Newport City Council Regular Meeting - July 9, 2025
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Newport City Council Regular Meeting - July 9, 2025
The Newport City Council met on July 9, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers. The meeting covered a broad range of items including a contentious Citizens Forum on state neglect of the Pell Bridge gateway landscape, a split vote on the Newport Kite Festival permit, several traffic and parking ordinances, fee increases for harbor mooring and city services, and resolutions addressing pedestrian safety and mobile food establishments. The council also continued a transparency resolution for the Sister Cities Commission to a workshop.
Consent Calendar
- The consent calendar was approved with the exception of items B1 (Newport Kite Festival) and B7 (Conexion Latina event), which were addressed separately.
- Approved routine items included: minutes of June 11, 2025; special events (Rochambeau Commemoration, Music on the Lawn, John Lewis Rally, newportFILM benefit, Touro Park concert series, Conexion Latina, Newport Art Museum sound bath, Sail Newport fundraiser, Suchi Reddy talk, Black Ships Festival Gala, IYRS regatta awards party, Dr. Hartselle talk, Charterbook event, Cardines Classic); waste hauler license for Shouliu Li; holiday selling license renewal for Closet Revival; communication from Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission supporting Transportation Master Plan funding; request to light City Hall teal on July 22 for World Fragile X Day; and resignations from Sister City Commission (Delaney Daly and George Antone) received with regret.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Maureen Cronin (Tree and Open Space Commission chair) and Lily Dick testified about the deteriorated condition of the Pell Bridge gateway landscape. Cronin stated that over 81 trees are dead or dying, the state (RIDOT) has failed to fulfill promises to replace trees and complete landscaping after the realignment project, and no memorandum of understanding exists to allow the city to act. Dick reported that of 179 trees inventoried, only 73 (41%) are alive, and many are over-mulched. She urged the council to demand action from RIDOT and the governor. Councilor Carlin voiced support, noting the area has suffered "death by a thousand cuts."
- Grant Bulgarian (Providence resident) urged the council to request that the state conduct an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed replacement of the Washington Bridge, arguing that alternatives such as rail connecting Providence and Newport should be studied. He stated the bridge replacement could cost over a quarter-billion dollars.
- Mark DelGiudice and Deb Roberts (Hammond Street residents) spoke in favor of the weight restriction ordinance, citing a 27-day speed trailer count of 62,000 vehicles on Hammond Street and dangerous conditions for pedestrians, including near-misses and a hit-and-run. They requested a comprehensive study before any further changes.
- Nino DiMarco (Dixon Street resident) opposed reversing the direction of Dixon Street, stating that the traffic problem is systemic and not limited to one street. He suggested limited-access zones for residents.
Discussion Items
- Newport Kite Festival (Item B1): Applicant Ron Kitt described the festival as a free 39-year-old event. Councilor Carlin opposed the permit, citing dozens of complaints from Third Ward residents in 2024 about parking and traffic overflow, and argued the applicant had no adequate mitigation plan. The permit was approved on a 5-2 vote, with Councilor Carlin and one other opposed.
- Entertainment License Expansion – Pour Judgement Bar & Grill: Approved without public comment.
- Tree and Open Space Commission – Elephant Sculptures: Chair Cronin reported that after four public meetings and a walk-through, Aquidneck Park was chosen as the location. She requested a council resolution to formally approve placement. Councilor Smyth agreed to present a resolution at the next meeting.
- City Manager Employment Agreement Amendment: Councilor Thomas explained the amendment clarifies that the manager's contract will not automatically renew; the council must act with at least three months' notice. The resolution was approved.
- Action Item 6453 – PowerDMS Subscription: Approved for $8,075.28 for FY26.
- Action Item 6454 – Multi-way Stop Signs (Spring, Bowery, Young): Councilor Carlin opposed, citing a constituent's email warning of increased traffic congestion. The council voted to remand the item back to the ITC for further study, given that a broader traffic study of the area is already underway.
- Action Item 6455 – Weight Restricted Street (Hammond Street): Approved after public testimony. Councilor Ceglie requested that electronic signs be used to alert truck drivers.
- Action Item 6456 – Harbor Ordinance Revision – Mooring Fee Increase: Harbormaster Steve Land proposed a 10% increase (the first since 2022) to catch up with inflation, noting a waiting list of 1,600 people. Councilor Carlin opposed, arguing it unfairly burdens Newport residents already facing a near-maximum property tax increase. The ordinance passed first reading on a vote with Councilor Carlin opposed.
- Action Item 6457 – Rental Registration Fee Increase: Approved, raising registration fees from $20 to $75 and inspection fees from $25 to $100.
- Action Item 6458 – General Fee Schedule: Approved, expected to raise approximately $680,000–$700,000 to make the City Clerk's office fee-funded. Councilor Carlin supported, noting it targets special event applicants rather than residents.
- Ordinances – Parking Prohibitions (Poplar Street and Spring Street): Second readings approved.
