Business booms, NP sets itself up for future

Business booms, NP sets itself up for future

NORTH PROVIDENCE – If someone had taken a before shot of the entire town at the start of 2019, it would have looked a whole lot different from a late December shot from the same angle, as the town saw new schools, new businesses, and a new public safety complex all take shape.

It was another mostly friction-free year on the town side of government, as the good times kept rolling, though there were spats between Mayor Charles Lombardi and both the School Department and local firefighters over various matters.

The new Town Council largely seemed to agree on most of the mayor’s efforts, with little of the infighting and public brawling seen in past years. The board, now made up mostly of businessmen and attorneys, focused particularly on quality of life issues such as developing park spaces, addressing traffic concerns, fixing neighborhood blight, and tackling rodent problems, among others.

Town leaders kept their focus this year on setting the town up for long-term success instead of focusing on short-term gain, moving to acquire and improve open recreation spaces, vacating buildings that can now be sold for a substantial financial gain, and completing a new public safety complex and renewing discussions about a new animal shelter.

The town again led the way on such initiatives as the lead pipe replacement program and a solar aggregation agreement.

As is the case every year, there were numerous feel-good moments in North Providence, including two workers at Whelan Elementary School being honored in May for saving the life of a custodian with CPR, local favorite Chucky Tramonti winning accolades for his tireless work at summer camp, the “Be a little Ian” campaign in honor of the late Ian Novacek, charity events run by the town’s fire and police officers to help those in need, student-run charitable efforts such as a dress drive, and the North Providence Mayor’s Youth Commission bringing back the town’s Easter egg hunt, among other efforts.

As has become a trend in recent years, the town lost some institutions in 2019, including the St. Joseph’s School of Nursing, Christiansen’s Dairy, and David’s Furniture.

It may have been the year of the man in town government, but local women were changemakers in 2019, from resident Rosanne Siravo taking matters into her own hands to secure traffic upgrades at Route 146 and Mineral Spring Avenue, to North Providence resident Elizabeth Catucci being named president and CEO of the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce at 37 years old.

The Breeze again reported stories on frustration with government, including ongoing issues with the state transportation provider over failing to get patients to their appointments on time and the fight to maintain services for special needs children transitioning to adulthood.

There were signs of some storm clouds ahead related to the actions of local boards and commissions after multiple town officials took issue with the way a home was approved on a tiny lot, drawing comparisons to town government of the 1980s. Expect much more on that issue in the coming weeks.

Here are our top 10 North Providence stories for 2019:

• Safety complex completed

Few initiatives presented greater opportunity for disaster than construction of the town’s largest building, but the build-out of the new North Providence Public Safety Complex came in on time and easily within budget.

Chief David Tikoian shepherded this project to its completion and a grand opening in late September, avoiding major embarrassments along the way, including cutting a $47,000 conference room table and other excessively expensive items from the project budget.

The safety complex, across from North Providence High School and near the town’s highest point, sets the town up well on both future facility costs and efficiency of public safety work, with all the latest in state-of-the-art technology paid for through a 2012 settlement with Google.

With Tikoian’s leadership, there’s still some money left from that $60 million settlement seven years ago, and leaders expect to be able to help pay for a new animal shelter and other items with remaining funds.

Various leaders at the September grand opening hailed Mayor Lombardi for his tenacity in seeking approvals from the U.S. Department of Justice to include the fire department in the complex, a move that allowed the town to sell its old safety complex.

• Business booms

It seemed there was a new business opening every other day in 2019, which is even more impressive when one considers that most of North Providence is already developed.

A town review of available commercial properties in July showed only about a dozen left, said Mayor Lombardi at the time, and he estimated that the number was down to about half of that by December.

With corresponding concerns from residents about the impacts of development in mind, the Planning Board delayed passage of a new commercial plaza on Mineral Spring Avenue and pushed for improvements to have it fit more seamlessly into the neighborhood.

Expect many more new businesses in 2020, with the planned opening of Providence Picture Frame in the former Andor’s Furniture building, new commercial development expected at the former Christiansen’s Dairy, the commercial plaza planned near the old public safety complex, among others, a new tenant expected at the old safety complex, and more properties cleared for future development.

• Bridget Morisseau faces the music

In November, former Supt. Bridget Morisseau appeared in a Providence courtroom to admit to charges of embezzlement stemming from her illegal use of a school credit card during her tenure in the district.

In pleading no contest, Morisseau admitted that between July 2017 and July 2018, she used public funds to pay for personal expenses on multiple occasions.

