It's 6 30.

I'll call the meeting to order.

It's Monday, April 6th.

Very fine day.

Jared, do you want to call the roll?

Sure.

Here.

Richard Cromwell.

Here.

Jared Pimentel here.

Patricia Antonelli.

Here.

Frederick Huntsbury.

Here.

John Green.

Here.

Home Greavy.

And no.

Kevin Michon.

And Sunny.

We are good to go.

Okay.

So we have a quorum.

Let's take a look at the approval of minutes.

We have the February 2 2025 meeting minutes.

May I have a motion to approve those minutes?

Moved.

And we have a second.

Okay.

Any discussion about the minutes?

Any errors?

Omissions.

All right.

All in favor of approving the minutes.

Any opposed?

Okay.

Unanimously passed.

We have a letter to the planning board from the Middle Town Planning Board Master of Plan.

Application for a public hearing.

Staff, do you know something about this?

Do you want to talk about this a little bit?

Yeah, so this is uh just um a notification basically for actual project details.

You are welcome to check out the meeting materials or the Middle Town Planning Board webpage, but the property uh that is the subject of this is located at 30 Valley Road, and the public hearing will be on Wednesday, April 8th at 6 p.m.

in the Middletown Town Hall.

So it's um a notification of a master plan application.

Okay.

It's a big project, 10,000 square feet.

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm just curious why why are they telling it so we see these?

It's not on the border of Newport, is it?

No.

No.

As a group scene, they generally notify it by the communities.

Oh, it is their property button.

I mean West Main.

The miniature group.

So it doesn't go by radius, but just being the adjoining thing.

And where is 30th Valley Road?

What's it here?

It's on Valley.

Right next to the new miniature golf course.

Oh, okay.

I hate to look it up.

Is this okay?

Anything further?

Any further questions about this?

Well, that was kind of them to let us know.

All right.

So what's I keep 30 minutes up?

All right.

Um to business.

I think that uh we have uh to talk about rescheduling the May 20, the May meeting because the regularly scheduled meeting on 4 May is Rhode Island Independence Day, uh holiday observed by the city.

So uh we're rescheduling to 11 May.

Is that problematic for any reason for anybody?

John.

Okay.

Um, do we have a sense of what do we have applications pending?

Do we have things that do we have any sense of what that meeting's likely to be?

Yes.

So one uh big component is the consultant will be in town visiting.

So they will be presenting to council as well as planning board.

Uh and we do have an application at TRC.

Uh obviously we can't um guarantee how TRC will vote to forward to the planning board, but it is at TRC, and if it follows course, it would be at planning board in May.

Okay, so we'd have a comp plan update with the consultant and maybe an application to review, unified plan review.

Uh yes, I believe it's unified plan review.

For the on shell uh school adapt.

Oh, okay.

All right, I vaguely recall that.

Okay, so we will reschedule.

I'm sorry, John, you won't be able to make it, but you'll have lots of other opportunities.

Um we'll reschedule for 11 May and uh proceed with that.

And I think we're now ready for a comprehensive plan update.

Okay, I'm just gonna go bring up the PowerPoint slide and then I'll use the clicker.

Okay.

Oops.

All right.

So the slide you are seeing right now is the Rhode Island General Law that provides the planning board with the power to um performing all those acts necessary to prepare a comprehensive plan for a municipality, as well as uh the conduct of the planning board commission or the local planning committee shall include uh preparation of the comprehensive plan, including the implementation program and components.

So we just wanted to uh share that Rhode Island General Law with you to define your role within this process.

All right, let's see if this clicker actually works.

We appreciate having a great deal of assistance doing that because it would be quite a quite a haul if just we were doing that.

Okay.

I I believe so.

So uh this evening we are sharing a high-level summary with the board on where the comprehensive plan update project is at and what to expect as we head into spring and early summer.

So the presentation, this one tonight will serve as a precursor for the next consultant presentation, which is occurring in May.

Uh so good, we're on this slide.

Uh since the last comprehensive plan presentation to you all, the core planning team and consultants and staff have been busy at work collecting and analyzing data and conducting engagement activities.

So this says we're in March.

We are in April now.

Uh this kind of shows a summary of how the um of the project schedule to date.

And I think uh we're gonna go to the next slide.

This one.

So this is a brief summary of what's been going on.

Uh and you'll see uh next to the surveys completed, that number is orange because since this was published, there have been um additional surveys.

So we are up to at least 317 surveys.

Our goal was between 300 and 400.

So we are within our successful range, which is great.

Um, but yeah, so this shows the engagement, the briefings, the interviews, the surveys, and the collaborative map participation.

