The Town Council covered significant ground Monday night on a number of subjects, including the potential use of American Rescue Plan Act money, "Middletown Center" and pickleball courts, among other areas.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matt Sheley at (401) 842-6543 or msheley@middletownri.com
MIDDLETOWN MEETING MATTERS
MIDDLETOWN TOWN COUNCIL
When: Monday night.
Where: Middletown Town Hall, 350 East Main Road.
Absent: None.
Of note:
- Backed a request from Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown to hold off on decisions about how to use the American Rescue Plan Act funds until at least after the Fiscal 2023 budget is finalized. The preliminary budget is expected to be adopted later this month.
- Set June 29 at 6 pm in Town Hall as the date for an informational meeting on the “Middletown Center” project at 600-740 West Main Road. The town is looking to develop the 15 acres through a public-private partnership with Christopher Bicho, James Karam and Rocky Kempenaar for a mixed use project with hundreds of apartments, a 144-room hotel, a 10,000-square-foot library, retail spaces, restaurants and other amenities.
- Unanimously approved a new three-year contract for the employees’ union at the Middletown Public Library.
- Held a discussion about the proposed Fiscal 2023 budget, including the possibility of funding athletic equipment for school sports teams and a new Children, Youth & Learning department. Council members made no guarantees on either request, but said it was something they would look into over the next few weeks.
- Heard compliments from resident John Bagwill about the quality of the service from the Town Clerk’s office, which he said was as close to “perfect” as you could expect anywhere.
- Learned the town did not receive a grant from the state Department of Environmental Management to help fund new pickleball courts in town. Town staff said they would revisit the issue to determine what’s next with the proposal and where potential funding could come from to support the effort.
Next regular meeting: Monday, June 20, 2022 at 6 p.m. in Town Hall.