She was sentenced to serve three years of probation and ordered to pay $9,434 in restitution.

Morisseau resigned from her position in North Providence last summer, a year after she was appointed, when school officials learned that she had been using her taxpayer-funded school credit card for personal purchases.

While employed in North Providence, Morisseau used the card to pay for $4,621 in personal purchases that included a trip to a Connecticut spa and resort, airline tickets for Morisseau and her husband, a $1,000 catering charge and more.

In addition, Morisseau was paid $4,813 in excess of the scope of her contract.

After a months-long investigation into Morisseau’s spending by the North Providence Police Department, Rhode Island State Police and the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General, the former superintendent was arrested in March and charged with two felonies: embezzlement and fraudulent conversion, as well as obtaining money under false pretenses.

Morisseau refused to comment on the charges when she left court on Nov. 8. One week later, she paid the restitution and her probation was transferred to her new home state of Texas.

Though she’s physically far removed from North Providence, her legacy of corrupt behavior in town will linger as the School Department seeks to ensure that history does not repeat itself.

The School Committee has created a new credit card policy to ensure that all expenses are properly tracked and approved. At every School Committee meeting since Morisseau resigned, member Gina Picard has refused a vote to approve district bills until she’s received assurances from the finance director that they “all comply with state laws.”

• Two schools open, one closes

Many students and school leaders alike were bursting with excitement for this year’s first day of school, celebrating the opening of the town’s two new elementary schools.

The newly constructed Stephen Olney and James L. McGuire Elementary Schools opened their doors to students and staff for the first time in September. The state-of-the-art buildings were put up with a $75 million bond approved by 75 percent of North Providence taxpayers, and feature a host of improvements.

The opening of the two new schools represented a new chapter for the district, but the final chapter in the history book of Marieville Elementary School on Mineral Spring Avenue. After 89 years in service, Marieville was decommissioned at the close of the last school year, and its students were moved to other schools in the district. The redistricting process was handled by the School Committee, which said it saved $60,000 by not hiring an outside consultant.

• Old buildings become revenue generators

In typical Charles Lombardi fashion, the mayor wasn’t content to just sell the former Marieville School or old public safety complex to the first bidder, choosing to take his time in maximizing the available dollars.

The result, he says, is that the burden on taxpayers will be further alleviated for years to come, after reaching a $15,000-per-month agreement with the Center for Individualized Training & Education, or CITE school for special needs students, or $1.8 million over 10 years, at the old Marieville School. The town retains ownership and brings in steady annual revenue, meaning there will be no temptation to spend a lump sum.

“This is probably the best agreement I have ever made either personally or governmentally,” said Lombardi in November.

The opportunity that comes with the former safety complex on the other end of Mineral Spring Avenue is also significant, says Lombardi. He is in talks with several companies about buying that property, and says those bids keep going higher. The mayor has said he expects to get at least $2 million for that property.

Also a big win for future tax stabilization was the news of yet another bond upgrade for the town, which will save on future bills related to school improvements and other borrowing.

• Historic preservation more important

With the resurgence of the town’s Historic District Commission this year came renewed calls for more thoughtfulness about protecting old structures in the face of heavy redevelopment. Structures such as the old Brayton School should be protected and not simply leveled in the name of progress, said HDC members who helped prevent demolition of the old Centredale School.

Mayor Lombardi is still fielding offers on the Brayton School, but HDC has made it clear that the building needs to be preserved. With the use of grant funds, they want to make it part of a sort of activity compound with the nearby Old Town Hall.

The next year will likely feature plenty of debate between those who see some of the town’s older buildings as limiting progress and those who believe those structures should be saved at all costs.

Also in 2019, the town placed a renewed emphasis on developing a plan for caring for its many neglected historic cemeteries, helped by cemetery volunteer Ken Postle. On those burial grounds where neighbors have encroached with sheds or fences, they’re being told to move those items back onto their own property.

• Police Dept. has successes, then transition

Local police drove much of the conversation in the community in 2019, from new enforcement efforts on DUI and speeding to increased involvement with local activities.

They were proud to announce new accreditation status to go with a new safety complex, a sign that new standards have taken hold here.

The year is ending with the transition from Chief David Tikoian to Deputy Chief Arthur Martins as the new chief. Martins, a veteran with past experience working in neighboring Pawtucket, tells The Breeze he wants to place a greater emphasis on establishing neighborhood groups such as the Marieville Neighborhood Partnership to be the eyes and ears of police in neighborhoods in preventing crime and enhancing quality of life.