So these slides show all the people that the consultants have done individual interviews with.

So lots of city staff, lots of city leaders, and many community partners as well.

There are even some interviews that will occur before May as follow-ups or as new information becomes available.

And then if we go one more, perfect.

So this is just another graphic to show you kind of where we're at with um the data analysis presentations.

So these meetings are uh staff, the consultant, and the core team, the core planning board member team, and we uh receive these presentations from the consultant.

Okay, so you will see blue and green dots on some of the slides.

So tonight we're focusing on new content that was not included in the December presentations.

So we have provided the entire slideshow to the planning board and the public uh to use as a resource as this project develops.

But due to the volume of data we have here, we will not be covering every single content area.

So for your reference, the content areas that were previously covered that you still have slides for are economic development and housing.

And then tonight we will be jumping ahead in the slides to transportation and then proceeding on through open space and recreation and natural hazards and climate change.

So after each topic area, we will take a brief high-level question period.

So specific content questions might be better answered in May when the consultant team is here, as well as the content that we are not covering tonight.

So the blue means that that slide has been shared before, and the green means that it was the information was shared as part of our green and complete streets.

So it takes the forward team about an hour to go up in each one of these sort of synthesis that the consultants has done.

So we just sort of extracted quite a bit out, and Sunny and Frederick participate in the four groups.

If you have anything you want to add during the process.

So transportation has been a big discussion in local, regional, and state plans.

And if we go too ahead.

So as we shared in uh December during the staff's green and complete streets presentation, there is quite uh a number of crossover project areas within all these plans, which is good because it means that there's consensus of what needs to be done.

So the areas that are commonly mentioned can be seen on this slide in this map.

Um in purple.

And then we're gonna go to the next.

So the city and our partners together have all made progress on a lot of these transportation goals since 2017, specifically in the areas shown on this map.

So these include um, you know, the redesign of the Pill Bridge approaches, also in that area, the RIDOT intercept lot, the new Route uh 68 added by RIPTA, the free service of routes 67 and 68 by RIPTA, the Broadway traffic calming and streetscape improvements, hillside streetscape improvements and ocean AV shareow markings.

So those are just a few of the um plan items that have been implemented implemented from the transportation master plan as well as the other ongoing documents.

What are shareholder markings?

Sharo markings are that painting that you see, uh, and it's like a it's an arrow and a bike.

Yes, okay.

And it it means share the road.

Bikes are allowed to be in this road.

Um, in order to continue and increase achieving plan implementation, it is crucial to maintain and identify which funding sources can be used for which projects.

We go next.

So the need for uh a clear funding strategy is especially necessary when you consider how old some of the city's infrastructure is.

So, due to the age and complexity, if we go to the next slide, thank you.

The age and complexity of our historic infrastructure makes every project require an increased level of interdepartmental coordination because there's just so much going on underneath the surface.

Um, we only see like the tip of the iceberg with all the projects.

So if we switch gears a little bit and uh switch to bike infrastructure focus in 2025, the city was re awarded bronze status by the League of American Cyclists, which come came with uh some recommendations to improve our bike policy and infrastructures.

So those are what you're seeing.

They include uh, you know, developing design manual for bike facilities, uh, establishing a dedicated budget for implementation of our transportation plan, keep Newport moving, uh specifically in the bike network and the ocean loop, exploring ways to provide financial support or partnership opportunities with bike newport to bolster their work, creating a new dedicated position with PND, so planning and development to focus on improving bike and walk facilities, and considering launching a public bike share system.

So it is clear that creating a multimodal hub at the Rydot Park and Ride Lot would be a big improvement to the bike network and fulfill some of these recommendations from the League of American Cyclists.

So and just for context, the ownership for this lot is currently still RIDAT.

It's not owned by the city as of yet.

And in addition to focusing on the bike infrastructure, a similar sentiment has uh arisen through this study from uh local analysis of the RIPTA service in Newport.

So the resultant goals include making the bus system more reliable, attractive, and accessible to all users.

And if we go to the next slide, so and we kind of touched on this before.

The planning staff have developed a formal process to implement the city's green and complete streets policy and successfully executed it this year when reviewing the city's 2026 roadway improvement program.

So if we go back kind of to the lens of resiliency that we will be taking uh for every chapter, the green and complete streets methodology could also be used to improve stormwater infrastructure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while improving our roads and sidewalks.

Perfect.

Yeah, and these are uh like regional plan goals that are also um also mentioned reducing greenhouse gas emissions and and making that a policy framework.

So we are going to pause here and we can revisit any slide or take some high-level questions.

