Affordable Housing Items Top Town Council Agenda

Three affordable housing items dot the agenda of the Barrington Town Council meeting tonight, July 1. The councilors also will swear in the town’s first Municipal Court judge.

The meeting will be held in the School Committee Room of Town Hall at 7 pm. The elevator to the Council Chamber is out of service.

The affordable housing items include a letter from Gary Morse, an affordable housing watchdog, who considers the application for the proposed Palmer Pointe development at Sowams Nursery to include a false statement: that it is receiving a tax abatement from the Town Council.

Morse said a subsequent letter from the attorney for the developer, East Bay Community Development Corporation, indicates that it has not filed an application for a tax abatement. The application, therefore, he said, includes a false statement that makes the application "materially deficient," not an eligible application, and thus needs "additional legal review."

The other two affordable housing items involve two processes: One for reviewing affordable housing applications, and one for considering tax abatements/rates for affordable housing. 

Francis “Frank” Connor, a Barrington attorney with the Providence and Boston law firm of Barton Gilman, will be sworn in as Barrington’s first judge of the new Municipal Court. It will hear its first case later this month.

Connor lives with his wife and three children on Harbour Road. He has been a trial and appellate attorney in the state and federal courts in RI and Massachusetts for more than 22 years.

Here is the complete agenda for tonight’s meeting:

TOWN COUNCIL MEETING

MONDAY, JULY 1, 7:00 P.M.

School Committee Room, Barrington Town Hall

Agenda

1.       Call to Order

2.       Pledge of Allegiance

3.       Swearing-in of Municipal Court Judge and Bailiff

4.       Interview: 

Sherry Notarangelo, Senior Services Board

5.       Appointment: 

Senior Services Board

6.       Announcements: 

Resolutions for 8 Eagle Scouts: Lucas Bledsoe, Jacob Gorton, Owen Jackson, Teddy Kurkoski, Jacob Mollica, Samuel Mollica, Matthew Perugini and Joseph Regan

7.       *Adopt Town Council Minutes of June 3 and 11, 2013 Meetings and Sealed Executive Session Minutes of May 6 and June 3, 2013 

8.       *Utility Petitions 

9.       *Monthly Department Reports: 

Fire Chief, Police Chief/Animal Control Official, Building Official, Public Works Director, Town Planner, Town Solicitor, Finance Director, Tax Assessor (no report this month), Senior Services Director, Library Director,Barrington Adult Youth Team Coordinator, Recreation and Leisure Services Director and Town Clerk

10.     *Abatement List

11.     *Surplus Property

12.     *Holy Angels Church 95th Annual Feast of the Assumption Festival Procession 

Request and Class F Retailer’s License Request

13.     Public Comment (two minute statement) –

To the public:  This agenda item is for members of the public to speak regarding a topic that is not already on the agenda.  Please indicate that you would like to speak by raising your hand.  When you are recognized, please approach the microphone in front of the Council.

14.     Bristol County Water Authority Report

15.     Table LLC d/b/a Table Requests for Victualing License and Class BV Liquor License

16.     Public Hearing:  St. Andrew’s School’s Request for Zone Change

17.     Discuss and Act on Request to Abandon a Portion of Stella Road

18.     Discuss and Act on Correspondence (3) from Gary Morse re. Affordable Housing  Taxation and Assessment Matters

19.     Discuss and Act on Process for Reviewing Affordable Housing Applications

20.     Discuss and Act on Process for Considering Tax Abatements/Rates for Affordable Housing 

21.     Discuss and Act on McElroy Claim 

22.     Discuss and Act on Foster Claim

23.     Public Hearing for Ordinances Amending the Code of the Town of Barrington:

•   Ordinance #2013-2, Amend Chapter 63 Alcoholic Beverages, Article IV:  Possession of Alcohol by Underage Persons.

•   Ordinance #2013-3, Amend Chapter 131 Disorderly Conduct.

•   Ordinance #2013-4, Amend Chapter 124 Licenses and Permits, Article I:  Peddling, Soliciting, and Transient Merchants.

•   Ordinance #2013-6, Amend Chapter 45 Salaries and Compensation, Non-Union Employees.

24.     Discuss and Authorize the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on June 11, 2014

25.     Resignation: 

Wind Evans from the Energy Committee

26.     Set Agenda for July 15, 2013 Council Meeting

27.     Adjourn