The West Warwick Town Council gave first-reading approval Tuesday to an ordinance authorizing up to $11.15 million in new borrowing for upgrades to the town's regional wastewater treatment plant, according to the ordinance read into the record at the meeting.
The borrowing would fund replacement of the plant's ultraviolet disinfection system, upgrades to its computerized control system, rehabilitation of an aging sewer interceptor line, and replacement of the plant's grit-removal system, among other work, according to town officials who presented the item. A regional infrastructure consultant told the council the request builds on $7 million the town previously authorized for related work, some of which is nearly complete. Officials said West Warwick's share of the newest borrowing is roughly $4.5 million, with the remainder split among regional partner communities that also send flow to the plant. The ordinance needs a second reading before it takes effect.
Earlier, at a separate Sewer Commission meeting that preceded the council session, the plant's superintendent reported average daily flow of 3.8 million gallons for June, five sewer backups in private lines, and one water-quality sample that came in just above the plant's discharge permit limit — described as a routine, isolated exceedance that will be monitored but does not currently require further action. An industrial pretreatment official also told commissioners that a car wash business connected to ScrubaDub in West Greenwich has been discharging far more wastewater than its permit allows, and that the town is working with the business's manager to resolve the issue.
The council also gave first-reading approval to an ordinance banning parking on both sides of a road near a distribution center after a councilman, Dennison, said dozens of personal vehicles began parking there daily, including in a memorial parking lot, after a package-delivery consolidation site opened nearby. The business closed July 15 after its landlord received complaints, but the council chose to proceed with the ordinance because a similar parking problem occurred with an earlier tenant at the same building. A town official said he would confirm before the ordinance's second reading whether it would replace an existing, narrower no-parking rule already covering part of the same stretch.
Council members spent considerable time discussing whether to tighten the town's decade-old ordinance allowing residents to keep up to 12 hens per residential lot, after complaints linked the birds to rodent problems. A town official presenting research noted the town has no registration system to track how many hen houses exist, and that the fire department has responded to three hen-house fires so far this year tied to heat lamps and extension cords. Council members were divided on whether reducing the hen limit would meaningfully help, with one member arguing enforcement and registration matter more than the number of birds allowed. No changes were adopted; the council asked staff to survey how other Rhode Island communities regulate backyard chickens before further action.
Separately, the council's president raised concerns about a recent car show at a local venue that drew multiple rival car clubs, heavy illegal parking, unauthorized racing on nearby streets, and several police citations and an arrest. He said future car-show permit applications should identify which specific club or clubs are organizing an event so the town can anticipate crowd size and traffic impacts.
In other action, the council approved, by voice vote, a request from the police department to purchase roughly $24,900 in replacement conducted-energy weapons and training equipment from the department's sole-source supplier, funded through the police detail account. The council also approved a tax cancellation of about $10,100 tied to a construction-timeline correction for a condominium project, and accepted the resignation of a zoning board member after 25 years of service. Members voted to reappoint an incumbent town representative to the Kent County Water Authority board.
A school building committee update described continued progress on several elementary school construction projects, including one project rated substantially complete and another involving an elevator that has been delayed due to a redesign of a nursing station's location, which officials said should not affect the overall project timeline. The council separately approved a roughly $72,400 contract with an out-of-state environmental engineering firm to monitor nearby buildings for vibration and pre-existing damage during construction work at one elementary school site, and a $14,217.50 contract with a Providence architecture firm to create detailed 3D scans of an older municipal building to support future accessibility grant applications, including a possible elevator.
The council's next regular meeting is scheduled for August 18.