I noticed that it was indicated that the ride share lot is not being very well utilized.

Is there has there been any deeper analysis of that?

I think people that I've talked to ask about it.

You know, they think if I leave my car, there isn't gonna be towed.

So and I don't know.

So I guess DLT is still finishing up that project and they haven't officially turned those things over.

We have been allowed to use that, and there hasn't, there's not even any signage out there yet.

Right.

So, you know, eventually we're hoping to make good use of that.

Have it connected to uh transportation system where people can use it as a park and ride, which is what the state boss is.

Yeah.

So there'll be signs and probably announcements stuff.

Yeah.

Because people that have asked me, they're like, do we park there?

Thanks.

Yeah, you can park there now.

Um they have led and they let's parking.

Right, but it hasn't actually turned up.

Okay.

So it's it hasn't been launched.

Yeah.

It has not been launched.

Okay.

So moving on to outdoor recreation and open space.

So, as many of you may know, the 2017 Tree Park and Open Space Master Plan has been updated.

So, this effort is separate from the comprehensive plan, but we intend to use all the great work from the community to inform our update.

So, some great ideas from those plans, and this is just a high level is having a range of outdoor spaces and recreational amenities, protecting and enhancing public access to the waterfront, and promoting long-term protection and stewardship of parks and open space.

So, if we go to the next slide, the city maintains open space as a valuable asset.

There are over 60 publicly accessible parks, trails, and parkways in Newport.

And this map at some point in this process will be enlarged for your viewing.

So there is a varying collection of parks within the city that range in size and service function.

This is kind of a sorting mechanism that we use to evaluate the type of park, the size of the park, what the park's purpose is.

And since 2017, the city has achieved some of our goals and aspirations, including upgrading the amenities and playgrounds, developing new park facilities, improving accessibility at parks, and securing funding and developing management plans for infrastructure upgrades, resiliency investments in long-term maintenance.

So there's still plenty of room to grow.

When zooming out and analyzing the whole city, there are clear gaps in facilities that are accessible based on your location.

So on this slide, we're looking at uh playgrounds within a 10-minute walk, community parks within a 10-minute walk, and community centers within a 10-minute walk.

So evaluating all of those services that are different but still play into the quality of life in Newport.

And additionally, on top of all that, uh not all parks are created equal.

So the design and amenities of parks and open spaces should also be considered when evaluating quality of life.

It's not just good enough to have a space there.

It should be able to be used and give back to the community.

So, as we know, water is a big part of our community's identity, and public access to the water remains a community priority.

The cliff walk alone has upwards of 1.2 million visitors per year and adds 200 million in economic impact for Rhode Island.

So preserving the integrity of water-based assets is a complicated process because it's a delicate balance of ongoing and long-term maintenance.

Again, when evaluating all these content areas, it is impossible to separate one focus area from the other.

When we're considering how to care and manage and plan for these water-based assets, the city is also analyzing the multimodal access, the flood protection, and how to mitigate heat and stormwater impacts through green infrastructure.

So programming in public spaces can increase the health of community relationships.

It's important to have that.

And Newport has always had a very delicate balance of hosting events for both the local community and visitors.

And I think we can all agree that there's usually something to do in Newport.

In addition to that, though, it's quite important to put attention and resources towards having year-round low to no cost activities and programming for all ages.

And these needs will serve as a foundation and guiding structure to the update of the comprehensive plan.

So those needs as we oh, if we want to go to the next slide.

So great parks and open spaces, a connected system, an equitable system, a resilient system, and a living legacy.

And then the way that the way that these are sorted are by priorities.

And now we have question time.

Okay.

Just so you know, there's a total of, I think, 10 chapters and implementation section.

So these are divided by those studying each thing.

Okay.

Okay.

Notice the comes next as the natural hazards and climate change.

Is that it?

Okay.

There's a little teaser ahead of that where there was a map with uh sea level rise indicators.

Because it's all connected.

It is, isn't it?

So natural hazards and climate change.

Uh resiliency is a word that we use a lot to the point where it could be considered overused by some parties.

Uh in the context of natural hazards and climate change, resiliency means understanding and responding to the impacts of storm surge and sea level rise, changes in temperature, and changes in precipitation.

So most importantly, we have to consider throughout this comprehensive plan update what all those topics mean for the quality of life of the Newport community.

So some existing values and goals that we currently have in our comprehensive plan and our partner planning efforts are providing protection for climate change and hazards, tracking and monitoring effects of climate change, and including those findings in analyses in all areas of planning and policy development, executing a regional approach for emergency preparedness and resilient infrastructure, and establishing a just transition to a new area, uh sorry, new era of workforce development, transportation methods, and infrastructure.

