On Thursday, Mayor Scott Avedisian asked how the School Committee could justify spending upwards of $250,000 and probably $500,000 to perform a study of schools when $150,000 is budgeted for analysis …
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On Thursday, Mayor Scott Avedisian asked how the School Committee could justify spending upwards of $250,000 and probably $500,000 to perform a study of schools when $150,000 is budgeted for analysis of enrollment trends that already shows the system could operate with one less junior and senior high schools?
Speaking at the Warwick Rotary Club, Avedisian further pointed out that the school department would need to make fire code upgrades to Gorton and Aldrich Junior High Schools next year if they remain open. Those repairs would cost in the millions, money that would be wasted if they close, as recommended by a local study.
The question about the future of the schools was asked after Avedisian spoke of the recent election and what he sees as he enters his eighth term.
Avedisian said the city has ended a “pitched battle” with the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) over expansion of Green Airport that dates back years to the proposal that the airport have parallel runways. Former RIAC President and CEO Michael Cheston suggested two 10,000-foot runways.
That plan went by the wayside and it wasn’t until Kevin Dillon directed RIAC that the city reached an agreement to extend the main runway to 8,700 feet. The extension is to be completed by late 2017.
“Only Main Avenue has to be changed,” Avedisian said of the disruption required to accommodate the longer runway.
As part of that project, Winslow Park playing fields are being relocated to the Lakeshore Drive neighborhood on the east side of the airport. Construction is proceeding on the fields. Avedisian said he took a helicopter survey of the fields that he described as a field of green far larger than he thought.
“It’s pretty amazing,” he said.
Turning to another project, the Apponaug Circulator, Avedisian said, “We’re going to finally fix it.”
In addition to the series of roundabouts to ease congestion, the mayor spoke about revitalizing the village and, in particular, the Wyndham Hotel planned near the West Shore Road underpass. Adding a bit of intrigue, he said an announcement would be made shortly that a “well known” Providence restaurant will be operating at the hotel.
He said there would be more exciting announcements. He said the city is waiting to learn the “fate” of the Elizabeth Mill tower and building that was part of the Leviton Manufacturing property. Dean Warehouse has acquired much of the building, but, under rezoning granted developer Michael Integlia, the older building is to be bifurcated from the warehouse. Integlia has sought to re-purpose the mill but, if he can’t find a tenant, it may have to come down. The mayor also expects a new enterprise described as “medical tourism” that would create about 80 jobs and hundreds of hotel stays when people getting medical procedures would stay here with their families.
About the Rhode Island Mall, Avedisian said he is waiting to learn of the tenant mix when it is converted into an outlet mall. Construction is projected to start after the first of the year, he said.
As for school consolidation, Avedisian said the School Committee will be “hard-pressed” not to delay action when they look at the cost of an outside study and what has to be spent on fire code updates.
“It’s going to be hard to spend that kind of money on those buildings,” he said.
Asked about consolidation between cities and towns, Avedisian doesn’t see it happening without state-funded incentives. He said Warwick and East Greenwich Fire Departments sought to consolidate dispatch, but “it didn’t happen.” He said the problem with consolidating services often comes down to inequities between taxpayer investments in the cities or towns.
Nonetheless, he said economies could be achieved through consolidation within the city, such as a single purchasing department for the city and schools.
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RoyDempsey
"Field of green far larger then he thought?" Is this guy serious. As the Mayor, he should have been there in the Lakeshore Drive neighborhood to see the utter destruction of that neighborhood and people's quality of life with the movement of those ballfields to within 150 ft of an active runway.. He took a "helicopter ride"? What a demeaning way to approach this issue which has impacted so many people in such a negative way. And even more demeaning is that Mr. Howell accepted that comment without asking why the hell isn't the executive of this city on the ground listening to long time taxpayers. What?? City Hall to far from Lakeshore Drive?
Tuesday, November 11, 2014 Report this
Reality
Typical Howell fluff piece for Scottie. Scottie saw from a helicopter how great things were for the people on Lake Shore Dr.....is Scottie delusional ? When is the beacon going to report the facts as they are and not slanted to benefit Scottie.
Let's not forget Vella=Wilkinson's hands are all over the disaster that is taking place on Lake Shore Dr.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014 Report this
Stacia Huyler
The EG Fire Chief has made the claim that it was WARWICK that dropped the ball on consolidation, from the EH Patch:
"The Warwick Fire Department was “weeks” away from taking over EG fire dispatch when the whole plan came to a halt, said Fire Chief Peter Henrikson in an interview Tuesday.
