MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE CUMBERLAND TOWN COUNCIL

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2026 at 7:30 P.M.

 CUMBERLAND TOWN HALL, EVERETT “MOE” BONNER, JR. COUNCIL CHAMBERS

45 BROAD STREET, CUMBERLAND, RHODE ISLAND

 

CALL TO ORDER

Council President called the meeting to order at 7:41 PM, noting that all council members were present for the record.

 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

 

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

CONSENT AGENDA

A.    Acceptance of Minutes of the Regular Meeting of April 1, 2026.

 

B.     MUNICIPAL MOBILE FOOD ESTABLISHMENT LICENS

1.       Burrito Bowl

2.       Braised Birds Nest

3.       Birds Nest

4.       Berrysweets

5.       Mac & Cheese, Please

6.       Reds Kitchen

7.       Chubby Chickpea

8.       What’s Up Cupcake

 

C.    COMMUNICATIONS

1.  C-26-25 – Resolutions from the Town of Portsmouth:

a.       Resolution in support of House Bill 2006-7971; relating to public property and works-labor and payment of debts by contractors

b.      Resolution in support of House Bill 2006-7678; joint resolution creating a special joint legislative commission on city and town affairs 

c.       Resolution in support of House Bill 2006-8013; relating to motor and other vehicles-mobile and manufactured homes

2.   C-26-26 – Resolutions from the Town of South Kingstown:

a.       Resolution in supporting the Rhode Island Bottle and Extended producer responsibility Bills (H 7911 and S 3012)

b.      Resolution April 24, 2026, as “Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day” to Commemorate the Armenian Genocide of 1915 to 1923 and in Honor of Armenian Americans

c.       Resolution in support of House Bill 2026-8018 entitled an act relating to Health and Safety-State Building Code

d.      Resolution opposing proposed water rate increase by Veolia Water Rhode Island, Inc. in public utilities commission docket no. 25-30-WW

 

3.   C-26-27 – Resolutions from the Town of Middletown:

a.       Resolution opposing a statewide nonowner occupied property tax

b.      Resolution in support of amendments to the FY2027 State Budget

c.       Resolution in support of fully funding State Aid to Libraries to the full twenty-five (25) percent

d.      Resolution in support of municipalities collaborating in reviewing, analyzing, and responding to the 2025 Affordable Housing laws

e.       Resolution urging full funding of the School Housing Aid Program

 

4.   C-26-28- Resolutions from the Town of Hopkinton:

a.    Resolution in support of Rhode Island House Bill H7971 increasing the threshold for prevailing wage

b.    Resolution in opposition to Rhode Island House Bill H7035, H7755, H8068, H8071, and H8075

c.    Resolution opposing Senate Bill 2389 and House Bill 7305 relating to the Access to Public Records Act (APRA)

 

5.    C-26-29 – A resolution from the Westerly Town Council in support of municipalities collaborating in reviewing, analyzing and responding to the 2025 Affordable Housing Laws.

MOTION BY COUNCILOR SWEET, SECONDED BY COUNCILORS BEAULIEU AND COUNCILOR SHAW TO APPROVE.  VOTE 7/0.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Council President opened the floor for public comment, seeing no one in the chamber and no one joining virtually.

 

REPORTS/COMMUNICATIONS

A.    Report of Executive Session vote(s), as may be necessary

 

Council President reported there were no executive session votes to report.

 

B.     Update from the School Committee

 

Amy Vogel, Chairwoman of the School Committee, addressed the council. She first commended and applauded the two Cumberland High School students for their knowledge and critical thinking skills, particularly praising their composure in presenting to the town council and chamber audience.  She reported that B. Norton construction was on schedule. She announced that graduation was scheduled for June 12th with a rain date of June 13th, inviting all council members to attend. When asked about the time, she indicated it was likely 6 PM but would confirm and provide that information.

The last day of school, with no additional school closures, was scheduled for June 18th. She reported that enrollment was up by 51 students compared to the same time last year.

 

Councilor Shaw asked about the graduation time, and Vogel confirmed she would find out the exact time and let them know.

