OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

North Kingstown Town Council Meeting - February 26, 2024

Town Council — Monday, February 26, 2024
BodyNorth Kingstown, Rhode Island
SessionTown Council
DateMonday, February 26, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:47:28

Transcript — Verbatim
2:13

Mike, are you ready?

2:18

Mike Taylor, are you ready?

2:21

Seven o'clock.

2:23

Good evening, everybody.

2:25

Welcome to Monday, uh, February twenty sixth, twenty twenty-four, meeting of the North Kingstown Town Council.

2:31

Of course, welcome to the People's House of North Kingstown.

2:35

I'll let to call this meeting to order.

2:36

Uh pursuant to Ryan General Laws forty-two dash forty six dash six C.

2:41

Notice of this meeting is proposed to the Secretary of State's website.

2:44

Ask everyone to stand and join me to suit salute to the flag.

2:47

Thank you.

3:19

Um be more informative.

3:22

If no one has objection, we'll do that.

4:10

And today we're going to walk through the twenty twenty-three financial statement results.

4:15

Um certainly feel free to ask any questions if you have them and I'll be happy to answer them.

4:31

Um certainly the transition uh from Jim Lathrop to to Deb as the finance director on the town side.

4:37

Um certainly some turnover at the school department too.

4:40

Uh just want to thank Deb, um and thank uh Al at the school department.

4:45

A lot of work went into getting these financial statements um done and issued and audited.

4:50

So uh thank you to them.

4:51

Great people to work with.

4:53

The fiscal twenty-three, if you were to read through our audit opinion in the report letter, it would read that we have issued a clean opinion.

5:00

Essentially, that means that we feel the financial statements are free of any material misstatements.

5:07

The town's general fund fund balance increased by 1.7 million in fiscal year 23, leaving you with unassigned fund balance of 14.7 million.

5:18

What's that attributed to?

5:19

I'm sorry, say that again.

5:21

Sure.

5:21

What's that attributed to?

5:23

The increase?

5:24

The increase.

5:25

Absolutely.

5:26

I'll get into it.

5:26

It's a couple pieces.

5:27

Predominantly, I would say though, it was investment income.

5:30

Okay.

5:36

Down unassigned fund balance represents just under 14.5% of your operating budget.

5:40

When we look at health indicators for municipalities, a healthy target would be anywhere between eight and sixteen percent.

5:46

So that 14 and a half certainly falls in that healthy range.

5:51

And just to give you a look here too fund balance for the general fund and how it's grown since 2017.

5:59

You can see that blue portion represents unassigned fund balance and uh it's grown steadily since 2017.

6:12

So yeah, uh what was what led to the results of the general fund having such a good year?

6:16

Uh the overall revenues were above budget by 1.35 million.

6:21

Uh property taxes were 2.1 million below what was anticipated or what was budgeted, and that's attributable to the motor vehicle taxes not being assessed at the local level in 2023.

6:32

Um that was state funds that were provided.

6:34

So if you look at your intergovernmental revenue, which includes your state funds, um, they came in 2.5 million above what was budgeted, so a net of about 400,000.

6:43

And then investment income uh represents $855,000 above what was budgeted.

6:49

Uh the tax collection percentage for fiscal 23 was 98.9% of the taxes that were assessed were collected.

6:55

So it was the um 2.5 million.

6:57

Was that uh that that revenue is that based on the uh revenue that's in lieu of the um uh vehicle tax?

7:06

That's correct.

7:07

Yep.

7:09

Um tax collections were 98.9 percent of what was appropriated, or um uh what was uh assessed.

7:16

I'd say as a health indicator, anything above 97% is considered to be healthy.

7:21

Um so 98.9 would certainly fall above that.

7:25

From an expenditure standpoint, they were 229,000 below what was appropriated for the general fund, so it came in less than appropriations.

7:33

Uh there were favorable results in town clerk and elections and public works, offset by unfavorable variances in finance information systems and fire department.

7:47

Looking at the school department, uh the school department unrestricted fund ended with assigned fund balance of just under six million dollars, which is eight percent of their operating budget.

7:57

Um they had 963,000 of that yearmarked for future uh for fiscal twenty-three costs that would be incurred in fiscal twenty-four.

8:06

Um overall fund balance decreased for that fund by one million dollars, um mostly attributable to there was a million and a half uh million and a half dollars that were transferred from the school and restricted fund to the school capital fund, earmarked for future capital projects.

