Smithfield council delays pickleball noise fence and cemetery wall deal to September

The Smithfield Town Council on Tuesday put off two decisions tied to pickleball noise complaints and a historic cemetery wall, while approving roughly $370,000 in equipment, contracts and water-system borrowing authority, according to the Smithfield Town Council's published meeting recording of its August 4 meeting.

The two postponements were the evening's real news. Both are now scheduled for the council's September 1 meeting, which will be held at the town's senior center rather than the usual council chambers because early voting for the primary runs in Town Hall until 6 p.m. that day.

Pickleball noise fence tabled over sound specs and funding

The council was asked to approve a contract through a state master price agreement — a pre-negotiated statewide contract municipalities can buy from without running their own bid — to install a chain-link fence at the town's pickleball courts for no more than $26,400, funded from the capital reserve fund. A related item covering the sound-absorbing material was next on the agenda.

A council member asked that both items be tabled, saying the acoustic product the town intends to hang on the fence does not meet the minimums in a noise study the town paid roughly $5,100 for. The study recommended a sound transmission class of at least 23 and a noise reduction coefficient of at least 0.7, he said, while the manufacturer's published figures for the selected product were lower. "Why are we going to spend $46,000 when it doesn't meet the specs?" he said, asking that the concern be entered in the record.

Officials defending the choice said the selection was based on manufacturer modeling showing the largest reduction in decibels, and that the material is lighter, allowing it to be mounted higher. As described at the table, the plan is a berm roughly six feet high topped by a 10-foot fence, with the absorbing padding facing the courts. Officials said noise at the site is currently a little over 70 decibels and the goal is to bring it to about 50.

Other council members raised a separate worry: that a tall barrier could trade a noise complaint for a complaint about appearance. The council settled on asking the vendor for a rendering showing the berm and both sides of the fence, and on showing it to nearby residents before voting.

The chair of the town's Budget and Financial Review Board also spoke against the funding source, saying the project was not on the board's list of capital items and that the capital reserve account was already drawn down during budget season to hold down taxes. He said that leaves less cushion for emergencies such as a failed boiler or a roof. The town manager said a reallocation could be prepared.

The motion to continue both items to September 1 passed on a voice vote, with one audible "nay" from the chair.

Cemetery wall: council sends the state agreement back for negotiation

The longest discussion concerned a leaning granite cemetery wall along a state road and whether the town should take over the stabilization project from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) under a draft construction and maintenance agreement.

A council member said the draft does not guarantee reimbursement, leaves the town liable for costs above $750,000, and lets the state step away at any point. His recommendation was to let the state keep the project and the risk.

Members of the Smithfield Historic Preservation Commission presented a slide deck arguing the state's designs would encase historic local granite in sprayed concrete, and that ground-penetrating radar the commission obtained shows no burial features in much of the work area. Chad Morrison, a registered professional engineer and the commission's subcommittee chair for the project, said RIDOT's four design concepts were estimated at $151,000 to $199,000 without the cost of relocating the road or sidewalk, and that a concrete facing would have roughly a 50-year design life and would require drainage maintenance the town would inherit. He said the commission has developed alternatives using shoring behind the wall and restacking the existing stones, and submitted his professional opinion that the work can be done within the $750,000 budget.

The presentation grew contentious, with commission members objecting to interruptions and one council member disputing a commission member's account of past town projects. Commission members also said they were not given the radar data until 2025 despite being on site in 2023, and that the town's ordinance requires boards to seek their advisory opinion.

Gene Allen, Director of Public Works and Water Commissioner, told the council he would not recommend signing the agreement as written. He said it requires the town to certify the wall sits in a public right-of-way, and a title search shows it is a private wall in a private cemetery, meaning some taking or other document would be needed before the town could spend money there. He also said a conversation with RIDOT's director indicated the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission is now on board with one of the state's designs, though he has no documentation of that.

Allen added that in earlier years an engineer measured the wall for about a year and a half across all four seasons and found it was no longer moving, though he and others agreed it still needs to be fixed.

By voice vote, the council directed the public works director and the town solicitor to meet with the state, obtain the state's plan and any written approval in writing, and return the item to the first September meeting.

Sidewalks, water and trucks approved

The council approved a sole-source purchase of about $35,816 in equipment to shave down sidewalk trip hazards along Smith Avenue and Route 44, funded from the public works operating budget and capital reserve funds. Asked why the town pays for state-road sidewalks, officials said state law leaves the walking surface to the municipality; the state sweeps once a year but does not plow or maintain them, and legislation to shift that responsibility has repeatedly failed. The budget line carried $25,000 for sidewalks, and officials confirmed the additional roughly $10,000 would come out of paving within the state Municipal Road and Bridge money. Officials said paving is being held back because liquid asphalt has risen from about $333 a ton at the start of the last contract to about $721 last week.

Other approvals, all by voice vote:

• A contract with BETA Group of Lincoln for a 2026 Emergency Response Plan for the water system, not to exceed $25,000 from the Water Supply Board operating budget. Allen said the plan, which incorporates cybersecurity and risk analysis, is required every five years and is due December 31.
• Authorization to apply for a $1 million loan from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund toward an emergency interconnection with the neighboring water district along Route 116. Allen said the town already has about $1.94 million in federal grants and the engineering estimate is $3.2 million. He said the connection would provide redundancy and displace an estimated $15 million to $20 million in other capital work. Asked whether the neighboring district is contributing money, he said no — it is the town's project tying into their system.
• A roughly $247,038 purchase of a 2027 dump truck and a roughly $69,159 purchase of an F-250 with a plow package for the parks department, both from the capital reserve fund.
• Renewals and new licenses including two pool table licenses, two mobile food truck items, a massage therapy renewal, and one-day beer and wine licenses for a August 13 donor gala and an August 20 senior center luau.
• A road race request at a town park for May 16, 2027.
• Authorization to seek proposals for renovation of two Smithfield High School science labs, described as part of state-approved school projects.

The council also tabled a proposed amendment to Chapter 24 of the Code of Ordinances on collective bargaining agreements, and a proposed cell tower lease behind a fire station, both to September 1. The town manager said the solicitor is still adjusting the tower agreement.

Other business

The council canceled its August 18 meeting by voice vote.

Opening the meeting, the chair said the town food pantry served 142 visitors two months ago and more than 200 last month, and asked for donations of canned goods, proteins, hygiene products and cash. The pantry is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to noon.

During public comment, a resident asked when the school department will bid snow plowing, noting the town normally goes out to bid in August, and raised concerns about electric bikes ridden on sidewalks and against traffic. Another resident, Bovis, of Whipple Road, urged that the cemetery wall be restacked with tiebacks and no concrete veneer. A resident who identified himself as the budget board chair asked about a new municipal social worker posting; officials said it is a new position funded by a five-year rural health grant.

The next regular meeting is September 1 at the senior center. Officials said the meeting will be streamed, though from a fixed camera setup rather than the usual chambers arrangement.