Sakonett

Good Old American Inginuity

2011-07-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

After six plus years of countless meetings, professional architects, endless negotiations with the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) the Little Compton School Committee has taken action to overcome one of the major saftey problems that prompted the failed efforts to build a $35,000,000 new school.
At a special meeting of the School Committee last Wednesday, they announced plans to build a new emergency exit for the cafateria.
Superintendent Kathy Crowley was given the green light to essentially knock a hole in a wall and install the Fire Exit.
Tom Alder, long time Chairman of the School Building Commitee who is a professional builder, and Architect Mark Rapp who has also been on the Building Committe from day one will get it done. Mark is doing the design work pro bono. Kudo's to Tom & Mark.
Want to help? Contact Cathy Crowley at the Wilbur & McMahon School.

2011-07-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

June 24th LCTA Newsletter

Retrospective of the June 4th 2011 LC Taxpayers Association Newsletter
Considering the limited space, cost of printing and postage, The LCTA Newsletter did a fine job in providing a historical overview of the never ending School Building Project.
Since I am not burdened with such space limitations and postage expense I want to expand upon some of the historical events that were not reported in the Associations Newsletter.
Following the earthshaking fire inspection in August of 2005 there was a great deal of hand wringing and head scratching. I recall hearing remarks highly critical of then Fire Chief, Harry Hallgring who was recently appointed. Chief Hallgring brought with him many years of experience in fire prevention procedures and knowledge of current fire safety codes, the likes of which apparently had never visited the inside of the Wilbur & McMahon School.
The Wilbur & McMahon facility is akin to “the house that Jack built.” It is a mish mash of buildings going back to 1929. The building makes no sense in terms of layout, traffic, dead end hallways and vast wasted space. All of that notwithstanding, it is a fine educational institution with an exceptionally good track record when it comes to producing a quality education for LC youngsters.
But there were/are physical plant problems with the facility. For openers it does not have a fire sprinkler system. There is a ton of outdated heating and air movement equipment, electrical services that were installed by Tom Edison, a leaky roof and a major egress problem.
The Newsletter states that JCJ Architects was hired by the Facilities Needs Committee. In fact JCJ was hired by the School Committee specifically to design a “new school” and to guide The Facilities Needs Committee through the RIDE approval process for State funds to reimburse the taxpayers to the tune of approximately 1/3 of the most of the costs associated with building a new school.
That is precisely where the process started to go astray. First of all, Stage I in the RIDE process requires the School District to submit a “Letter of Intent” and to appoint a “School Building Committee.” That process was not done for close to 18 Months and then only when then Superintendent Ron Devine became aware of the mandated process in a conversation with Mr. Joseph da Silva of RIDE. Clearly JCJ was ignorant of the process, and when confronted with the problem they tried to blame Joe da Silva for revising the process after they had been retained. This was not true; the process had been revised in the middle of 2007 six months before JCJ was hired.
Prior to Dr. Devine’s course correction, the Facilities Needs Committee had laid in plans for an extensive Dog & Pony Show to sell the more than 35 million dollar proposed building project, leading up to a Special Financial Town Meeting to approve funding. This process was in direct violation of RIDE published practices. Yet more wasted time, effort, and money.
So the School District was forced to go back to square one, hastily prepare a letter of intent, and appoint a School Building Committee and subsequently dump JCJ. Close to two years were down the drain, not to mention the $118,000 architectural fee. It has been all downhill ever since.
