What: Wildlife Wednesdays Lecture Series sponsored by Friends of the National Wildlife Refuges of RI
Where: All lectures held at the Kettle Pond Visitor Center, 50 Bend Road, Charlestown (map in post)
When: All presentations are on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM
Cost: Admission is free and all ages are welcome
When: August 2, 3 & 4
Where: Ninigret Park, Charlestown, RI
What: Three days of food and entertainment
UPDATE:Meeting cancelled late on July 29 just before meeting was scheduled to begin. We don’t know yet when it was rescheduled to.
When: Monday, July 29 at 7 pm
Where: Charlestown Town Hall
What: Town Council special meeting to discuss and possibly adopt the new 2024 Master Plan for Ninigret Park
The Town Council will discuss the 2024 Ninigret Park Master Plan that its consultant, VHB, developed in accordance with the directions given to the company by the Town Council. The $39.5 million cost estimates that were handed out at the April 15 meeting are included in this post.
For some reason, a Charlestown Democratic Town Committee member appears to believe that taking personal potshots at a former town employee who was honest and worked hard, one who did an excellent job for 10 years, is OK. It’s not. Unproven, and untrue, assertions that live online can be damaging to a person’s career and should be out of bounds.
The League of Women Voters of South County will publish Voter Guides in early October featuring local candidates for State Representative, Senator, Town Council, School Committee, and Planning Commission. They want to ask questions that relate to the current issues in our town. Please submit up to 3 topics/questions for local candidates. The League will use this input from the community to develop questions for live candidate forums and voter guides. The deadline to submit questions is July 27.
Each year, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) asks the public to assist with their Turkey Brood Survey by reporting sightings of female turkeys, or hens, and their babies, called poults, from July 1st though August 31st. These citizen reported sightings of wild turkey hens, both with brood and without, help with research efforts.
On Friday, July 12, Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter issued a preliminary decision, siding with private property owners who seek to overturn the state’s new shoreline access legislation passed last year by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Dan McKee. The RI Attorney General disagrees with the decision. Story at ecoRI News.
When: Thursday, July 25 from 6 pm to 8:30 pm
Where: The Nordic Lodge, 178 Nordic Trail, Charlestown
What: Live music by “Jus Tus”, hors d’oeuvres, cash bar, raffle
Why: Support open space preservation and protection in Charlestown and have a fabulous evening with live music
There may be some misunderstanding of what the phrase “going to court” means, but the effect of trying to remove the voters’ right to vote is the same, no matter what vehicle is used. Seeking a Declaratory Judgment is an action to overturn the elected Planning Commission. It is an action with serious legal consequences. An article in the Providence Journal dated November 30, 2007, included in this post, described the earlier attempt to get a Declaratory Judgment regarding the legality of Charlestown having an elected Planning Commission.
Proposed Charter change question number 9 was written and sent to public hearing without any plan for ratification by the General Assembly. As explained by the Town’s solicitor at the Charter Public Hearing, “if it is not ratified you will put the Planning Commission’s legal authority in limbo … and undermine their position.”
On July 8, the current Charlestown Town Council majority got rid of a highly qualified and experienced member of the Budget Commission, Dick Sartor. Mr. Sartor had applied to be reappointed, and he was not. This sacking of Mr. Sartor was carried out by a Town Council majority that says institutional knowledge, and qualifications, are of utmost importance in government. One can only wonder why the Town Council majority would remove Mr. Sartor’s practiced eye from oversight of the town’s budget.
In early June, Charlestown’s land-use community lost its most qualified member with the passing of Walter “Peter” Mahony. Peter was undoubtedly the most qualified person to ever serve on the Charlestown Planning Commission. He was an Architect, a Landscape Architect, and a professional Planner with architectural and planning degrees from Princeton and Cambridge Universities. He had a successful career working on important projects that focused on the sustainable balance between development and land preservation.
When: Thursday, July 11 from 6 pm to 8 pm
Where: Ninigret Park at the New Pavilion
What: Concert by Will Evans, whose album “Rise” was nominated for three categories by the New England Music Awards; movie Jaws; and 7 food trucks providing dinner
Who: Brought to you by Charlestown Parks and Recreation Department
Cost: Music and Movie are Free. Dinner – pay for as little or as much as you want to eat
Thank you to everyone who gave up a part of a summer day to visit us at the Charlestown Mini Super and sign 10 different nomination papers for the candidates the Charlestown Citizens Alliance is supporting in the November election. Thank you especially to the Mini Super for generously allowing us to set up our nomination papers in front of the store!
Although there was plenty of bad news for Charlestown’s environment in new laws passed by the Rhode Island Legislature in 2024, there was good news for the 47% of RI voters who are unaffiliated. Legislation which was passed by both the House and the Senate and was signed into law by the Governor on June 25, allows unaffiliated party voters to vote in either party’s primary without becoming affiliated to a party.
