Town Ends Year with Surplus!

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Town Administrator Paulette Hamilton is pleased to announce that The Town of North Smithfield will end the year with just under $650,000 surplus and the School Department will end with just under $850,000. This is a significant accomplishment and indicates a complete turnaround of Town finances. The Audit, performed by Bacon and Company, LLC. shows a very strong and financially stable outlook for the Town. " The Town Finance and Assessing departments have worked long hours to rectify previous problems and to set in place a number of checks and balances that ensure stability", stated Hamilton. " This positive Financial news is good for the entire community.

Having both the municipal and school finances in a very positive report is indicative of very capable finance and assessing departments who have not only adjusted all the issues that had been in the past, but instituted new policies and procedures that now reduce the Town's liability.

The Audit report will be presented by the Finance Director to the Town Council at the January 19th meeting. 

Breaking: Sam's Club to close its 3 Southern New England stores

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

All three Sam's Club store fronts in southern New England will close their doors come February; this according to a statement from corporate headquarters.
The three warehouse club stores are located in Warwick, Seekonk, and Fall River.
According to the press release the stores are closing due to a combination of factors including a waning membership base and declining sales.
The clubs closed temporarily Friday and will remain open Saturday until February 5 when they shutdown permanently.
Sam's Club is owned by the Walmart Corporation which is also shuttering 269 store worldwide as they review their fleet of stores.By NBC 10 NEWS

Pascoag Utility Rate Decrease in 2016

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Electric Rate Decrease for 2016!
Pascoag Utility District (PUD) is pleased to report that our pass-through rates (Standard Offer, Transmission and Transition) were decreased beginning January 1, 2016. On top of that reduction, Pascoag is also applying a credit of $0.00222/kWh to return a portion of our Purchase Power Restricted Fund, which had built up over time to a level great than PUD needs as an assurance against any potential power price spikes. This overall cost reduction is evidence of our strategy to purchase the most cost-effective power through long and medium-term power contracts, and to be very cautious in all spending activities for operations, maintenance, capital construction, and other business related costs. For an average residential customer, the decrease totals almost 12% in an overall bill reduction. Here’s to a happy, healthy, and cost-effective 2016!
Lowest rates in the Ocean State.

Foster Town Council Agenda Jan. 14, 2016

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Burrillville Upcoming Events

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Charter Review Commission

January 7, 2016 - 7:00pm

Personnel Board

January 12, 2016 - 8:30am

Town Council

January 13, 2016 - 7:00pm

Budget Board Regular Meeting

January 14, 2016 - 7:00pm

Redevelopment Agency Meeting

January 19, 2016 -

7:00pm to 8:30pm

StopTollsRI.com and Republican Policy Group to Hold Press Conference and Rally at RI State House on January 5th

Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Providence, RI- The StopTollsRI.com coalition will hold a joint press conference and rally with the Republican Policy Group (RPG) at the State House this Tuesday, January 5, 2016 at 3:00 p.m., in opposition to any and all toll proposals.

The question is not whether Rhode Island bridges need to be repaired but how to pay for it. Both groups are opposed to Raimondo’s flawed truck toll plan and ANY plan involving tolls, recognizing it as a grievous assault on RI’s businesses and residents. The Republican Policy Group has proposed a “pay-as-you-go” plan that provides more funding for construction and repair than the Governor’s plan does -  $875 million vs the Governor’s $620 million.

The RPG is not the only voice proposing “pay/go”. The Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, along with its introduction of a public/private partnership, proposes a “pay/go” plan as well.  StopTollsRI.com supports the “pay/go” plan as a better alternative to tolls, specifically because it will not hurt any particular industry, it will not increase the cost of every product purchased in the state and it provides more money for bridge repair.

Many businesses testified last year that RI would experience numerous job losses in the trucking industry if truck toll legislation passed.  In a move that is expected to repeat itself if tolls get closer to a reality, UPS announced last week that they were pulling 10 tractor trailer trucks, along with the associated jobs, out of RI and moving them to Massachusetts.
“The trucking industry told leadership that there would be job losses. This is just the first of many losses that are expected to occur if the Governor’s toll legislation passes,” said StopTollsRI spokesman Tony Viveiros. Mr. Viveiros continued, “When we fought against the Sakonnet Toll, it was the same situation. The General Assembly ignored the negative financial impact of tolls on the local and state economy. They are doing the same thing here. UPS is proving that STOP was right."

Monique Chartier, spokesperson for StopTollsRI.com, pointed out, “Outrage over tolling in this state is a non-partisan issue. It makes much more sense to prioritize RI’s nearly $9 billion budget. Our budget should reflect the most important spending and you don’t get much more important than safeguarding our bridges.” Chartier continued, “Our coalition is deeply concerned about the many flaws in the Governor’s toll plan but of equal concern is the lack of transparency. The Governor provided maps from 1882 last week in response to an APRA request for gantry locations. This highlights just how disingenuous this administration is about a public legislative process.”

