Page 3 - Dylan Zelazo News Today

5/25/2021 Confusion over school cut PAWTUCKET – A cut from a near-maximum 3.74 percent tax increase to 2.5 percent increase is “more palatable” to city taxpayers after multiple financial hits, said Councilor Mark Wildenhain, head of the council’s finance subcommittee. Working with Mayor Donald Grebien’s administration, he said the council was able to find the cuts needed to lessen the burden, though there are still some unknown variables going forward. The overall decrease in expendit...

5/11/2021 City Hall tower will be replaced in major project City officials have decided to complete a full removal and replacement of the Pawtucket City Hall tower facade. (Breeze photo by Ethan Shorey) PAWTUCKET – A top-to-bottom reconstruction of the downtown’s centerpiece architecture is now in the works after officials determined that a facelift for the Pawtucket City Hall tower wouldn’t be enough. Joe Morais, project leader at the Pawtucket Department of Public Works, wrote in a memo...

5/11/2021 McCoy Stadium one of two possible sites for safety complex McCoy Stadium is one of two proposed sites for a new public safety complex. (Breeze file photo by Robert Emerson) PAWTUCKET – McCoy Stadium off Division Street and Columbus Avenue is one of two proposed sites for a new public safety complex, Mayor Donald Grebien is confirming this week. The second and more likely option is the existing site of the Department of Public Works at Armistice Boulevard and George Bennett Highway, ...

PAWTUCKET – Owners of the downtown Apex properties have sued city officials in their personal capacities, saying the lawsuit is meant to “stop the systemic abuse of power deployed by the defendants.” The lawsuit, filed in District Court April 14, says Mayor Donald Grebien and others “have relentlessly singled out the Apex Companies, interfered with their property rights and their businesses, and tried to coerce them into giving up their properties in violation of the law.” The city, w...

PAWTUCKET – Owners of the downtown Apex properties have sued city officials in their personal capacities, saying the lawsuit is meant to “stop the systemic abuse of power deployed by the defendants.” The lawsuit, filed in District Court April 14, says Mayor Donald Grebien and others “have relentlessly singled out the Apex Companies, interfered with their property rights and their businesses, and tried to coerce them into giving up their properties in violation of the law.” The city, w...

4/13/2021 Rudd points to uncovered trash, but official rejects premise This picture of a truck at the city’s waste transfer station on Grotto Avenue has council members calling for better controls, but a representative for Mayor Donald Grebien says the picture represents the loading of the truck mid-process. PAWTUCKET – Some council members are saying a picture is worth a thousand words when it comes to the way trash is handled at the city’s waste transfer station, while members of Mayor ...

3/16/2021 Preliminary groundwork for a new stadium on the Pawtucket riverfront has begun. PAWTUCKET – The redevelopment of the former Tidewater gas plant site on Pawtucket’s riverfront into a modern soccer stadium and associated amenities reached its most visible stage yet this week, with new environmental work beginning Monday, March 15. Over the next two weeks, tangible progress will be evident on-site as geotechnical engineers and environmental professionals will be on the Tidewater parc...

PAWTUCKET – The City Council last week moved to decrease the size of a proposed supplemental tax increase by about one-third, with members saying they’ll work with Mayor Donald Grebien’s administration to find cost savings to make up the difference in lost revenue by the end of the fiscal year June 30. The increase per $1,000 of assessed property value will be 25 cents instead of 35 cents, from $20.89 to $21.14. The resulting increase for the majority of residential taxpayers is less than...

2/16/2021 With a little help, Pawtucket now maintaining McCoy The city of Pawtucket is now responsible for maintaining McCoy Stadium. (Breeze photo by Robert Emerson) PAWTUCKET – Lacking the city staffing to properly maintain McCoy Stadium now that the Pawtucket Red Sox franchise has mostly left the building, the city has hired an outside contractor to do the work. The Department of Public Works has not been responsible for managing and maintaining McCoy for decades now, said Acting DPW Direc...

12/15/2020 Committee moves forward on new trash transfer station The city is nearing a 10-year agreement with the operations of the Grotto Avenue transfer station. Waste Connections would build a new facility to replace the existing one. PAWTUCKET – After a failed bid by City Councilor Tim Rudd to get another legal opinion on a new 10-year lease agreement for the city’s waste transfer station, the City Council’s property subcommittee last week gave an initial go-ahead to the agreement. ...