Anticipated spending would be for streets, sidewalks, sewers, buildings, bridges, parks

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — By a unanimous vote Thursday night, the City Council approved a motion to place a $40-million city bond issue on the ballot in November.

Five of the 15 members of the council were absent, but the vote fulfills the council’s obligations for getting the bond initiative onto the Nov. 8 ballot prior to an Aug. 10 deadline.

This was the council’s second vote on the bond issue. The ordinance for the proposal, which sets the terms for the bond issue as well as the wording of the ballot question, passed on a voice vote Thursday without discussion, said the council’s press secretary, Michaela M. Antunes.

The vote did not settle how and where the city would spend the money.

As of Tuesday, the plan was for City Treasurer James J. Lombardi III and the Finance Department to develop a ward-by-ward list of projects by September.

Questions about the distribution and spending of money raised by the bond had been a focus of previous discussions.

The administration initially anticipated the use of about $22 million for streets, $4.5 million each for sidewalk repairs and sewer and storm drain work, $4 million for city buildings, $3 million for bridges and $2 million for parks infrastructure.

The council’s Finance Committee had initially added language that would have set aside $1.3 million for each of the city’s council wards, $19.5 million overall, and given council members control over what work was done in his or her ward.

But that language is not included in what the council endorsed on Tuesday and then again Thursday in its second vote..

The ordinance does have language that says at least 50 percent of any amount eventually put out to bond “shall be equitably distributed throughout the 15 wards of the city.”

Mayor Jorge O. Elorza was expected to sign off on the ordinance later Thursday or Friday.

As of early Thursday evening, the ballot question for the bond issue still awaited certification from Providence’s Board of Canvassers, said Antunes. City Council President Luis A. Aponte anticipates that certification on Friday, she said.

The goal is to obtain the necessary signatures to submit the ballot question to Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea by 4 p.m. on Aug. 10.

—mreynold@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7490

On Twitter: @mrkrynlds