The Town Council (TC) voted 3-3 to reject a motion that would have required a referendum before the construction of a kitchen addition to the new modular cafeteria at Narragansett Elementary School. The same motion had failed for lack of a second at the March meeting, but was reintroduced at the April meeting by Councilor Ben Hartwell and seconded by Councilor Virginia Wilder Cross.
Town attorney Mark Bower explained that a reconsideration rule made this motion possible. Councilor Janet Kuech, a school employee, recused herself leaving six council members eligible to vote. Bower said a tie vote would mean the motion would not pass.
The question under consideration was whether or not the School Committee could use $478,000 saved from bond money authorized by voters for the modular project last June combined with $249,000 from the district’s operations budget to finance the construction. Superintendent Heather Perry said that since no action had been taken at the March TC meeting the school district moved forward with the project. If the issue went to referendum, however, they would not be able to construct the kitchen before school opened in the fall.
Many people attended the March meeting intending to speak during the time for public comment, but did not when the Council dropped the motion. This time, 14 people chose to comment by phone, email, or by attending the Zoom meeting. Two-thirds spoke in opposition to a referendum.
Hartwell explained that he proposed the motion because the town charter required voter approval for expenditures of $250,000 or more. He said that the kitchen had not been in the approved project plan and that Perry had said any cost savings would be used to pay down the bonds. Councilors Suzanne Phillips and Wilder-Cross agreed. Perry responded that she had promised to return only unnecessary funds.
Councilors Ron Shepard, Lee Pratt, and James Hager did not support the motion even though the kitchen was not in the approved plan. They believed it was a necessary addition considering the impact of increased enrollment at Narragansett and the problems associated with the current configuration.
Shepard said the original project had not been well planned before bringing it to the TC and questioned why there was bond money left over. Hager asked why the new kitchen project would be delayed until FY22 if a referendum was required. Norman Justice, Facilities Director, responded to the issue of cost savings and said that the kitchen could only be moved during the summer when no students were there.