First update since the November election. I’m excited to say the new council is off to a smooth and efficient start!

Council set a list of top priorities/council term goals which are:

• Support and complete the park at 4 Richmond Townhouse Road.
• Support and work towards sustainable growth including welcoming new business and supporting existing and expanding businesses.
• Encourage opportunities for grants to maximize funding for many of the town initiatives i.e. grant writer.
• Work through items within the Hazard Mitigation Plan.
• Redevelop vacant and underutilized properties.

This list does not include all our initiatives. Council was asked to submit 3-5 top priorities and this list are common broad goals between all members of council. We will break this down into specific tasks and work on other items. Protecting our environment and seeking opportunities to help our senior population have been important to me and will continue to be.

Senior & 100% Disabled Exemption for Tax Year 2025

Per our town ordinances, the tax assessor is required to make suggestions annually for the Senior and 100% Disabled Tax Exemption.

Richmond has the most generous exemption in the state and offers both higher income limits and higher percentages of the assessed value of the home than other municipalities. The last two years the council froze the exemption entirely and did not make any changes to the income levels to help align us with other municipalities. This year, I proposed we do something for our seniors and disabled. There are a lot of options for both giving something to those who need it most and balancing the exemption. After discussions, we explored the option to merge some percent categories. This will help those in the lower income brackets while bringing our exemption more in line with other communities. Since this is an ordinance amendment there will be a public hearing in the coming months. Please look out for the date and attend the meeting or email me your thoughts.

Community Choice Aggregation

The Council has been discussing signing up for Community Choice Aggregation. This could be a way to decrease residents’ electric bills and has been successful in other Rhode Island municipalities. Council received a presentation at its January 7th meeting. See the PowerPoint or watch on YouTube. We discussed drafting an RFP at the January 21st meeting but a few councilors had additional questions.As stated in a public meeting, I have strong reservations about forcing residents into this program. The program would start with everyone opted in. If you miss or do not respond to instructions to opt out before it’s implemented then you’ll be automatically opted in. I remain open to learning more and hope you can join me in learning more by attending public meetings.

Grant Writer

The discussion of hiring a grant writer has been ongoing. Many boards and commission members have advocated for this and it is an action item within the Hazard Mitigation Plan (Item 10). Past councils (including the one in my first term) have attempted to reallocate current employees’ responsibilities to increase grant opportunities for the town. However, we missed many opportunities due to the lack of time to dedicate towards searching, applying and administering grants. At our January 21st meeting, Councilor Madnick asked the council to discuss this. Council unanimously supported the request to have the Town administrator draft specifics, including a job description and salary, for council review.

Ordinance Review

I’m excited to have supported the request for an ordinance review. This item was before the 2022-2024 council. At that time, we suggested using ARPA funds for this expenditure. This did not move forward due to council disagreements on which ordinances to review. I had wanted to review all and was amenable to removing Title 18 after some discussions.On February 4th 2025, council unanimously asked staff to review the ordinances to determine what could be handled in house and what would need to be outsourced. They will then return to council with that information so we can determine how to go forward and discuss necessary funding.