So then the new School Building Committee was off and running if you can call it that. The School Committee under the inept leadership of Michael Harrington appointed a 20 member committee. I don’t know if you have ever served on an elected or appointed committee, but let me assure you that a committee of that size is non-functional. Results to date confirm that judgment!
RIDE mandates eight (8) appointees including the Superintend of Schools, The Principal, a person familiar with maintaining the building, a teacher, a representative of the town governing body (council member), a financial person, a citizen with either engineering, construction or architectural experience, and at least one member of the School Committee. Mr. Harrington Appointed himself and three other members of the School Committee plus a group of interested citizens making up the 20 member committee.
From the get-go there were organizational problems. Nobody, it seemed wanted to step up and be nominated to lead the committee. Mr. Harrington assumed the chairmanship during several meetings until he handpicked Tom Alder as Chairman. Tom is a nice guy but even he admitted that he was had no prior experience managing a committee that was faced with such a huge responsibility and the potential of committing the town to spend possibly more than 30 million dollars. Tom went on OJT.
Among the many vital tasks the new committee had to perform was the hiring of yet another architect. The selection process was a nightmare and was in violation of the State of RI process for hiring architects and engineers. State Law requires a Qualification Based Selection (QBS) process. The process that the building committee followed was a circus that ended up hiring the least qualified most expensive of more than 20 applicants. The deal was awarded to Durkee-Brown at the infamous Memorial Day meeting of 2010 which resulted in a violation of the Open Meetings Act.
A major stumbling block became time. The committee and its inexperienced architect had to complete the Stage I submission and get RIDE approval by November of 2010. The RIDE requirement is that the project must be submitted and Stage I approved within one year of the date of the approval of the Districts Letter of Intent submission. A real wrench in the gears came when the Town Council agreed only to allow the Stage I Submission to go forward with a huge caveat. The Council slapped a 14 million dollar construction cost cap on the project.
I want to take you way back to a time very early on in this whole crazy process. It was at a regular meeting of the School Committee that I asked Chairman Michael Harrington what the committee would do if the plans for a new school failed to be approved by the voters of Little Compton. He said that they would have to deal with it. I asked if there was a “Plan B” or an alternative plan. His response was; “there is no Plan B.”
Well guess what, now there is a Plan B, and as pointed out in the LCTA Newsletter it is to FIX THE PROBLEMS following the RGB model.
A bit more on RGB… RGB was the child of the LCTA. Roger Lord made a comprehensive Power Point presentation at the annual meeting of the LCTA which dissected the original Mount Vernon Group (MVG) study and the subsequent JCJ review of the MVG findings. There were enough holes in the inflated (18.5 million dollar) JCJ review to sink a ship. Subsequently Roger gave his presentation to the Town Council. Mind you, this all took place when there was still a School Facility Needs Committee deliberating how they were going to sell the plan for a new school. Don Gomez, Chairman of the Facilities Needs Committee was present at Roger’s presentation to the Council. Even he agreed that there needed to be yet another engineering review.
Subsequently the Needs Committee published bid specifications and RGB was hired. If not for Roger, that never would have happened and there would be no “Plan B” as we know it today. Kudos to Roger and the LCTA Board of Directors.
So as you can see, there has been a sordid history in the evolution of the School Building program. As the late Paul Harvey used to say at the end of his broadcasts; “Now you know the rest of the story.”
Sarge

