North Kingstown Town Council Meeting – December 15, 2025
North Kingstown Town Council Meeting – December 15, 2025
The North Kingstown Town Council held a regular meeting on Monday, December 15, 2025, at 6:30 PM in the Town Hall Council Chambers. The meeting began with a joint session with the School Committee for a pre-budget consultation, followed by the Council’s own agenda. Key actions included approval of a construction management contract for the new Wickford Middle School, adoption of a three‑year extension of the municipal electricity aggregation agreement, conditional renewal of a liquor license for Saigon Hot Pot, a road abandonment to facilitate Quonset Development Corporation projects, and several appointments and resolutions.
Joint Meeting with School Committee – Pre‑Budget Consultation
- Dr. Duva, Superintendent, presented a preliminary FY27 school budget projection of $85,299,045, a 2% increase over FY26. Key drivers included contractual salary increases (2% for educational support personnel), a projected 10% health insurance increase, unknown teacher contract costs (negotiations beginning January 2026), and anticipated decreases in federal Title I and McKinney‑Vento grants. The district enrolls 3,785 students (Oct. 1 census), with 27% free/reduced lunch, 16% special education, and 2.7% multilingual learners.
- Council members expressed support for quality education but noted taxpayer affordability concerns. They questioned the projected surplus (~$2.29 million, ~2% of budget) and potential legal action to push back on federal funding cuts. The superintendent noted ongoing efforts to regionalize services and explore cost‑saving measures.
Consent Calendar
- Approved items 9–12, 14–20, and 22–31 in one motion (item 13 and 21 were pulled for discussion).
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comment was offered during the public comment period. One member of the public requested to pull item 13 (Municipal Office Building renovations) and item 21 (Wind Phone installation) from the consent agenda for further discussion.
Discussion Items
- Item 13 – Municipal Office Building Renovations: Town Manager Ralph explained that the $2,216,000 award to Superstructure Building Company is funded by ARPA and prior bond funds, not new tax dollars. The project has been redesigned to reduce costs from an original $6 million estimate and is expected to extend the building’s useful life by 5–10 years, saving future costs. The item was approved unanimously.
- Item 21 – Wind Phone Installation: Melissa Devine (Arts Council) presented a proposal to install a “wind phone” (symbolic phone for communicating with lost loved ones) on the Quonset Bike Path. The project uses leftover materials from the Tambo Troll project and $800 from the Arts Council. The location was chosen to avoid residential areas. Approved unanimously.
- Item 33 – Good Energy Contract Extension: After lengthy discussion, the Council approved a three‑year extension of the electricity supply agreement for North Kingstown’s community aggregation program (Ocean State Community Electricity), extending to January 2031. Council President Mancini expressed disappointment that the opt‑out nature of the program was not clearly communicated earlier, but acknowledged the program offers savings and choice. The vote was 4‑1 (Councilor Hill Ross opposed).
- Item 34 – Show Cause Hearing (Saigon Hot Pot): The owner, Mr. Nguyen, failed to provide a certificate of good standing from the Division of Taxation and other documents required for liquor license renewal. The Council voted to issue the license conditionally upon receipt of the certificate, with the instruction that no alcohol may be served until the renewal is fully approved. The victualling license was deemed current.
- Item 38 – Arts Council Composition: The Council voted to increase the Arts Council membership from 10 to 12 to accommodate recent applicants. The change was made after noting the difficulty of filling vacancies; three residents had applied.
Public Hearing
- Item 7 – Abandonment of Portion of Allens Harbor Road: Town Manager Ralph recommended approval, citing benefits for Quonset Development Corporation (QDC) development, future revenue, and potential land swap for a public safety complex. No public comment was received. The Council approved the abandonment, subject to five conditions outlined in the supporting memo.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the $2,216,000 Municipal Office Building renovation contract (unanimous).
- Approved the $20 million construction management pre‑construction services award to Shawmut for the Wickford Middle School project (unanimous). Council President Mancini recused himself; Dr. Page presided.
- Approved the Good Energy contract extension (4‑1).
- Conditionally renewed liquor license for Saigon Hot Pot upon receipt of certificate of good standing.
