Town Manager Report for the week ending June 13, 2025
On June 10 our Annual Pride Flag Raising sponsored by Council President Hillary Lima and School Committee member Cody Reidl was cancelled due to inclement weather. The new date for the flag raising is Wednesday June 18 at 330pm in front of Town Hall.
On June 10 we had the first of our two monthly Council meetings in which we made several appointments for openings on several commissions, presented several accommodations, and had a very fruitful discussion on the sale of the Old Teen Center on Washington St. There is more to come on that.
On June 11 we met with our financial advisor and the team from RIHEBC who will be handling our $25m school bond process. The goal is to receive final approval from the board in July and have funding available to the school by mid-August. This is a very aggressive schedule for such a large endeavor but we should have all our necessary documents complete and vetted for the final meeting. The Coventry High School gymnasium project has already begun and they are making great strides along with some smaller projects within the school science labs.
On Thursday we had our monthly call with Governor’s Office which includes the RI League of Cities and Towns and access to all state departments. The big takeaway from the meeting is that with the World Cup coming to Foxboro next year R.I. looks to have over 500,000 visitors which will bring in approximately $300m to our local economy including hotels, restaurants, and other local tourism income. Current Commerce Secretary Liz Tanner is leaving her position on July 4 and taking on a new role as leading Ocean State 2026, a non-profit looking to maximize the economic opportunities of the World Cup.
On Thursday we also had our Municipal Fire Commission meeting in which we discussed what a combined pension would look like if a consolidation occurred and what would the base staffing be as we look to create a personnel budget.
Finally, the Governor will be here on Tuesday June 17 at 1100am for a ground breaking at the new Community Learning Center located in the rear of the Town Hall Annex. All of our Councilmembers will be in attendance along with staff and community members.