- Revised Rules of Council (Resolution 13): Withdrawn by sponsor Councilor Smyth for a workshop.
- Boards and Commissions Oversight Committee (Resolution 14): Withdrawn by Councilor Smyth for minor revisions.
- Sister Cities Commission Program (Resolution 15): Councilor Smyth introduced a resolution requiring the commission to appoint a treasurer, provide monthly expense reports, present a yearly report to council, submit trip plans and post-trip reports, and develop a fundraising plan. After debate, the council voted to continue the item to a workshop with the commission, with Councilor Smyth and Councilor Pinnock agreeing.
- Bannister's Wharf Safety (Resolution 16): Councilor Ceglie's resolution directs the city manager to request RIDOT conduct a pedestrian safety study, install a no-loading zone, and consider high-intensity crosswalk beacons. Councilor Ceglie reported that RIDOT has already approved 70 feet of delineators for the southbound lanes. The resolution was approved unanimously.
- Mobile Food Establishments at JT Connell Lot (Resolution 17): Councilor Ceglie proposed allowing up to two MFEs to operate from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the new park-and-ride lot. The resolution passed, directing the administration to prepare ordinance revisions.
Key Outcomes
- Newport Kite Festival permit approved (5-2).
- Spring/Bowery/Young stop sign proposal remanded to ITC for further study.
- Hammond Street weight restriction ordinance approved.
- Harbor mooring fee increase (10%) passed first reading; final vote pending.
- Rental registration and inspection fees increased.
- General fee schedule increased, aiming to make City Clerk's office self-funded.
- Sister Cities Commission resolution continued to a workshop.
- Bannister's Wharf safety resolution approved, with RIDOT already committing to delineator installation.
- MFE ordinance revision directed to allow food trucks at JT Connell lot.
Next Steps
- Administration to bring back ordinance revisions for MFEs at JT Connell lot.
- Sister Cities Commission workshop to be scheduled.
- City manager to formally request RIDOT study for Bannister's Wharf intersection.
- Tree and Open Space Commission to receive a council resolution on elephant sculptures at next meeting.
Meeting Transcript
And also on behalf of my colleagues and on behalf of this body. With immediate to do so again, whether intentionally or not was irresponsible. And it's caused a lot of speculation. Six to one vote to go into executive session. Thank you for being wise and wanting that meeting to be held in public. I understand the hesitation to do so to hold it in public, but in hindsight, had I had it to do again, I would have wanted that meeting held right here in public, so that it was explicitly clear, as I mentioned earlier, that this was not about any individual counselor. And again, I'll close with this. I say so selfishly and on behalf of this body. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Counselor. And uh Councilor Pinnock. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. I just also want to take a moment of um personal privilege. We have a really special person who often comes to our meetings, but she's here today. She does a lot for our community, particularly our seasoned, our more seasoned folks are um community elders, and today is her birthday. So I just wanted to wish Carmel Aguera a really happy birthday. Thank you for birthday to you. Happy birthday to Louis. Happy birthday, dear Carmela. Happy birthday to you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. You didn't know I could sing. We do now. Uh Madam Clerk, would have anyone sign up for the uh Citizens Forum, please. Yes. Uh first up, we have Maureen Cronin. Good evening, and hello. Um, Maureen Croner and 10 Harvard Street. Tonight I'm actually uh peering on behalf of the tree and open space commission, and we have a statement that we need some help with, and we thought that this might be the best opportunity to have everybody uh get together in one place and decide how we're gonna get this done. Um I'm here to talk about a serious problem, and it's one that affects all of the residents and the millions of visitors who come to this city every single day through the Pell Bridge Gateway. The good news is the problem has a solution. The bad news is is the solution is ignored by the responsible party, and that's the state of Rhode Island. Umfortunately, most of the public believes from the input that we receive that the city is responsible for the appearance and what's going on over there, and they don't know that it isn't us, and it isn't lack of responsibility on council administration or the tree and open space commission that it's a state problem. The landscape was left in disarray after the realignment project. There's over 81 dead and dying trees that are there. There's an unfinished dog park, there's a gateway corridor that leaves an amazingly bad impression to anybody coming over the Pelt Bridge into this beautiful city. It is nowhere near the way the impression is when somebody's coming in by the water, and we were always promised that that would be the way it was going to be finished when it was all done. I have about six bullet points just to share with you, so you should reflect on them and about what we're gonna do. The first is the Pell Bridge realignment was put into two phases, phase one and phase two. Each single phase had a detailed landscape plan that both the city administration, the commission, and the state agreed would be followed upon the completion of the phase. So there were two individually that were out there, and the promise was the state was going to underwrite and was going to do what was on there. They were going to do those together in collaboration with the city. Second, phase one, when phase was was finalized. Ride Ot said, we are not going to do phase one now. We think we're going to do phase one with phase two, but don't worry, we'll do it. We begged, we said, please do it, and they said no, we're gonna do it. We're gonna not replace the trees that we took out, which was a major leak thing that we asked, because they took out quite a bit, hundreds of trees.
openpublica.com