[Summit] Fw: Councillor Helen Anthony's Ward 2 Letter, October 21, 2021

Fri Oct 22 02:37:21 UTC 2021

   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: David Kolsky <davidjkolsky at yahoo.com>To: Wayland Sq. Prov. Io Group <waylandsquareprovidence at groups.io>; Summit List <summit at sna.providence.ri.us>Cc: Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2021, 01:43:59 PM EDTSubject: Fw: Councillor Helen Anthony's Ward 2 Letter, October 21, 2021

   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Helen Anthony <helen at helenanthony.com>To:Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2021, 12:17:26 PM EDTSubject: Providence Ward 2 Letter, October 21, 2021
   An update from City Councilor Helen Anthony  
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|  October 2021  |

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Dear Neighbors, 

The single most common subject that I receive emails about is infrastructure. Our roads, our sidewalks, our sewer system, our street signs -- every week I get at least one note from a Ward 2 neighbor requesting attention from the Providence Department of Public Works. I've worked hard to establish a relationship with that department, which has undergone numerous staffing cuts over the last few years. On November 3 I am holding a Ward 2 community meeting with staff from the DPW to discuss our recent sidewalk report and discuss your questions. Please RSVP and join us to learn more about our community's infrastructure and what lies ahead. 

Let's take care of one another. 

Helen
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COVID Updates

   - RI Department of Health
   - City of Providence
   - Healthy Brown; RISD COVID Information
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   - Free COVID Testing
   - Get your COVID-19 Vaccination Record
   - Vaccination Information
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Providence City Council Meetings

Next Meetings: October 21 at 5:30PM and November 4 at 5:30PM. Agendas and minutes are on the Providence Open Meetings Portal, and you can register to receive notice of any city committee or board meetings.
Also: Meetings of the Providence City Council Finance Committee 
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Special Election for District 3 Dates
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   - October 13 – November 1, 2021: Early in-person voting at City Hall for the general election
   - November 2, 2021: ELECTION DAY – Polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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11/3: Ward 2 & Department of Public Works
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|  Ward 2 Infrastructure Conversation
with Department of Public Works
Wednesday, November 3 at 5:30PM
On Zoom RSVP here

Join me for a Zoom conversation with the Providence Department of Public Works to discuss repair to our sidewalks, roads, and sewer system. We'll review how these repairs are prioritized, discuss upcoming plans and brainstorm strategies for bringing needed repairs to our neighborhood. Join us! RSVP here.

>> State of Sidewalks in Providence report here  |

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|  RSVP to Get the Zoom Link  |

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Noise from Leaf Blowers
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|  As we have discussed in previous Ward Letters, there is a lot of discussion in our neighborhoods about noise, and complaints about noise have increased during the pandemic as more people are working from home. One recurring issue is the use of leaf blowers by landscape crews in our city. 

With several of my council colleagues, I have pressed for revisions to the city ordinance governing leaf blowers.  The amendment adds Sec. 16-100.  Leaf Blowers:

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to use, at any time, a leaf blower within any residential zone that has an average sound level exceeding seventy (65) dBA measured at or within the real property boundary of a receiving land use or when the same is audible to a person of reasonably sensitive hearing at a distance of two hundred (200) feet from its source. (b) Leaf blowers shall not be operated within the city between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.

These changes have been scheduled for a public hearing, and I encourage anyone who wants to advocate for action to attend the hearing and sign up to speak. The meeting is posted on the open meetings portal (see link below), but the agenda is not available. If people want to testify they should come to City Council at 4:00 p.m. on October 27th and sign up to speak when they arrive.

Committee on Ordinances Public Hearing
10/27/2021 4:00 PM
City Council Chamber (3rd Floor)
Details on the meeting here  |

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About the Committee on Ordinances
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|  The Code of Ordinances of the City of Providence is a comprehensive list of local laws, procedures and administrative responsibilities of city staff, boards and commissions. Ordinances are official documents of the City Council as a legislative body and are passed into law and locally enforced. These local ordinances cannot override state or federal laws.

Code of Ordinances: The full Code of Ordinances includes the Charter Laws of the city and the Code of Ordinances and was first adopted in October of 1968. The Code of Ordinances is continuously revised through amendments and new resolutions, and can be viewed here.

The City Council’s Committee on Ordinances, chaired by Councilman Nick Narducci, hears and vets changes to these ordinances and votes on which changes will be sent to the full council for a vote. Any change to a local ordinance must be heard and approved by the Committee on Ordinances before it can go to the full council and be voted into law.

Members: The current members of the Committee on Ordinances are listed here

Meetings: Their meeting schedule can be viewed on the Providence Open Meetings portal by searching for Ordinance Committee here  |

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Washington Bridge Construction on I-195
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|  State and local leaders announced the start of the $78M Washington Bridge North project to address  structural deficiencies on the Washington Bridge, which carries 96,000 vehicles per day on I-195 over the Seekonk River. The project includes a new East Providence exit and adding an additional lane to the bridge. 

The project is in tandem with improvements to the Henderson Bridge which seeks more convenient connections to portions of the East Side and East Providence.

Motorists on I-195 westbound can expect lane shifts during construction as RIDOT rehabilitates the bridge in phases so it can always keep four lanes of travel open during peak travel times. The project will finish in summer 2026. During a two-month period close to the end of the project, RIDOT will need to temporarily close the Gano Street off-ramp to complete the rehabilitation of that structure. When the closure occurs, the new Waterfront Drive off-ramp will be open and available for use as an alternate route.

More information at www.ridot.net/WashingtonBridge.    |

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Participate!
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   - The City of Providence is collecting community input on plans to reimagine North Main Street. You can share your thoughts in their online survey by clicking here.
   - The City of Providence is in the process of implementing a new emergency response program for people who need help for a behavioral health, mental health, or social service crisis. The PVD Behavioral Health Crisis Response Project seeks community input about this new service:  https://pvdbhcr.info/
   - 10/23:  Friends of Brown Street Park are bringing back their popular Spooky Streets house decorating contest. Help make Halloween fun for our neighborhood kids and register your home by Oct 23 here. 
   - 10/23 & 10/29: Join the Blackstone Parks Conservancy for trail maintenance and daffodil planting this month. More details on all of their events on their web site! 
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A Bright Light
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|  The First Baptist Church in America is the oldest Baptist congregation in the United States. The church was founded in 1638 by Roger Williams and for years services were held in homes or outdoors. The pastors who followed Williams mark our streets today: Williams, Brown, Dexter, Olney, Wickenden, Manning, Gano. In 1700 minister Pardon Tillinghast created a small building on land he owned on North Main Street, the site of the current historic building. Brown University’s founding was sparked by the church, and Brown’s first president, James Manning, was also a church minister. The building we know today, called the Meeting House, was built in 1774-75 and was the largest building in New England at the time. It was built to seat 1200 people, one third of Providence’s population, and was designed in part to hold Brown’s commencement exercises. Learn more about the church and its role in the development of Providence on the First Baptist web site. 

Left: Unknown artist, Frank Leslie's Sunday magazine, Frank Leslie's Publishing House., 1877, pg. 76. Right: Filetime, 2020.   |

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Our mailing address is:
Providence City Council Ward 2654 Angell StProvidence, RI 02906-5552
Add us to your address book

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