February 2021
Moped Regulation:
So yesterday was the last in a series of Town Council meetings to discuss/approve new proposals for moped regulation on the island. It lasted all of 5 minutes, as the majority votes were a yay, approving to renew the 5 moped licenses for Aldo’s Mopeds, The Moped Man, Finnimore and Fisher (dba Island Mopeds), Miles-Un-Limited, and Ocean State Bikes.
Moped operators will need to make the following concessions this season:
Rentals will be from 10am to 6pm only. Councilors agreed to cut the rental duration by three hours and require renters to watch an educational training video. The educational video will be a mandatory requirement for all moped renters, and will review the town ordinances, and safety issues.
Updatefrom Dr. Warcup at The Medical Center:
“Rhode Island’s positivity rate is down to a low of 2.1, and new cases have dropped significantly in the past six weeks,” said Warcup. “We have only had one isolated case here on the island in the past six weeks. These wins are due to our community maintaining the mask and other safety measures. Let’s please keep it up.” “As of this Saturday [Feb. 27], we have over 380 community members vaccinated, and over 120 community members fully vaccinated. Thank you for all the outstanding teamwork,” said Warcup. (BI TIMES)
Rhode Island COVID-19 Vaccination Update 214,476 people have received one dose of vaccine, as of March 5th. A total of 85,188 people have received two doses of vaccine. Close to 8,000 doses a day are being administered daily in Rhode Island.
Update to CHAMPLINS Marina Proposed Expansion:
The new owners of Champlin’s are beginning to prepare for the season. After Champlin’s was sold on Dec. 23rd, the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council approved an expansion that was never legally allowed to happen. This agreement was signed in a closed session of the CRMC on December 29th. If granted by the R.I. Supreme Court, Champlin’s would then have the right to extend 156 feet farther into the waters of the Great Salt Pond, in close proximity to the navigation channel and town mooring fields. The Committee for the Great Salt Pond, along with the Town of New Shoreham, the Block Island Land Trust, and the Block Island Conservancy immediately objected to this unlawful procedure and started a campaign to force the CRMC to rescind this illegitimate approval. See this article for more info: The Providence Journal.
Protecting The Great Salt Pond from expansion has been a cornerstone of the town and of environmental groups on the island. My mom, Mary Newhouse, was one of the founding members of The Committee for the Great Salt Pond. She put her heart and soul into designating the harbor a Federal No-Discharge Zone, way back in the early 1990’s. Before this regulation, boats were allowed to dump their sewage directly into the harbor, causing all sorts of pollution (imagine a shoreline filled with baby diapers, well, yes, it did look like this at times back in the 1980’s). Now there is a Pump-Out boat that collects sewage from boats in both harbors. The town’s pump-out program began in 1991 — two years before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated The Great Salt Pond a no-discharge zone in May of 1993. And Old Harbor followed suit in 1998. During the summer season, thousands of boats anchor in New Harbor, and also tie up at the docks. It has been the job of the CRMC over the years to protect this beautiful ecologically important area from over-development and degradation. The CRMC rejected the original plans for expansion in 2006, a decision that was affirmed each time over more than a decade of litigation. But the agency decided on a compromise with Champlin’s in December after very secret “closed door” discussions with the CRMC.
R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene on Feb. 8th. Neronha said in a statement: “I am pleased with the Court’s decision to grant our motion to intervene in Champlin’s Realty Associates versus the CRMC. As an intervening party in this case, my office is seeking to protect Rhode Island’s unique coastal environment and ensure that the CRMC follows a fair, transparent, and legal process when considering any proposal by Champlin’s to expand its marina.”
The R.I. Supreme Court agreed to take on the appeal in November, making it very early in the court process. Attorney Dan Prentiss, who has represented the Committee for the Great Salt Pond, the Block Island Land Trust, and the Block Island Conservancy, since the very beginning, told The Times that the Attorney General’s memorandum would be presented in court on Thursday, March 11 and that Champlin’s would have the opportunity to file its response.
As all this plays out in the courts, the new owners of Champlin’s are moving ahead with renovations to open May 1st. The resort was purchased by a newly-formed LLC, under The Procaccianti Group. Champlin’s is their first marina, and they have formed TPG Marinas, with Michael Hartman as Director of Integrations and Operations, and General Manager. He has an interest in sustainability and alternative energy and has done consulting in those fields. We shall see how Champlin’s evolves, stay tuned!