When: Tuesday, March 21 at 7 p.m.
Where: Charlestown Town Hall
What: N.O. Bar, LLC, is requesting a Special Use Permit to construct a bar on an existing deck and appealing Charlestown’s Zoning Official’s ruling that the new use is an Outdoor Café. N.O. Bar is located at 523 Charlestown Beach Road.
The Beverage Container Deposit Recycling Act of 2023 has been introduced in the General Assembly. Clean Water Action has provided a form to allow you to contact your state legislators and ask them to support it. Known as the “bottle bill,” this legislation will fight plastic pollution and increase our state’s recycling rate by creating a financial incentive for residents to properly return empty beverage containers.
When: Saturday, February 11 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Where: At the Charlestown Animal Shelter on Sand Hill Road in Charlestown
The two remaining applicants, Jeffrey Allen, the town’s previous police chief, and Gary Tedeschi, chair of Charlestown’s Disc Golf Course Ad Hoc Committee, were interviewed on February 9 in executive session. At the end of the private meeting the town council announced that they had chosen Jeffrey Allen as the interim Town Administrator.
Mark will bring his 30+ years of experience in municipal management to Berkley, Massachusetts, when he becomes their new town administrator on February 13. Charlestown’s loss is truly Berkley’s gain. You can read the news about Mark and Berkley’s excitement to hire him in a story in the Taunton Daily Gazette.
Mr. Stankiewicz, a true professional, would have served the new Council well, as he has served a number of other Town Councils. Claims seemingly used to justify forcing Mr. Stankiewicz to leave are petty and inaccurate. As a result, the new Council is now wasting time searching for a new Town Administrator, instead of focusing on pressing town matters.
Reporter John Kostrzewa describes a refreshing winter hike by a peaceful stream at Tucker Woods Preserve in Charlestown. This 66.5-acre preserve was farmed by generations of the Tucker family. Now it’s part of an 11-mile corridor of protected open space. A winter walk on a short, forested trail with a long, rich history can brighten a dreary morning during the depths of the season. Link to read the whole story at the Providence Journal.
On January 31, the Charlestown Town Council held an executive session meeting with Joseph Larisa, Charlestown’s Indian Affairs attorney, to discuss the BIA’s proposed change in the rule used to determine whether a tribe was “under federal jurisdiction” in 1934. The proposed rule change is an administrative action and its adoption would effectively overturn the Carcieri v. Salazar U.S. Supreme Court decision. The Council returned to open session after the executive session to announce that they had taken a vote to authorize Attorney Larisa to craft an official response from the town on the rule change and submit the response before the March 1 deadline. The rule change and its importance is explained in the post.
Roughly a third of birds that breed or overwinter on Audubon properties in RI are in decline, while about a quarter may be experiencing growth. Even common birds, like the red-winged blackbird and the grackle, are suffering. Reversing the declines of some birds will be impossible, but it’s not too late for others.
“Birds that migrate, songbirds especially, usually migrate at night,” Calcagno said. “So light pollution can disorient them, can cause them to hit buildings, and it can cause them to be attracted to certain lighting. We have resorts and hotels and all these things along the coast which can affect them. It can cause a lot of birds to not go the way they’re supposed to go; or it can increase mortality from strikes; or they may even fly too far over the ocean to get away from the light, get exhausted and fall out of the sky and not survive.”
At the January 23 Charlestown Town Council meeting I voted with a heavy heart and profound regret to accept the resignation of Mark Stankiewicz, our outstanding town administrator. I voted as I did to forestall Mark’s firing by a hostile majority of the town council who sought to dismiss him despite his excellent 10-year record of service. Mark’s departure is a dark day for Charlestown—where the baseless objections of certain councilors have overwhelmed the best interests of the town.
Many spoke in favor of the Town Administrator, but it could not change the outcome. “I found he guided the town with a very thoughtful and steady hand,” Tremblay said. “He met our expectations with vision, vigor and street smarts, and the street smarts are really important, and he’s got them.” Like others, Tremblay called the decision a “great loss” for the town. No public speakers supported the move. “I can’t understand why we let this valuable resource walk out the door,” Tremblay said.
Mark has served the town masterfully for ten years and has no desire to leave. He is being forced out to avoid being fired because of ongoing difficulties with the Council President unrelated to his outstanding performance as Town Administrator. In every performance review during Mark’s ten years, the Town Council has judged his performance as being superior in all areas of responsibility. Given his great service to the town, it is clearly in the town’s best interest to have Mark continue in his role as Town Administrator.
A Special House Commission on Land Use was created in 2021 to examine how Rhode Island is using and managing its 1,214 square miles. Critics of the ongoing effort, however, claim the outcome is predetermined: reduce regulations and local control to encourage more development.
