Vote on support of the Charlestown Land Trust’s purchase of the YMCA property for preservation-approved after discussion 3 -1-1. Greg Avedesian, Marge Frank and Tom Gentz voted to approve purchasing a Conservation Easement, Lisa Dibello voted against it and Dan Slattery had to recuse due to being an abutter.

Edwards Lane Affordable Housing project of seven houses in Carolina by Geoff Marchant was approved for $200,000 acquisition grant and a $50,000 initiative grant for engineering work.

The TA and Police Chief have sent out an RFP to install red light cameras to reduce accidents at corners. The Town has 5 red lights.

The audit was presented with glowing comments about the Town Treasurer’s efforts. No problems were identified.

Lisa DiBello proposed a smoking ban at the beaches. It was sent to the Parks & Rec commission for comment.

The lighting ordinance was continued to the March TC meeting which will be held at the Charlestown Elementary School.

The Breachway Café was given a full liquor license. No problems were found by the police chief and all the speakers spoke in favor of the full license.

Discussion:
Potential formation of an Affordable Housing Advisory Review Panel comprised of representatives from the Affordable Housing Commission, Planning Commission, Zoning Board of Review, Conservation Commission, Wastewater Management Commission, the Town Planner, the Building Official, the Wastewater Management Specialist and the Town Administrator.

Potential formation of a subcommittee to explore the potential acquisition of and development of the Cross Mills Fire Station building and property into a town center/park

Approval of $250,000 in Affordable Housing Bonds

Potential action in support of the Charlestown Land Trust’s purchase of the YMCA property for preservation with advisory opinions from the YMCA Land Advisory Panel, the Conservation Commission and the Planning Commission.

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Your Questions:
Does anyone know if the sludge that is being pumped onto our town beach has been tested for PCB’s DDT, heavy metals, herbicides, Scott’s turf builder, Monsantos’ roundup, noxious bacteria and other cancer causing health hazards? I can’t help but think they are making our beach into a superfund site as the black ooze spreads onto the sand. Diluting the pollution which will concentrate in our own bodies through swimming, walking, sitting on the beach this summer and eating fish caught.

Editor’s Comment: From what we understand, the dredging is being done in settlement or catchment basins that were initially dredged by the Army Corps of Engineers. The dredge is picking up the sand that had clogged the breachway and settled in the settlement basins. If the breachway continued to be filled in, the sand would choke off sea water exchange in Ninigret Pond, and the pond would die. The sand is being pumped out on the Town Beach to build up the beach, as it is Town property. The dredging company is an expert in hydraulic dredging and headquartered in Indiana. CRMC also has a news page about the dredging at http://www.crmc.state.ri.us/news/2012_0124_ninigret.html. It says among other things “Sand dredged from the sedimentation basin will by hydraulically deposited into the intertidal beach (just offshore) at Charlestown Town Beach, so that it will naturally wash ashore to create beach habitat used by Piping Plover and other important species. Eelgrass, an important native aquatic plant that grows in shallow sub-tidal areas, functions as a nursery, refuge and feeding ground for many marine species.” According to the CRMC, it is sand that was washed into the catchment basin, which may contain other organic material, but not any more concentration of the chemicals listed than are already in the pond. The main objective of the dredging is to keep the pond alive and not kill it.

To the Steering Committee - First of all, thanks for all you do to keep us informed. Don’t think it goes unappreciated. And on another note, what’s our town’s status re “unfunded public employee pension funds”?

Editor’s Note: For the past three years or so, the Town has put about $300,000 into an account for OPEB accounts which is for retiree healthcare payments, like health insurance. We are funding that as fast as possible, and were one of the first towns in RI to handle the OPEB issue. As far as the Pension system, that is a state run plan called MERS, Municipal Employee Retirement System. The State Treasurer tells the town what our contribution needs to be to properly fund the retiree pension plans. Again, we are doing exactly what the State requires the Town to do, or we lose state aid. The figures are still being calculated due to the pension reform, but we are in much better shape than other towns in RI that are in the newspaper, like municipal pension plans that are currently being addressed.