 

C.    Presentation by and Recognition of Rhode Island Science and Engineering Fair Winners Shiven Jha and Arjun Dasari Shiven Jha and Arjun Dasari

Arjun Dasari, a junior at Cumberland High School, presented his project on automated column chromatography using open hardware. He explained that climate change has been a significant issue over the past 100 years, and scientists have been studying microfossils that contain information about climate from millions of years ago, including temperature data and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

Dasari detailed that to extract this data, scientists must perform a chemical procedure called column chromatography, which requires dangerous chemicals, extensive training, and takes a full day's worth of lab work. For small-scale laboratories, this process is very difficult to perform manually. His goal was to automate this process in a cheap and affordable way, noting that current off-the-shelf column chromatography machines cost around $5,000, which is not affordable or equitable for many laboratories.

His solution involved creating a robot capable of completing 12 samples in a fixed time with minimal human intervention. The design included electrical components with a custom circuit board to control various motors used in the machine. The final design incorporated multiple moving parts for loading microfossils and using different chemicals to move them through the system for purification.

Dasari explained that his machine was 10 times cheaper than current off-the-shelf products, costing around $500 total, and everything could be customized for different laboratory needs, whether for different procedures or to increase the number of samples processed. He concluded that the machine worked efficiently and correctly and could be used in laboratories.

Councilor Sweet asked about how microfossils are identified initially. Dasari responded that scientists use ships to drill down into the ocean floor, and based on the depth of the microfossil, they can determine its age. He mentioned this was related to one of his previous projects involving a robot to automate the microscopic identification and isolation of individual microfossils.

Councilor Beaulieu inquired about practical applications. Dasari explained the project was done in collaboration with Brown University and would be used in laboratories that study biomarkers - biological organisms helpful for understanding past climate conditions. He noted that laboratories across the United States and internationally would benefit from this automation compared to manual processes. He emphasized that one of the biggest goals was making it adaptable through an easy user interface requiring only a few numerical modifications to work for different laboratory needs.

Councilor Magill asked about Dasari's future plans. Dasari confirmed he was a junior in high school and planned to pursue mechanical engineering in college to develop better robotics skills for creating improved robots.

Mayor Mutter noted this was the first time Cumberland had participants in this competition. Dasari estimated there were over 60 participants from throughout Rhode Island, with Cumberland having 3 total participants. He mentioned the experience was enjoyable, learning about other projects from students at schools like Barrington and elsewhere. Dasari confirmed he would be advancing to the International Science Fair in Phoenix, Arizona.

Shiven Jha, a freshman at Cumberland High School, then presented her project titled "Enhancing Gene Editing Safety: Leveraging 3D Genome Architecture and Epigenetics to Predict CRISPR Cas9 Off-Target Mutations."

He began by explaining that human DNA acts like a code made of letters, and sometimes there are "typos" called mutations that can lead to diseases like sickle cell anemia. Scientists developed CRISPR as a tool to go inside human cells and act like molecular scissors to cut and replace faulty DNA with correct DNA.

Shiven explained that CRISPR is not being used clinically today because of "off-target mutations" - situations where the CRISPR enzyme goes to the wrong location and cuts at the wrong place, creating additional mutations. His project focused on predicting when these mistakes would happen, so scientists could adapt in real-time before releasing CRISPR into human cells, making it safe to use.

His approach was different because she considered the 3D environment inside DNA, explaining that DNA is not like a straight line but more like a ball of yarn. His theory was that CRISPR would be more likely to cause miscuts in areas that are more open than in areas that are tightly packed and closed.  His research question was whether integrating the 3D environment of the target site and mathematically enforcing physical accessibility would improve off-target prediction. She developed a tool called "TagCas" designed to be a 3D-aware predictor.

For training his AI model, Shiven used data from CRISPR SQL, a database of confirmed real-world off-target events that scientists have documented. For negative examples (where mistakes didn't occur), she mined for those herself. His model used features including "attack-seek" which measures how open an area is, context regions examining 100 DNA letters before and after the target, and high-C contact maps showing interactions between surrounding DNA sites and how clustered different areas are.

He conducted an ablation study, removing the 3D features to determine if they improved prediction accuracy. He results showed that the model including 3D features outperformed the model without them in all categories, with the main model achieving a 0.9 precision recall area under curve on the final test set.

