Good News From the Town Council

Charlestown has been pretty quiet lately-but lots of GOOD things going on!! We’re proud of the achievements of Town Council President Tom Gentz, Vice President Dan Slattery and Council member Lisa Delbello. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed as evidence by several newspaper stories below:

• The Westerly Sun had a recent editorial about Dan’s work helping senior citizens qualify for an additional $150 tax credit. The editorial said:
  Town Councilor Dan Slattery, liaison to the town’s senior citizens commission, has heard about these woes firsthand and decided he would try to help. He heard that some low-income elderly were literally having trouble paying their bills, keeping food on the table and heat in the pipes. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. There are national news stories about the plight of our seniors on a routine basis.
• The Sun also printed a story about Tom’s suggestion that the state’s Affordable Housing law be modified. They wrote:
  Gentz, who participated in an affordable housing workshop held in March, said he believes that some aspects of the state law can be modified to improve the likelihood of projects being built. He said the state’s three-pronged definition of affordable is often impractical. Gentz believes existing housing should be counted toward the state’s mandated goal that 10 percent of a town’s housing stock meet the affordable housing criteria.
• The Sun printed a congratulatory editorial about Lisa’s suggestion to have a Hometown Hero award. They wrote:
  CHARLESTOWN WANTS TO ACCENTUATE THE positive and to do so the Town Council has created a “Hometown Hero” award at the suggestion of town councilor Lisa Di-Bello.We like this idea. What’s not to like, after all, about recognizing the deeds of a resident who has gone above and beyond to help others in some way.

In other news:

• The Planning Commission sent a wind turbine ordinance for residential and agricultural properties to the Town Council on October 6. The Town Council will have a public hearing on the new ordinance on November 14. We will provide an analysis of that ordinance in a coming e-mail.
• There is still discussion in Congress about repealing the Carcieri ruling. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/10/tribal-leaders-present-united-front-to-congress/

Thanks for sending us your neighbors’, friends’, relatives’ emails-our CCA list continues to grow. Know of anyone else to add to our list-send us an email with their email address.