The amount paid to the District by each town is determined by that town’s share or percentage of enrolled students. Charlestown makes up 24% of total enrollment. The overall proposed school budget increase is 6.64%. Annual inflation for the New England region through November of 2022 is 6.4%. The Chariho Regional School District budget is adjusted for inflation to a zero percent increase compared to last year’s budget.
N.O. Bar, LLC, that manages the Clam Shack located in the Shelter Cove Marina on Charlestown Beach Road, has been before the Charlestown Town Council for a liquor license renewal and is currently before the Charlestown Zoning Board for a Special Use Permit for the construction of an outdoor bar.
Charlestown taxpayers are served by a dedicated Town staff. For example, during the pandemic, ours was the only town in the state to provide uninterrupted services to our residents, and to those who needed assistance, even during the worst of Covid-19. Most Charlestown residents correctly understand that their Town is well managed and have every reason to be happy about the state of its fiscal health.
The increase in overall housing density is being proposed for Charlestown without any assessment of the cumulative potential impacts of the increased septage on groundwater, drinking water, and the coastal ponds and other water bodies. Putting no limits on the number of bedrooms and allowing any lot to create an additional new short-term rental will impact coastal areas especially.
In late 2022, the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) published a new proposed rule on the federal-lands-into-trust process for Native American tribes. The lands-into-trust process is a set of procedures that the BIA uses to acquire title to land and hold it for the use of tribes. This process was established by the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and was later interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Carcieri v. Salazar in 2009. The proposed rules appear to be an administrative action to overturn the Supreme Court decision.
Every Friday night in the winter (weather permitting), Frosty Drew Observatory opens their Observatory, Science Center, Sky Theatre, and telescopes to the skies and offers free stargazing and astronomy to anybody interested in observing with them. They open on clear Friday nights at around 7:00 p.m. with views of the beautiful night sky over Ninigret Park.
Do you do a daily or occasional pick-up of roadside litter? Nips, which make up a lot of the litter on some roadsides, are mostly not recyclable, but now they have a use! They can be used to persuade the legislature to support legislation to reduce single use plastics, which will help to reduce litter and pollution in our area.
At the Charlestown Town Council meeting on December 12, town employees were again attacked for being paid for work they had performed. These attacks smear the reputations of town employees who have been committed, even during the global pandemic, to providing top-quality services to the people who call Charlestown home.
What started out as a routine trip to dump trash turned into a lovely day-out experience. The preserve covers 87 acres consisting of 2 large fields and lots of surrounding woodland with several trails through them, a small pond and some wetlands. After our walk we decided to lunch out … and decided on a nearby very small cafe owned and operated by local native Americans called “The Sly Fox Den Too”
The law requires that employees be compensated for all their regular work hours. Before alleging, again, that a serious problem exists and before accusing Town staff, falsely, of a serious misdeed, Mr. Hoff should recognize that Charlestown’s method of calculating its employees’ hourly pay is standard practice and has not created a long-standing “silent liability” that needed to be paid. Charlestown paid its employees for the hours they worked.
Starting the day after the election we began retrieving signs. Now that we have retrieved all that we can find, there are 27 signs missing. The signs themselves have no value, but the stands can usually be reused and are expensive to replace. If you pulled a sign into your garage or shed that we forgot to pick up, please let us know and we’ll come get it.
We’ve made a list of some of the recent things we are thankful for in Charlestown. There’s so much more. Let us know what you are thankful for in Charlestown.
Between community projects, my time with Parks and Recreation, and Town Council, for over 9 years it has been my honor and pleasure to give back to the community that has raised me. And it has been the absolute privilege of my life to have been elected by the people of Charlestown to represent them these past two years. Wherever life brings me, to Westerly and beyond, Charlestown will always be home.
I am humbled to have served the Town of Charlestown for eight years and I thank the citizens of the town for the opportunity. The town is in excellent shape. Much of the credit for this goes to our town administrator, Mark Stankiewicz. He has guided the town commendably well, under the direction of the Town Council, for approximately nine years. Without his excellent leadership, our town would not be where it is today.
At the November 14 Charlestown Town Council meeting, the Town Council voted 4 to 0 to release the $400,000.00 grant that the town had received to purchase the Saw Mill Pond Watershed and transfer the grant to the Charlestown Land Trust, which will now pursue additional funding needed to protect the land.
When: Saturday, November 19, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Charlestown Wine and Spirits, 4625 Old Post Rd, Charlestown
Why: RI CAN provides emergency food and outreach to thousands of at-risk residents in southern Rhode Island and beyond.