Shiven also performed explainable AI analysis to understand how her AI made decisions, identifying different transcription factors that cause CRISPR to make miscuts. He created a user interface where scientists could input guide RNA instructions and potential off-target sites, and the model would predict the likelihood of CRISPR causing a miscut at that location.  He noted her work was entirely computational, and future work would involve getting into a real laboratory to work with CRISPR in real-time and confirm her model's abilities.

Councilor Sweet praised the CRISPR project choice and asked about sickle cell disease success.

Shiven explained that sickle cell results from a specific single point mutation, which represents the clearest current use case for CRISPR. Current treatment requires regular blood transfusions, and CRISPR could potentially solve the issue permanently by fundamentally altering the patient's DNA.

When asked about his future plans, Shiven expressed interest in machine learning and noted that CRISPR became interesting to her as she learned about it, leading to this project as a way to contribute to the field using AI for prediction purposes.

Councilor Sweet emphasized the importance of showing people the extensive work required to make AI functional, noting that many people only think of AI as an internet tool for writing letters rather than seeing its applications in sophisticated projects like this one.

Councilor Shaw commented that watching the presentations felt like watching Star Trek in the 1960s and knowing cell phones would emerge 20-30 years later, finding the students' work fascinating and potentially revolutionary for the future. He suggested to the Mayor that the town should consider tapping into Cumberland High School students for problem-solving solutions the town faces, potentially saving money on outside consulting firms when they have ninth and eleventh graders who might solve problems like water main leaks more efficiently.

Councilor Metivier asked Shiven to confirm she was a freshman, then congratulated both students on their presentations and skills, expressing Cumberland's pride in having them as residents.

Councilor Beaulieu praised anything that could improve patient health as miraculous, noting his company's similar mission. He commended both students' potential to help people live more comfortable lives and praised their parents for their remarkable sons who might change the world.

Mayor Mutter mentioned that Sri Khan, who usually attends these events, had a family emergency but always keeps the town informed about student accomplishments. The Mayor presented citations to both students during a photo opportunity.

D.    Monthly/Quarterly Financial Report ending March, 2026

Council President asked if there were any questions regarding the quarterly financial report. No questions were raised.

E.     Check registers for March, 2026

Council President asked if there were any questions regarding the check register. Hearing none, he moved to the next agenda item.

F.     Request from the Tax Assessor to review and approve March, 2026 abatements and supplemental bills

 

Council President reported there were no real estate or tangible supplement or abatements for March 2026.

 

G.    Department Reports

1.      Animal Control

2.      Amaral Building

3.      Building Official

4.      EMS

5.      Library  

6.      Parks & Recreation

7.      Planning & Community Development

8.      Police Department

9.      Senior Services

10.  Town Clerk’s Office

 

H.  Quarterly Reports

1.  Human Resources

2.  OCYL

3.  Public Works

4.  Water Department

 

Council President asked if there were any questions on the listed department monthly and quarterly reports; hearing none he proceed.

 

LICENSES

A.    ENTERTAINMENT LICENSE

1.      An application for a special event entertainment license from Lusitana Club Juventude for their annual Saint John’s Feast on Friday, June 19, Saturday, June 20, and Sunday, June 21, 2026.

 

The Council President noted that the approval would be pending the promoter's permit and final tent inspection.

 

Isabel Reis, acting secretary for the Lusitania Club, introduced herself and confirmed that everything would be exactly the same as in previous years with no changes from past annual events.

 

MOTION BY COUNCILOR METVIER, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SWEET AND COUNCILOR BRADLEY, AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTER TO APPROVE THE LICENSE.  VOTE OF 7/0.

 

2.      An application for a special event entertainment license from Blackstone River Glass LLC (30 Meeting Street) for a fundraiser on Saturday, June 6, 2026.

 

The Council President stated that the approval would be pending a promoter's permit. He mentioned they had heard details about this event during the earlier Board of Licensing meeting.

 

MOTION BYCOUNCILOR SHAW, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR MCGILL. AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE THE LICENSE.  VOTE 7/0.

 

B.     PRIVATE DETECTIVE

1.      Domenic Bruzzi

 

Council President noted the private detective license application from Dominic Bruzzi, observing that Mr. Bruzzi was not present but noting they had seen this license many times over the years.

MOTION BY COUNCILOR SHAW, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR MCGILL, AND IT IS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE THE LICENSE.  VOTE 7/0.

