LINCOLN – It was a year of difficulties for fire districts, a year of construction and restoration projects around town, and a year focused on state testing in schools.
Twin River Casino representatives were successful in their request to lift the state’s prohibition against hotels on casino properties, the Lincoln Police Department’s new facility is nearly complete and historic buildings in town are being restored.
Lincoln Public Schools met and exceeded standards on state exams in 2015, saw a middle school student become the state spelling bee champion and congratulated Supt. Georgia Fortunato, who was honored as the state’s Superintendent of the Year.
Here’s a roundup of 2015’s top stories:
1. Fire district troubles
Lonsdale
Early April, when the Lonsdale Fire District had outstanding debt, no treasurer and just two elected board members, the board reached out to the state for financial guidance.
Susanne Greschner, chief of the Division of Municipal Finance for the Department of Revenue, began to help the district with what would turn into a months-long ordeal.
On Saturday, June 6, an emergency meeting was held, where the board announced such financial distress that the station could no longer operate. The now-shuttered station, which had five full-time firefighters and seven paid call firefighters, according to a town-wide fire study, turned into just a four-member board after all but one prior board member, Joe Tashash, stepped down.
A much-awaited financial report, released Sept. 17, showed the station had a structural deficit of 20 to 25 percent, linked to IRS actions, pension obligations, employee overtime, under-budgeting expenses and contract requirements.
State police were called in days after the report came out to investigate the condition of a town-wide collaborative health care account, which Lonsdale had been in charge of for each district. Current treasurer Michael Babbitt noted that on at least two occasions, funds from that shared account were used to pay Lonsdale’s operational expenses.
Come December, Lonsdale would pay $41,247 that was owed to the Lincoln Firefighters Association for the health care fund, Babbitt told The Breeze this month.
Former fire chief Timothy Griffin, who was Lonsdale Fire’s tax collector at the time of the report, was put on unpaid leave at the end of September after the release showed management failures – most of which linked specifically to Griffin.
The board saw a change of faces when both Brad Booth and Joe Tashash stepped down from the board, leaving Babbitt, Kevin Farrell, Mike Skenyon and John Picozzi by December to continue working their way through financial documents and addressing taxpayers’ concerns.
Since Lonsdale station’s shutdown, Saylesville has been taking responsibility for Lonsdale’s calls, charging the fire district $11,500 a month for their services. Discussions of extending that agreement until April are still ongoing.
In future months, taxpayers will either choose to surrender their charter to Saylesville, or re-open with less staff – and a new method for budgeting expenses.
Albion
In Albion, the fire station faced a lawsuit from the Office of Attorney General after failing to certify that someone was trained to respond to Access to Public Records Act requests in the district.
The AG’s office had notified Albion on Jan. 20, Feb. 6 and Feb. 24 of this year, said Malena Lopez Mora, special attorney for the office. This would turn into Albion’s third open government lawsuit after, in both 2010 and 2011, Open Meetings Act lawsuits were filed and later settled for $5,000.
This year marked the first Access to Public Records Act lawsuit for the district, and free legal defense was promised by attorney Louis DeSimone, who represents the Albion fire station.
The Albion Fire District will appear in Rhode Island Superior Court following the AG’s alleged finding that there was either a “willing and knowing” or a “reckless” disregard for the law.
Should attorney Mora succeed in this case, Albion could be fined $1,000 to $2,000 under state law.
Study recommends consolidated fire district
The Town Council’s Public Safety Committee hired Matrix Consulting Group to review the town’s seven fire stations, and after the group found that four stations could provide adequate service for $161,000 less a year, MCG recommended a consolidated district after releasing its finalized report in early December.
This fiscal year alone, approximately $5.1 million will be spent on fire protection and services for the town. The new plan’s annual total budget is projected to be $4,961,295.
Currently, the district has 35 full-time workers, 73 part-time personnel and 44 paid-call workers for a total of 162 personnel, but the new plan would call for 16 full-time and 51 part-time, downsizing the system staffing to 74 workers.
