News Flash

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

CONTACT: Matt Sheley at (401) 842-6543 or msheley@middletownri.com  

YEAR IN REVIEW — 2023

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (DECEMBER 28, 2023) – There are years in Middletown — and then there’s 2023.

The past 12 months were probably among the busiest and most productive ever in the community.

Leading the list was the narrow passage of a bond for a new middle-high school on property just north of Gaudet Middle School at 1225 Aquidneck Ave. The $190 million project was seen as the lynchpin of helping move Middletown to the next level.

Not only with an update of the curriculum and improving educational opportunities from pre-kindergarten to grade 12 and so much more. 

The project — slated for a spring 2025 groundbreaking — is expected to help clear the way for new affordable housing at 26 Oliphant Lane with the relocation of school administrative and maintenance offices currently housed there. 

Plans also call for repurposing the Aquidneck School into a community center, a first for Middletown and paid for with grants and other non-tax dollars.

While in many years, that would have been enough. But not for 2023, far from it.

Across the town, Middletown shrugged off the hangover from COVD-19 and got to serious  work.

Unfortunately, Middletown lost one of its biggest supporters and believers, Town Councilor M. Theresa Santos, in May. A tireless advocate for the community, Santos worked in the town’s finance office for years before running for council.

While serving on the town’s top elected body, Santos spoke at length about the evolution of her town and she never hesitated to share when something didn’t sit right with her — or one of her constituents. Former town council member Barbara A. VonVillas was named to fill Santos’ seat. But Santos is never far from the memory of her colleagues, who often make a reference to Santos during meetings about her hard work for the town.

The town itself ramped up its efforts to make the community more affordable, the No. 1 stated goal of the Paul Rodrigues-led Town Council. 

Late in the year, the Planning Board gave its blessing to master plan proposals for reusing the Oliphant Lane land along with the former Peckham School site next to the Middletown Senior Center at 650 Green End Ave.

The town also bought four-plus acres across from Town Hall at 361-393 East Main Road, with the express purpose of building workforce housing there. 

This is in addition to the approximately 500 units of new housing already okayed or seeking approval to move forward. Of those, about 200 are projected to be classified “affordable” or “workforce” housing.

One of the major developments in Middletown that moved along quietly in the background was “Middletown Center.” Under those plans for 15 underused acres at 600-770 West Main Road, a new hotel, mixed retail-commercial, public library and 150 apartments, some classified as “workforce” housing.

According to reports from area officials, the talks between the town and representatives for a trio of local developers working on the public-private partnership with Middletown continue to move forward and could be resolved soon.

The town continued its work to address safety and environmental concerns, whether it was supporting ongoing water quality efforts across the community, the installation of sidewalks by the state Department of Transportation along all of upper Aquidneck Avenue, a new energy aggregation contract and similar steps.

The new Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee spearheaded by Councilor Emily Tessier also worked hard to spread the word about keeping riders and walkers safe across the community.

On the recreational front, the town announced it was working on a partnership with the Newport County YMCA to bring new pickleball courts to John Clarke Park at 127 John Clarke Road across from BankNewport headquarters.

The main parking lot at Second Beach also got a complete makeover and the town inked an agreement to buy the Hoogendoorn Nurseries property at 408 Turner Road, with plans to keep the property in nursery use — for now.   

On the school side, the big news was the announcement of the retirement of longtime Superintendent Rosemarie Kraeger at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. Donna Sweet also took over as principal at Middletown High, with Kaitlin Gibbins named principal of Gaudet Learning Academy and Rebecca Silveira now leading Forest Avenue School.

The schools continued their progress by launching a number of fun, exciting programs to engage and enlighten each student.

The financial offices for the schools and town continued to merge together, a process overseen by Finance Director Marc Tanguay. The goal of the effort is to present the most complete budget document ever, one that was more transparent and user friendly than ever before.

