The new City Council meets for the first time this Wednesday for our only meeting in December. We are diving into some important issues that I have been working on for some time: inclusive planning and development processes and budget transparency. These are both vitally important for ensuring the City Government is working to meet the community’s values.
I am disappointed that this docket does not include the City Administration’s response to a resolution passed in June directing them to prepare multiple options on how to implement a Homestead Exemption and to bring the options back to the Council in December. I have raised this issue with the Council Chair and have pushed the City Manager to provide the Council a proper response, and to schedule workshops as soon as possible to give the Council and the public sufficient time to discuss the options. Whether in the form of a Homestead Exemption, a Tiered Tax structure, or something else, the City needs more tools and flexibility in our tax structure to maintain a strong year-round community. We cannot let this linger; this must be a transparent and participatory process so that we can implement the changes in the next budget year.
I submitted a resolution for this docket directing a workshop to be held in January that will serve as a midyear review of the City budget. The City’s budget is how the priorities and policies of the City Council are executed. It is of the utmost importance that both the Council and the public have proper insight into the budget. The need for this workshop is twofold: it will give the full Council a forum to discuss and get updates on the budget as a body and it will serve as an introduction to the budget for the new Councilors. This workshop is a first step; we need the City Administration to present their conceptual budgets to the Council for feedback before they begin to develop their detailed budgets for the coming year. This will allow the public and us as elected officials to guide the development of the budget according to the priorities of the community.
At this meeting there will be a Public Hearing on zoning ordinance amendments proposed by the Planning Department that would prohibit marijuana retail facilities in Newport, based on the temporary moratorium implemented by the City Council. The Planning Department has stated that they need more time to develop suitable regulations for marijuana retail facilities and recommend changing the ordinances to ban marijuana sales while that happens. I am in favor of extending the moratorium, rather than changing ordinances before the issue has been completely studied. This would ensure that the issue is revisited by the council and discussion can continue to bring it to a final resolution in public.
The Council is also receiving a communication from the Newport Tree and Open Space Commission advocating for a stronger role within the City’s development approval process. They request that this change be made by requiring the Commission to review and give an opinion on potential development and to provide a forum for the community. As our city develops and evolves, it is of the utmost importance that community stakeholders like the Tree and Open Space Commission are involved in decisions that can impact Newport for decades.
The Council will be considering two items that impact long term energy sustainability in Newport. In November, the City Council participated in two workshops with National Grid to learn about their proposed solutions for Natural Gas Storage on Aquidneck Island. Out of these workshops, the Council is considering a resolution prepared by the City Staff that endorses the Non-Infrastructure Solution relying exclusively on electrification, demand response, and efficiency. This solution is a long-term approach and is the most environmentally responsible action. Related on the docket is the follow-up on the Community Choice Aggregation work that the Council started in July. Community Choice Aggregation will allow the City to source cheaper electricity supply rates along with a higher percentage of renewable energy for both residents and businesses while maintaining transmission and distribution services from existing providers.
Finally, as we continue with remote meetings for the time being, it is important that the public continues to participate. To alert the Council that you wish to speak in a Zoom meeting, either click the "Raise Hand" button in the Zoom app or press *9 on your phone if you have called in.