So the interviews with city leadership and our community partners, we've also heard that the climate threats that are prevalent in Newport are highly related to our coastal location.

Um there's a need to increase island wide collaboration, uh perhaps in um a regional way uh protection of vulnerable assets such as drinking water supply, emergency access, and economic vitality on the harbor and waterfront is important, and increased accountability for implementation through concrete recommendations and metrics is a consideration.

I just want to mention here too.

So all of these planning efforts, right, are building on planning efforts that we had before.

Some of these things we're carrying forward, some things we've accomplished.

So one of the things that we've talked about a lot is working cooperatively as an island, how much better off we could be if we had the sort of size of all the communities.

And we recently just uh were approved for our the first of its kind regional hazard mitigation plan.

It's a separate plan than this one, it has to be updated every five years.

Um, but it uh and it just talks about how we can respond and be strong um against uh natural hazards.

So I think we've already sort of accomplished that working together as three communities and as one island, and we're really proud of that work.

But anybody wants to take a look at it, it's posted now on the city's website.

Who approve when you said it get approved?

Who approves that?

FEMA.

Out those instructs with the state, it goes through REMA and then FEMA.

So uh this map that is on all the screens now shows approximate areas that would be inundated in the event of a 100-year storm.

So that is shown in blue.

A 500 year storm inundation is shown in purple, and the orange on the map shows the coastal flood zone that has a velocity hazard due to wave action.

So we're seeing a lot of spots light up there.

Yeah, it's uh pretty much the posted means that you have waves above the velocity, so there's higher standards in a lot of building in those areas is perfect.

Uh so there is a general consensus in the scientific community that the sea level will rise by one to 1.5 feet by the year 2050, which is now not too long away.

Uh so that's the relative sea level trend that we're looking at right now.

And then this is a theoretically more zoomed in, but um still uh it'll it will be better in print version for sure when we separate all the maps out.

But so these maps show uh on the far in the red basically, one foot sea level rise, what that looks like in the context of Newport, all the way to seven feet of sea level rise in yellow by, and that's anticipated by the year 2100.

So there's a lot of uh these things are required by the state.

Uh there's sort of the outlines and how to prepare, all pretty nice downspeed preparable, but there's uh the statewide planning has a guide to how to prepare competence plans and all of the requirements.

So a lot of these things that you see are actually required to be happening to have an approval plan, and so it's a really pretty sophisticated process, and it's really important to have a great consultant to work with us on this, and I think that we've been really happy with working with industry so far.

Yeah, and I think another important thing to note with this map is this is not um flood zones.

This is where the water will be permanently.

So uh, you know, we we see a lot of habitat migration when water levels are rising.

We see aquatic species creep inland, and that's what you would see should the sea level rise as predicted.

And so we're gonna zoom in uh to our harbor front in this slide.

So, same thing, one foot is shown in red, and then all the way to seven feet is shown in yellow.

So, as you can see, um by 2100, you know, this very uh general anticipation is that everything shown in yellow would be underwater.

Um that is basically the vast majority of the tourist uh yeah.

I thought I had put a different slide.

That's okay.

Um I'll if we yeah, thank you.

So uh the predicted inundation patterns are concerning for a number of reasons, but especially when considering our drinking water infrastructure and our downtown economic health.

So we are seeing those uh in the darker teal color, which is not great.

Um, if we go to the next slide within the 100 year flood zone, there are approximately uh 1285 properties, and those property values have a combined estimate of over seven billion um of value.

And then when you look at the 500 year flood zone, so theoretically a less common flood zone or less commonly occurring, but as we know, these uh significant weather events occur more now, that um property value increases to 8 billion.

And so now we're going to zoom in again on the harbor front.

So parcels within the waterfront business district and the traditional maritime district uh that are within the 100-year flood zone.

And uh including the ones that are within the 500 year flood zone, that is 875 million in property value that is at risk.

And so if we this is where I did it, um if we were jumping back a little bit to the economic uh slides, this is also the area that we have the highest value per acre in our city due to the commercial activity.

So losing that would be um one could assume detrimental to the economy.

Okay.

And so in addition to economic concerns, uh critical community assets are in danger within these flood zones.

So within the 100-year floodplain, that includes a fire station, the police station, the gateway transit center, the water treatment plant, and two combined sewer overflow facilities that are at risk.

When you expand out to the 500-year flood zone, in addition to all of those, there's um another police station concern.

Uh the Department of Public Works, Water and Utilities, waste management, and water pollution control plant are all at risk.