There was nothing about wind turbines that I could find on any of the links.

Editor’s Note: The wind turbine information needs to be updated on the Town’s website home page. The MET tower will be finished collecting wind information in March and the Town Council will then discuss the next steps. Alteris, who installed the MET tower, was merged into a new company. If you are looking for information on wind turbines on the CCA page, go to the search page and search on wind many stories and letters etc. show up. There is a link to the search page in the right side navigation on every post and page, but that page is at http://charlestowncitizens.org/cca/search-cca/.

Just curious if the CCA has any comment on the upcoming elections?

Editor’s Note-Do you mean the Presidential Primaries or the local elections in November? We will certainly cover the local elections. We’ve never taken positions on national politics except for local impacts such as federal gambling policy. The Steering Committee is made up of all different political points of view on national politics.

Charlestown Girls Softball League Sign Up Is Tuesday and Thursday Night
Kids Art With Miss Annie, Yoga, Chess and Free Tax Help at Cross Mills
Frosty Drew Valentines Event
Nature Walks
And MORE!

Go to http://charlestowncitizens.org/cca/local-news/cbb/

Join our email list-we’re growing every day!! Send us your neighbors or friends email address!!

Charlestown Citizens Alliance Steering Committee

Sunday afternoon blues benefit concert with
Roomful of Blues

It may be cold outside on Sunday, but RI’s award-winning Roomful of Blues will be turning up the heat for the Charlestown Land Trust at a special “Get-rid-of-the-winter blues Benefit Concert.”

The five-time Grammy nominee band will be playing at a special event for the nonprofit land trust this Sunday, January 15 at  4 p.m. The venue is the newly remodeled Starlight Ballroom of The Knickberbocker Cafe in Westerly, at 35 Railroad Avenue (down the street from the Westerly train station).  The house-rockin’ band has received numerous awards - most recently the Boston Music Award for best blues artist.

Tickets are $25, available online at The Knickerbocker Cafe’s website or at the door on Sunday. Food and beverages will be available.

The  special concert is the first event in the Charlestown Land Trust’s campaign to buy and preserve 27+ scenic aces on the shores of Watchaug Pond in Charlestown and to turn the site into a nature sanctuary with walking trails for the public.

If you can’t make the concert, but want to show your support or learn more about the campaign,  visit the Charlestown Land Trust website.

Frosty Drew Observatory presents three more screenings of
The City Dark

- a new feature documentary about light pollution and the disappearing night sky. “What do we lose, when we lose the night?”The film leads viewers on a quest to understand how light pollution is affecting people and the planet.

When:    Friday, January 13, at 6p.m. and 8p.m.
Where:   The Frosty Drew Observatory & Sky Theater
62 Park Lane, Charlestown, Rhode Island
and
When:      Saturday, January 21, at 7p.m.
Where:    The Clark Library, 7 Pinehurst Drive, Richmond
Full details here …

Lots more events at our Bulletin Board

with the house-rockin band that’s been a Grammy nominee five times

ROOMFUL OF BLUES

Sunday, January 15, 4:00 pm

at the newly remodeled Starlight Ballroom,
Knickerbocker Cafe, 35 Railroad Ave, Westerly

Tickets are $25 online at: theKnickerbockerCafe.com or at the door. Food and drinks available.

The purpose of the blues event is to help raise funds for the Charlestown Land Trust’s campaign to purchase and preserve the largest parcel of private, unprotected land on Watchaug Pond, and to create a nature sanctuary with walking trails for all to enjoy. Learn more about the Campaign for Watchaug Pond Preserve.

If you can’t make the concert, but want to join in the campaign and contribute, go to charlestownlandtrust.org

We are posting this on behalf of Charlestown Land Trust

To receive this special gift, go to charlestownlandtrust.org, make a donation of $250 or more, and send an email requesting the gift to pondfund@charlestownlandtrust.org. You must include your name, telephone number and address in the email so that the gift may be delivered to you.