 

OLD BUSINESS

A.    ORDINANCES for PUBLIC HEARING  

1.       #26-01 – An ordinance amending sections of the Code of Ordinances relating to Stormwater Management, Flood Hazards, Soil Erosion and Sediment Control, and Utilities (Presented by Council President on behalf of the Administration) (tabled from the March 18, 2026 meeting)

 

Chairwoman Beaulieu reported that both ordinances were heard the previous evening received favorable passage 3 to 0 in committee. She provided background that over time, the town had been working to improve its climate resiliency within the municipal environment through a series of meetings, some public working sessions, with Horsley Witten Group and Rhode Island Division of Statewide Planning to help update land use regulations and other policies. This ordinance and the following ordinance resulted from about a year, and half of effort managed through grant funding, bringing the town into compliance with standardized best practices. She turned the presentation over to Nate Kelley for technical details.

 

Mr. Kelley explained this was a state grant to help the town think about climate resiliency through land development regulations. Every time buildings are constructed or roads paved, climate change impacts are exacerbated.

 

The project began with local discussions involving planners, the planning board, DPW, engineers, DEM, and the infrastructure bank. They had previously completed the hazard mitigation plan update, making them familiar with specific flooding and storm-related impacts in Cumberland.  They wanted to understand climate impacts in plain terms, identifying heat and flooding as primary concerns. They reviewed the entire general code, land development and subdivision regulations, and zoning ordinance to find areas where standards or requirements would affect flooding or heat impacts in the community.  This quickly led to impervious surfaces, parking lots, roadways, buildings, site development, stormwater management, and landscaping.

 

He further explained that removing vegetation and replacing it with asphalt or buildings increases heat, and when it rains, stormwater flows increase, making land development directly impact these issues.  Some items were cleanly addressed in one document, like the current stormwater ordinance being renamed to the more technical "illicit discharge detection elimination system." This addresses situations where someone decades ago illegally connected to storm drains with washer lines or other drains, requiring ongoing programs to correct these issues and ordinances to provide enforcement powers.  Stormwater management, however, spans all three documents - general ordinance, zoning ordinance, and subdivision regulations. They had to address consistency across all documents, requiring housekeeping items to ensure matching language.

 

The process involved reviewing everything, with tonight's general ordinance items including illicit discharge, erosion sediment control, special flood hazard areas, and housekeeping items. The zoning ordinance would address parking and other housekeeping items later.  They had already been to the planning board, which had two responsibilities: statutory review of zoning ordinance articles (which received positive endorsement) and reviewing their own land development regulations. The planning board did extensive work with landscaping standards and stormwater management, successfully adopting their regulatory pieces.  DPW was involved throughout, along with Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency, ensuring everything would work across agencies and ordinances.

 

For the illicit discharge detection and elimination ordinance, Mr. Kelley noted they didn't make many changes as there wasn't much need. This straightforward ordinance essentially prohibits illicit sewer system connections and requires fixing anything installed 50-70 years ago. It's part of MS4 requirements under state and federal regulations, involving mainly housekeeping and clarification while maintaining the same basic substance.  The erosion and sediment control section appeared intimidating in the packet because they reorganized the entire structure for better readability and consistency with updated state model ordinance language. The main drivers were reorganization and state compliance. They clarified jurisdiction issues, making it clear whether the building official, DPW, state, or planning board had authority in various situations. Requirements and best practices remained essentially the same, creating consistency with good state-level erosion sediment control and stormwater manuals.

 

The special flood hazard area ordinance was more involved, essentially serving as the floodplain ordinance required by FEMA for compliance and insurance eligibility. Every city and town has some version of this ordinance. Cumberland's current ordinance covers the hundred-year floodplain, divided into basic safety and technical engineering components.

Basic safety requirements include restrictions on first-floor uses below base flood elevation (no residences, restrictions on stored materials) and elevation requirements for new structures with freeboard above hundred-year elevation. Engineering requirements for new buildings, parking areas, or disturbances involve hydraulic and hydrologic analysis to determine water flow impacts.

