Community Notices | Town of North Providence, Rhode Island

New North Providence School Buildings are On-time and On-Budget

April 29, 2019

Walls painted. Ceiling completed. Architectural light fixture installed.This is a small room located just off of the Literacy Innovation Center that is completely open to the floor above. It is a nice and quiet space to have separate/smaller reading sessions.

The central stair space as well as the viewing birdhouses have been framed and sheathed. Ready for paint.
These are little huts where students can stand inside and see down to the first floor. This is intended to inspire a sense of community.

Masonry completed. Stairs have been poured. Window frames and glass install ongoing.
This is one of the elevations that many people will see as they approach the building. The playgrounds are being built along this side of the building as well.

Glass for the gym has been installed. Masonry completed at all building walls. Deck prepared for waterproofing.
This is the main entrance of the building and faces a parking area. The majority of visitors will be seeing this façade as they enter the building.

Masonry complete. Site grading ongoing as we prep for binder pavement. Majority of windows have been installed with install of the operable windows ongoing.
This is the main entrance to the school and a highly visible elevation. The windows to the Left of the main entrance (when facing the building) have bright red and yellow frames.

Stair Structure installed. Drywall and taping are nearing completion. Ceiling Grid has been installed. Above ceiling utilities ongoing.
This set of stairs is directly across from the reception area and one of the first spaces most people will encounter upon entering the building.

Millwork being installed. Ceiling grid complete. Light fixtures installed. Walls painted. Frames and glass installed.
The Davinci Room is a space meant to inspire creativity more than anywhere else. This is where the majority of physical projects will be created and stored.

Applying the base coat of paint. Light fixtures have been installed and roof drainage has been connected.
Designed with acoustics in mind. The row of windows just below the roof line allow access to an abundance of natural light.

North Providence Police launch online crime reporting and mapping

March 1, 2019

New in NP: Easy online crime reporting, mapping

By ETHAN SHOREY, Valley Breeze Managing Editor

NORTH PROVIDENCE – The North Providence Police Department is preparing to introduce an online reporting system to the town, and has already launched an online crime mapping system. Both initiatives are part of an effort to embrace technology to “provide better service to our community,” said Deputy Chief Arthur Martins.

Read the full story in The Valley Breeze:

http://www.valleybreeze.com/2019-02-26/north-providence/new-np-easy-online-crime-reporting-mapping#.XHljk8BKhhE

Washington Trust Company Opens New Branch in North Providence

January 28, 2019

The Washington Trust Company recently opened its newest branch at 1588 Mineral Spring Ave. Mayor Charles Lombardi was on hand for the opening ceremonies to cut the ribbon.

“We thank Washington Trust for choosing North Providence” ~ Mayor Charles Lombardi

See the article in The Valley Breeze: Washington Trust opens branch in NP

Town highway workers save big money, turn three used box trucks into plows

January 23, 2019

Town highway workers save big money, turn three used box trucks into plows

By ETHAN SHOREY, Valley Breeze Managing Editor

NORTH PROVIDENCE – When Jimmy Grimes, head of the North Providence Repair Division, approached Mayor Charles Lombardi to say that the department needed some new plow trucks, Lombardi said no.

“Build them yourselves,” Grimes recalls the mayor telling him.

Read the full story in The Valley Breeze

Before

After

Mayor Lombardi Receives EPA Childrens Health Award

September 14, 2018

City of North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi

Water utilities have reduced lead exposure by installing corrosion control treatments. In recent years, public health and regulatory agencies have focused on replacing lead service lines to reduce lead exposure in drinking water which, in children, can result in neurological and developmental damage. This means addressing complex issues that require the involvement of the community and significant cost. Most lead service lines are owned partially by the water utility and partially by property owners.

North Providence, with mostly moderate to low income families, has more than 500 lead service lines. Under the leadership of Mayor Charles Lombardi, the city has leveraged federal HUD funding through the state Office of Housing and Community Development. These funds, which municipalities typically invest in low income neighborhoods, in North Providence were used creatively to get $270,000 to replace privately-owned lead service lines. The city will replace the publicly-owned lead service line for every private line replaced. North Providence knocked on doors to get residents to participate. This led to replacing about 40 lead service lines. Then the city held public forums and now plans to replace about 100 lines in 2018. Under Lombardi’s vision, a creative solution was found and important public health changes made. Challenged by daunting numbers of lead pipes, North Providence is an inspiration to other communities wanting to eliminate lead pipes and protect their children.