2011-03-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

AS I LIVE AND BREATHE – OR NOT?

WARNING! The story that you are about to read is absolutely, positively intended to scare the hell out of you. If you are not fully prepared to read a “Fictional Tale” of a tragedy that could happen to any Little Compton family, then stop right here and hit the delete button on your keyboard.

It is 1:20 AM in our quiet seaside community. The family of four was all sleeping soundly on the second floor of their beautiful Colonial home overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The children were tucked in around nine, tomorrow was a school day, and the parents turned in after watching Jay Leno on the TV in the first floor family room.

A fire was smoldering in Dad’s recliner, started from a cigarette ash. The demon fire was rapidly sucking the oxygen out of the air for a long time before it burst into flames. Fire, just like people needs oxygen to live. It does not take long before the level of oxygen in the air is lowered to the level where humans loose consciousness. So now the family was no longer simply sleeping, they were anesthetized and had no sense of what was happening around them. If they were not rescued soon they would all suffocate and die.

A neighbor returning from a late night party spotted smoke coming out of the house and a glowing red through windows on the first floor. He rushed across the road and rang the doorbell and pounded his fist on the door. He tried to open the door but it was locked and the door knob was hot. He quickly ran back to his home and called 911.

It was 1:30 AM when the dispatcher answered the call. He wrote down the information that he heard from the desperate caller and sounded the alarm. The public address system barked the address while the two firefighters on duty at the Public Safety Complex quickly donned their “turnout” gear. Engine One roared to life and left the station at 1:32 AM.

The Fire Truck pulled up in front of the burning home at 1:37 AM, only five minutes had elapsed. But time was quickly running out on the family trapped in the house. One of the firefighters deployed a hose line while the driver engaged the pump and charged the line with water. They started fighting the fire at 1:39 AM. Almost ten minutes had elapsed since the neighbor had alerted the fire department.

Meanwhile off duty firefighters and volunteers were alerted with some heading directly to the fire scene, while others went to the Fire Station to get the 3000 gallon tanker, the Rescue Ambulance and the back-up Fire Truck. The first back up personnel started arriving at the fire around 1:40 AM. They quickly deployed a second hose line off Engine One to assist in fighting the fire which was quickly spreading to the second floor.

Meantime the tanker truck and Engine Two were on the way and arrived at 1:45 AM, and began setting up the reserve water supply. They removed the portable folding 3000 gallon canvas reservoir from the truck and started transferring the water from the tanker to the reservoir. It was 1:50 AM, 20 minutes after the fire was reported. The water in the reservoir still needed to be pumped to Engine One.

At approximately 1:51 AM the 1000 gallon water supply carried on Engine One ran dry. The fire was now raging on unabated and was coming through the roof.

At 2:00 AM the back-up pumper started pumping water to Engine One, more hose lines were deployed and they started pouring more water onto the burning structure, now fully involved in flames. At 2:25 AM the fire was proclaimed to be “under control” no longer spreading. Thirty minutes later firefighters were able to safely enter the remaining structure and search for victims. It was a little more than an hour after the fire had been detected, reported, and fire apparatus was on the way. Four souls had passed on to their Creator.

The Headlines said: Little Compton Family of four perished in overnight fire. Firefighters fought the blaze for more than an hour. The Fire Chief reports that once again limited water supply hampered firefighting efforts. He said that at one point the first unit on the scene actually ran out of water. The Chief went on to say that “maybe now the town will do something to get us more men and more water. We pray for the family that perished, but we did the best that we could with what we have to work with.” End of Story….

Could there have been a different outcome? Absolutly yes!

Same time, same fictional story line, but a totally different response and result.

The two on duty firefighters respond with Engine Two the recently acquired Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS) Pumper. Within two minutes after arriving at the fire they have begun applying Compressed Air Foam through the windows of the family room, three minutes later the fire is knocked out. They are then able to safely enter the home with their self contained breathing apparatus and rescue the family from the smokey second floor. The family is quickly transported to the hospital where they are treated for smoke inhalation.

Now I know that there those who will say that this is a bunch of B.S… They might say that the family would have been awakened by their smoke detectors that were inspected when the house was built. Have you checked the batteries in your smoke detectors lately? They might say that the first responders would have immediately entered the building and rescued the victims. But then of course there is “the two men in, two men out rule” that prohibits entering a burning building until there are four personnel on the “fire ground.” There will be this and that said to shoot holes in this fictional story.

But you have to ask yourself one question. Could it happen? You bet your life it could. Does CAFS do a better job than water? You can bet your life on that too. Should the Fire Chief do the right thing and change his procedures and deploy our CAFS pumper first on all fire calls? He should bet his job on it!

Why you might ask have I gone to such an extreme in writing this frightening fictional story? The answer is quite simple. I and other concerned citizens of Little Compton have had it up to here with the failure on the part of Fire Department Management to deploy the Pierce CAFS equipped pumper. All we have had to show for our more than $200,000 investment in enhanced protection of life and property are excuses. This truck was delivered two years ago! Personnel have not been trained! There is no strategic plan to put this state-of-the-art pumper on the “front line.” Our new Fire Chief is of the opinion that CAFS is just another “tool.” OMG!

Sarge

2011-02-28T05:51:00.000-08:00

AM I A HORSE OR A COW?

In what seems like a lifetime ago when I was serving in the Air Force as a firefighter stationed in Germany, I read a very interesting letter to the editor of the Stars and Stripes, a newspaper published overseas for the military audience. The letter was written by an Army Warrant Officer. For those of you unfamiliar with military ranks, a Warrant Officer is a person somewhere in between an enlisted person and an officer. Sort of between a rock and a hard place.

The Warrant Officer posed this question; Am I a horse or a cow? The article as I recall was a bit tongue in cheek, but it was definitely an individual struggling with his identity as a member of the U.S. Army. Warrant Officers were not readily accepted at the “O”Club, and they were not allowed to join the NCO Club. There were treated like Bastards at the family reunion.

That reminds me of the situation that we have with our fire department. Back in the early 90’s in the civilian world, somebody came up with the idea of training firefighters to become Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’S). After all, they reasoned, they are an available manpower resource, and all they do is sit around the fire station most of the time waiting for the fire alarm to go off, we might as well make them more productive. That has evolved into the situation today where our firefighters are wearing two hats. But does it really make sense?

Make no mistake about it, we really need EMT services. Hardly a day goes by that our EMT’s do not respond to medical emergencies, and they do a great job. Their skill level is a reflection of high activity and ongoing medical training. Here in Little Compton the medical emergencies outweigh fire calls by 98%. It is remarkable if we have more than two or three major structure fires a year, while EMT calls are in the multiple of hundreds.

That gets us back to the question; Are they horses or cows? Are they firefighters or EMT”S? We do not have an Emergency Medical Department, we have a Fire Department. The only thing that firefighters and EMT”S have in common is they must respond quickly when called. Otherwise there is absolutly no similarity in the two jobs. You can’t milk your horse, and you don’t plow with your cow. Obviously they are two different breeds of animals.

The trend in major cities, Boston, New York etc., and even many rural communities is to have two separate jobs, either under the banner of the Fire Department, or a totally autonomous Emergency Medical Response Department.

Here in Little Compton we have one department with nine paid employees. There are always at least two people on duty to respond to both fire and medical calls. If the personnel are answering a medical call, that leaves the fire station empty. The opposite is true if there is a fire call. Typically our EMT calls result in an ambulance trip to Fall River which will take our personnel out of town for an hour or more. Unless off duty people are called in to cover the station (paid 4 hours overtime), or a call for back-up from a neighboring town is made, there is a large gap in medical and fire protection coverage. Rapid response is the heart and soul both fire and medical emergency calls.

In round numbers we are paying a million dollars a year for fire and medical emergency services when there are many times when neither is available. So what are the possible solutions to the problem?

Obviously we have a manpower problem, so the quick solution would be to double the workforce providing four (4) people on duty 24/7. Clearly that would result in a major increase in the cost of personnel, at least an additional $240,000 a year in salary and benefits plus uniforms, equipment and protective clothing. Probably close to half a million additional dollars.

Or, we could create a separate EMT operation reclassifying the existing work force, and create a totally “Call” Fire Department made up of paid part-time firefighters under the leadership of the paid Fire Chief. In fact it appears that we are already taking the right step in that direction, with the recent hiring of 6 part time firefighters who are now undergoing training. The Town Charter allows the Town Council to hire as many part time firefighters as needed.