 

Mr. Kelley noted Cumberland's current ordinance unusually allows one foot of elevation change, while communities typically require no change or nominal change. They proposed changing this from one foot to 0.1 foot, essentially requiring no change - a substantive modification.  They explored extending ordinance jurisdiction beyond the hundred-year floodplain due to concerns about inadequate protection from more frequent and greater flooding. They chose the simplest solution: adding restrictions to the 500-year floodplain.  Cumberland doesn't have extensive 500-year floodplain - it essentially runs like a ribbon along the hundred-year floodplain with some areas encompassing commercial industrial property. They're not requiring engineering analysis there but applying public safety pieces: elevation above that elevation, restrictions on residences in areas that would be underwater, prohibitions on hazardous material storage, and anchoring requirements for bulk outdoor storage to prevent washing away or spillage during flooding.

The utilities section was a DPW request for better connection standards and sizing, incorporating language directly from DPW representing their preferred practices and standards.

 

Council President opened the public hearing at 8:16 p.m.

 

Mr. Kelley noted that the planning board found a typo in the illicit discharge ordinance at line 38 where the word "following" needed deletion. He recommended approving the ordinance with the condition of deleting "following" in line 38 per the planning board's recommendation.

 

Council President closed the public hearing at 8:27 PM.

 

Council President asked about the specific location of the typo. After some discussion about finding the exact location, Council President indicated they would make the motion to amend based on the planning board's recognition.

 

MOTION BY COUNCILOR BEAULIEU, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SHAW, TO AMEND THE ORDINANCE BASED ON THE CHANGE THAT THE PLANNING BOARD RECOGNIZED.  VOTE 7/0. 

 

MOTION BY COUNCILOR BEAULIEU, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SHAW, AND IT WAS VOTED TO APPROVE THE ORDINANCE AS AMENDED BY A ROLL CALL VOTE.  VOTE 6/1. 

 

Nay Vote: Councilor Bradley

 

2.   #26-03 – An ordinance amending the Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Cumberland, Rhode Island, as amended  (tabled from the March 18, 2026 meeting)

Council President opened the public hearing at 8:20 p.m.

Mr. Kelley explained this ordinance addressed parking and stormwater basin definitions. Parking is addressed in multiple regulatory documents - planning board handles parking lot design through land development regulations (landscaping, circulation), while zoning addresses parking volume, number of spaces, and basic location.  The town asked them to review existing requirements to identify areas for potential reduction, giving opportunities to reduce impervious cover where appropriate. They suggested changing residential parking from 2 spaces per unit to 1 space per unit.

He addressed concerns about insufficient parking, explaining that parking requirements are minimum - developers can always provide more and have financial incentives to provide adequate parking to make units valuable. Lenders and partners won't fund projects they don't think will rent or sell, providing additional market forces. The zoning ordinance's job is setting the floor and providing opportunities for less parking when appropriate.  They targeted other small uses, removing video rental stores since they no longer exist. For uses like warehousing and storage where parking needs are hard to predict based on operation, they provided options for applicants to make proposals and submit parking plans for approval, giving flexibility rather than requiring arbitrary numbers like 35 spaces when only 20 might be needed.

They discussed how things have changed with office space and remote work - parking is still needed, but there are many places where people are scaling back. Since parking is real estate, developing it in other ways can add more property value when given that opportunity.  They addressed big parking lots built 50 years ago, common throughout New England, which generally lack landscaping or stormwater management because they were built before such requirements existed. These parking lots are technically preexisting legally nonconforming - legal when built and allowed to continue as-is.

The question becomes whether expansion, utility work, or surface milling and resurfacing should require permits, providing opportunities for community negotiation with property owners about improvements. While they may not be able to make everything exactly right due to feasibility, they could make properties better and more conforming to current stormwater and landscaping standards, potentially fixing longstanding property problems.  They built language into nonconformity, giving towns opportunities to have conversations with developers when work requiring permits is performed, bringing properties closer to current standards.

Mr. Kelley also mentioned housekeeping items with definitions related to buffer and stormwater basins to maintain consistency across documents.

Council President closed the public hearing at 8:27 p.m.

MOTION BY COUNCILOR BEAULIEU, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SHAW, AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE THE ORDINANCE BY A ROLL CALL VOTE.  VOTE 6/1. 

Nay Vote: Councilor Bradley

B.    ReSOLUTIONS

1.      R-26-16 – A resolution adopting the unsynchronized tax levy for portions of fiscal year 2026 and fiscal year 2027. (tabled from April 1, 2026)

Councilor Shaw indicated they had taken a vote of 2 to 0 in committee to refer to the council with no recommendation, noting he would comment after the Mayor to catch everyone up on their discussion.

