The ‘nays’ had it at the last Town Council meeting on Wednesday, April 17, as several petitions were denied or continued for a wide range of reasons.

Resident shot down on two requests

Resident Paul Lapre requested the creation of two new ordinances; the first to restrict alterations to town property (specifically the town-owned strip of grass adjacent to many streets) by parties other than the adjacent homeowner. After some lengthy discussion in an effort to clarify the intent of the petition, which seemed to stem from frustration with a neighbor doing some off-the-books landscaping, Solicitor Mike Ursillo stepped in.

“I’ve had the privilege of sitting here since 1995, and this is the first time I'm hearing something like that. So it's obviously not a big problem throughout the town,” he said “Ordinances are meant to address problems for the citizenry of the town of Bristol that have risen to the point that there's a real problem…This, in my mind, hasn’t.”

Similarly, Ursillo shot down Lapre’s request to restrict the view field of security cameras to the owner’s own property, noting that the law of the land is that anything that can be seen from a viewpoint where you are legally permitted to be, is fair game.

Golf course forces Council to deviate from the routine

It seems there is liquor license business at nearly every Council meeting and the requests are almost formulaic — a restaurant requests a class B license, the Council grants it on a provisional basis, and the petitioner returns 6 months later with a record of good behavior and provisional status is removed.

That’s what happened early in the meeting when Fabio Lopes of the Sunset Cafe returned and was granted a full license.

But a petition from Robert McNeil of The Northeast Golf Company, operators of the Bristol Golf Park, threw a wrench in that process.

The kitchenless golf course cannot meet the requirements of a class B license, so requested a class C license which would allow the sale of alcohol without food. The Council was hesitant — “ridiculously hesitant,” were Chairman Nathan Calouro’s words.

“Without it, this is probably not a viable operation,” O’Neil asserted, making the point that short of building a kitchen on the golf course, they had no way to comply, while noting that they had already lost events because of their inability to serve alcohol directly on the course.

Town Administrator Steven Contente stepped in to encourage a compromise, and he will work with the Town Solicitor to lay down some guidelines that will give the Golf Park what they need without creating a precedent that will allow for an open season on class C licenses.

Marina insurance mandate takes next steps

The second reading of the ordinance requiring insurance for commercial fishing vessels on town dock space passed. Harbor Master Gregg Marsili reported that he has queried the 29 commercial fishermen who use town slips and received 12 replies; of those, 9 are insured and 3 are not.

The ordinance is likely to pass at the next meeting; uninsured vessels will have a 6-month window to obtain insurance, and the Harbor Master’s office has indicated that they are prepared to assist the fishing community to make meeting the requirement as painless as possible.

If Solomon were an arborist

Resident Anthony Merryman requested removal of a tree that is half on his property and half on Town property. The Town denied that request, but when Merryman pointed out that, as he understands it, he is within his rights to remove the half of the tree that is on his property (thereby killing the tree), Contente asked for a continuance so he could look closer at the property lines and confirm ownership of the tree.

Keeping Bristol clean

The annual town-wide clean up is scheduled for this Saturday, April 27, from 9 a.m. to noon.

Run by the Conservation Commission in conjunction with the DPW, the Commission asks volunteers to report to the DPW headquarters on Mt. Hope Ave., for coffee and donuts before 9 a.m. Volunteers will be assigned grippers, gloves, and a list of cleanup locations. They encourage people who cannot clean for the entire 3 hours to show up anyway, as every bit helps. There will be someone on hand to direct volunteers as late as 11 a.m.

Make the light choice

With the circuits that power the Town’s annual holiday light display at the end of their life, the Town will be replacing those lines from Church to Bradford streets using the leftover money that was budgeted for snow and ice removal this year.

With that switch, the Town will be moving to C7 replaceable LED bulbs. Two trees, both on State Street, have been lit with the two different kinds of bulbs under consideration, one in front of The Nest and the other in front of Hotpoint. They are lit nightly from 8 to 11 p.m. and the Town encourages anyone who would like to weigh in with their preference to go check them out and vote in the poll that is on the Town website at BristolRI.gov.

Citizen comments

Resident Peter Hewett stepped to the microphone to talk about the possible future de-accession of the Guiteras School, contending that the state is already in the process of looking for developers to turn the property into low-income housing. He opined that such a beautiful building should not be used for low-income housing and thinks the town should enact deed restrictions or other measures to present the state from having any authority over any plans to redevelop of the property.

He was met with silence, not because the Council won’t have something to say on this at a future date, but because procedurally, they are constrained from discussing anything that is not on the agenda. Council Chairman Calouro said that he would ask Ursillo to look into the matter.

In other news

RWU student Madeline Predaris requested temporary installation of sculptures on light poles at the Town Common, but was denied due to concerns from town officials that the 50-pound sculptures could damage the light poles. The Council suggested they were otherwise supportive of her efforts and encouraged her to look to private properties that might be willing to host the installation.      

A resolution in support of suicide prevention barriers on the Mount Hope Bridge passed 4 to 1, with Tony Teixeira abstaining after suggesting that suicidal individuals would find another way.

On June 3, the “Day of Portugal”, the Portuguese flag will be raised over Town Hall.

The Council had one final task associated with the already well-discussed and covered change to the ranking structure of the Police Department which will increase ranks (and salary, by about $75,000 annually) but also increase supervision on each shift and ultimately save on overtime costs. That change was officially authorized by a 5-0 vote and will go into effect on July 1.

Tony Teixeira announced that the Fourth of July Chief Marshal will be announced on Tuesday, April 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Burnside Building.