The New Shoreham Town Council met in a hastily called session to discuss traffic, bicycle, and pedestrian safety, and the impact on emergency services.
Though Councilor Mark Emmanuelle suggested the agenda item for the June 24 meeting had been “cleverly worded” to leave the word “moped” out of it, the conversation predictably centered around mopeds.
Councilor Keith Stover acknowledged mopeds as “the stone in everyone’s shoe,” but indicated they were not the only problem. He also said he thought the pervasive feeling about town was that “this isn’t the town we want when we look down Water Street. It’s kinda gone haywire.”Stover also called the mopeds a “serious issue,” saying: “you don’t get this much traction and noise and organization when there isn’t a real problem.” But Stover continued, saying: “Mopeds are a symbol of a growing feeling in the community that things seem to be getting worse, the problems seem to be growing,” reiterating, “it’s not just related to mopeds.”Town Manager Maryanne Crawford mentioned the “mentality here that anything goes,” citing people walking around with open containers as an example beyond mopeds.Mentioning that people don’t walk around Providence or Narragansett with open containers, Crawford said, “why they’re
