The Exeter Town Council, meeting July 6, spent much of its session on a dispute between residents of Ridge Drive and a family that keeps roughly 130 animals, including goats, sheep and horses, on their property. According to the town's published meeting recording, the council also confirmed Ken Findlay as part-time town administrator, moved forward with plans for a new town hall configuration, and fielded public comment on emergency cooling-center access during a recent heatwave.
Ridge Drive complaints and the follow-up inspection At a prior meeting, neighbors on Ridge Drive had raised concerns about a compost pile, noise from livestock, and possible water contamination near a property that has drawn repeated town scrutiny. The town's zoning enforcement officer told the council he coordinated a joint inspection with animal control, the town sergeant, a Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management veterinarian, and a project manager from the Southern Rhode Island Conservation District. He said the only violation found was a setback issue, which the property owners agreed on the spot to correct. He described the material in question as a compost pile of roughly three to four cubic yards, within state guidelines, and said there was little detectable odor during the inspection.
A neighbor who lives at 107 Ridge Drive told the council he had spent $8,000 planting screening shrubs and that noise and odor from the property have affected his family's use of their own yard. The property owners — identified as Angelo Petrocelli and his wife, who addressed the council by the name Petraali — said they have fenced the animals, tested their well water annually, and installed additional filtration after finding bacteria in their water supply, which they attributed to the surrounding farmland. They said town staff have visited the property multiple times and that they feel unfairly targeted. Another neighbor described tension over a fence line and cleared vegetation, saying the animals are now positioned closer to her property than to the owners' house. The council took no formal vote on the dispute; a council member said the disagreement between neighbors is largely a civil matter but noted the setback violation identified during inspection is being addressed.
Town administrator position confirmed The council voted, by voice vote, to appoint Ken Findlay as the town's first part-time town administrator, following authorization from Exeter's financial town meeting — the annual meeting where voters approve the town budget. One council member said the position is intended to create a single point of contact for the town's ongoing rewrite of its zoning ordinance, meant to reduce conflicting direction from multiple town officials. Another council member said she supported the position in concept but raised concerns that the process used to fund it, through a floor amendment at the financial town meeting, may not have complied with a charter provision requiring 20 days' notice and a petition of 50 electors for off-budget spending proposals. The council did not act to reverse the appointment.
New town hall space plan The council voted by voice vote to approve a floor plan for renovated town hall office space, referred to during the meeting as project