Based on the financials, the School Department reported more than a $1 million surplus for Fiscal 2023 and was looking at similar numbers for the current Fiscal 2024 budget, seen as good news by local leaders about the financial stability of the education figures.

Below is a brief report for departments across the community:

• BEACHES: Despite a wetter than preferred summer, lots of residents found time to enjoy Second and Third Beaches. Middletown continues to prioritize residents with a seasonal beach pass and a dedicated entrance lane, reducing their wait time getting into the parking lots. The summer concert series was a hit again this summer. Join us next year every Monday night in August for live music, fire pits on the beach and food trucks in the parking lot.

• OUTREACH: In its first year, the Outreach Department made a lasting difference in Middletown. Besides working together with the local schools, town departments and community organizations, the department helped countless people across the community. Highlights included a new summer concert series as Paradise Valley Park, welcome videos for the schools, assisting with the opening of the Island Oasis Food Pantry at Middletown High and offering more opportunities for people of all ages and experiences.

• PLANNING: As always, the Planning Department was busy, helping shape Middletown today — and into the future. Among the projects the department worked on include securing a USDOT Safe Streets for All grant to conduct a town-wide transportation action plan, work with other local communities on a regional hazard mitigation plan for Aquidneck Island, ongoing revisions to the comprehensive plan update committee as well as drafting zoning and regulations amendments to addresses changes in state law intended to promote housing development.

• POLICE: It has been a year of change for the department in 2023. Following the departure of Chief William Kewer in February, Anthony Pesare returned as chief. Sgt. Tim Brady was promoted to Lieutenant, Officer Ben Costa was promoted to Sergeant, and Michael Cazzarro and Alfredo Lorenzo graduated from the Police Academy as probationary police officers. After a yearly assessment, the department maintains its national accreditation. The relationship of Middletown Police with the school department continues to grow. Middletown High School and Gaudet School both have school resource officers. Two candidates were selected to attend the January session of the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy — Jacob Boyle, and Julian Reis. The new Animal Control Officer is Olivia Garcia. Keeping the community safe is a priority for the Middletown police department — and that is reflected in Middletown being one of the safest communities in the state.

• PREVENTION COALITION: The Middletown Prevention Coalition continued its mission to create a safe, healthy and drug-free Middletown where children, youth and families can thrive. During the past year, the coalition provided many educational and fun, family-friendly programs and events to create a healthier Middletown. These included the 14th Annual Middletown Family Day — sponsored by the MPC and Saccucci Honda — Wellness Month in March as well as the ongoing efforts of Islanders Committed, the coalition’s youth committees who work as “community change agents.”

• REFUSE & RECYCLING: Middletown continues to have one of the highest recycling rates in Rhode Island thanks to the Pay-As-You-Throw program. The five bulk waste amnesty day events are always popular with those using the program and each year the program is able to divert tons of electronic waste, scrap metal, bicycles, rigid plastics, mattresses and box springs from the landfill.

• SENIOR CENTER: Year in, year out, the Middletown Senior Center helps. In 2023, the senior center served close to 6,700 daily meals and provided service to 20,279 people. The Green End Avenue operation added 12 new programs to its weekly calendar, bringing that total to close to 30. The senior center hosted 25 speakers, provided tax preparation assistance to dozens of people and conducted a myriad of other activities aimed at the local senior population.

• TOWN CLERK: In the Town Clerk’s office, one major accomplishment was reorganizing the recorded maps from January 1975 to the present, which have been indexed, scanned, placed online for the public and condensed into three map cabinets.  The reorganization has made space in the vault area and allows for better public access to the maps. Another major accomplishment were the 2023 Elections. They were successfully administered with no issues, thanks to our staff and volunteers.

For more about Middletown, visit https://www.middletownri.com/ and get regular updates through https://mdl.town/NotifyMe for free.

Document Link: https://www.middletownri.com/DocumentCenter/View/10151/NYCU-YIR-Final