Town Manager Report for the week ending April 25, 2025
On Monday the Town’s RI 250 Commission which consists of several Directors met to discuss various ideas to celebrate the upcoming anniversary of our country. We plan to begin our year long celebration in Coventry with some interactive exhibits at our Summer Festival on June 21 from 400-930 at the Coventry High School.
As part of the RI250 celebration we discussed with the Council at Tuesday’s meeting the idea of creating a monument park in front of Town Hall and relocating our WWI, WWII, and other monuments including ones dedicated to our fire districts that are scattered throughout Town. We are looking to have it professionally designed and will seek grant funds for the transportation of the monuments and the construction of new pathways, an outdoor programming space for the library, and possibly some other features like new trees, shrubs, and bushes.
On Wednesday we had our monthly meeting with the Auditor General, the Chief of Municipal Finance, and our auditors to review the status of our FY 24 audit. We also discussed formalizing a 5-year deficit reduction plan per state law to be approved by the School Committee, Town Council, and the state.
On Wednesday night we had a great meeting at the Senior Resource Center with residents around Tiogue Lake and Briarpoint to discuss all of the upcoming projects going on there along with the plan to staff the beach during the upcoming season on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. We had a presentation from Fuss and O’Neill regarding an upcoming stormwater collection pilot project to prevent bacteria from entering the Lake via stormwater and discussed that the parking lot will be repaved and striped. For those wanting to patronize Briarpoint Beach we are establishing a beach pass system for residents and non-residents to park at the beach. You will have a sticker affixed to your vehicle and their will be an attendant at the gate verifying. All beach passes must be purchased at Parks and Recreation and none will be sold at the beach. For more information contact the Parks and Recreation department.
On Tuesday April 29 at 600 we will have our 1st public hearing on the FY 26 budget. Please come in person or participate via Zoom to ask any question regarding the budget, the deficit reduction plan, the capital budget, or any other concerns.