StopTollsRI.com member Larry Fitzmorris emphasized, “This press conference is to let our elected officials know that voters understand how RI government works - it will be Truck Tolls Today, Cars Tomorrow."

StopTollsRI.com is a coalition of citizen groups opposing not just the Governor’s Truck-Toll plan, but ANY toll proposal. The public is also encouraged to take action to oppose tolls at www.StopTollsRI.com. Member Organizations: Concerned Island Citizens The Gaspee Project Little Compton Taxpayers North Kingstown Taxpayers Ocean State Taxpayers in Action (OSTPA) Portsmouth Concerned Citizens RI Taxpayers Sakonnet Toll Opposition Platform (STOP) Supporting Organizations: Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity WatchdogRI.org The Coalition Talk Radio DontToll.com

Groups line up to fight gas-fired power plant

Occupy Providence, residents, a nun are among those seeking intervenor status

By Alex Kuffner
Journal Staff Writer

Posted Jan. 3, 2016 at 11:00 PM

General image, not what is proposed.

WARWICK, R.I. — Among the parties seeking to play a formal role in state regulatory proceedings on a plan to build a massive natural gas-fired power plant in Burrillville are state energy officials, neighbors of the proposed facility, environmental groups, political activists and a nun.

Twelve motions to intervene in the approval process for the Clear River Energy Center were submitted by the deadline last month set by the state Energy Facility Siting Board. They range from the obvious — National Grid, the state Office of Energy Resources, the Conservation Law Foundation and the Town of Burrillville — to the less expected — Occupy Providence, the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats of America and Sister of Mercy Mary Pendergast, an environmental activist who opposes hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of natural gas.

“The Paris agreement is calling for an end to the fossil fuel era NOW!,” Pendergast’s motion reads, making reference to the recent international pact on climate change. “Yet the Burrillville plant will lock RI into fracked gas for the next 30 years.”

Her petition and those of the other parties will be ruled on by the three-member siting board at its first hearing on the controversial proposal on Jan. 12. The preliminary hearing kicks off a process that could take many months to play out as the board considers a plan from Chicago company Invenergy to build a $700-million facility that could be the largest power plant in New England that burns natural gas for fuel.

Intervenor status in the case is important because it will allow a person or group to introduce witnesses during the approval process and present evidence. In past cases before the siting board and in similar proceedings on energy projects before other state regulatory bodies, intervenors have typically been represented by attorneys.

Whether that will be a requirement in the Clear River case is up to the siting board whose members include the chair of the state Public Utilities Commission, the director of the state Department of Environmental Management and the associate director of the state Administration for Planning.

“The board has required in the past for parties to have a lawyer if they are going to participate,” said Todd Bianco, coordinator for the siting board. “Whether someone can represent themselves may be different.”

Invenergy has objected to the motions for intervention filed by Pendergast, Occupy Providence, Fossil Free Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats of America, Fighting Against Natural Gas and Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion, as well as Burrillville residents Paul and Mary Bolduc and Dennis and Kathryn Sherman.

The company has raised questions about whether they will have attorneys and has also argued that their interests would be adequately represented by others, including the Conservation Law Foundation, a regional environmental group with an office in Providence, and the Town of Burrillville. 

- Some of the would-be intervenors have been fighting against the proposed plant since it was first put on the table last summer. They include Fossil Free Rhode Island, Fighting Against Natural Gas and Pendergast, who have all protested against other proposals to expand the state’s reliance on fossil fuels, including plans to expand natural gas pipelines that pass through Burrillville.

The Conservation Law Foundation is also opposed to the Clear River plan, arguing that committing to another power plant that relies on fossil fuels will undermine the development of carbon-free sources of energy, such as wind farms and solar arrays.

Although state construction unions have come out in support for the plan, which Invenergy says will support 300 temporary jobs, they have not filed motions to intervene. Governor Raimondo also backs the plan, but her office is not seeking to intervene. The state’s interests in the case will be represented by the Office of Energy Resources.

Even if a party is not granted intervenor status, it does not mean it won’t be able to register opinions on the plan. The siting board is required to solicit public comment on the proposal. Bianco said that as many as three public comment hearings could be scheduled.

At the Jan. 12 hearing, along with ruling on the motions for intervention, the siting board will also lay out the issues that must be addressed in the approval process, determine what other permits the proposal must seek and consider what types of advisory opinions are needed from other state agencies before a decision can be made.

The hearing starts at 9:30 a.m. in the Public Utilities Commission's offices at 89 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick