by Billy Kepner | Oct 23, 2019 | Council News, Press Release, Uncategorized, Ward-7
This afternoon Councilman John J. Igliozzi, Esq. (Ward 7) joined Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, Council President Sabina Matos, Council President Pro Tempore Michael Correia, Superintendent of Parks Wendy Nilsson, Janet Coit from RIDEM, Ed Raff from the Met School, the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, Kevin Essington from The Trust for Public Land, and Sheila Dormody from The Nature Conservancy to officially open the new Woonasquatucket Adventure Park located at 117 Glenbridge Avenue in Providence.
The new Woonasquatucket Adventure Park extends to Merino Park, encompassing nearly 28 acres of green space, play space, fields, and multi-purpose trails. The project has transformed a once vacant and underutilized piece of land along the Woonasquatucket River into a new beautiful, and active recreational space, complete with amenities that will attract residents from across Providence’s dense and diverse neighborhoods.
“This new Adventure Park is a great addition to the neighborhood,” stated Councilman John J. Igliozzi, Esq. “It will provide residents with access to amenities like picnic areas, a parkour course, a bicycle pump track, and a multi-use trail system which connects to Merino Park. I am grateful for the community support we have received to make this investment for not just our young people, but for residents of all ages.”
Over his tenure, Councilman Igliozzi has invested nearly $1M in Merino Park and the new Adventure Park. At Marino Park, he funded the rehabilitation of the basketball court, created a soccer field, a playground, added new parking lights, a new parking lot, security cameras, and brought water to the park for the first time.
Councilman Igliozzi continued, “I strongly believe in investing in our City parks, and in my years in office, I have made that a priority. Everyone deserves access to nature and places for exploration and space.” In FY 2020 Councilman Iglozzi has earmarked another $80K in funding for neighborhood park projects.
The Woonasquatucket Adventure Park was made possible through funding from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the City of Providence, City Council of Providence, Rhode Island Department of Transportation, Pisces Foundation, Hydro Flask, McKee Foods, and The Nature Conservancy.
For more information on the Woonasquatucket Adventure Park or Woonsquatucket River Watershed Council, visit them on the web: WRWC.
by Billy Kepner | Oct 22, 2019 | Council News, Press Release, Ward-7
Tomorrow Councilman John J. Igliozzi, Esq. (Ward 7) will join Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, Superintendent of Parks Wendy Nilsson, Janet Coit from RIDEM, Ed Raff from the Met School, the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, Kevin Essington from The Trust for Public Land, and Sheila Dormody from The Nature Conservancy to unveil the new Woonasquatucket Adventure Park located at 117 Glenbridge Avenue in Providence at noon.
The new Woonasquatucket Adventure Park extends to Merino Park, encompassing nearly 28 acres of green space, play space, fields, and multi-purpose trails. The project has transformed a once vacant and underutilized piece of land along the Woonasquatucket River into a new beautiful, and active recreational space, complete with amenities that will attract residents from across Providence’s dense and diverse neighborhoods.
“This new Adventure Park is a great addition to the neighborhood,” stated Councilman John J. Igliozzi, Esq. “It will provide residents with access to amenities like picnic areas, a parkour course, a bicycle pump track, and a multi-use trail system which connects to Merino Park. I am grateful for the community support we have received to make this investment for not just our young people, but for residents of all ages.”
Over his tenure, Councilman Igliozzi has invested nearly $1M in Merino Park and the new Adventure Park. At Marino Park, he funded the rehabilitation of the basketball court, created a soccer field, a playground, added new parking lights, a new parking lot, security cameras, and brought water to the park for the first time.
Councilman Igliozzi continued, “I strongly believe in investing in our City parks, and in my years in office, I have made that a priority. Everyone deserves access to nature and places for exploration and space.” In FY 2020 Councilman Iglozzi has earmarked another $80K in funding for neighborhood park projects.
The Woonasquatucket Adventure Park was made possible through funding from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the City of Providence, City Council of Providence, Rhode Island Department of Transportation, Pisces Foundation, Hydro Flask, McKee Foods, and The Nature Conservancy.
For more information on the Woonasquatucket Adventure Park or Woonsquatucket River Watershed Council, visit them on the web:
WRWC.
by Billy Kepner | Oct 22, 2019 | Council News, Press Release, Ward-5
Providence City Council Majority Leader Jo-Ann Ryan, (Ward 5) joined Assistant Store Manager Frank Carnevale and members of his staff this morning at the Stop & Shop located at 850 Manton Avenue to give out free reusable bags. In addition to giving out the reusable bags, Majority Leader Ryan even helped bag groceries. Stop and Shop is giving out 300 free reusable bags at each of their Providence locations today to the first 300 customers.
“I was very happy with the reception we received from customers regarding the change from single-use plastic bags to reusable or free paper bags,” stated City Council Majority Leader Jo-Ann Ryan. “As the lead sponsor of this initiative I have worked for over two years with my community partners Clean Water Action, Conservation Law Foundation, Zero Waste Providence, and the City’s Office of Sustainability to craft a plan that is designed to minimize the impact on customers and retailers, and maximize the effectiveness of the law by saving money, protecting our environment, and improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods. This effort could not have happened without their support. I want to thank them, and Stop & Shop for helping ensure that those who need a reusable bag have a chance to get one tomorrow!”
Stop & Shop began preparing for the change from plastic to paper earlier this month. They are offering free paper bags, and their Stop & Shop reusable bags are being sold at 2 for $1, and they also have a variety of novelty bags – like ones celebrating the New England Patriots for $1.99. They have various other options at other price points as well.
”We share our customers’ concern over the environmental impact of plastics waste, so we are proud to be a part of this change in Providence,” said Jennifer Brogan, Director of Community Relations for Stop & Shop. “We also want to make the transition easier for our customers by giving away reusable bags, which is the most sustainable choice for the planet.”
The Providence Plastic Bag Reduction Act, modeled on similar laws and best practices enacted in Boston and other municipalities and states across the country, will:
- Significantly reduce the use of plastic bags in Providence.
- Exempt certain dry cleaning and laundry bags, as well as those used to wrap or contain frozen foods.
- Allow businesses to be able to use its supply of plastic bags.
- Require the City’s Office of Sustainability to conduct a comprehensive public education outreach initiative to ensure that residents and businesses are properly informed. And requires regular reporting to the City Council on Program effectiveness.
Majority Leader Ryan continued, “We use over 95 million plastic bags annually in just our city alone. That’s a very real problem, not simply for the litter these bags create in our neighborhoods, but because these bags come with a very real cost. There’s the nearly $1 million the city spends yearly in rejected recycling loads largely due to the presence of plastic bags in our recycling barrels. Additionally, these bags often end up in Narragansett Bay and other area waterways, where they break into smaller pieces called microplastics. Those microplastics pose a deadly threat to sea life, and Clean Water Action has found that they are now a serious source of contamination in the Bay. That’s why passing this legislation was so important, not just for Providence, but for the State.”
Providence joins the following Rhode Island municipalities in banning or reducing plastic bags in their communities: Barrington, Bristol, Jamestown, Middletown, Narragansett, New Shoreham, Newport, North Kingstown, Portsmouth, South Kingstown, Tiverton, Warren, and next month East Providence will come online, followed by Cranston on July 1, 2020.
For community members who need a reusable bag, or have reusable bags they would like to donate, they can do so at any of the Providence Community Library Locations.
For more information on Stop & Shop, visit them on the web at stopandshop.com
by Billy Kepner | Oct 21, 2019 | Council News, Press Release, Ward-15, Ward-6
On Friday, October 18,2019 City Council President Sabina Matos (Ward 15) and Council President Pro Tempore Michael Correia (Ward 6) joined Mayor Jorge Elorza, Commissioner of Public Safety Steven Paré, Chief of Police Hugh Clements Jr., and several community leaders to announce the recruitment phase for the 70th Providence Police Department Training Academy.
“Public safety is one of the top concerns for the City Council,” stated City Council President Sabina Matos. “Our police department is understaffed, overworked, and we have more than 100 officers eligible for retirement in the coming year. While it is true that violent crimes are going down, the crimes of opportunity that affect quality of life in our city seem to be on the rise and the perception is that crimes are up. My office is looking into the feasibility of rolling academies, or allocating more funds for overtime from the City’s budget.”
City Council President Pro Tempore Michael Correia stated, “I have always been a big supporter of our public safety officers. As an elected official I believe that public safety is paramount, and I am in full support of expanding our Training Academy schedule to accommodate more cadets. Having more boots on the ground will help curb the uptick we have seen in crimes around our nightlife establishments.”
The application process for the 70th Providence Police Training Academy will be open through December 31, 2019. The extensive selection process includes seven phases: Physical Fitness Assessment, Written Examination, Oral Interview, Background Investigation, Psychological Evaluation and a Physical Fitness pre-test prior to entering into the police academy. The academy is approximately 24-weeks long and includes over 812 hours of training including daily physical fitness training, defense tactics, firearms training, criminal law procedures, community policing, investigation, emergency vehicle operation and much more.
Applications must be completed online only and the application fee must be paid at the time of submission to ensure the applicant will be notified of the next steps related to the recruitment process. For more information please visit: 70th Training Academy
by Billy Kepner | Oct 18, 2019 | Council News, Press Release, Ward-6
This morning Providence Police Narcotics Officers made several arrests of prostitutes and street level drug dealers along Atwells Avenue, Newark Street, Cutler Street, and Academy Avenue after City Council President Pro Tempore Michael Correia (Ward 6) contacted the Providence Police Department.
“Over the past several weeks I have received numerous complaints from constituents informing me of illegal activities happening in the area,” stated City Council President Pro Tempore Michael Correia. “My biggest concern was for the safety of our residents, and that of our young students who were being exposed to such activity while they waited for their buses in the morning. This sends a strong message to the community, and those that would commit crimes on our streets, that we will not stand for it. As an elected official I have a sworn duty to uphold the law, and that is why I shared the information with the Police Department.”
This is an ongoing case, and the undercover operation will continue. President Pro Tempore Correia continued, “Quality of life is of the utmost importance to my colleagues and myself, and to have criminals operating in plain sight diminishes that quality greatly. I want to personally thank the men and women of the Providence Police Narcotics Division for their dedication and hard work in ensuring that our streets are safe for all who live and visit Providence.”
If you see a crime, or expect a crime is being committed please reach out to the Providence Police Department by calling 401-272-3121 or by reporting it online at http://bit.ly/2IZB09q.
