EAST PROVIDENCE — The City Council, at its dual-purpose gathering Tuesday night, Aug. 29, gave the second of two necessary passages to a series of ordinances allocating the bulk East Providence's remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds mostly towards a host of infrastructure initiatives.

The night was used for regular Council business as well as a workshop on the draft Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget recently submitted by Mayor Bob DaSilva for its consideration.

Commonly referred to by the acronym "ARPA," the Council took the step despite the strong protestations of DaSilva and other concerns expressed by Melissa Spurr, the administration's ARPA Project Manager.

The Council gave final approval to the appropriation of $10.2 million of the $14 million left in the city's coffers, which are derived from one of President Joe Biden's signature pieces of legislation implemented to assist states and municipalities to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Later in the evening, the body added $2.5 million in ARPA monies to its list when it gave first approval to earmark that amount towards improvements to the East Providence Police Department headquarters on Waterman Avenue. In doing so, it raised the total of allocations to $12.7 million.

DaSilva had eyes on the same $14 million trove for his vision of a Recreation Center, long a project supported by residents, but cast aside by appointed and elected officials alike.

Initially presenting a plan in late 2022 that would have cost upwards of $45 million, the mayor claimed multiple times last week the latest projections from the owner's project manager and architects estimated the cost of his significantly down-sized proposal to be around $14 million.

DaSilva said the new vision would include a competition-level pool, a gymnasium, offices and rooms for other activities like meetings and instruction. The mayor has not as of yet provided the Council, or the public, with any updated schematics or hard figures.

Regardless, DaSilva said he was attempting to construct something "transformational" for residents to use for decades to come, noting the city has received commitments of some $6.3 million for the Rec Center from Congress and the mayor's close ally Gov. Dan McKee.

He compared his proposed Rec Center to the Pierce Stadium Complex, which was built in the 1930's under President Franklin Roosevelt's Works Projects Administration initiative, then a response a response to The Great Depression.

And as he's done recently when the topic has been broached at Council forums, DaSilva railed against the body's stated opposition to his concept as has been formally presented.

Last Tuesday, he accused the body of trying to "kill" and "derail" the Rec Center, upon which he has pinned his second-term agenda.

Because second passage of ordinances requires a public hearing where anyone present can speak, the mayor repeatedly took the podium to voice his opposition to the Council's actions while claiming to support the very projects in theory.

DaSilva charged the Council with "handcuffing" his administration by "locking up" the ARPA monies, saying it potentially could decrease the city's flexibility and possibly prevent it from being able to seek other sources of public funding, both state and federal, in the future.

The mayor also cautioned it was likely his administration would be unable to complete all of the initiatives the Council backed, saying any unspent money would have to be returned to Federal Government.

Unmoved, the Council passed each of the 11 ARPA related ordinances.

The list, from highest to lowest sum, is as follows:

• Appropriating up to $5,000,000 for needed improvements to the infrastructure of sewers and drains citywide.
• Appropriating up to $1,000,000 for funding of the Crescent Park Concession Project and Event Tent Project.
• Appropriating up to $1,000,000 for the former Oldham School building on Bullocks Point Avenue.
• Appropriating up to $550,000 for placemaking throughout the city.
• Appropriating up to $550,000 to replace the walking track at Pierce Field football stadium.
• Appropriating up to $500,000 for adaptive playground equipment for the city’s special needs population.
• Appropriating up to $450,000 to update road (ground surface) landscape and public access to the boat ramps, lighting and parking for trailers at Bold Point Park and John Lewis Waterfront Park.
• Appropriating up to $450,000 for improvements to Townie Pride Park.
• Appropriating up to $400,000 to the planning department for the storefront improvement program.
• Appropriating up to $200,000 for a splash pad in Riverside.
• Appropriating up to $50,000 for a citywide utility box art project.
• Appropriating up to $50,000 for a citywide utility box art project.

Though he supported most of the items, At-Large member and Council President Bob Rodericks reiterated the dollar amounts included in the ordinances came with the caveat "up to," adding, "I'm hoping we won't have to use the entire amount...But now vendors know what we want to pay and they may come in at the top (high bid)."

In response to the mayor's repeated interjections Ward 1 Councilor Frank Rego said he and his colleagues support building a Rec Center, but, as his Ward 4 colleague Rick Lawson has suggested it be something more akin to the $5 million vision approved by residents some 20 years ago, he wanted the administration to present a proposal with a definitive scope and cost structure.

Lawson, for his part, kept relatively quiet in the face of DaSilva's repeated derision of the body, save for calling the Rec Center "his"...the mayor's...project, to which the latter took umbrage. Ward 2 Councilor Anna Sousa joined her colleagues in becoming frustrated at times with the mayor's choice of words, making a "point of order" to keep DaSilva's comments from straying off topic.

And Ward 3 Councilor Frank Fogarty, like he did at first passage, referenced the ARPA deadlines for allocation and completion, December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2026, respectively. He said there are able contractors and engineers in the city who could assist in the process, adding some of the monies allocated could be used to make the necessary hires to hasten the projects towards fruition.