Council Renews Storage and Preservation Contract for Town Records

Council approved Monday, the renewal of a 5-year contract with ACF, a records storage and preservation vendor used by the Town to organize and store land evidence records, deeds, mortgages and other important municipal documents.

Management Information System (MIS) Director, Edward Warzycha, explained that the company's initial 5-year contract beginning Jan. 2008 has expired, and during that time a large portion of the Town's records were successfully scanned and preserved. He went on to state that if the Town changed vendors, it would lose a $400,000 investment and need to begin its record preservation process from scratch.

"Because of the amount of work involved with this process, to go with another vendor would cause us to lose a substantial amount of work that has gotten us to where we are now," he said. "We'd be losing money and productivity for at least the first six months."

Warzycha also informed the Council that recent potential negotiations with ACF allowed him to lower the monthly fee nearly $150 and also obtain new equipment and additional work stations. He said that the monthly rate of $3,650 includes software, hardware and file backups, and that the system is self-sustaining, as 10% of all land evidence record fees paid in Coventry are put aside for document presentation.

"A majority of the cities and towns in Rhode Island use this company and it is state-approved," Warzycha continued. "Because the process is self-sustaining, we don't pay for it out of our budget and I'm very happy with the service and everything that they've provided in the past."

Land Usage Restriction

Council also authorized Town Manager Tom Hoover to execute an Environmental Land Usage Restriction (ELUR) document for town property on Sandy Bottom Road that has been undergoing environmental remediation. Pursuant to RI Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) requirements, the ELUR orders the Town to prohibit activities on the property that may interfere with remedial action or result in human exposure to any low levels of soil contamination that may still reside at the site.

Approved License Applications

• Application for a Class F license by Greene Public Library for its annual wine-tasting event scheduled for May 18.

• Application by Paolo Casale for a 90-day hawker's license to permit the sale of plants and flowers at 548 Tiogue Ave.

Click here for additional coverage of the April 22 Town Council meeting.