Original Article Located on the Environmental Protection Agencies Website

Video of the ceremony on YouTube

Community Development Block Grant Program – Notice Of Intent To Request Release Of Funds

September 10, 2018

NOTICE OF INTENT TO REQUEST RELEASE OF FUNDS
September 28, 2018
Town of North Providence
2000 Smith Street, North Providence, RI 02911

On or about October 9, 2018, the Town of North Providence will submit a request to the Rhode Island Community Development Block Grant Program operated by RI Office of Housing & Community Development for release of Community Development Block Grant program funds under Section 105(a) of the Housing & Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, to undertake the Fogarty Center’s Employment First Program with the Rewiring Element. The Employment First Program’s Rewiring Element will upgrade existing electrical wiring to enable a computer training area for the Employment First Program, at the Fogarty Center 220 Woonasquatucket Ave. Estimated funding for the Employment First Program project is $100,000.00, which includes $20,000.00 for the Technical Services component, which includes the rewiring element.

Rewiring Element of the Fogarty Center’s Employment First Project (.pdf)

NOTICE OF INTENT TO REQUEST RELEASE OF FUNDS

September 7, 2018
Town of North Providence
2000 Smith Street, North Providence, RI 02911

Tri-County Community+Health Center at 33 Maple Full Document (.pdf)

On or about September 18, 2018, the Town of North Providence will submit a request to the Rhode Island Community Development Block Grant Program operated by RI Office of Housing & Community Development for release of Community Development Block Grant program funds under Section 105(a) of the Housing & Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, to undertake the St. Mary’s Home for Children Energy & Resiliency Project (E&R Project). E&R Project will replace critical elements of existing substandard heating and cooling system for the year-round special education school and one residential facility in the 3-level George N. Hunt Campus School and Mauran House (CS/Mauran House), 440 Fruit Hill Ave. This is the first critical step in St. Mary’s long-term strategy to decrease energy costs, use renewables & become resilient. Estimated funding for the E&R project is $283,796.

George N. Hunt Campus School and Mauran House (CS/Mauran House),
440 Fruit Hill Ave. Full Document (.pdf)

New Recycling Service: Free Curbside Collection of Used Textiles and Small Household Items

August 24, 2018

New Recycling Service: Free Curbside Collection of Used Textiles and Small Household Items

Starting on September 10th, the Town of North Providence will begin offering a convenient new recycling service for residents: Curbside collection of used textiles and small household items. The service will be provided by Simple Recycling (www.simplerecycling.com) and will be free to the town and free to residents.

How It Works

In the weeks before the program launches, Simple Recycling will send informational mailers to residents who receive recycling collection from the Town of North Providence. The mailers will contain free Simple Recycling bags. When cleaning out closets or disposing of unwanted clothes and small household items, residents can place them in the bags. Residents can then place the bags at the curb or alley near their recycling container on their normal recycling collection day. Simple Recycling’s trucks will pick them up, free of charge.

When Simple Recycling collects bags from a residence, the collection worker will leave replacement bags at the curb. If a resident has a lot of material to get rid of, and doesn’t have enough bags, then that’s no problem. It’s OK to use regular trash bags that are clearly marked for Simple Recycling. Residents can also contact Simple Recycling for more bags here.

Benefits for the Environment

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), more than 84% of old clothes, shoes, belts, handbags, and textile items end up in a landfill or an incinerator?¹ In fact, the average person in America throws away more than 85 lbs. of textile items each year.² Textiles make up more than 6% of all the residential and municipal trash in the US.³

Clothing and textiles require a lot of resources to make, including water, fertilizer, and pesticides for growing natural fibers like cotton, as well as petroleum to make synthetic fibers. When we reuse and recycle textiles, it conserves the resources used to make them. In fact, collecting one ton of clothing conserves far more than a ton of the “embedded” resources.

