Last week, the Town Council finalized the 2023 budget for presentation at the Financial Town Meeting on May 2. Town Manager Maryanne Crawford summarized the changes, explaining that an additional $25,000 would be going to the Block Island Volunteer Fire Department, by shifting $5,000 from the Medical Center and $20,000 from the GIS and Technology […]
“I’m going to hold firm that we should not be paying for them,” Town Manager Maryanne Crawford told the Town Council at its April 13 meeting.First Warden André Boudreau had asked Crawford if she had an update on the situation with the R.I. State Police. It has been suggested by the state police that the
The old adage “the third time’s a charm,” held true this past week for National Grid in its latest attempt to splice the electronic transmission cable that runs from Block Island to the mainland. National Grid was foiled in its first attempt last spring when the conduit that holds the cable became clogged with “debris”
A group of 15 students, one teacher and an additional chaperone from the Block Island School spent six days in Washington, DC from March 20 to 25, meeting with members of Congress and talking about key issues the United States faces today. In Washington, the group successfully completed the demanding “Close Up Washington” student program.
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Pysanky eggs are a Ukrainian springtime tradition dating back centuries that utilizes a wax resist technique akin to batik. This year with the war in Ukraine, the tradition is gaining in popularity all over the world. The eggs pictured here were brought to the island by Marlena Paulson of South Kingstown for the workshop she
The April 4 meeting of the New Shoreham Town Council began, as meetings so often do, with public comment. Alicia Martin of the ad-hoc group Block Island Affordable and Attainable Housing spoke to the council about the ongoing shortage of quality affordable housing on the island and the need to fund housing development. Martin suggested
As the Town Council sharpens up its pencils and works to crunch the numbers in the budget for fiscal year 2023, it is increasingly running up against a hard truth. “We are in a zero-sum situation,” Council Member Keith Stover told the group on April 6 at the public hearing on the budget. “In order
New Shoreham is looking into the possibility of creating a new tax structure, based on classifications of different land use types. The goal of creating this tax structure, per the accompanying documents on the town’s website, is to “Modernize New Shoreham’s property tax system to deliver fair and equitable distribution of the relative costs of
The Town Council has been holding hearings on the proposed budget in preparation for the final budget vote at the Financial Town Meeting in May. One department’s budget created more discussion than any other in the meetings on March 28 and 30. The police department saw an increase in its recommended budget of $160,317 over
As the Town Council continues poring over the proposed budget, one new cost the town is potentially facing is a charge for state police coverage. Traditionally, the Rhode Island State Police have sent troopers to the island to augment the local police force during the busy summer months. Town Manager Maryanne Crawford explained to the