Henrikson had a pile of papers to document what took since 2009 to transfer East Greenwich fire dispatch duties to Warwick because the EGFD has come under fire lately .
East Greenwich Fire Commissioners voted to end dispatch consolidation talks with Warwick at their meeting on Jan. 24.
Henrikson said the impetus for moving dispatch to Warwick was to free up a firefighter from doing dispatch. Paid firefighters covering dispatch dates back to the1980s. A internal study from 1990 recommended moving a non-firefighter (who would be paid less) into that position.
That idea was never acted on during contract negotiations.
The idea to move EGFD dispatch to Warwick came from former EGFD Commissioner Christine Mattos. Then-EG Fire Chief John McKenna met with then-Warwick Fire Chief Kevin Sullivan and Mayor Scott Avedisian in March 2009. A letter from Warwick city attorney Diana Pearson after that meeting states:
“As discussed and agreed, it would make a great deal of financial sense to shift your fire dispatch needs to our facilities and staff.”
A memo from Chief McKenna to the EG Fire Commissioners dated Jan. 25, 2010, outlines the expenditures needed to make the move: $42,000 for EGFD and $28,000 for WFD. This does not include two microwave dishes (one for each town) that were added as an extra layer of backup.
A letter from Feb. 1, 2010, from McKenna to Sullivan reads: “The City of Warwick and the East Greenwich Fire District have come to a mutual agreement to expedite the completion of joint dispatch.”
During 2010, equipment was purchased and installed in fire facilities in both Warwick and East Greenwich. But renovations at the Warwick Fire Dispatch Center on Sandy Lane slowed activity. A letter Feb. 23, 2011, from Sullivan to then-EGFD Commission Chair Doug Axelsen laid out a timeline for final equipment installation and adjustments that suggested Warwick would be ready to take over dispatch by June 2011.
That letter also asks Axelsen for a letter “telling us the status of the talks between the East Greenwich Fire District and the Town of East Greenwich with regard to the fire department being moved under the direction of the Town Manager.... We are concerned as to what is the status of those discussions.”
At that point, the Town of East Greenwich was not in merger talks with the Fire District, but a year later the Town Council put a question on the ballot asking if the Fire District should merge with the town. Those plans are now moving forward.
Sullivan retired July 30, 2011. According to Henrikson, everything froze after that. The new Warwick fire chief, Edmund Armstrong, could not be reached for this article. According to Mayor Avedisian earlier this month, Armstrong wanted to review the entire department before deciding whether or not to take on EG dispatch duties.
Meanwhile, the EGFD and the firefighters union worked out an agreement last summer so that working dispatch would be considered “collateral duty,” no longer part of the firefighters' assigned duty. Firefighters would cover dispatch in their off time and be paid at a dispatch rate rather than the higher firefighter pay. That freed up the district to add a firefighter to help cover Station 2, a longtime goal.
For Henrikson, the frustration has been Warwick’s lack of response. “Four years. How much longer do we have to wait?” he said Tuesday. “To this day, they haven’t told us why.”
He said they'd retrieved some equipment from Warwick already, about $12,000 to $15,000 worth. One decoder was being used by Warwick; Henrikson said he would bill Warwick for that. The big-ticket item is the microwave system, which cost $54,000. The vendor needs to remove those dishes. Henrikson said he's looking into re-selling them."
Wednesday, November 12, 2014 Report this
Stacia Huyler
http://patch.com/rhode-island/eastgreenwich/fire-chief-says-warwick-dropped-ball-on-dispatch
Wednesday, November 12, 2014 Report this
Stacia Huyler
and why wasn't the mayor present when the public and the schools came together on consolidation decision day??? the mayor likes to point fingers and blame and create division and discourse to save his own hide on his own lack of leadership--- he'll find a way to shift money around in our budget for an unnecessary fire station, but blame the schools for not consolidating----Hows that dispatch consolidation going? and how about consolidating fire departments? how about consolidating city departments? and what about the well managed WSA?? but keep pointing your finger at the schools? what a CHARADE
Wednesday, November 12, 2014 Report this
warwickguy
This StaciaForMayor person sure has a lot of issues. The rambling on and on shows serious signs of being a lose cannon of sorts. Lets hope this isn't the next Roy Dumpsey generation starting a whine fest. "Scary!"
Thursday, November 13, 2014 Report this
warwick10
Issues, yes... WITH the city if Warwick! Most residents living in Warwick are not happy, complaining about thesevery same issues...BUT again--ONLY in R.I. voters re -elected the same, changing nothing!
Thursday, November 13, 2014 Report this