WESTERLY — When voters head to the polls on Tuesday, they will be asked to voice their opinion on a scaled-back $50 million school renovation, the third plan presented to the public in the past seven years. Officials are hopeful that a hard spending limit, state reimbursement and visible repair needs will combine to convince the public that the third time’s the charm, leading them to pass the proposed Westerly school bond.
“I kept hearing from people that they understood the need for the project, but couldn’t support it at more than $50 million,” Superintendent of Schools Mark Garceau said in a recent interview. “That was the limit, both then and now. The Town Council may have done us a favor in setting a cap because it tells us exactly what we have to work with.”
The school bond is one of several local referendum questions put before Westerly residents on the ballot in 2022 as residents are asked to decide on the fate of school renovation funding and charter home rule amendment questions. Across the region, voters will also be tasked with answering three state bond questions as well as determining whether or not to allow for recreational marijuana cultivation, manufacturing and/or sales in their hometowns.
After a proposed $71.4 million school renovation failed at referendum in 2019, the second time a plan was defeated in four years, Garceau and school officials went back to the drawing board to redesign a more cost-efficient plan that could help begin to address ongoing facility-based needs.
The elementary school portion of the project would have completed Vision 2020, the long-range education facilities initiative the town embarked on in 2001. The plan led to the construction of Westerly Middle School, which opened in 2005, and to $30 million worth of work at Westerly High School that was completed in 2010.
The latest project, if the bond is approved, would be eligible for a minimum state reimbursement of 35%, or $17.5 million. If all conditions are met regarding Rhode Island’s safety and learning requirements, the town could receive a maximum reimbursement of up to 52.5%, or $26.25 million. The town would be responsible for $32.5 million at the start of the project as indicated in the bond question, but could see incentives reduce Westerly’s cost-share liability by as much as $8.75 million by the end of construction. Added incentives would be based on state evaluation of the completed work.
If approved, the plan calls for renovations at the Dunn’s Corners and Springbrook elementary schools to commence by December 2023, with work at both sites completed by August 2024. Meanwhile, the district would work to acquire design approvals for a new State Street School that would be built adjacent to the existing building, with work beginning in March 2024 and ending in 2025.
The proposed $50 million project includes estimated funding for all three schools and accounts for project management, design and engineering fees, site work, construction, demolition, parking, road work, fields, furniture and equipment purchases, landscaping and a contingency fund.
The project as proposed includes a $29.35 million budget for the construction of the new State Street School, $8.85 million for renovations at Springbrook Elementary School and $11.8 million for renovations at Dunn’s Corners Elementary School.
To sell or not to sell?
The fourth question on the ballot in Richmond, Hopkinton and Charlestown, and the fifth question on the ballot in Westerly, all pertain to the same concept: Would you permit the town you live in to allow “for businesses involved in the cultivation, manufacture, laboratory testing and for the retail sale of adult recreational use cannabis” in the local community?
It is a fairly straightforward question, but the decisions that voters make could carry financial implications for their town as well.
In a meeting with the Hopkinton Town Council this summer, Matthew Santacroce, interim deputy director of the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, said educating the public has been up to local officials and legislators.
“We have been careful during this process not to take an advocacy position; that is not our job,” Santacroce said last week. “Our job is to coordinate with business transparently in accordance with the law. What you are looking for is an advocacy effort, and I think there is a critical role for legislators to play in that process.”
Across Rhode Island, 31 of the state’s 39 municipalities will put it on voters to decide the fate of sales in their community by going to referendum. Under the new law, the industry will be heavily regulated with oversight from the state, with legislators slated to establish a Cannabis Control Commission in early 2023.
Communities where recreational marijuana is sold will receive, under state law, 3% of the sales through a defined 20% tax system that mimics that used in neighboring Massachusetts. Under the system, the state tax and a secondary marijuana tax are also applied.
Santacroce said that early revenue estimations indicate the impact of such a tax could mean as much as $2 million to $3 million for a town where sales take place.
Westerly charter amendments
As adopted by resolution of the Westerly Town Council in July, residents in Westerly will also be asked to answer six questions related to proposed amendments within the town charter. Officials have described many of these as “housekeeping” measures that are designed to improve efficiency in town operations.
For residents, Question 6 broadly asks for approval to stagger terms on the Westerly Town Council in accordance with the recently approved term limits. If approved, the top four vote-getters in 2024 would receive a four-year term while the next three highest would receive a two-year term. Moving forward, every council term would be elected every four years. No town councilor would be allowed to serve more than eight years under the change.
The next three questions would, if all approved, allow officials to eliminate the vacant positions of director of public works and director of developmental services, as well as any references to the roles in the town charter. The positions of Superintendent of Public Works and Superintendent of Utilities will remain in place.
It would also allow the town to make any language adjustments needed to the charter, provided it has no bearing on operations or regulations, to be consistent with the R.I. Code of Ethics.
For Westerly residents, Questions 10 and 11 are financial in nature and would require the council to “engage in the competitive bidding process set forth in the Rhode Island General Laws and seek proposals for an independent audit of the financial transactions and related documents of the town annually.” It also requires full publication within timely completion in the local news media and online.
General Rhode Island questions
Rhode Island residents will all be asked to answer three separate questions in the coming election. The first asks whether to appropriate $100 million in capital funds for repairs and construction of new facilities on the University of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay campus. The purpose of the center is to support education and research needs for the marine disciplines.
A second question requests an additional $250 million for public buildings, which would be used to provide funding for the construction, renovation, and rehabilitation of the state’s public schools (including possibly Westerly, if also approved at referendum).
The final state question seeks a total of $50 million for “green economy bonds” to be specifically allocated as follows: municipal resiliency, $16 million; Small Business Energy Loan Program, $5 million; Narragansett Bay and watershed restoration, $3 million; forest restoration, $3 million; brownfields remediation and economic development, $4 million; State Land Acquisition Program, $3 million; Local Land Acquisition Matching Grant Program, $2 million; Local Recreation Development Matching Grant Program, $2 million; and Roger Williams Park and Zoo, $12 million.
Richmond questions
Richmond residents will also be asked to make amendments to their home rule charter in the coming election.
The town is seeking approval to make the town administrator position a town manager position, which would grant more authority over personnel administration, and an added measure that would restrict council members from influencing the hiring process, which would be the responsibility of the town manager. The town manager would retain hiring rights even if temporary.
Permanent town managers and other staff, under the proposed amendments, would also take part in a more comprehensive review process.
A separate series of questions also seeks to address housekeeping issues that will allow changes to text, as long as it does not change the intent or outcome of a measure, and provides an opportunity for the town to establish a municipal court.
One of the questions up for consideration, however, could have an impact on local residents and how their voice is heard. If approved, a proposed measure would eliminate the town’s annual meeting in exchange for a budget referendum each year. The effort is designed to make the process more efficient and to allow residents to protect their vote.
jvallee@thewesterlysun.com
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