Proposed Charter changes would concentrate power in the Town Council while taking it away from the voters.
When: Tuesday, July 9 at 7 pm
Where: Charlestown Town Hall, 4540 South County Trail, Charlestown
Some are merely administrative changes, but others reduce the Town Council’s accountability to voters and reduce the effectiveness and perhaps even legitimacy of the Planning Commission. Another creates a new Town Department without any analysis of long-term cost.
Charlestown’s over 40-year practice of a seven-person Planning Commission with two alternate seats open and one or two voting seats open each election allows for up to four new faces on the Commission, preserves continuity for applications that cross an election, and complies with the requirement that a majority of voting members not be replaced in any one year.
Where: Charlestown Mini Super, 4071 Old Post Rd. (map in post)
When: Monday, July 8 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m
What: If you are registered to vote in Charlestown, all we need is your signature on the candidates’ nomination papers. These candidates will be volunteering their time for the next two years or longer, please take a few minutes of your own time to help them get started.
Charlestown Citizens Alliance is pleased to announce the names of their outstanding candidates for the 2024 election. The steering committee worked to recruit talented individuals who embody CCA’s guiding principles of fiscal responsibility, protection of our natural environment, civility, inclusiveness, and consensus. They are individuals with the skills and dedication to do what’s right for the Town and Charlestown’s taxpayers.
When: Saturdays, June 29, July 13, July 27, August 3, and August 17, at 10:00 am
Where: Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge
Cost: Program is free
Registration: Please pre-register as space is limited
Hands-on experience that introduces children and their families to a variety of aquatic creatures living in the salt ponds.
Where: Kinney Bungalow, 505 Point Judith Rd., Narragansett, RI 02882
When: Thursday, July 11 from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
What: Silent Auction, Food and Drink, and a Sunset View
There are items for all interests, from a guided kayaking tour, to local gift cards, art, theatre tickets, and more! Additional items are added to the auction website weekly, so keep checking back.
When: Every Friday – June 21 to August 30 from 9 am to 12:30 pm
Where: On the grounds of the Church of the Holy Spirit, 4150 Old Post Rd,. Charlestown (map in post)
Local fresh produce, fruits, honey, shellfish, specially prepared dishes, baked goods, and more.
On May 28, the Charlestown Town Council voted 4 to 1, with Councilor Susan Cooper objecting, to acquire four more portable light towers. The configuration and type of these lights violate Charlestown’s lighting ordinance. The ordinance that applies to any non-residential exterior lighting requires that lighting be fully shielded, focused downward, and not result in light trespass or light pollution. The Town Council’s decision to violate the ordinance will make it more likely that commercial businesses throughout town will ignore the town’s 12-year effort to protect Charlestown’s beautiful dark skies.
Charlestown’s State Senator Victoria Gu along with Town Planners and Planning Commissions statewide worked to craft an Accessory Dwelling Unit Law that allowed ADUs while at the same time worked to protect the Coastal Ponds and other sensitive environmental areas from excessive nitrogen pollution. Senator Gu needs to hear from constituents to urge her to push for her bill (S-2630) that allows ADUs while still protecting groundwater and drinking water, rather than the House bill which represents a very real threat to the Coastal Ponds and groundwater throughout the town.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is actively investigating the former Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Landing Field (CNALF) under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program as a Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS). CNALF is currently Ninigret Park and Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge in Charlestown. A Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) is one of many methods USACE may use to facilitate public participation. Details on how to be part of the RAB in post.
If passed, the legislation (S2928/H8148) would replace the current structure of politically appointed board members with a state department that would allow current CRMC staff, which has the necessary expertise on coastal issues, to make decisions in the best interest of Rhode Islanders and the Ocean State’s coastal resources.
Only 254 People Voted – Thank You To Everyone Who Did Vote!
In previous years the Town Council sent a mail ballot via the U.S. Postal Service to each of the town’s registered voters to make voting on the budget better reflect the will of our voters. However, the town council has discontinued this citizen outreach, and significant reduction in participation is expected. Expenditures are budgeted to increase by 6.17%, even though the town will not undertake a large construction project.
Francis C. Carter Memorial Preserve is known for a few things – from holding the title of the second largest nature preserve in Rhode Island to sweeping landscapes created by glaciers. It may be best known, however, for having some of the best hiking trails in Rhode Island. Seven hiking trails meander through the lush 1,100-acre nature park.
If passed, the bottle bill, H8312, would place a 10-cent refundable deposit on many beverage containers, not including milk, baby formula, or nutritional supplements. The bill would apply to bottles sized from 1.7-ounce (50-millimeter) nips to up to 3-liter bottles. If passed, the law would go into effect July 1, 2026.