So those are all uh, you know, uh critical infrastructure functions that the city cannot run without.

So having those at risk is a concern.

Uh in addition to uh some of our local studies, the state has also been taking action um in collecting data and research.

So within the 2025 resilient roadie plan, there are assets called out as a priority, not only for municipalities but for the state, and those include the Newport Pell Bridge, the Easton Pond Reservoir and Dam, uh the Green End Reservoir, and uh Newport's coastal wetlands.

So it's not all dim and dark.

Uh the city has been has ongoing efforts to increase the resiliency of our uh public spaces.

So one example of that would be the King Park uh the seawall is being turned into an environmentally friendly stone shoreline with a native vegetated buffer and wetland.

And additionally, as you all probably are aware of, the Easton's Beach Project is focused on planning for a resilient future, including beach nourishment and reconsidering how we use our public spaces.

And of course, uh Newport has a notorious and lovely uh historic urban fabric that presents very unique design circumstances.

So we have a strong um preservation bone in our community and community partners like the NRF are leading the charge in preserving our historic character through um increasing the resiliency of historic structures.

So in addition to sea level rise and water concerns, temperature projections are also a concern.

Um and these are subject to increase based on you know the global greenhouse gas production.

It can fluctuate, go down and could go up based on national policy trends.

Uh so it's important regardless to prepare through policy and design for the community risks that are associated with higher average temperatures.

So on this slide, uh you will see that there are some suggestions for the city and its partners uh to integrate that risk planning into our day-to-day practices.

So those include increasing the urban tree canopy and greening, increasing uh development and design standards for cool roofs and cool pavements, uh having a very thorough heat emergency response system, building in zoning codes for heat resilience, and equitable climate adaptation planning.

So uh temperature projections are also impacted in addition to the greenhouse gas emissions uh by local impervious surface areas.

Newport on average has a high concentration of impervious surfaces, approximately 35% of our surface area is impervious compared to Middletown at 22% and Fort Smith at 17%.

Uh and you kind of um you combine that with the lack of consistent tree canopy coverage.

So if we look at this graph here, Central Falls has 18% tree canopy coverage, Newport has 19, and then Pawtucket, East Providence, Warren, Bristol, Barrington, Westerly all have more tree canopy coverage.

So uh we have significantly less tree cover than other municipalities, which can be concerning when considering heat risk.

I found that very shocking.

So that's I think we're losing the beaches too right now, right?

With some kind of uh an insect infestation.

Oh, yeah, the the beach trees, the European beach trees.

So um we're hitting all of the elements today.

So the uh current rate of greenhouse gas emission at a national out of world at a local level, all of the levels could result in an increase of precipitation risk, uh, which really what that means is uh more intense or um common uh cases of intense precipitation could be a burden to our stormwater storage capacity.

So if you think about it, uh if you combine this increase of precipitation with an increase of flooding events, our aging infrastructure is at risk of being overwhelmed quite quickly.

So if we go to the next slide, thank you.

Uh this could have detrimental impacts on our critical infrastructure.

So at this map here, we're looking at infrastructure underground that is over 50 years old, and then some is over 100 years old in the red.

We all have seen these rainstorms happen, like within so uh through this planning process, we really need to consider how our existing practices and conditions inform the quality of life.

Besides stormwater infrastructure, we are really going to need to consider emergency evacuations, cooling and heating centers, and um plans to transport people to those, and the community's ability to enjoy outdoor spaces as the weather becomes increasingly extreme.

So if anyone wants to see any of the slides for a longer period of time, we can pull them up.

Also, I have a couple questions.

One, can the notion of of regional uh apply to all of Rhode Island and to the coastal cities throughout the state, not just Aquidneck Island or statewide planning agency who kind of sets the plans and they look at all of these same topics on a regional level.

Okay, just state.

Then we um we all follow suit with that.

So there is an entity that's doing sort of bigger planning.

The umbrella.

Um and then I have a question about the FEMA uh qualifying for the FEMA flood insurance standards.

Uh so there's a few things that we do.

Um we um have we participated in a certified local government program, which means that we move to uh annually to FEMA that we've done the best we can to sort of mitigate things and make the the the best with them for the flood zones, it would be elevating structures that are in flood zones, things like that.

Um we prepare all of that and we get a rating on the uh import has the highest rating that we can get for our size city, and that allows people meaning the best, meaning good, it's good the best rating that means that we're doing the best job that we can um with the measures that we have to be able to help people who live in flood zones.

Um, with this in place, people who live in flood zones qualify for better rates on their game insurance.