- Approved the Allens Harbor Road abandonment (unanimous).
- Increased Arts Council membership to 12 and appointed Nancy Raffi to an unexpired term.
- Appointed Meredith Whitaker to full member (from alternate) and Katherine Somers to the Board of Canvassers.
- Authorized the Town Manager to execute several routine items: deed for 0 Pendar Road, CodeRed MOU, grant acceptances (Learn365 Math Matters, South County Troll Project), and others on the consent agenda.
- Set alcoholic beverage license limits for 2025‑2026: 4 Class A, 28 Class B, 10 B‑L, 3 Class C, 1 Class D.
- Received correspondence and adjourned the meeting at approximately 10:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
I always do that. Right, right. We all set Madam Clerk. Video's all set, guys. Thank you. Uh good evening. Welcome to the People's House in North Kingstown for a meeting Monday, December 15th, 2025. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Earlier today I happened to uh have a uh professional meeting with some folks at Brown University. Uh and I'm not gonna lie, it was difficult. And I know that some first responders from uh NK were called to Providence for that tragedy, and with the community is certainly grateful for them. Anyways, uh before we salute the flag, I would like uh for Linnea Drew, who is a graduate of Brown, um, to say a couple words on this uh tragedy. Linnea Um Greg asked me to speak because I'm a Brown alum, like you just said, uh twice over actually. Um and I spent countless hours in the library across the street. And then I watched videos on Saturday and Sunday of students um, you know, huddled terrified in the library, uh, not knowing whether the knocking outside was the police coming to evacuate them or the shooter coming to target them also. Um I have wonderful memories from Brown. I think it's a beautiful open and academically curious campus and university. Um, but I don't think that the students now will be able to think about the good times without thinking about this really really horrible time. Um in that study session who just wanted to study and do well on their exams and go home to their family and friends, and two of them now never will. Um, and the nine that were shot, um you know, will be forever changed physically, emotionally, mentally, and I think probably every student and many community members will also be forever changed. Um actually there are a couple of brown students who survived um school shootings in high school and chose brown because it's felt like a safe place to be and now they've survived a school shooting in college. Um that you know, I it's hard to think of anything more uniquely American. Um which is a tragedy and a huge failing. Um so um after we say the Pledge of Allegiance, um, would ask that everyone observe a moment of silence. Um in memory of the two students who lost their lives on Saturday, Ella Cook and Mohammed Aziz Umazakov. Umor and support of the nine students who are recovering from their injuries and uh in solidarity with the entire community. I do want everyone to know that the citizens of North Kingstown, I did text the mayor uh earlier today. First of all, I told him what a great job he's doing, and told him if you need anything from the community in North Kingstown, we were here to support him. As indicated a couple minutes ago, we did have some first responders go to the City of Providence. Also, um, when that horrific act occurred, we had a robotics team, high school robotics team in and around the area, just two blocks uh from um shooting, and I didn't know if Dr. Earl would like to say anything about that. Yeah, thank you so much. Um wonderful words, Linnea. Um, in our special meeting earlier, I did read some um remarks regarding the situation, but I did want to take this moment at the town council meeting to again thank our students who were up in Providence during the events that occurred on Saturday for their resilience and the families that were with them as well as their amazing teachers and bus drivers. Um I also want to take a minute to thank Dr. Duva and the administrators on their response and helping support the students. Uh Dr. Iduba even went and met the bus uh when it returned to North Kingstown safely, and I am very grateful for that. And so just wanted to really share our compassion um and support to our students during this difficult time, including the whole educational community as they recover from this tragedy. So thank you, Mr. Manzini. Thank you, Dr. Earl, and certainly thank you, uh Dr. Duva. I don't know if you want to add anything to that. So you're welcome, and thank you. Um I just you know, just let all of you know, you know, we met with all of the uh the students today along with our mental health support staff, and we met as a team with them after school as well, just to let them know that anything they need, we're here to support them as well as supporting the families. Um, and we greatly appreciate uh this Shields and Mr. Powell, who were the two uh teachers with them that kept the students calm just through their leadership and all. So you know it's an unfortunate event.
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