8:24

Overall revenue for the school and restricted fund was favorable compared to the budget by 423,000, again predominant uh predominantly due to investment earnings.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Parking Management████████████████████████████28%
Fiscal Sustainability██████████████████18%
Technology and Innovation██████████10%
Public Works█████████9%
Public Engagement███████7%
Procedural██████6%
Public Safety█████5%
Transportation Safety███3%
Fire Department Operations███3%
Summary of Proceedings

North Kingstown Town Council Meeting - February 26, 2024

The North Kingstown Town Council met on Monday, February 26, 2024, at 7:00 PM in Town Hall Council Chambers. The meeting included presentations on the annual audit and a parking study, approval of routine consent items, ratification of an emergency purchase, reports from the Town Manager and Finance Director, and appointments to town boards. Public comment focused on the parking study.

Consent Calendar

  • Items 7, 8, 10–18 were approved unanimously by a single motion after Item 9 was removed for separate discussion.
    • Item 7: Approval of minutes from January 22, 2024.
    • Item 8: Authorization to apply for a RIHPHC 2024 CLG Grant for stormwater management at Casey Farm.
    • Item 10: Award of bid for annual paving contract ($1,952,936.45) to JR Vinagro.
    • Item 11–18: Various entertainment, exhibition, holiday sales, and victualling license renewals and new licenses, including for the Town of North Kingstown outdoor concerts, Wickford Village Association events, school concert at Town Beach, Harbor View Artisans, Dollar Tree, and others.

Item 9 – Ratification of Emergency Purchase

  • The Town Manager explained that the town purchased hyperconverged servers, associated equipment, and professional services from Envision Technology Advisors for a total of $208,339.98 (hardware $191,999.98 plus $16,340 installation/migration services), funded by ARPA.
  • The purchase was made as an emergency because end-of-life infrastructure posed a risk of critical system failure, and a one-time industry-wide discount from Dell offered savings of approximately $300,000 compared to the planned FY2025 budget.
  • The Town Manager consulted with the IT Advisory Committee (ITAC), Envision, the Town Solicitor, and individually notified council members.
  • Council ratified the purchase unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Mary Ann Hackett (83 West Main Street) questioned the study's count of 102 parking spaces on West Main Street, noting that repainting created unusable spaces in front of her house. She reported that Wickford & Bloom garden tour with over 1,000 visitors had no parking complaints.
  • Mike Dunne (141 West Main Street) criticized the parking study for inadequate focus on the 14 homes in the village without off-street parking. He argued that the study underestimated future demand from new businesses (cheese shop, Dollar Tree, Oyster Bar, two new restaurants, Wickford on the Water expansion) and that proposed solutions—pushing parking to Wilson Park, library, or private lots—would not serve visitors. He raised safety concerns about West Main Street speed and crosswalks.

Discussion Items

  • Presentation of Annual Audit Report (FY2023) – Marcum LLP presented the audit. Key points:
    • Clean opinion; unassigned fund balance increased by $1.7 million to $14.7 million (14.5% of operating budget, within healthy 8–16% range).
    • Revenues exceeded budget by $1.35 million, largely due to investment income ($855,000 above budget) and state aid replacing motor vehicle taxes ($2.5 million above budget).
    • Tax collection rate: 98.9%.
    • General fund expenditures were $229,000 below appropriations; unfavorable variances in finance, information systems (cybersecurity incident), and fire department overtime.
    • School department unrestricted fund balance decreased by $1 million, with $1.5 million transferred to capital. ESSER funds of $1.5 million expended.
    • Water department operating income: $1.7 million (up from $1.3 million); sewer department net position: $288,000 (improved from deficit but still structurally challenged).
    • Council members discussed sewer department concerns and the need for future fee increases.
  • Presentation of Wickford Village Parking Study – PARE Corporation presented findings and 30 recommendations across four categories (short-term management, short-term physical, long-term management, long-term physical).
    • Key findings: Not a chronic parking shortage; peak demand on Saturday afternoons (Brown Street 95% spring, 88% summer). Most visitors arrive by car. 14 spaces will be lost by 2025 due to improvements, leaving 1,001 spaces.
    • Recommendations included wayfinding signage, public awareness campaign (e.g., “Walk Wick” network), loading zones, pavement restriping, sidewalk improvements, seasonal shuttle, bike lanes, and future expansion at Boone Street/library.
    • Council asked about parking apps (for availability) and noted town hall parking lot was not included in the study but should be considered.
    • The Planning Department will lead implementation, starting with low-hanging fruit like signage and enforcement evaluation.
  • Town Manager Report – Updates included:
    • Revolution Wind: King pile installation starting, causing noise; successful open house held.
    • Wilson Park and McGuin Park court renovations expected by June 1.
    • Summer camp registration opens March 11 (online); scholarships available; cost increase due to minimum wage.
    • Body cameras for police to be deployed within two weeks, grant-funded for 3–5 years.
    • School resource officer MOU discussed: town fully funds officer ($144,000/year); school committee requested additional language; police chief supports continued use.
    • Property revaluation discussion with Mr. Sigoras postponed until after budget.
    • Budget schedule: March 4 (proposal), March 11–12 (workshops), April 3 (public hearing).
  • Finance Director Report – Deb Bridger reported:
    • Year-to-date budget outlook: expected surplus of about $1 million, mainly from high-yield CD investments.
    • Cybersecurity incident costs not covered by insurance.
    • Police overtime offset by detail revenue; dispatch overtime due to turnover; fire overtime blamed on four-platoon system and increased injuries/vacation – analysis underway.
    • Net metering credits now shown as revenue for transparency.
    • Housing aid from state for 2018 bond was unbudgeted but received; FY2025 budget includes it.
  • Item 21 – Supplemental Appropriation (School Fund) – The Town Manager proposed deferring action to March to allow discussion with the Superintendent, who requested using $336,922 in excess state aid for capital rather than placing it in a reserve. Council unanimously voted to table the item.