Okay, and so all of this will also increasingly play into that those FEMA tests as well, but those could evolve over time, yes, as these risks continue to having our show themselves plan in place uh allows us to access post-disaster recovery floods, right?

We didn't have that in place, we would be able to use it.

So we have all of those sort of uh things that we need uh to be proactive and helping to um people resolve flood issues, and then also for response outwards.

Great, thanks.

Anyone else?

If you have a question on the slide of the underground infrastructure concerned about the amount of red that is there, yeah, that is over a hundred years old.

Is there anyone doing anything about that?

Yes, so the utilities uh department through the public service has a routine program that I think has been in implementation for over 30 years.

So it used to be a lot more rent.

Um and they are replacing uh the pipe and infrastructure as they can.

And um just uh feel free to chime in if I miss anything, but uh it can be quite complicated coordinating those schedules with like water shutoffs and also not ripping up pavement that has just been put down.

And so that's you know that is all like on the ground work between city staff, making sure at certain points of the year everybody's in the same room comparing schedules, and another factor of this as well is that Rhode Island Energy is a private entity.

So uh in addition to all the internal coordination, the city also has to go and coordinate with Rhode Island Energy for whatever infrastructure plans they have for the next three years.

And you'll hear as the budget hearings are starting to another huge fact, it's just the actual monster needs the there's a telling slide to that point that just mentioned about capital all needed programs, and this is one of the ones that leads the list.

I think it was close to 100 million if I'm not mistaken.

Is this largely water and sewage?

And you have some water.

This was an abridged version.

Um, but you do have the set of slides for each of the topics you can go through and find all those stats.

Do you know what the project was that?

That was an economic development.

We just went through the last night.

It was just no diagram.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Remembers it in the last meeting at the time, so it was lost.

Oh, I don't know.

But we do our best, you know, if if there's an emergency, obviously it's fixed specific.

Um, and we do follow a routine system to upgrade whatever we can.

We ask developers when they come in with large projects to be able to stay and sort of upgrade what they need to add to serve their project and then be a little bit in that area.

So um, so there's a couple of ways that we we address that.

We have an amazing utilities department, we use the topical stuff.

It's nobody thinks about it until it breaks, right?

So it's just something that we all take the wear that's there again, but it takes a tremendous amount of money and energy and talent to be able to manage.

Yeah.

And we will make sure we highlight that slide that we are talking about.

I couldn't find it off the cuff, but we'll be taking all of this information.

So the consultants have been listening to people, uh researching, looking at our old plans, looking at our neighbors' plans, um, taking all of these things and putting them together into these uh these points of the uh synopsis of what they found in May.

They're gonna be coming and talking about this.

We're gonna be starting work on each of the chapters.

What do we need to add to what we've learned about when we start putting together goals, and we're gonna meet with different groups uh to start addressing specific topics.

So it's pretty must.

I think the city council is announcing the names for the committee tomorrow.

On Wednesday, uh they've selected the advisory committee, so that's really helpful that'll be great for us.

There's 20 something people that have been appointed and a few alternates, and so we're gonna work hard to get them brought up, more up to speed or near now.

Um, so we'll be going over some presentations with that and um go from there on the make their decisions about.

Is that it for tonight?

Yes, so yes, we didn't go through all of the slides that we have because we wanted it to be concise and meaningful.

Uh, but if there are other questions about so we previously talked about housing or economic development, we can talk about that now.

Um or you know what's also interesting for the group, I think is the consideration to create an entire chapter for the harbor.

Yes.

We want to talk about that for a bit.

So the consultants have uh they've met and talked with you know different uh uh stakeholders, and you know, obviously, like we all know the water is such an important feature of us.

So they feel that we should be able to, they're thinking about sort of leaving it all the way through the plan so that each child has uh how it relates to water and how that really impacts our life.

Uh we're gonna be doing something similar, it's a little bit innovative because usually the chapters stay static, but because resiliency is a really important topic for us, particularly at this point in our history, we're gonna be doing the same thing with resiliency.

We're gonna talk about how resiliency rates uh relates to economic development, housing, transportation, and just make sure that that's a common thing throughout the so those those two things um are sort of foundational to who we are, and so that's everything reflected in how the plans we'll go through as we get to the point where we have enough material we're gonna do is start sending it to the state because the review process after it goes to planning work, city council goes to the state, and they need to prove it, and they need to make sure that it meets all of those requirements and our prep our prep booklet.

Uh and that can take uh quite a long time.

So we're gonna be sending that as soon as it's ready in November.

Uh, hopefully we'll get that done in reasonable amount of time.

