The #Middletown Town Council covered quite a bit of territory at its meeting Monday night in Town Hall.
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:
(T) Held a moment of silence for Owen Cameron, the 17-year-old Portsmouth teen who passed recently after an extensive search across the community. Council President Paul M. Rodrigues said the entire situation was upsetting. While he hadn’t met Owen personally, Rodrigues said hearing from a number of people who knew Owen, his loss “hurts, it hurts everybody.”
(T) Announced April 28 - May 4 was National Small Business Week. Rodrigues said small businesses were the backbone of any successful community and they employ about half of all people working in America today, among other sweeping benefits.
(T) Unanimously set aside $163,000 in non local tax dollars to pay for the school’s “Beyond The Bell” summer program intended to help students continue learning in a quality structured environment. School officials thanked the council for their support and said without the allocation, the program would not happen. Whether “Beyond The Bell” would occur during the 2024-2025 school year would be discussed during the upcoming Fiscal 2025 budget process in coming weeks.
(T) Scheduled an April 15 public hearing to get feedback on a proposal from BikeNewport to do a “road diet” on East Main Road north of Wyatt Road. Council members agreed they wanted to hear more from the general public and business community before making a decision on the concept.
(T) Received an update from Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown that work on the new middle-high school just north of Gaudet Middle School remains “on time and on budget” and the project was moving along well.
(T) Unanimously approved the last state mandated revisions to the community’s affordable housing ordinances, something General Assembly leaders have said should streamline the process and make it easier to clear the way for such developments.
Next meeting: Monday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m. in Town Hall.
Document Link: https://www.middletownri.com/DocumentCenter/View/12107/MMM-4124