78% of our cities and towns across this nation are protected by Volunteer Fire Departments. The vast majority of the towns in the State of Rhode Island are protected by volunteer fire departments. Nearby Bristol and Warren, both much more densely populated than LC, have very robust volunteer fire departments. In fact we have a VFD right here in town. Unfortunately it has fallen on bad times. That is a whole nuther subject.

The history of the Little Compton paid fire department has been plagued with management/labor relation problems resulting in copious grievance hearings, expensive binding arbitration hearings, and even a “vote of no confidence” in a previous Fire Chief. Union contract negotiations take countless hours of negotiation and bargaining. Overtime budgets are bursting, with some people earning nearly double their regular pay. The retirement and medical benefit packages are unsustainable. Our record in retaining Fire Chiefs is miserable.

To make matters worse, the fire suppression record of our Fire Department is not all that great. Most major structure fires have resulted in total losses to buildings and their contents. Could that be because our firefighters are really EMT’s at heart? Does it reflect on lack of activity and training?

As earlier indicated, there is only one similarity between the two disciplines. Aptitude for medical technicians and firefighters are worlds apart. Medical science and fire science are totally dissimilar. Yes, a firefighter needs to be trained in “First Aid” for fire victims. But for real medical emergencies, heart attack, stroke, major injuries which represent that vast majority of our needs, we need people highly skilled in emergency medical care. Don’t expect the horse to give us milk.

The firefighters Union Contract is up for renewal this June. Maybe it is time for change. Real change!

Sarge

THE CAMELS NOSE

2011-02-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

At the Wednesday February 9th 2011 meeting of the Little Compton School Committee I swear I saw the nose of the Camel slipping into the tent. You know the old Arabian fable, if you let the Camel get his nose under the tent, next thing you know the whole Camel will be in the tent with you. It’s the old slippery slope argument.
In their wisdom, or lack of it, depending upon your point of view, following the lead of Kathy Crowley, Superintendent of Schools, The School Committee decided to let the parents of high school students vote on where their children should attend high school for the next several or more years.
It has been all over the local news that the present contract with the Portsmouth School District is about to expire and the School Committee has solicited competitive bids from Portsmouth, Middletown and Tiverton to vie for the lucrative Little Compton Contract.
I could scarcely believe my ears… Little Compton parents are going to exercise school choice! What a novel idea. I’m not sure if that’s what they had in mind when they opened that door, but think of it, parental choice. What a slippery slope.
Right now the taxpayers are dishing out about 10 grand a year per student to outsource the high school students. That does not include transportation. What if instead we give the parents of Little Compton high school students an $8,000 annual voucher per student, and then they can send their charges to any private school of their choice.
Who knows, maybe the idea will catch on and we can apply it to the Middle School aged children and so on and so forth. Next thing you know we might not even need a 70,000 square foot school building with 35 teachers and supporting staff. No Superintend, no Principal, no maintenance staff, and no more Union Contract negotiations.
Several School Building Committee’s and five or more years down the drain and we still can’t get the problems with the school physical plant solved. Maybe we should let the Camel in the tent before the rest of the school falls down.

Sarge

2010-12-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

ELECTION RETROSPECTIVE

Like the fellow who just watched his Mother-in-law drive his new Pick-Up off a cliff, I have mixed feelings about the outcome of the November 2010 elections.

The good news is that we got rid of Mr. Michael Harrington Esq. from the Little Compton School Committee. More on that later. The bad news is that our friend and outstanding State Legislator John Loughlin lost in his bid to replace Patrick Kennedy as our representative to the United States House of Representatives. If it is any small consolation, John carried the Town of Little Compton with an 18.5% margin over David Cicilline the former Democrat Mayor of Providence.

Kudos to the Little Compton Taxpayers Association for its efforts in changing the political landscape of the School Committee. The November Election edition of the LCTA Newsletter has effectively changed what looked more like the Transfer Station to “The Commons.” The Harrington led School Committee was leading the town down a long and expensive path in its “Day-dream” of a Taj Mahal that would be break the back of the taxpayers for decades to come.

Conservative leadership has been restored to the School Committee. Long time player on the local political scene, and former President of the Town Council, Don Gomez topped the November ballot in his run for reelection to the School Committee and was elected its Chairman.
Don, along with Dave Beauchemin, political newcomer, and Joe Quinn,
Former School Committee Chairman had the endorsement of the Republican Town Committee in the efforts to dump Harrington.

In one of his first pronouncements Don Gomez has taken the position that the School Committee must explore a “Plan B” to fix the facility problems at the Wilbur & McMahon School. At last somebody is making sense in this now more than four year effort to bring the physical plant “up to code.” Don has displayed his ability to read the handwriting on the wall. There ain’t no way that the voters of Little Compton are going to buy spending more than 30 million dollars to fulfill the dreams of the Michael Harrington led School House Gang.

I know that the November 2010 elections were so called “mid-term,” and the local turn out was more than 50% of the registered voters, but folks we have to do better. There were five (5) totally uncontested candidates for seats on local boards and authorities. That is not a healthy sign. One might speculate that it is a sign that the folks are happy with the way things are going with the town, but to me it is a sign that there are too many potential voters and future community leaders sitting on the sidelines.

Nothing lasts forever. Yes it is true that we have a fine Corps of office holders on the Town Council, you all know them, and yes the School Committee is back on track but we need to look to the future. There is a vast number of unaffiliated voters in L.C. that need to come down off the fence and get involved in the political life of Little Compton.

I know that it is fun to be able to go to the polls during a Primary Election and choose either a Democrat or a Republican ballot with the hope of disrupting the plans of your political opposition. Been there, done that! But the reality of the situation is that this is a two party country. If you want to be a “player” you have to choose a team.

That is precisely why I decided to start an affiliate of the Rhode Island Tea Party here in Little Compton. It is called the “Sakonnet Tea Party” and you are all invited to get on board and join the party.

The main thrust of the Sakonnet Tea Party will be to bring unaffiliated voters to the dance. The plan is to get folks out of the shadows and get involved and interested in what is going on with your local and state government. To get people to attend important meetings of local boards and committees, and to rally with the other more than 15 local Tea Party organizations that make up the Rhode Island Tea Party, when it comes time to get the politicians on Smith Hill to listen to the voice of the people. Look at what the Tea Partiers have achieved across this entire nation. It is time to change Rhode Island.

So let us hear from you and you and you too. Go on the Net and sign up at www.riteaparty.com and email me at sakonnetteaparty@cox.net. I don’t care what party you may or may not belong to just do it! Your town, your state and your country needs you now.

If you are already a member of the RI Tea Party please go to the new Web Site (www.riteaparty.com) and re-register. RI Tea Party Founder Colleen Conley has asked all present members to sign up again. Apparently all of the membership the data from the old web site did not make it to the new site.

Merry Christmas to all.

Sarge

2010-12-09T12:45:00.000-08:00

TEA PARTY ANYBODY?

Two hundred and thirty seven years ago on December 16th 1772 a group of angry Colonists fed up with “Taxation without Representation” disguised as American Indians boarded three Tea Ships and threw their cargo into Boston Harbor.

The RI Tea Party announced today that the Little Compton “Sakonnet Tea Party” will open its doors on December 16th 2010 to celebrate the 237th birthday of the Boston Tea Party.

Little Compton, once the bastion of the Republican Party on the East Bay, is now sporting a majority of Democrats among the two major parties. But in reality LC is actually dominated by a more than 2 to 1 majority of unaffiliated registered voters. The Sakonnet Tea Party wants to energize that majority and bring them under the umbrella of the conservative Tea Party movement.

So don’t be surprised if there is a knock on your door, or a phone call asking for your support. You don’t have to wait for somebody to come calling to join, first go on line and sign up at www.riteaparty.com and then send an email to Sakonnetteaparty@cox.net. Get involved today!