But before that, we'll be sending large chunks up to the state so they can start the theme and say if they'll get back on that score as more sort of steps.

Yeah.

I think the um the economic development piece of this is really important and truly not just saying in words, diversifying away from a tourist-based economy.

That's a really take is going to require a very concerted effort.

And I think it's really important.

It's important to many of these topics, resiliency for one with so much of the economy on the water or under the water, as the case may be.

We definitely felt that with the pandemic.

Yep.

So we're still finding outside the compass outside here because we were so focused on it.

Yeah, no, I the you know the economic economic development consultant that's uh part of the team.

That's uh part of it really um like op moments and it's present.

Yeah.

I think having some recommendation, it'll be important to have some recommendations about what kind of follow-on action-oriented work we can really start to engage in.

And you know, there is you know, shipbuilding is one potential area.

Any number of others, but it's gonna be important.

Except we killed our shipbuilding.

I know.

So we have to re-resurrect it.

Yeah, I see those summers all the time.

So okay.

So moving right along.

Any other just any other questions?

Discussion?

Let me say I've only been a bicep.

Yeah.

But Trish, Becky, the whole team done a phenomenal job.

I think Interface has done a great job.

Um it's a pleasure to listen in and be part of it.

You know, Sonny, you've been there.

You know, Kevin has been on the calls.

It's really a lot of work's been done.

It's really good.

Yeah.

Well, and they go ahead and listen.

Every everything, every comment we make next time around, we'll see something.

Yeah.

It's been addressed.

So we appreciate that.

It was on the first spring.

Yeah.

Okay.

Um, let's get to discussion of reports.

We have a list of actions of the administrative officer, uh recorded decision letters.

Uh those have been available to us.

Any questions, any discussion with regard to those uh decisions.

Okay.

Not hearing any any need for discussion or any questions.

Let's move on to the liaison reports.

Tree and open space.

Good question.

That's the one I never get to.

Still having issues with getting to that now.

Oh, yeah.

It's at six o'clock.

It's like, why do you do think I mean this one I make a I make yeah, arrangements for, but I can't do that every every week.

So it's kind of difficult.

And she doesn't post minutes, which makes it that much more.

Right.

I mean, at least then I can because I have the agenda, I can see the minutes, then I'll know what the discussions were, but it's kind of hard.

Okay.

Understood.

Uh Dick, the waterfront next time.

Um yeah, they as you read in the paper, the Ann Street pier, they're expanding that.

Um, it's just it's gonna get longer.

Um that's for sure.

That's definitely going to happen.

Oh, well, we'll see if the city council wants to mess with it, but um I I do think that'll as a from a personal standpoint when we talk about the master plan, you know, it really speaks to the transportation side.

Um right now it's it's a stop, but by increasing the length of that pier, it's gonna make it even more of a transportation stop, not only for the shuttles around, but also more access for people in the harbor, um, and better access, public access.

So that's that's a good thing.

Um, and hopefully the city council will won't won't mess with it.

The money's all there and and everybody's blessed to include the waterfront commission.

I understand.

Um the other thing that's did you say Elm Street?

No, no, no, no.

And street.

And I'm sorry, and no, no, no.

And the Ann Street.

The N Street Pierre.

You know, where the where the Marine, the Maritime Center is there and all that, which will be a big benefit.

Uh the other thing, and um actually John might be more aware of this than I am, is I gather the uh friends of the waterfront have um brought brought to issue with the um with the waterfront commission.

Um the peri period wharf, there's uh there's some uh irregularities about how perhaps the right-of-way is is going across there, and uh, I guess the waterfront commission is is addressing that and looking at you know, because it this was before a lot of our time.

I mean, maybe Jeff was here at the time when or when it was approved at the planning board level, but I guess there are several different plans, and the way it got built is in CMRC was in it.

So right now it's not going to be in front of us, but at some point we might be looking at it in some form or another.

Um but um right now the waterfront commission is going to be wrestling with it along with the friends of the uh the friends of the waterfront.

I don't know if you want to speak to it all, John.

Or I think there's been some discussion with the apartment phones especially with this meeting.

Some gallons there.

I have um and I've talked to the city solicitor, also he's sort of aware of the concerns that uh we're right now monitoring.

Yeah.

So anyway, it's just aware, nothing we have to stick our nose into.

And that's that's all I got.

Is the Harbormasters building something y'all talked about?

The new Harbor Masters building.

I haven't heard anything or any plans or any discussion at the waterfront commissioner you're aware of on the new Harbor Master building.

Most expensive piece of it.

Reinforced that along with the bottom treadway.

Yeah, which are huge.