The Simple Recycling service is designed to keep those items out of the trash, which is good for the environment.

Types of Items Accepted

Simple Recycling will collect a wide range of used textiles and small household items. The list of accepted items includes:

Used or New Clothing (men’s, women’s, children’s)
Boots & Shoes
Bedding (sheets, pillow cases, blankets, comforters)
Belts & Ties
Books
Bras
Coats & Jackets
Fashion Accessories
Handbags & Purses
Hats & Gloves
Kitchenware
Linens
Pillows
Sandals & Slippers (in pairs)
Socks (single or in pairs)
Stuffed Animals
Table Linens
Tools
Towels
Toys
Undergarments

For More Information

For more information about the Simple Recycling program, residents can call our Recycling Coordinator, Robert Nascimento at 401-719-1610 or visit our website https://northprovidenceri.gov/public-works/recycling-refuse/

RIDOT “Hands Free Law” goes into Effect on June 1, 2018

May 1, 2018

Med Return Drop Box

April 19, 2018

An Open Letter to the People of North Providence

November 13, 2017

November 10, 2017

I write to apprise the taxpayers, residents and all stakeholders in our community of North Providence of the status of pending arbitration with the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 13 (“FOP”) to construct a responsible and balanced labor contract.

As some of you may know, the Town and FOP are operating under the terms of a labor contract that expired June 30, 2016. Long before that expiration date, the Town and FOP began negotiations on February 24, 2016. Less than a month after negotiations began, on March 22, 2016 to be precise, the FOP jumped the gun and filed for what is known as interest arbitration, a process by which a 3-member panel of arbitrators will decide and establish the terms of a labor contract to commence July 1, 2016 and end June 30, 2017. Simply stated, before substantive discussions on the respective Town and FOP proposals for that contract took place, the FOP opted for the expensive and time-consuming interest arbitration process. Notwithstanding that premature tactic, the Town demonstrated its good faith and continued to negotiate with the FOP for at least 5 more sessions through late January of this year.

Regrettably there is impasse, as the FOP refuses to concede rights that the Town previously won in Superior Court litigation. For example, as far back as October of 2010, following the ruling in that litigation, the FOP also had agreed that the Deputy Chief, a key managerial position in the command staff would become non-union. The FOP also agreed back then to eliminate a provision in the labor contract impeding the Town’s right to modify its organizational chart. Disturbingly, in the face of the Town’s court victory, and the FOP’s 2010 specific agreement to concede rightful and critical management prerogatives to the Town, the FOP has now reneged on its promises.

And so, we are now mired in the expensive and protracted process of interest arbitration, which compels the Town to expend sizable amounts of money in legal fees, expert witness fees, arbitrator fees, stenographic fees and other costs of this contested evidentiary proceeding. We have had eight days of trial and there is no end in sight in this calendar year as further hearing dates are scheduled in November.

I present these facts to not only underscore the expense of this adversarial arbitration process, something the public surely has a right to know, but to let you know that I am committed to the principle of managing our police department in the best interests of the public, operationally and fiscally. That said, I am desirous to achieve a cost-effective and reasonable compromise with the FOP. For example, in an effort to reduce the number of contested issues in arbitration, at the urging of an officer in the FOP, I offered to increase the private detail rate of our police officers to $45 per hour, a rate that is more comparable to surrounding communities. In return, I simply asked that the FOP agree to what it had previously agreed to, i.e. exclusion of the Deputy Chief Position from the union and the ability of the Town to select the best qualified candidate for Deputy Chief, whether from within or outside the North Providence Police Department. This good faith offer on just these two issues pending in arbitration was rejected.

It seems plain to me that there is no genuine interest or appetite by the FOP leadership or its representative to forge labor peace and craft a meaningful compromise. As long as it persists in such an unreasonable posture, I will plod ahead with arbitration. I cannot and will not surrender management or non-delegable responsibilities and duties of the Town to the FOP. Hopefully sensible minds will eventually prevail.

Very truly yours,

Charles A. Lombardi
Mayor