2. Twin River hotel moves forward
At the beginning of 2015, Twin River representatives requested a lift on the state prohibition against hotels on casino properties. Both chambers of the General Assembly voted unanimously to lift the ban in April.
Following that approval, Twin River representatives presented their hotel layout plan to the Technical Review Committee, Lincoln Planning Board and Lincoln Zoning Board of Review and began working on more details for the four-story, 250-room hotel after the master plan and preliminary plan were granted approval.
Abutting neighbors attended a number of public meetings, where they spoke up about their concerns of buffer zones, light spillage and general eyesores.
Twin River representatives assured Lincoln residents there would be no light spillage with their newly installed LED “night sky compliance” lighting and re-planted trees that had died along buffer zones due to harsh winter road conditions.
Twin River had also planted some trees on an abutting neighbor’s property after his request the company do so.
After many meetings and public hearings, the town reviewed and successfully permitted the hotel on Twin River Casino’s land.
The last step for the Twin River hotel proposal is the final plan stage, where Twin River representatives will provide building plans.
3. Snow takes a toll
Snowstorm Juno hit hard in the towns of northern Rhode Island, and Lincoln was no exception. The $275,000 snow removal budget for fiscal year 2014-2015 was spent completely by mid-February. This budget covered the cost of supplies, payroll overtime related to snow removal, expenses for contract plowing services and equipment repairs.
Lincoln spent $297,289 for non-payroll expenses and $153,787 in payroll costs, amounting to $451,076.
The amount of snow caused a partial roof collapse on Monday, Feb. 23, when the factory building that housed Foam Technology under the Symmetry International Inc. company caved in.
No one was injured, and the damage was attributed not only to snow, but also to building neglect and leaks prior to the collapse, according to Roger Pierce, building official.
This year, like most others, town truck issues arose, as did breakdowns of equipment. Overall, the team from Lincoln Public Works managed to plow every road in town and had no issues finding a place to put the snow, as many urban spots in the state did.
Looking back on the year, Lincoln Public Works Director Mike Gagnon said it snowed every two days for some time. He couldn’t recall exactly when the snowstorms finally stopped, but he recalled “it didn’t end soon enough.”
He applauded the workers for powering through the weather and breakdowns of equipment, which are not uncommon in the winter season.
The town had 16 hired contractors working through the snow, 10 trucks with sanders and 28 trucks total.
The $275,000 budget will remain for fiscal year 2015-2016. Finance Director John F. Ward said the town hopes for a “normal” winter, and that the budget is sufficient.
4. State standardized testing
Statewide, 2015 PARCC exam results showed that only one in four students met state standards in math and just one in three met standards in English. The findings, which were released Nov. 17, also showed that statewide, about 25 percent of students met or scored higher than averages in math, and 36 met or exceeded standards in English.
Fifty-one percent of Lincoln students in grades 3 through 10 met or exceeded expectations in literary exams and 35 percent of students met or surpassed standards in math.
Though Lincoln averaged higher than state expectations, a parent survey sent out Wednesday, Dec. 2, to all public schools in town showed that of the survey participants, most parents wanted less standardized testing.
The parent survey showed that 38 percent of households found student performance on standardized exams to be just somewhat important in determining the quality of a school. Only 15 percent ranked this as very important and 32 percent of parents marked this as important.
Supt. Georgia Fortunato anticipates more discussions about standardized testing in the future, following these survey results and Massachusetts’ recent shift to a different version of state testing.
Over-testing children, Fortunato said, is something she and many others in education want to avoid.
5. Whipple-Cullen farmland
development
In November, Lincoln Planning Board members heard a development proposal for the Whipple-Cullen farmland property, adjacent to Town Hall on Old River Road. John Cullen, whose family owns the land, has been working on a proposal for 20 years.
The 79-acre lot has sat as undeveloped open fields and wooded areas sloping from Old River Road down to Hidden Valley Lane, and dates back to the settlement of the farmland in the 1600s.
The proposed project, a 200-unit senior condo complex, caused a spark in debate over how much of the property is buildable, and confusion on exactly where the construction would take place at the first Lincoln Planning Board meeting mid-November.
The TRC stated “serious concerns” about traffic this development would create. The condo would accommodate 492 residents, age 55 and older, the proposal read, with construction of a 7,200-foot-long driveway. A total of 80 duplex units, 60 three-unit residences and 60 four-unit residences with accompanying utilities and driveways were presented in the proposal.
The outline also includes three private roadways, two of which would be accessible off Old River Road and another off George Washington Highway.
Representatives of Old River Road Development LLC, who have been working on the project, must address the both the planning board and TRC concerns before returning to the committee for additional review.
At the closing of Lincoln Planning Board’s meeting in November, chairman Kenneth Bostic recommended residents attend the future public meetings and told those in attendance it was in their “best interest to stay tuned.”
The public informational meeting is expected to take place in January or February of 2016.
6. Old River Road repairs
Potholes are no stranger to Rhode Island residents, and many had lined Old River Road. Over the years, the holes had been patched up, but street construction this year led to a smoother drive for Lincoln residents.
A $2.4 million project, which was completed by D’Ambra Construction, re-did the 1.6 mile stretch of Old River Road between the intersection with Albion Road to Sayles Hill Road.
Before the repaving, underground utilities were replaced and the surface of the street was torn up for micromilling. Sidewalks, signs and drainage were also part of the project, and 350 feet of a 20-inch water main near Handy Pond was replaced after two major breaks occurred.
Traffic affected nearby homeowners, after state officials closed off a section of the road in the beginning of October to install water lines. The section by Mussey Brook Road was closed off for about two weeks before the project was completed late October. Here, access was restricted to local homeowners.
In November, a base coat was put down over the road. Landscaping and the final coat is expected to be finished by summer 2016.
7. Albion beacon
Early in the morning on Friday, April 10, a motor vehicle struck and damaged the historic Albion beacon at the intersection of School Street, Main Street, Briarwood Road and Albion Road.
Jason Elias, 36, of Woonsocket, was driving south on Main Street at 3 a.m. when he struck the beacon with his truck, which rolled onto its side, a police report read. The report stated Elias took his eyes off the road to look down at his GPS prior to the crash. He later passed a field sobriety test.
Following the accident, the beacon was removed by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.
Since April, Town Council has been corresponding with Rhode Island Department of Transportation in attempts to address the state of the intersection, a four-way the council calls “unsafe,” to both determine a long-term and immediate fix for the intersection.
Just two weeks ago, Peter Alviti Jr., RIDOT director, based his decision to construct a 25-foot mini rotary in the intersection on a phone call to resident and Lincoln Conservation Commission Chairman Jared Bethel.
Council members voiced their anger over RIDOT’s response – a decision they had been waiting on for almost nine months. Councilors questioned why an answer had taken so long, and why a single phone call was all Alviti needed to make a decision.
The decision, Alviti explained, would place the repaired beacon in the middle of the roundabout, and the project isn’t set to be completed until 2017.
Originally, in his letter to the Town Council on Wednesday, Oct. 14, Alviti had recommended another option: a widened sidewalk that would remove the beacon completely from the four-way, eliminating the chance of it being struck.
His letter also stated this option removes turning issues for trucks and trailers, and “tightens” the intersection, making shorter crossing paths for pedestrians.
Councilors responded to Alviti’s letter in October, requesting Alviti make a decision since no one on Town Council is a traffic engineer. Their main concern, they stated, is public safety.
In the beacon’s place sat a traffic cone that was also removed two weeks ago – currently, there are just two stop signs at the four-way.
8. Hot Potato School finds new home
After a year of setbacks, the Pullen’s Corner School, or Hot Potato School, that sat on the corner of Angell Road and Whipple Road, was moved to Chase Farm Park at Great Road. Richard DiMase and Dave Sale, recycling director, hope to raise enough funds to restore the inside of the building and recreate what a school day was like when the building was in use.
It was DiMase and Sale’s goal to have the building transported to save the house, which dates back to 1850 and closed in 1922. Sale voiced his frustration over the project prior to the move, when expenses became too high to move utility wires that hung above the building, halting the process altogether.
