Town Manager Report for the week ending August 22, 2025
On Monday we had a Town wide Emergency Management Agency meeting with department heads, the police department, and the fire districts regarding the possible impacts of Hurricane Erin as it made its way up the east coast; luckily it went out to sea but the preparation, coordination, and communication are in place for any future weather events. There also is a scheduled statewide training that Coventry is hosting in September in conjunction with RIEMA to coordinate federal emergency response and documentation for FEMA for and declared disaster events.
The Planning Department is interested in your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions regarding housing affordability and availability in town. Planning staff will use the results of this survey for their own internal review. All survey responses are anonymous. To take the survey, please visit the following link: https://forms.gle/R5hg6SvgmVknw5Ja9. There are also paper copies available in the Planning office. All respondents will have the opportunity to enter an optional prize drawing to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Please follow the instructions on the Google Form to enter. For more information, please contact Dennis Haggerty, Housing Planner, at 401-320-8909 or dhaggerty@coventryri.gov. Expected completion time is 15 minutes.
On August 18, 2025 our Special Election was certified by the Board of Canvassers and our 2 new Councilpersons: District 3 Richard Houle and District 5 Robert DeLellis were officially sworn in by the Town Clerk on Wednesday. They will be ceremonially sworn in for their friends and family at the beginning of the August 26 Council meeting.
On Wednesday we had our monthly meeting with the Auditor General and advised him of the tremendous progress we have made in getting our FY 24 audit issued, closing out FY 25, and completing our School Bond process. We are finalizing our deficit reduction and 5-year plan for his review next month.
This week we met with our engineering contractor Fuss and O’Neill to plan out the oversight portion of the Coventry High School sewer project which should be underway by the end of the month. We will be coordinating with the contractor Brito Construction, RIDOT, and the Coventry Police to give notice on road closures, detours, and limited access points as we begin this project. There will be additional traffic through Wood Estates as it will be utilized as a detour route periodically throughout the next 9-months.
This week’s free summer concert series welcomes To Be Continued from 600-730pm on August 22 at the Town Hall Annex, bring your lawn chair and dancing shoes.