Key Outcomes

  • Audit Report: Motion to receive and file passed unanimously.
  • Parking Study: Motion to receive and file passed unanimously; implementation will proceed via Planning Department with future council consideration.
  • Consent Agenda: Items 7, 8, 10–18 approved unanimously.
  • Emergency Purchase (Item 9): Motion to ratify the purchase of servers and services for $208,339.98 passed unanimously.
  • Supplemental Appropriation (Item 21): Motion to defer action to the March meeting passed unanimously.
  • Board of Canvassers Appointment: Palmer Beebe appointed as alternate member (term to March 1, 2030) unanimously.
  • Compensation Commission Appointments: Joseph Gentile, Michael Sammartino, M. Noeline Thomson, Tracy McCue, and Scott Jones appointed as members for 90 days from date of appointment; motion passed unanimously.
  • Correspondence: Noted by the council.

Meeting Transcript

Mike, are you ready? Mike Taylor, are you ready? Seven o'clock. Good evening, everybody. Welcome to Monday, uh, February twenty sixth, twenty twenty-four, meeting of the North Kingstown Town Council. Of course, welcome to the People's House of North Kingstown. I'll let to call this meeting to order. Uh pursuant to Ryan General Laws forty-two dash forty six dash six C. Notice of this meeting is proposed to the Secretary of State's website. Ask everyone to stand and join me to suit salute to the flag. Thank you. Um be more informative. If no one has objection, we'll do that. And today we're going to walk through the twenty twenty-three financial statement results. Um certainly feel free to ask any questions if you have them and I'll be happy to answer them. Um certainly the transition uh from Jim Lathrop to to Deb as the finance director on the town side. Um certainly some turnover at the school department too. Uh just want to thank Deb, um and thank uh Al at the school department. A lot of work went into getting these financial statements um done and issued and audited. So uh thank you to them. Great people to work with. The fiscal twenty-three, if you were to read through our audit opinion in the report letter, it would read that we have issued a clean opinion. Essentially, that means that we feel the financial statements are free of any material misstatements. The town's general fund fund balance increased by 1.7 million in fiscal year 23, leaving you with unassigned fund balance of 14.7 million. What's that attributed to? I'm sorry, say that again. Sure. What's that attributed to? The increase? The increase. Absolutely. I'll get into it. It's a couple pieces. Predominantly, I would say though, it was investment income. Okay. Down unassigned fund balance represents just under 14.5% of your operating budget. When we look at health indicators for municipalities, a healthy target would be anywhere between eight and sixteen percent. So that 14 and a half certainly falls in that healthy range. And just to give you a look here too fund balance for the general fund and how it's grown since 2017. You can see that blue portion represents unassigned fund balance and uh it's grown steadily since 2017. So yeah, uh what was what led to the results of the general fund having such a good year? Uh the overall revenues were above budget by 1.35 million. Uh property taxes were 2.1 million below what was anticipated or what was budgeted, and that's attributable to the motor vehicle taxes not being assessed at the local level in 2023. Um that was state funds that were provided. So if you look at your intergovernmental revenue, which includes your state funds, um, they came in 2.5 million above what was budgeted, so a net of about 400,000. And then investment income uh represents $855,000 above what was budgeted. Uh the tax collection percentage for fiscal 23 was 98.9% of the taxes that were assessed were collected. So it was the um 2.5 million. Was that uh that that revenue is that based on the uh revenue that's in lieu of the um uh vehicle tax? That's correct.

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