Mayor Mutter explained that Resolution 26-16 is the annual resolution with a range from $77,500 to $79,000,000, with accompanying documentation fitting inside that range. The budget supporting this resolution and levy was passed last June with a 4 percent levy. The council at that time removed the restriction of the 3 percent rate cap. In a revaluation year, the rate was projected to be a 3.5 percent rate increase and 4 percent levy. With the revaluation, the rate is clearly decreasing, so there wasn't need to amend that ordinance, but they removed it for transparency. The rate is coming down because valuations went up, but the 4 percent levy remains, and they're right up against 3.99 percent and some small change.

The Mayor explained projected expense highlights. He always had budget amendments reflective of numbers inside the levy sheet. This year, with the snowstorm and potential dollars going into receivables, those numbers weren't solidified yet. He will have a budget amendment for the next meeting.  He reported they were over on highway by perhaps half a million dollars due to the snowstorm. There were also overages on police, EMS, and dispatch. Police overages were mostly due to retirements where budgeted amounts for retirements and severance lines weren't sufficient for law enforcement retirement payouts.  EMS had some injured-on-duty situations increasing overtime, though this would be offset by additional EMS revenue. He projected combined overages of $250,000 each for police and EMS, plus another $75,000 on dispatch, which was running on a new schedule they had anticipated would save money, but that anticipation hadn't come true.  They also needed to reconcile the school department's budget, as the school department passed their budget then subsequently amended it within the last 30-45 days.

These significant dollar changes were offset mainly by increased housing aid they had budgeted at $3.9 million but was coming in at $4.5 million. It came in higher than that, but they were trying to determine exactly why and didn't want to use money they might not have next year, so they were still working on that.  Long story short, it's a 4 percent levy projected to support this year's budget. The collection rate was always intriguing, more so this year where financials showed the rate dropping a point and a half to 47.62 percent. Whether this was an anomaly or they were back at 49 percent was anybody's guess.  This leaves more money to collect later, so they would budget more than projected under current prior year collection, then put in 47.62 percent and hope that comes in.  Generally speaking, all numbers were changing, but it still referred to a 4 percent budget. Without snowstorms, it would be under 4 percent, but there were a couple of snowstorms.  The big change was the split rate. Historically, going back to 2008 and 2022, the commercial base picked up around 16 percent of the levy. This had gone down to 12 percent with motor vehicle being phased out and tangible rate frozen, the only means to somewhat balance this was splitting the rate.  They were proposing to split the rate at $11.03 on commercial side and $10.01 on residential side. They had emailed information about other communities' split rates, showing that in most cases, split rates weren't small amounts, with asterisks next to municipalities that also had homestead exemptions.  When splitting the rate, technically they were moving some burden from residential taxpayers to commercial taxpayers, effectively serving as a homestead exemption. Adding a homestead exemption to that might be too much in his opinion, but it was allowed during revaluation years to soften residential burden and balance burden closer to what it was 15 years ago.  By code, they also had to receive the assessor's statement of valuations, which was included in the packet.

Council President asked about the split rate's impact. If they didn't split the rate, it would be $10.15 for everyone. With the split maintaining 14 percent commercial burden, it was in the middle between what it was in 2008 and now.

Council President asked about other major drivers besides the snowstorm.

Mayor Mutter explained they had made investments in public safety over the last 3-4 years. The biggest drivers were increasing police costs, where retirement payouts were dramatically higher than years ago when he was in the council seats.  Some years it wasn't a factor, but they had some retirements with others coming. If left in police salary line items, those lines would appear higher than budgeted. Pulling them into severance lines funded at $125,000 wasn't nearly enough, and they would change this for the FY2027 budget. Some payments exceeded $60,000, so 3 or 4 retirements totaled $200,000.  On the town side, obligations weren't nearly that type when someone left. The biggest drivers other than highway snowstorm costs were in public safety: police, EMS with injured-on-duty forcing overtime increases, and telecommunications where they made major investments over recent years having 2 dispatchers on 24/7.  Their contract was up by June 30th, and they needed to look at that schedule. One more question about police dispatches going to the Pitman schedule and why it wasn't working when they thought it would save money.  He indicated this was a very good question, noting they did have turnover even in telecommunications, but honestly, it had not derived the budgetary results they wanted and needed to be addressed. He expressed gratitude that it didn't happen in the police department, noting that if the same thing had happened there from a budget perspective, the math would have been quite problematic.

