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Bonnet Shores Fire District Council
Bonnet Shores Fire Community Center
130 Bonnet Shores Road
Narragansett,
Rhode Island
Monthly
Meeting
October
18, 2006
Meeting Minutes
I.
The meeting was Called to Order at 7:35 p.m. by Chairperson Joe Thomas. Those
in attendance included Bruce Fournier, Pat Mannix, Carmine Moretti,
Bob Stebenne and Dan Quirk.
District Manager Frank Murray, Treasurer Natalie McDonald,
Tax Collector Helen Patience, Harbormaster Mike Tortolani, and
Clerk Catherine Kelleher were also present.
Pat Zito was absent.
II.
Pledge of Allegiance
The Assembly
recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Council and Assembly also observed a prayerful moment
of silence for the men and women in uniform who are serving in the
Armed Forces, in harm’s way, in
Afghanistan
and
Iraq
and, in particular, for those serving from our own state and
community.
III.
Urgent Business
None.
IV.
Period of Public Comment
A.
There was a
request for a microphone to be used at the meetings.
Frank Murray will investigate different options with the
assistance of Gene DeCiccio.
B.
Fragmites
were discussed.
C.
Matthew
Mannix reported on a “brain storming” session regarding ballot
counting at the Annual Meeting.
The session was attended by himself, Bill Dickinson, Ted
DiStefano and Kathy Kelleher.
D.
The
Homestead Act was also discussed.
V.
Ratification
of Minutes
A.
Carmine Moretti motioned to approve the August
Organizational Meeting Minutes.
The minutes were approved by all Council members in
attendance.
B.
Mrs. Moretti made another motion to accept the
September 20th, 2006 Council Meeting minutes.
Those minutes were also approved by all Council members in
attendance.
VI.
Committee Reports
A.
Harbor (DanQuirk)
The
Harbor Committee report is on disk and is retained at the
Community Center.
B.
Roads (Bruce Fournier)
1.
A copy of the report is on disk and a hard copy
is attached to the original minutes.
Both are retained at the Community Center.
2.
Mr. Fournier suggested that a subcommittee be
formed to develop a comprehensive plan for presentation to Chief
Smith regarding parking in
Bonnet
Shores
. The first
subcommittee meeting will be held on October 26, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.
at the Community Center.
3.
Bruce requested the Council’s permission to
send a reminder letter to Chief Smith and Judge DeCubelis
regarding Community Service sentencing and students.
C.
Trash (Pat Mannix)
1.
The Trash Committee report is on disk and is
retained at the Community Center.
2.
The last date for the dumpster is November 4, 2006.
D.
Social (Pat Mannix)
1.
The Social Committee report is on disk and is
retained at the Community Center.
2.
The Social Committee will convene at the Community
Center on November 2, 2006 at 4:30 p.m. to discuss plans for the
Holiday Party scheduled for December 3, 2006 at the Spain
Restaurant.
E.
By-Laws (Carmine Moretti)
1.
The By-Laws
Committee report is on disk and is retained at the Community
Center.
2.
The last
By-Laws Committee meeting was held on October 5th.
The next meeting will be on November 9, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.
F.
Beach/Pond (Bob Stebenne)
1.
A copy of the report is on disk and a hard copy
is attached to the original minutes.
Both are retained at the Community Center.
2.
A lengthy discussion ensued regarding surveying
the mean high tide at Kelly Beach.
3.
Bob Stebenne motioned to rescind a prior motion
to survey the area adjacent to the rocks.
A roll call vote was taken as follows:
Those voting “yes” included Bruce Fournier, Dan Quirk,
Bob Stebenne and Joe Thomas. Pat
Mannix voted “no”. Carmine
Moretti abstained. The
motion passed to rescind 4 votes to 1 with 1 abstention.
4.
Bill Dickinson reported on the Habitat
Restoration CRMC Grant pre-proposal which will be submitted by
October 20, 2006.
G.
Community Center (Bob Stebenne)
1.
A copy of the report is on disk and a hard copy
is attached to the original minutes.
Both are retained in the Community Center.
2.
The next Community Center committee meeting is
planned for November 4, 2006 at 9:00 a.m.
VII.
Treasurer’s
Report (Natalie McDonald)
A.
A copy of the report is on disk and a hard copy
is attached to these original minutes.
Both are retained in the Community Center.
B.