That is still in the planning stage to seem still actually down there.

Is that still on schedule for start in the fall?

Taking away the current building, pushing that.

Yeah, that'll that'll be great.

We know.

Excellent.

Uh anything else on waterfront?

Okay.

Jared, uh, the Energy and Environment Commission.

Yes, despite the library losing power and them having to cancel the one in February.

Um, right.

Um it was mostly about we must talk about compost at the meeting on the 18th.

Um, the number of people that have signed up for the program.

So if you haven't signed up, consider it.

Um it's great.

The Black Earth Compost Program.

Um it's great, and you get free dirt at the end.

So it's pretty pretty fun.

Um, they're also working on some plans for um uh Earth Day activities at the big blue bike barn, right?

Yeah, we did compliment stuff.

And that is my next note.

No, you said it better than I would.

Um, and yep, just promoting all of those activities, and they're very excited.

They have a they still have a liaison from the planning board that comes to their meetings, even though it's me.

That's exciting enough.

We just had a comp plan update, so I think unless there are anything further anybody wants to add.

Yeah, in addition, we'll just add uh humble plug.

So we are along with the EEC and the Hez and Aquidnik Resilience, we are uh conducting a little fun engagement exercise at the Big Blue Bike Barn on April 18th from 11 to 1.

So staff will be there.

Um, and uh we have a spinning wheel.

Very fun.

Uh we are going to be asking questions um how you want our community to grow and you put the raindrop sticky note on the big board and you're watering the gardens and um the fruition of our community.

And you can get a cute little prize that's Earth Day themed.

So there's like seed packets and world um stress balls.

Oh, I can use a few of them.

One for each hand, please.

I'll bring some suggestions.

Um also our survey is stay in life.

We've done a lot of work.

That's one of the basic things that we're gonna be trying to do for public input.

It's gonna be live on the city's web page another couple weeks uh till like the third week in April, and then we're gonna take it down.

So tell your friends and family, people that you see.

One of the things that we're gonna ask the advisory to do is kind of help us get a one last big push in the uh get up to 400.

Has Newport this week done anything on that?

Uh shown some interest.

Um we haven't had chance to meet yet, but they they are interested in the entire company I think newport this week and also WhatsApp no play.

weeks uh till like the third week in April and then we're gonna take it down so tell your friends and family people that you see one of the things that we're gonna ask the advisory group to do is kind of help us get a one last big push in the uh get up to 400 has Newport this week done anything on that uh shown some interest um we haven't had chance to meet yet but they they are interested in the entire yeah I think Newport this week and also what's up no yeah our communications department maintains like um ongoing meetings with them to update on city stuff and speaking of web pages the city for special projects has uh it's Granicus plan engage I don't know what like the user interface is actually called but basically it's a project specific web page the comprehensive plan is one of their first projects they're showcasing and that has officially launched um so actually I should probably know that you were well but uh it's uh supposed to be a little bit more of a graphically interesting way to get information uh and I will send that all I'm saying it for the minutes I will send that link to the planning board so you guys can take a peek sounds great uh bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee I think that maybe the staff was going to liaise for us Aiden did go so um I I went the last time on we were talking about um uh one of the goals is then to scribe getting more actual building budget spent from keeping the work moving and we are looking at uh the possibilities for an Aragon Saga which is some um like facilities and so we put the receipt of the brand that we got in recently Saint Trees Raw House thought it would be a great idea if we organize a workshop that's gonna be combined with the blanking head commission and council to talk about how we can together to get that budget done and what the best way is to all right I think that covers the liaison reports um do you want to stay with the tree and open space commission is this becoming a burden for you or do you want what would you what do you want to do sitting in the business work it's not getting there half the time it's sitting there um only because it it's like you're not talking about exciting things so it's like you have to pay attention um no I think that I'm gonna have to do what I did for the comp plan I had to move a standing meeting out of the way so that I could do that and um the meetings that I have on that particular day um I'm just gonna have to see if they'll move it backwards half hours so that I can get here in time.

All right yeah I'll put every effort into it don't worry about it I mean we'd I appreciate your willingness to do it and if if you want someone to backstop you if anyone is you know try to share the load or something anybody wants to try it out I mean but I'm I'm happy I do enjoy it because I live next to a big open space so I'm very interested in what's going on with the trees and all that.

Speaking of the next year Scott you're still not energy.

I think yeah yep he saw he's planning his retirement maybe future all right well we have no further business on the agenda is there anything that is uh anybody anything anybody wants to talk about well then we have the time of 733 may I have a motion to adjourn second uh any discussion all in favor all right thank you very much