Councilor Shaw recapped the mayor's presentation and noted the rate had changed from what was proposed the previous night (10.66) versus today. He asked if this was because they weren't pursuing potential FEMA reimbursement.

Mayor Mutter clarified it wasn't about FEMA but because numbers on the tangible side had changed - these weren't final numbers the previous night, but these were final numbers. A very small difference makes a significant rate change.

Assessor Al Wiley explained they faced problems with Cumberland's unsynchronized fiscal scenario creating time crunches for billing readiness. During the period when values were being finalized, everything was constantly in flux. He didn't get final values due to a big tangible change. Final values from revaluation hearing results were given to him Friday night, and he couldn't get everything to the mayor until that morning. While not a giant change, over 600 hearings resulted in a few million dollars coming off both commercial and residential, pushing the rate about 30 cents.

Councilor Shaw asked for clarification about receivables, noting the mayor didn't mention that part.

Mayor Mutter explained the receivables side would be on the budget amendment. He had asked EMA Director Pliakas for a number associated with the 48 hours under review for meeting the threshold. That number changed today. The number he had projected was around $464,000, which was associated with this levy. If the number was higher, they had to pay the bill and put it on the books. If they put it at $460,000 and it came in at $670,000, they would benefit. That's what they were projecting inside these numbers.  When seeing the budget amendment, they would see an additional $500,000 maybe on highway. Using the higher number would lower that number, but nobody thought that was a good idea because they might get none of that money. Making it work with the lower number, and hedging bets would be okay.

Councilor Shaw wanted the council to know that as of the previous night, the plan was to pull money from receivables if they didn't get federal reimbursement, but now using the lower number that would fit within the rate.

Mayor Mutter explained that housing aid numbers came in significantly higher than anticipated. If they still used numbers higher than budget due to timing issues and held that aside without using fund balance associated with the FY26 budget, that would be good, leaving more fund balance.  If they didn't get reimbursement, they could use that. If they didn't want to use that and had to fund it, they'd have to go over 4 percent. It was impossible to cut enough - they'd have to stop doing something. Since it was April 15th and the fiscal year closed June 30th, there was no way to make that kind of change other than inflating revenue or using more fund balance, neither of which would be good ideas in their opinion.  Right now, it was to be determined whether they'd get the money or not. Next year they’ll know, and if they didn't get it, they'd already paid for it but would have to find a place on the books, either in the budget through tax rate or using fund balance.  They were hoping the housing aid number came in higher and was real without affecting next year, giving them extra fund balance they would have used this year. They hoped the federal government would pay that bill more than projected, making the world a good place. But just in case it didn't happen, they were holding off a little bit.

MOTION BY COUNCILOR SWEET AND COUNCILOR SHAW, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR BEAULIEU, AND IT WAS VOTED BY A ROLL CALL TO APPROVE.  VOTE 5/2. 

Nay Votes: Councilors Metivier and Bradley

2.      R-26-19 – A resolution authorizing and empowering Mayor Jeffrey J. Mutter to enter into a contract renewal with Retrofit Technologies for IT Managed Services, Microsoft Licensing, and Barracuda Security Licensing. (tabled from April 1, 2026)

Council President noted this was tabled from April 1, 2026, and would be tabled to the next meeting on May 6th.

MOTION BY COUNCILOR SHAW, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR MAGILL, AND IT UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO TABLE TO MAY 6, 2026. VOTE 7/0.

NEW BUSINESS

A.    APPOINTMENTS

1.       PRINCIPAL PLANNER

             Alexandra Langille

Council President invited Ms. Langille to describe her background.

Ms. Langille participated remotely via video.  She explained that much of her experience is academic, noting that she is currently enrolled in a master's program specializing in community planning as well as geographic information systems (GIS). Her project work has included data management and analysis, cartography, site planning, and urban design. She has been working with the Town of Smithfield's planning and economic development team on their current comprehensive plan update.

