Warwick City Council and Finance Committee Meetings - July 6, 2026
Warwick City Council and Committee Meetings - July 6, 2026
The Warwick City Council convened on July 6, 2026, at 5:03 PM with the Finance Committee, followed by the Public Properties, Land Use, and Community Affairs Committee, Intergovernmental Committee, Ordinance Committee, and the full City Council. The meeting concluded at 8:48 PM. Key topics included the purchase of police vehicles, change orders for a police department warehouse project, zoning changes for the former Aldridge Junior High School, and a townhouse development on West Shore Road.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes from previous meetings were held for further review (Finance Committee).
- Correction of a date reference (January 5, 2026 to June 5, 2026) on PCR 75-26 approved by unanimous consent.
- Consent calendar items (excluding two removed bids) approved by full council (8-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Richard Langseth urged the council to approve minutes at the next meeting and argued that Buttonwoods Beach Association roads were dedicated to public use, citing a 1915 Providence Journal article.
- Rob Cody discussed his First Amendment lawsuit and alleged city efforts to obtain a gag order, criticizing council members for suppressing free speech.
- Miles advocated for a camping ordinance to provide respite for homeless individuals in Warwick.
- Emil Vermette expressed concern over rising taxes and opposed multi-housing at Aldridge, preferring single-family homes.
- Several residents opposed the PDR overlay for Aldridge (PCO 23-2026), citing traffic, density, and property value concerns. Speakers included Destiny Davila, Scott Costa, James McMenaman, Tom McDonald, Andrew Clark, Heather Vivaris Murphy, Aidan Clark, Stuart Wilson, and Bill Krozick.
Discussion Items
Finance Committee
- Bid 2027-074: Purchase of 16 Police Vehicles ($1,072,838) – Major Robert Hart (Police) presented. Councilman Latticer questioned the rapid replacement rate (98 vehicles in 6 years) and opposed the purchase. A tie vote (2-2) sent the item to the full council without recommendation.
- Bid 2025-237: Pre-Engineered Metal Buildings (Change Orders, $197,000) – Major Hart requested additional spending authority for 14 change orders on the police warehouse project. Councilman Latticer criticized the lack of contingency and oversight. Motion to approve passed the committee 2-1 (Latticer opposed).
- Purchase of Roll-Out Carts ($64,105) – Approved unanimously.
- Land Evidence Software – Approved unanimously.
Public Properties Committee
- PCO 23-2026: Aldridge Junior High Zoning Change – Tom Kravitz (Planning Director) explained the need to subdivide the property and add a PDR overlay to attract bidders after two failed attempts. Public hearing held; residents opposed density and traffic. Council held the item until September 14, 2026.
- PCO 24-2026: West Shore Road Townhouses – Attorney Joseph Brennan presented an 11-unit townhouse development. Councilman Muto supported it after extensive neighbor negotiations. Approved favorably (unanimous).
Intergovernmental Committee
- Reappointment of Joel Gerstenblatt to the Board of Canvassers – Approved favorably.
Ordinance Committee
- PCO 22-2025 (camping on public property) held until November 23, 2026.
- PCO 8-2026 (real estate non-utilization tax) held until August 17, 2026.
Key Outcomes
- Police Vehicle Purchase (PCR 76-26): Full council passed 6-2 (Latticer and Ricks opposed).
- Police Warehouse Change Orders (PCR 77-26): Full council passed 6-2 (Latticer and Ricks opposed).
- Aldridge Zoning (PCO 23-2026): Held until September 14, 2026 (unanimous).
- West Shore Road Townhouses (PCO 24-2026): Approved favorably (8-0).
- Consent Calendar (minus removed bids): Approved (8-0).
- Appointments: Joel Gerstenblatt confirmed to Board of Canvassers (8-0).
- Unfinished Business: Camping ordinance held to November 23, 2026; non-utilization tax held to August 17, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. Let the record indicate that it is 5 03 p.m. and the finance committee is called to order. I am going to ask my colleagues on the committee if there's any objections to holding the minutes that we have in front of us. I, for one, would like to have more time to do my due diligence to go through all these. So I would um make a motion to hold the minutes until the meet next meeting in August. Second. We have a motion, we have a second. Any does the entity reach individual? So this would be inclusive of all of the minutes that we have. Um we have a motion, we have a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor. Aye. Thank you. Um Mr. Chairman. Sir yes, if there's uh one clarification on the finance agenda too. If that if there is no objection uh to cleaning up a date reference at the bottom of the page, uh that there's a reference to January 5th, 2026. It should be July 6th of 2026. There's no which one is that this was on the other agenda on the okay it should be June. Uh so if there's no objection from the committee, um you can approve by unanimous consent the correction of that uh date reference. Okay, uh so the we the um the the request is on PCR 75-26. It says refer to separate docket consent calendar bids for January 5th, 2026. It should actually be June 5th, 2026. Uh any objections to the correction? None. Hearing none, we will move on. Okay, let's do this. Okay. Okay, first item bid number one, 2027 zero seven four, found on page one, purchase various police vehicles. Major hot. Uh good evening, councilman Robert Hart for the uh police department. The police department is requesting to use a fifty-six sit 10 MPA to purchase various Ford and Chevrolet police vehicles. These vehicles will be purchased from three vendors, McGovern MHQ of Marlborough Mass, Colonial Motor Group of Plymouth Mass, and ITS of Warren, Rhode Island. All pricing is under the Greater Boston Police Consortium Master Price Agreement and Cooperative Bid. These vehicles will be assigned to various portions of the fleet, including supervisors, admin patrol, traffic and investigations. The total pricing for 16 vehicles is 1 million 72, 838 dollars and fifty-two cents and this includes upfitting and equipment installation. If approved, they'll be funded through the city lease purchase funds, budget code four nine nine zero four four nine. And this is part of the fiscal year twenty-seven police capital budget, which includes one point one million dollars for vehicles. Thank you, Major, and thank you for addressing the questions that I had asked regarding this bid. Um so one of the questions I asked you was how many vehicles have been bought since 2022. And in 2022, we had a total excuse me. If you could take your conversations out outside, please. Thank you. In 2022, the city purchased 14, 2023 it was 16, 2024 was 15, 2025, 18, 2026, 18, and proposed for 2027 is 17 for a total of 98 vehicles in five years. Is that correct? Yes, sir. Okay. On these vehicles that you're proposing to purchase, what else is going to be required in terms of cost or expenses?
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