Extended Alcohol Hours (I.2): Adopted resolution opting out of state enabling legislation for temporary extended alcohol service hours (to 4 a.m.) during the World Cup. Town Manager recommended against after consulting public safety. Approved (Durkin/Colonies, 4-0)
- Mobile Food Establishments Ordinance (J.1): Approved first reading of an amendment to Chapter 14, Article XI, Division 4 (Sec. 14-384) to increase the number of permits. Councilor Vignali supported to avoid bottlenecks. Councilor Durkin abstained. Public comment from Celeberto expressed curiosity about where trucks would locate. Passed 3-0 (Vignali/Colonies).
- Victualler License (J.2): Approved for Emily Caron dba Fig & Fromage at 889 Boston Neck Road. (Durkin/Colonies, 4-0)
Executive Session
- Retired to executive session for collective bargaining with Council 94, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Local 1179 and RI Laborers' District Council, Local 1033 (roll call 4-0). Later disclosed motions to seal the minutes of the session and to exit and return to open session, both passed 4-0.
Key Outcomes
- All votes were 4-0 except the mobile food ordinance (3-0 with Durkin abstaining).
- Future work session scheduled: July 8, 2026 at 6 p.m. (Comprehensive Plan and Urban Redevelopment).
- Public hearing set: July 20, 2026 for liquor license transfer.
- Middlebridge restaurant lease awarded; future liquor license application possible.
- Meeting adjourned at 8:27 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
All right. Good evening, everyone. Time's now seven o one PM. And we are here for our regularly scheduled town council meeting. Today's date is June fifteenth, twenty twenty six. It's a Monday. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. So we have a very special treat this evening. We're gonna start off with our spotlight on schools, and I will turn this over to uh Jessica Durhamer, who will uh give us uh uh who will introduce us to these wonderful guests. Um do we have a microphone or something? Oh we just want to make sure that everyone online can appreciate it as well as everyone in in attendance. Okay, thank you. Thank you for having us today. So we are all from the Narraganset Elementary School art program, and every year we have an art show, and the piece that's hanging over there was a collaborative project between uh third and fourth graders, and I think a few second graders also helped with it, and they learned about uh Vincent Van Gogh's artwork Starry Night, and our theme for the art show was uh Starry Night. So a lot of the artwork that they have here is inspired by space or starry night the painting or just the nighttime sky, things like that, stars and planets, and they have all been wonderful to be here tonight. I'm so proud of them. They brought their portfolios, which is a collection of their artwork from throughout the school year, and they have laid out their favorite pieces to show you. Madison, would you like to? Okay. So um go ahead and show us your one of your art pieces. Did you want to say anything about it? Um so our this art piece was inspired by like the neon version of Starry Night. So basically we could do places in our town and it could be like them to Starry Night. Very well said. Um we used paint and cardboard pieces to paint this. Very well. This is also inspired by Starry Night, and this is supposed to be like a little village in the night sky with all the stars shining in the wind blowing. Can everyone tell what building that is over there? Caleb, do you want to just hold yours up or do you want to talk about it? Okay. Thank you. Okay. Very nice, Alina. Good job. And Chelsea, do you want to say something? Okay. Um this was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh. Again, in Lake Madison's, it was inspired by the neon version of it. And we used um oil pastels to create this. Um the like the stars around it. And then the stars we used yellow paint and a cute tip. And then we painted just the whole thing. Like neon. Like it could be like a near orange or paint or green. Um and then this was all white paint. Very nice. Thank you. Do you mind talking about how we do the sculptures? So for the sculptures, we use um a cardboard like structure, like in this case, uh paper towel roll. And we plaster the whole thing.
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