After Officer Christian Ariza survived a crash with a drunk woman in January, police put even more of an emphasis on DUI enforcement. Toward the end of the year, The Breeze reported that DUI arrests were way up.

Relations between the police union and Lombardi were vastly improved this year, and the mayor referred to a new contract reached with police as “the final piece of the puzzle for the professional future of our department.”

The successes just kept coming for police, from new online crime reporting and mapping, to reports of fewer complaints about officer misconduct.

• Senior center fully back from the dead

Membership at the North Providence Mancini Center is nearing 2,000 people to end 2019, says Director Linda Giorgio, up nearly 800 people since Dec. 27, 2018.

The renewed membership shows that the center, previously the target of Mayor Lombardi under nonprofit management but now under town control, is fully back from the days it sat mostly unused as leaders haggled about its future.

In July, The Breeze reported that Lombardi’s promised savings for the center under town management had come to fruition, the total budget of $382,494 coming in $353,841 lower than its $736,339 budget in its last year under nonprofit management in 2016-2017.

And all of that, said Lombardi, as the town continues to add staff and instructors and keep many of the programs that once cost money as free.

The total budget is eventually expected to top $434,000, but that’s still $75,000 less than the $510,000 the town previously contributed to the $736,000 budget.

• Town targets open spaces

The emphasis on preserving and improving open spaces kicked into hyperdrive in 2019, with the town purchasing multiple properties for new field space and Mayor Lombardi pledging to purchase a National Grid property to create a new playground in Marieville. Also discussed and still on the table for the future is a 3-acre riverfront parcel for a new park.

The Town Council in December approved a combined $500,000 in grant requests to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, including $400,000 to turn the Pate property off Ivan Street into a new athletic complex and park and $100,000 to develop the Marieville playground.

Also this year, the Meehan Overlook at Notte Park received numerous upgrades, including the grant-funded addition of a new amphitheater space that hosted its first series of summer concerts.

• New school leaders appointed

The year began with sweeping changes by a newly elected North Providence School Committee, which over the course of an hour in January undid a series of actions made by the previous school board.

Led by Chairman Frank Pallotta, they eliminated a so-called “penalty clause” from administrator contracts, restored a two-hour delay option during inclement weather and voted to reorganize the finance department.

Newly hired Director of Finance Ron Gonsalves Jr. led the finance department restructuring, but resigned roughly a year after he was hired amid questions about his performance. In October, Lisa Casinelli replaced him.

The Gonsalves departure was one of many contentious points between Mayor Lombardi and school leaders, Lombardi telling The Breeze he wants the town to take over management of school spending and questioning the ongoing decisions being made by local educators.

After a tumultuous year dealing with the fallout of the police investigation into former Supt. Bridget Morisseau, the North Providence School Department sought to hire a trustworthy leader to guide the district forward.

For that job, they selected Joseph Goho, longtime principal of North Providence High School.

Goho took the reins as superintendent at the end of 2018, serving as both superintendent and principal until graduation in June. He led NPHS for 20 years, and called the transition “bittersweet.”

Effective July 1, NPHS Assistant Principal Christen Magill was promoted to principal. She had served as assistant principal since 2007, and previously worked in the building as a teacher for eight years.

Kathleen Lisi, former Business Department chairwoman, was named assistant principal.

In June, Linda Murphy resigned as principal of the Dr. Joseph A. Whelan Elementary School. Amanda Donovan, former principal of the decommissioned Marieville Elementary School, took over at the helm of Whelan.

Following the July retirement of Centredale Elementary School Principal Joan Piccardi, Donna Hanley took over that role.

In addition, longtime NPHS athletic director Glenn Williams was appointed full-time athletic director for North Providence schools; NPHS PTECH Director Melissa Caffrey was promoted to director of multiple pathways, overseeing the high school’s three CTE programs; and Cynthia VanAvery was appointed director of special education.

Other stories of interest in 2019 included: commercial development in Centredale, which led to a new series of issues related to parking and competition; upgrades to the Geneva Pond bridge, causing temporary detours on Douglas Avenue; new condo developments being proposed in single-family neighborhoods, leading to concerns from residents; a spat between Lombardi and local firefighters over a requested extra pay increase, which led the mayor to threaten but not follow through on pulling the beds out of the fire stations, a renewed ban on new stop signs in town; and reduced speed limits on Mineral Spring Avenue.