There is a combined balance of the checking
account and money market account in the amount of $212,065.07.
C.
The report has been filed for audit.
VIII.
Tax
Collector’s Report (Helen Patience)
A.
A copy of
the report is on disk and a hard copy is attached to these
original meeting minutes. Both
are retained in the Community Center.
B.
2007 Fiscal
Year tax information is as follows:
·
Total
assessment - $347,130,300.00
·
Taxes
assessed - $232,587.32
·
Total abated
taxes - $2,999.91
·
Total
collectable taxes - $229,587.41
·
Taxes
collected to date - $212,965.15
C.
Fiscal Year
2006 tax information is as follows:
·
Uncollected
from the prior year - $1,220.98
·
Taxes
collected from prior year – $422.51
·
Uncollected
taxes - $798.47
·
Interest
collected - $53.11
IX.
Land Trust
No report.
X.
District Manager’s Report (Frank Murray)
A.
The
District Manager’s report is on disk and is retained at
the Community Center.
B.
Mr. Murray
prepared a grant for Representative Lally in the amount of
$2,500.00 to be used for additional playground expenses.
C.
An eleven
page proposal was submitted to CRMC regarding dredging of the
causeway.
XI.
Old Business
A.
Mr. Stimpson, III requested reimbursement of
money, in excess of $2,800.00, which was due to a tax sale of
family property. Joe
Thomas read the State law regarding property taxes and tax sales.
It was agreed that reimbursement is not warranted.
Mr. Thomas will notify Mr. Stimpson of the decision.
B.
Dan Quirk reported that the Harbor Plan has been
submitted to Kevin Cute of the CRMC.
The committee is awaiting Mr. Cute’s response.
C.
An update on the 20-foot path is as follows:
1.
Kerry Rafanelli was not present at this Council
meeting to report on this issue.
2.
Bruce Fournier will meet with Mr. Ousterhout,
Director of Public Works for the Town of
Narragansett
, to address the safety issues concerning this area.
3.
Mr. Thomas discussed discrepancies in the
surveys done in the past.
4.
Joe Thomas will continue to get quotes for
surveys of the 20-foot path
D.
Joe Thomas acknowledged Dick Agnitsch for all
his efforts in getting the Bonnet Shores Fire District website
operating.
E.
The new webmaster, Steve Ryder, was introduced.
He encouraged those who have pertinent information for the
website to get that information to him as soon as possible.
F.
Joe Thomas summarized a request made by Doris
Baris at the September 2006 monthly meeting:
The Land Trust would like to revise the agreement between
the Land Trust and the Bonnet Shores Fire District of 1999
regarding maintenance, renovation and management by eliminating
the word “renovation” in the Community Center property
description. A lengthy
discussion regarding the above ensued among Doris Baris, Paul Haas,
Anita Langer, Matthew Mannix, Pat Mannix, Natalie McDonald, Bob
Stebenne and Joe Thomas.
G.
Another lengthy discussion took place regarding
the Community Center Study Committee.
It was decided that Doris Baris or another trustee of the
Land Trust be appointed to that committee.
XII.
New Business
A.
Paul Haas gave an overview of the U.R.I.
Coalition meeting held at the Community Center on October 11th.
The report is on disk and a hard copy is attached to the
original meeting minutes which are retained in the Community
Center.
B.
Mr. Haas reminded the assembly that the
University encourages residents to call the hot-line if they have
any problems or complaints regarding their students.
The realtors/owners/renters regulations and the hot-line
number will be added to the website and the newsletter.
C.
Mr. Haas requested that a committee sort out and
prioritize the issues that were identified at the October 11th
meeting. The Fire
District could then host another forum or workshop to get
citizens’ input before final actions are taken.
D.
November 8, 2006 is the deadline for articles to
be submitted for the newsletter.
XIII.
Executive Sessions
A.
Bruce Fournier motioned to adjourn to Executive
Session at 10:20 p.m. The
motion was seconded by Pat Mannix and approved by the Council.
B.
Those in attendance at the Executive Session
included Bruce Fournier, Pat Mannix, Carmine Moretti, Dan Quirk,
Bob Stebenne and Joe Thomas.
C.
After adjournment of the Executive Session, the
Council return to the regular session.
XIV.
Adjournment
Regular session
adjourned immediately following the Executive Session.
Respectfully submitted,
Catherine M. Kelleher
Clerk
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