Nature Page 25
BORN FREE
THURSDAY, July 21, 2011
Vol. 39, No. 29
Council Poised to Vote on Fire Contract
What’s Inside
By Tom Shevlin
MAINSHEET ON Page 13
Table of Contents CALENDAR 14 CLASSIFIEDS 26 COMMUNITY BRIEFS 4-5 CROSSWORD 22 EDITORIAL 6 MAINSHEET 13 NATURE 25 POLICE LOG 5 REALTY TRANSACTIONS 7 RECENT DEATHS 25 RESTAURANTS 15-19 SPORTS 20-21 www.Newport-Now.com Twitter.com/newportnow Facebook.com/newportnow
Summer’s Bounty Locally grown fruits, vegetables and flowers were on display under sunny skies July 20 at the Aquidneck Growers’ Wednesday Farmers’ Market, which is held weekly under shade trees on Memorial Boulevard at Chapel St. In addition to the freshest produce, vendors at the market also sell baked goods, honeys and jams, and much more. Hours for the market are 2 to 6 p.m. weekly through October. A second weekly market is held Saturdays behind Newport Vineyards & Winery, 909 East Main Rd., Middletown, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Photo by Rob Thorn)
Island’s Watershed Council Takes Aim at Runoff Part 2 of a 2-part series By Jill Connors Many projects and strategies are underway to protect Aquidneck Island’s watershed areas this summer—in large part thanks to grass roots efforts begun by concerned citizens several years ago. Make that concerned citizens who are passionate about the water—be it the quality of the ocean water for surfing, swimming, or fishing, or the clarity of the drinking water. Clean Ocean Access (COA) is one such group whose actions are vital to protecting the health of Aquidneck Island’s water environment. When Dave McLaughlin, the group’s leader, presents a report to Newport City Council on July 27 on the condition of the water, he will be speaking from a firsthand vantage point. His group, made up of local surfers, has been testing the water for several years. The group formed in the summer of 2006 to figure out why some surfers were getting sick after being in the water. “We were finding that water quality got worse in the off-season based on what we were seeing when we were surfing, but there was no data because the state only tests the water during the summer,” McLaughlin, a native Newporter and lifelong surfer, explained. In the past five years, COA has conducted 40 beach cleanups (once a month from September to May), and has developed a water sampling program—approved by the Dept. of Health and funded by the City of Newport—where volunteers take water samples at nine Aquidneck Island coastal locations yearround, and transport the samples with proper chain of custody to a state-approved lab in Providence. “We want people to enjoy the water—and to do so, it’s got to be accessible, the coastline
Craig Knowles, a volunteer with Clean Ocean Access (COA), takes a water sample at Marine Beach in Newport. COA volunteers test nine different locations on Aquidneck Island every Thursday morning, year-round; samples are evaluated by the Dept. of Health in Providence. (Photo by Rob Thorn) needs to be clean, and the water needs to be clear,” said McLaughlin. For the Aquidneck Island Watershed Council, another grassroots organization, it all starts with data, as well. “We started doing baseline testing of the watershed areas on the Island more than three years ago,” said Jim Marshall, an executive director of the Council. The group has worked with Salve Regina University to raise awareness of watershed issues by organizing an annual Watershed Conference for the past two years, held in the autumn.
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“It isn’t just Bailey’s Brook and other wellknown rivers that need protecting,” said Marshall. “There are lots of named and unnamed waterways that are affected by what we do along the banks.” Marshall’s group advocates a 400-foot buffer around watershed areas—those parts of Aquidneck Island where rainwater and snowmelt drain—and a canopy of foliage to act as a filter for storm-water runoff. “Homeowners
NEWPORT, R.I. – The negotiating team for the city has reached what they believe is a potential resolution with Newport’s firefighter’s union, signaling the potential end to a protracted, and at times heated, contract dispute. The contract, which is scheduled to be voted on by City Council members next Wednesday, July 27, would resolve the fire contract for the years from 2007 through 2014. According to the city’s finance department, while taxpayers shouldn’t expect any immediate savings upfront, the contract could provide significant relief down the road. Central to the agreement is a tradeoff between retroactive and scheduled pay raises for active fire-
See CONTRACT on page 7
St. Clare Home Petition Pushed Back NEWPORT, R.I. – The first item on the docket for Monday’s Planning Board meeting was perhaps also the most controversial. But with more time needed by the applicant to review a memo drafted by city staff that raised several concerns related to a request by the St. Clare Home for a zoning amendment that would allow for the expansion of its Spring Street facility, Planning Board members voted unanimously to continue the matter to their regularly scheduled August meeting. Saying that it was not his client’s intent to create a “spillover” effect that could negatively impact other areas of the city, attorney Robert Silva asked that the board consider moving the hearing for the proposed amendment to a later date. “There’s more to be done here,” Silva said. Earlier this month, the St. Clare Home had appealed to the City Council to amend the city’s zoning ordinance to allow the expansion of convalescent homes built prior to 1977 by right, and to allow for the operation of assisted living facilities – something until this point had been omitted from the city’s governing zoning ordinances. Following proper procedure, City
See PETITION on page 7
See WATERSHED on page 11
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