Tell Your Friends About This Special Offer
Offer open as long as gift supply lasts

The following plus more are on tomorrow’s agenda

• A change to Board and Commission appointments that would require a review and recommendation of the applicants by the current members of the Board or Commission.
• Discussion of homestead exemption
• Discussion of sports lighting for Ninigret Park. Request to submit grant application to develop a football stadium with a lighted practice area.
• Discussion of White Tail Deer Management at Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge.
• Discussion and potential vote regarding an Affordable Housing Resolution and proposed Affordable Housing Legislation. This is a request to the Legislature to enact a moratorium of at least one year to stop applications from for-profit developers under the law. This would give the towns and legislature time to work out changes to the law.
• Public hearing and possible vote to create a “Friends of Ninigret Park” organization
• Presentation of the preliminary report from the YMCA Property Advisory Panel and potential action on a Resolution in support of the Charlestown Land Trust’s purchase of the YMCA property for preservation.

When: Thursday December 15 and Saturday December 17, both at 7p.m.
Where: Kettle Pond Visitors Center at Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge
50 Bend Road, Charlestown, Rhode Island
Film Trailer: http://www.thecitydark.com/#/Trailer

This is a free event, but please register for this event by sending an email to astronomer@frostydrew.org and note how many people will be attending and what showing you will be attending (December 15 showing or December 17 showing).

Frosty Drew Observatory presented the Rhode Island premier of THE CITY DARK to standing room only crowds on December 9.

After moving to New York City from rural Maine, filmmaker Ian Cheney asks a simple question, “Do we need the stars?” Exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawaii, tracking hatching turtles along the Florida coast, and rescuing injured birds on Chicago streets, Cheney unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights - including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above. Featuring stunning astrophotography and a cast of eclectic scientists, philosophers, historians and lighting designers, THE CITY DARK is the definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars.

- FEATURING -

• Neil deGrasse Tyson - Astrophysicist, Hayden Planetarium
• Don Pettit - Astronaut, NASA
• Ann Druyan - Co-writer, Cosmos
• Jack Newton - Astrophotographer
• Chris Impey - Cosmologist, University of Arizona
• Jeffrey Kuhn - Astronomer, University of Hawai’i
• Roger Ekirch - Historian, Virginia Tech
• Jane Brox - Author, Brilliant
• Bill Sharpe - Historian, Barnard College
• Susan Elbin - Ornithologist
• Dr. Steven Lockley - Professor, Harvard University
• Dr. Richard Stevens - Epidemiologist, University of CT
• Dr. George Brainard - Neurologist, University of Pennsylvania
• Dr. David Blask - Cellular Biologist, Tulane University
• Jon Shane - Criminologist
• Herve Descottes - Lighting Designer

- Awards -

• Best Score/Music - SXSW Film Festival (Music by The Fisherman Three and Ben Fries)
• Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature - Environmental Film Festival at Yale
• Best Professional Documentary - Real to Reel Film Festival
• Best Documentary - Hardacre Film Festival
• Audience Award - Kandy International Film Festival in Sri Lanka
• Best in Show - Rappahannock Independent Film Festival in Fredericksburg, VA
• Official Selection - SXSW, Mountainfilm in Telluride, Geek Film Festival, Indianapolis Film Festival, Woods Hole Film Festival, Maui International Film Festival, Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival, Independent Film Festival Boston, Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital

THE CITY DARK was brought to Charlestown in a cooperative effort of Frosty Drew and the Charlestown Planning Commission to bring attention to Charlestown’s dark skies and to build public support for their protection.

The Planning Commission has written a dark sky ordinance and hopes to inspire other neighboring communities to do the same.

“The dark skies above Charlestown was the principle reason for siting Frosty Drew Observatory in the Ninigret Park in 1989. Dark skies are almost nonexistent in the eastern United States. Reconnaissance photos show a light band from Florida well into Maine along the seacoast unbroken except for a single stretch centered on Charlestown Rhode Island. To find similarly dark skies elsewhere in New England you need to travel to the most rural northern regions of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine” (from the Frosty Drew website)

Here’s more information about THE CITY DARK