April 2021

Last week the Block Island community was surprised at the announcement that a $4.5 million expenditure was being added to the warrant for the annual Financial Town Meeting at the last minute. The announcement came at the April 21 Council meeting where, after emerging from a closed session with the Block Island Land Trust, the […]

For the Block Island Historic District Commission, the phrase “sweating the details” is gospel, and this week’s meeting proved no different.The commissioners got underway on Monday, punctually, with a warm and genuine welcome to newly appointed commissioner Bill Koch. Koch was recognized as a great addition by Chair William Penn, “forhis work on historic buildings,

The next property the Block Island Housing Board is seeking to develop affordable housing on is donated land that sits on the edge of the cemetery across the street from Ball O’Brien Park. The lot (Plat 18 Lot 2-3) is currently in the Residential A Zone, but the Housing Board would like that designation changed.On

Whenever the Rhode Island Blood Center holds a community-sponsored blood drive, they would love to be able to say, “If you build it, they will come.” But the truth is, behind every successful blood drive is a great volunteer coordinator. Peter Greenman, a long-time resident of Block Island, is everything one could ask for in

Quite a few items were discussed at the Town Council meeting on April 21, 2021. This was to be expected, as they had released an 18-point agenda earlier in the week. Besides the discussion and votes pertaining to the proposed acquisition of a portion of the Overlook property, a few other tweaks were made to

Out of the blue one Saturday morning The Block Island Times received an email with a picture of Block Island emerging out of the fog. It had a short and simple message:“Hi, here’s one taken from Global Symphony the other week.” Regards, Colin Cowie.Readers will recall the fascination with the Global Symphony, the 426-foot ship

Significant changes proposed in the Historic District were on tap for discussion this week.The Historic District Commission met at noon Tuesday for a Zoom meeting to review updated proposals from The Block Island Beach House and The Manisses Hotel.In a meeting that lasted over 90 minutes,the commissioners wrestled with new signage being proposed by the

The Block Island School Committee met on April 12, and the meeting began in a typically mundane fashion: call to order, approval of the minutes from the March 15 meetingand a statement of accounts. As it is nearing the end of the academic year, the school is able to accurately project what amount of fund

The Block Island girls’ high school volleyball team finds itself in ‘waiting mode’ as the final matches of the season windup and the playoffs begin to take shape. And based on how they cover the floor, this is not a team that is used to waiting for anything.Currently the Hurricanes find themselves in third place

The Town of New Shoreham proposes to increase its property tax levy to $11,330,036 in the 2021-2022 budget year; the property tax levy this year is $10,697,375. The FY2021 and FY 2022 tax levies have excluded motor vehicle excise tax for the purpose of determining tax levy growth pursuant to current law. THIS IS A