News Briefs

City Manager Fired:
Once again an East Providence City Council has fired a City Manager. Staying along the same 3-2 lines it has shown since first losing faith in Richard Kirby, council members Tom Rose, Tracy Capobianco and Tim Conley voted to fire Kirby after a brief hearing at city hall. Members Helder Cunha and Robert Britto supported Kirby as they have since day one. The council had voted (3-2) to suspend Kirby in early August. The entire matter has been intertwined with the earlier suspension/firing of controversial city Human Resource Director, Kathleen Waterbury by then City Manager Richard Kirby. Waterbury has been reinstated with pay but remains home while she and the City are in settlement negotiations now.

During the September special council hearing to decide Kirby's fate, a large and boisterous crowd in attendance was clearly upset with the treatment and eventual firing of Richard Kirby, the 4th City Manager to be fired recently. Ward 4 council candidate Brian Faria seized the opportunity to differ with incumbent Tim Conley who voted to fire Kirby. "I tend to put belief in someone who is unanimously hired," said Faria. "I do not support firing another city manager, after only months on the job, unless for reasons proven otherwise, which they were not. I assure voters that the three votes were already set to fire Mr. Kirby before he entered the council chamber and before a single word in his defense was spoken. Against the sentiment of a full house, my opponent's deciding vote leaves the tax payers with more financial travesty. The new council will have to deal with the likely multiple lawsuits and turmoil from firing Mr. Kirby," stated Faria.

"East Providence has become the laughing-stock of Rhode Island," said Ward 3 council candidate Candy Seel. "Three members of the City Council, two of whom are not running for re-election, made the unconscionable decision to permanently remove suspended City Manager Richard Kirby from his position. Judging by the reaction of the dozens of people in attendance, these three members of the Council acted in complete disregard for the will of the people they supposedly represent," said Seel. "Their action has exposed the taxpayers of this city to potentially millions of dollars in lawsuits and settlements. "For reasons known only unto themselves, these three Council people (Rose, Capobianco and Conley) have put East Providence in serious financial jeopardy, have deprived the city and its employees of a capable administrator and have dumped this whole mess into the laps of the incoming Council," said Seel. Seel has run twice against Tom Rose, narrowly losing out to him last time.

After a contentious hour long defense of his manager tenure, Kirby told the council, "you have the votes, we know. Vote as you will, but you haven't fooled the people of East Providence," Kirby said to a standing ovation from the audience at the hearing. And then the council proceeded to fire Kirby, 3-2 as expected.

City Budget Level Funds Schools:
Acting City Manager Tim Chapman has put together a budget for next year which increases monies for police, fire and other departments but refuses the request for an increase by the school department. The 2016-2017 budget year would spend $174 million, up from approximately $172.5 million last year. Chapman's budget would call for an overall 2.8% increase. The draft budget anticipates a $3 million surplus. "The city is in a stronger financial position than recently and we have improved operations," Chapman told the council. Chapman's budget would call for a "marginal" tax increase of .05%.

The police department would receive an increase of $1.1 million while the fire department would see over $500,000. The school department allotment of $44,003,809 would be level funded, showing no increase to city education from the last fiscal year. "This is a fair budget," said Superintendent Kathryn Crowley. "We are hoping to continue with infrastructure improvements to facilities and technology. Modest increases are also intended to bring our teachers out of the bottom of the salary rankings they have been in for so long."

EP Bridge Work Doing Well:
In September 2016, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation installed two highway bridge structures spanning Warren Avenue in East Providence. These were done on two separate long weekends – one for each bridge resulting in 80-hour closures. The first is began on Friday, September 9th and was done by Tuesday, September 13th. The second followed on September 23rd-27th. RIDOT spokesman Charles St. Martin said that the entire project was completed in a little more than 3 days, rather than the usual one year of road delays.

The bridges are the East Shore Expressway Bridge that carries the East Shore Expressway southbound from I-195 East over Route 6 toward the East Bay, and the McCormick Quarry Bridge that carries the East Shore Expressway northbound over Route 6 from the East Bay to I-195 West. These bridge installations affect traffic with road closures on both Warren Avenue and the East Shore Expressway.

RIDOT explored accelerated bridge construction methods to replace these bridges and they are working to minimize impacts to the motoring public during these closures. "By performing these bridge installations with full road closures over the two long weekend periods, RIDOT will be able to complete the bridge replacements one year earlier as compared to conventional construction methods,"- RIDOT.

The East Shore Expressway Bridge, which carries traffic from I-195 East to Route 114 South, carries 20,600 vehicles per day. The McCormick Quarry Bridge services 17,000 vehicles per day making the return trip from Route 114 North to I-195 West.

These two bridges, originally built back in 1959, were replaced through a $16.7 million project with a $663,000 budget contingency. The project is on budget and on schedule, and expected to reach final completion in June 2017.

Specific information about the detours and closures can be found at: www.dot.ri.gov/detourmaps or by visiting the City of East Providence’s website, www.eastprovidence.com. Please contact RIDOT with further questions at 401-222-2450 or customerservice@dot.ri.gov. All work is weather-dependent and subject to change.

Code-RED Emergency Notification System
New to East Providence, the City has recently updated its account with Emergency Communications Network, providers of the CodeRED high-speed notification solution and the CodeRED Weather Warning service. This no-charge update will allow message recipients to easily identify calls coming through the systems. Message recipient’s Caller ID will read Emergency Communications Network or 866-419-5000 for CodeRED calls. And for CodeRED Weather Warning calls, either Emergency Communications Network or the number 800-566-9780 will appear on Caller ID displays.

Wayne Barnes, East Providence’s EMA Director said that “The CodeRED system ensures that our residents will receive updated and current information related to weather warnings and emergency situations in our community, in a simple and effective manner.”

The CodeRED system provides East Providence officials the ability to quickly deliver messages to targeted areas or the entire city. If you are not sure that you are included in the database, simply log onto the City of East Providence’s website, www.eastprovidenceri.net, and follow the link to the "CodeRED Community Notification Enrollment" page. It is recommended that all businesses register, as well as all individuals who have unlisted phone numbers, who have changed their phone number or address within the past year, and those who use a cellular phone or VoIP phone as their primary number. Those without Internet access may call East Providence's Customer Service Center (4014-435-7500), Monday through Friday, (8AM-4PM) to supply their information over the phone.

CodeRED Weather Warning is an opt-in only weather warning product that taps into the National Weather Service’s Storm Based Warnings. CodeRED Weather Warning automatically alerts affected citizens in the path of severe weather just moments after a warning has been issued.

Jones Pond Volunteer Day
On Sat. Oct.15 from 9:00am to 2:00pm, 10 volunteers are sought to help in the beautification project of Jones Pond. Work gloves, gardening tools, water, and lunch will be provided. If interested contact Patrick Hanner of the City's Planning Dept. at phanner@cityofeastprov.com or call 435-7500 ext. 11152.