Finally, on Oct. 28, the house and its roof were moved separately by Aquidneck Building Movers and Riggers to the Chase Farm for about $30,000. Neighbors came out to watch the process, where a caravan of police cars, town trucks and the building itself made their way down the road.
Most neighbors described the move as bittersweet, but said they were happy the building would be saved in its new location.
Come spring, Sale and DiMase hope to have raised enough money from the town ornament sales to fund the restoration of the building’s interior.
9. Albion bridges
construction
Though the Albion bridges re-opened sooner than expected after repairs and repaving began Monday, July 6, local business owners complained they lost customers – and revenue – due to the construction.
RIDOT closed the Albion Road bridges to begin what had been a six-week plan to seal, repave and re-stripe both bridges and resurface the roadway approaches.
This work was part of a $3 million project with Cardi Corporation to maintain 10 bridges in Rhode Island.
Cyclists and pedestrians were prohibited from entering the path at School Street, and the Blackstone Bikeway was also affected some weekdays when construction vehicles needed to cross between work sites. The parking lot between the bridges was also closed off.
When the bridges that connect Lincoln and Cumberland closed, business owners of GottaQ BBQ, Albion Foodmart and Spicoli’s Bar and Grill said they suffered from declining customers.
GottaQ BBQ owner Michael Stout lost about 75 percent of his business from the closure, where Spicoli’s owner, Sharon Lima, lost 15 percent of customers.
A Spicoli’s employee, Lima told The Breeze, had to walk across the bridge to get to work from Cumberland.
10. Superintendent
of the Year
The Rhode Island School Superintendents’ Association named Lincoln’s Georgia Fortunato Superintendent of the Year for 2015-2016 on Wednesday, Aug. 19.
The award came after the association noted a $2 million technology initiative, $2 million facility upgrade and a $1.5 million security initiative for Lincoln Public Schools under her leadership.
Additionally, Lincoln received a $935,000 Teaching American History grant, a $400,000 World of Work grant and a $100,000 grant from the Champlin Foundation to create a broadcast studio, all while Fortunato worked as superintendent.
In February 2016, Fortunato will be honored by the American Association of School Administrators at the National Conference on Education in Phoenix, Ariz.
Also in 2015:
The Chase Farmhouse renovation, a Preserve Rhode Island project, brought the circa-1890 home back to life, and a tenant will move into the second floor apartment in January. The first floor apartment is expected to be ready for rent in March or April 2016.
Lincoln entered its first year of a five-year lease with PRI, where the first phase of the curatorship project will cost about $118,000. The town covered expenses for a new heating and electric system for about $38,500, and about $80,000 of the remaining funds will come from PRI’s revolving fund – funds the organization will get back through collecting rent.
State officials broke ground during a ceremony at Lincoln Woods State Park on Dec. 14, marking the start of a construction project that will build a new “green” beach complex, expand parking lots and shift the beach area to better protect sensitive wetland coves. The pavilion by the beach had not been updated since the 1980s.
Construction of the Lincoln Police Department neared its full completion by December, where the two-story station has doubled its video surveillance systems inside and outside the building, upgraded holding cells, constructed a new processing room, additional office spaces and a conference room.
Come spring 2016, landscaping and touch-ups will be completed at the station for a total budget of $3,280,000.
Sixth-grader Christopher Relyea of Lincoln Middle School won this year’s State Spelling Bee and later competed in the Scripps National Bee in Washington, D.C., in May. The State Spelling Bee is hosted annually by The Valley Breeze.
After more than 30 years of serving Lincoln, Recycling Director David Sale will retire at year’s end. In addition to his everyday duties, Sale was responsible for starting up the holiday food basket and toy drive for the town, co-organizing the town ornament sale and seeing the Hot Potato School move through.
Town:
Lincoln
Pubzone:
Cumberland, Lincoln area
Category:
News
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BRITTANY BALLANTYNE, Valley Breeze Staff Writer
Email:
brittany@valleybreeze.com
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