In 2013 and 2016, the Rhode Island Legislature passed bills that allow unbuildable perimeter wetlands and steeply sloped land to be included in determining buildable lot sizes. Lots that have large areas of wetland buffer have smaller buildable areas and create conflicts with wetland protection.
This newest Comprehensive Plan has been developed entirely in the Internet age, and we have fully used those tools. The agendas, minutes, and videos of the meetings are available online. Drafts of chapters have been available online as they were first written and as they changed.
The Charlestown Town Council will hold a public hearing at their regular meeting on April 12 to discuss the potential acquisition of 66.5 acres of mostly forested land that lies along Alton Carolina Road (Rt. 91) between The Nature Conservancy’s Francis Carter Preserve and the State’s Carolina Wildlife Management Area.
On the Town Council agenda for Feburary 8 is a vote to allow the Town Administrator and Town’s attorney to negotiate a price for the property. DEM also has to approve the price and will not be involved in the sale if they believe the price is greater than the market value. If a sales price can be negotiated that the seller, town and DEM all agree on, the Town Council will hold a public hearing at a future meeting and then vote on the purchase.
Charlestown is part of the only undeveloped area along the Eastern Seaboard that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the inland forests of New England and Canada. Charlestown contains critical wildlife habitats and recreation areas that are important in their own right, but in a regional context they are even more important. Fragmentation of this corridor diminishes the importance of the entire corridor for both wildlife and recreation.
Red-Spotted Newts are a species of salamander that are found in Charlestown. They help to control mosquito populations by eating their larvae. The biggest threat that newts and other salamanders face is habitat loss and fragmentation. They are considered indicator species, meaning the health of their populations tell us about the health of the environment in general.
Our Town Council went into immediate action alerting residents and lobbying state and federal officials. Through thousands of hours of combined effort they gained the support of over 100 international, national, state, and municipal organizations and thousands of residents statewide. Together we succeeded in removing the “Old Saybrook to Kenyon Bypass” from the plan and the coalition the Council formed with those other organizations has put us in a much stronger position going forward.
There are things I love about social media. It has reunited me with childhood friends and allows limitless sharing of photographs, but it is really harming political discourse, especially in Charlestown.
If the Legal Defense Fund is unneeded, the money stays there unspent, costing the taxpayers nothing. Even if it did lower taxes, what would be the goal of making Charlestown weak in defending against big developers? The big developers of course will want to see this money removed from the budget, but why would we?
There is much misinformation now circulating about the proposed budget, characterizing payments of debt obligation to the police pension as frivolous spending. Money put into the pension system will earn more long term than holding it in the surplus account.
Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge is permanently protected, but more intense development on nearby public land and thoughtless destruction of forests and shrubland elsewhere will chip away at the value of the refuge to those species it was created to protect.
Bill is a native of Charlestown, graduating from CHARIHO in 2002. When Bill is interviewing politicians for his podcasts or appearing on PBS or radio he brings with him an understanding of the natural and cultural history of Charlestown.
Since 1970, North America has lost 3 billion breeding adult birds from the total bird population. Habitat loss is one of the main causes of bird declines. One of the main routes, for both the north and south bird migrations, passes through southern Rhode Island. Losing the use, or even part of the use, of a scarce habitat like the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge, will push even greater losses.
When the camp was created, Charlestown had a small population and Charlestown like much of South County was mostly undeveloped. But land use has changed dramatically over the decades and the importance of the remaining large unfragmented forest parcels has greatly increased for species that depend on these large parcels.
Rhode Islanders’ rights to the shore are clear, but what is less clear is where exactly you get to enjoy those rights. Legislation that provides a clear and easily measurable line of where public access starts would help everyone. Just landward of the seaweed line might be a good place to start.
Even if bobcats are becoming more common in parts of Charlestown, they are still elusive. Bobcats seldom venture out during daylight hours. You are most likely to catch a glimpse of them at dusk and dawn when they are most active.
Our Town Council went into immediate action alerting residents and lobbying state and federal officials. Through thousands of hours of combined effort they gained the support of over 100 international, national, state, and municipal organizations and thousands of residents statewide. Together we succeeded in removing the “Old Saybrook to Kenyon Bypass” from the plan and the coalition the Council formed with those other organizations has put us in a much stronger position going forward.
Alone on the river it can feel like you are in a wilderness, 1000 miles from anywhere, just you and a startled beaver and the splash of sun bathing turtles diving into the water.