MOTION BY COUNCILOR BEAULIEU, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SHAW, AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE.  VOTE 7/0.

2.       DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

             Amelia Morton

Amelia Morton introduced herself as the incoming director of economic development and planning. She had been working in both economic development and planning fields for the last 5 years and was excited about the position. Currently living in the Boston area, she looked forward to relocating to Rhode Island soon and working with the department on updating the comprehensive plan, which she felt would be a great opportunity for Cumberland.

MOTION BY COUNCILOR BEAULIEU, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SHAW, AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE.  VOTE 7/0.

      3.   MUNICIPAL/PROBATE COURT CLERK

Melissa Fontes

 

Melissa Fontes introduced herself as a Cumberland resident accepting the municipal court clerk position. She had experience in this role, having worked in the Pawtucket municipal court clerk position, and looked forward to doing everything she could for the town of Cumberland.

 

MOTION BY COUNCILOR SWEET, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR BEAULIEU AND COUNCILOR SHAW, AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE.  VOTE 7/0.

 

       4.   ACTING DEPUTY FINANCE DIRECTOR

             Sarah Clary

Council President noted they were familiar with Sarah Clary who already worked with them and welcomed her aboard. Hearing no questions, he proceeded to the motion.

MOTION BY COUNCILOR METIVIER, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SHAW, AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE.  VOTE 7/0.

B.  CLAIMS

1.  Jana Levasseur – REFERRED TO FINANCE SUB-COMMITTEE

 

2.  Mark Reilly – REFERRED TO FINANCE SUB-COMMITTEE

 

 

C.    RESOLUTIONS

1.          R-26-20 – A resolution in support of fully funding state aid to libraries to the full twenty-five percent (25%)

Council President asked if Library Director Celeste Dyer wanted to comment on this resolution.

Library Director Celeste Dyer explained that state aid is currently at 25 percent, but only if money is in the budget. House Bill 7-66-91 and its companion senate bill would require it to be 25 percent, not just if they felt like funding it at 25 percent.

In the fiscal year 2027 budget, it's at 24.1 percent, which loses Cumberland about $13,500. While that doesn't sound like a lot, for the library it is significant. It would pay for increases in their book budget, maintenance agreements, and membership dues for Ocean State Libraries.

Public libraries across the state were asking their town councils and city councils to approve this resolution, hopefully pressuring someone to pass the bill.

Council President asked if there were questions of the director, hearing none.

MOTION BY COUNCILOR SWEET, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR BEAULIEU, AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE.  VOTE 7/0.

2.       R-26-21 – A resolution authorizing the finance director to discharge uncollectable motor vehicle

         taxes totaling one hundred thirty-three thousand, six hundred eight-two and 04/100 

         dollars ($133,682.04)

Finance Director explained she was asking for approval to write off unpaid motor vehicle taxes over 10 years old, per Rhode Island state law's statute of limitations. She had appeared before them last year for this same purpose. This year they were writing off 2014 and 2015 taxes, and she would be there every year until they reached the 10-year limit on 2021, the last motor vehicle bill year.

Councilor Shaw asked about people who owe these taxes and whether they could renew their licenses.

The Finance Director explained that Rhode Island puts blocks through the DMV so people can't register other vehicles until they pay, but often people move out of state or pass away, leaving taxes unpaid. Rhode Island can't put blocks in other states if people move.

MOTI0N BY COUNCILOR SHAW, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR MCGILL, AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE.  VOTE 7/0.

3.   R-26-22 – A resolution authorizing and empowering Mayor Jeffrey J. Mutter to execute an easement to the Narragansett Electric company for the replacement and maintenance of a distribution system on Assessor’s Plat 3, Lot 176.

 

Director Mendez explained this was the same vintage as the two easements before them at the last meeting on West Wrentham. This site was right in front of BF Norton, the new BF Norton facility. He believed it was intended to provide connection to the new BF Norton facility, so all or part of what would be put in place would affect town property, which was why Narragansett Electric was requesting the easement.

MOTION BY COUNCILOR SWEET, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR SHAW, AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO APPROVE.  VOTE 7/0.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

 

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION BY COUNCILOR SHAW, SECONDED BY COUNCILOR MCGILL, AND IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ADJOURN AT 9:06 P.M.  VOTE 7/0.