Changing the Charter as the CDTC suggests, to require the automatic appointment of the “next highest vote getter” from among the defeated candidates, is not following the voter’s choice. The voter’s choice can only be measured in an election, and when there has been time for a special election the voters have chosen to defeat again the “next highest vote getter.” We should leave our Town Charter as it is.
Now that the Narragansett Tribe and Invenergy have terminated their contract to truck water from Tribal land in Charlestown to Burrillville to cool the turbines of Invenergy’s proposed power plant in the forest of that town, Charlestown has lost its intervenor status. That is great news for the wetlands of the Indian Cedar Swamp and for anyone who lives or travels in the path of the proposed tanker truck caravan. Yet despite escaping this threat to our local roads and wetlands, Charlestown remains connected to the forests of Burrillville in several important ways.
The Energy Facility Siting Board should not accept Invenergy’s proposal to withdraw groundwater from within the Town of Charlestown to satisfy any requirement for a water supply.
This application is before the Energy Facility Siting Board, but if it were an application before the Planning Commission, our Planner would stamp it incomplete and send it back to the applicant. The EFSB should do the same.
It is now up to Invenergy to prove that a dot on a map in a wetland is sufficient and environmentally acceptable. I don’t see how they can do that and hope that as soon as the Show Cause Hearing is held, the EFSB will require that the water withdrawal plan for Charlestown be removed from Invenergy’s application.
On Tuesday, December 5, the Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) held a hearing in Charlestown to hear testimony on Invenergy’s proposal to truck water from Tribal land in Charlestown to Burrillville to cool the turbines of Invenergy’s proposed power plant in the forest of that town. Hundreds of citizens attended the meeting, dozens spoke against the water withdrawal plan, no one spoke in favor of the plan. Many speakers asked questions, but Invenergy provided no answers.
Post includes videos of the speakers.
When: Tuesday, December 5 at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m.)
Where: Charlestown Elementary School, 363 Carolina Back Road (Rt. 112), Charlestown
What: The purpose of the hearing is to hear your public comment.
Who: This is entirely the Energy Facility Siting Board’s (EFSB) hearing. This is not a Town meeting and the Charlestown government has not been allowed to make a formal presentation. The applicant however gets an opportunity to present to the public and the hearing will begin with a presentation by the applicant Invenergy Thermal Development LLC.
Ideas for questions to ask the EFSB on Tuesday night are at the end of this post.
In denying the Tribal Council’s motion to intervene, the EFSB claimed approval of the motion would put the EFSB in the position of taking a side in internal tribal politics, instead they would just take the contract between Invenergy and “two members of the Tribe”, Matthew Thomas and John Brown, at its “face value”.
Since this November 27 EFSB hearing I have wondered what the EFSB meant by the “face value” of the contract. And what is that face value?
If things weren’t already complicated enough with the proposal by Invenergy to truck water from Tribal land in Charlestown to Burrillville to cool the turbines of Invenergy’s proposed power plant […]
Letter from Ruth Platner: “The Energy Facility Siting Act requires that the EFSB base their decision on a finding that the applicant has shown that there will not be “unacceptable harm to the environment and [that the proposal] will enhance the socio-economic fabric of the state”. With the facts of the water withdrawal hidden from the public, is the EFSB expecting us to just trust their judgment?”
When: Tuesday, November 21 at 7 p.m.
Where: Cross Mills Library (map in post)
What: Invenergy plans to withdraw groundwater from Charlestown and carry it by tanker trucks to Burrillville where it will cool the turbines of the proposed gas and oil fueled power plant. You can learn all about the project that will use this water at this informational meeting.
Who: This event is sponsored by the Rhode Island Association of Conservation Commissions and the Burrillville Land Trust. Burrillville Land Trust President, Paul A. Roselli will lead the presentation and discussion.
Invenergy now proposes to connect Charlestown and Burrillville with a caravan of tanker trucks carrying water from the Indian Cedar Swamp in Charlestown to cool the turbines of the power plant in Burrillville.
Once we get more reliable data, we’ll be able to assess impacts such as safety, noise, air quality, cumulative damage to roads, and energy used. Invenergy will pay for the water, but all these other costs associated with health, safety, and diminished quality of life will be borne by the communities the trucks pass through. And it all depends on how much water is trucked on any given day.