The Sakonnet Tea Party group doesn’t care what party you are affiliated with or if you are an unaffiliated/Independent voter, just so long as you believe in the goals of good government practices by advocating fiscal responsibility, accountability, and a return to the core principals set forth in our State and US Constitution by our Forefathers.

The 2008 national elections clearly demonstrated that the voice of the Tea Party Movement is resonating across the land and in Washington D.C... The year 2011 will bring difficult fiscal challenges to the voters of Little Compton. The 4% tax cap and the prospects of a new school building will mean unprecedented belt tightening.

The SAKONNET BLOG will keep you up to date on all the breaking news about the ramping up of the Sakonnet Tea Party group.

Sarge

Little Compton Town Counsil Acts on School Project

2010-11-21T18:27:00.000-08:00

Here we find ourselves still reeling from what the Mass Media is calling the worst recession since the Great Depression. I’m not sure that I agree with that assessment, I remember the Jimmy Carter years; the Prime Rate was 12%, unemployment 10%, 13.5% inflation factor and gas went from 99 cents a gallon to $1.50… In any case here in RI we are still mired in some pretty horrible fiscal times.

One would think that our town leaders would continue their outstanding record of holding the line on spending even tighter than they have over the past several years. I can remember them quibbling over a few thousand dollars for senior citizens transportation. But no, the proposed school building program has them throwing numbers around that boggle the mind.

At last Thursday night’s meeting of the Town Council there was an item on the agenda where the members were going to decide whether or not to endorse the RIDE Stage II application for approval by the Rhode Island Board of Regents. Sadly, even though the application is unfinished the council agreed that the town should send out the yet to be completed document.

Members of the School Building Committee and the School Committee were throwing around numbers in the millions of dollars like confetti at Tony & Maria’s wedding. $14.5 million construction costs or maybe it was $18.1 or was it $34. 7 million for a 5% 30 year Bond Issue. It is amazing to hear how easily these numbers flow off the lips of our elected and appointed government officials. One might think that we have money to burn.

Remember all of the hell that was raised when it was learned that the Federal Government was paying $300.00 for a hammer or $500.00 for a toilet seat?
Wait until you hear the numbers for some of the items on the architects pricing out list of stuff for the school.

I have been looking at the list: A new exterior sign for the school $10,000.
Two mop sinks, $7,500 bucks: Hardwood floor for the stage in the Gym $12,000. Relocate the Public Playground, $77,674.00. Redo the baseball field, 80 Grand. Landscaping $695,709. New Visual display surfaces (black boards) $8,692… And get this, three (3) robe hooks in a restroom, $105 dollars, that’s 35 bucks a pop.

What the hell, its only money, your money, all of it! Even the 40% State reimbursement is your money. And what about the impact on your property taxes? How about somewhere between 14 & 16 percent!

A major chunk of money is going to be spent to address a safety issue involving the dropping off and picking up children whose parents have decided for whatever reason that they don’t want their kids riding the school busses. Remember those golden chariots that turned the town meeting upside down a few years ago. Get this, there is an average of 12 children daily that are delivered and picked up by parents. We are being asked to spend $8.7 million dollars to totally change the School Bus area so that the kiddies being dropped off by parents won’t get run over. That is 725 thousand dollars per kid. OMG! There has got to be an easier solution to this very costly problem.

How about the School Department establishing a policy that unless there are very serious and justifiable reasons to the contrary, all students must use the town provided transportation. Not only that, those parents who must drive their children will deliver them into the building, and pick them up in the gym after school. Nah, that’s too simple.

In conclusion (for now) this writer believes that the Town Council displayed an astonishing lack of courage in going along with this massive spending project. No, they did not give the Stage II application their final approval, but many believe (including building & school committee members) that by agreeing to send the incomplete package forward that the members are giving tacit approval to the project.

If the State ends up approving the school building project it will all end up in what the School Committee and supporters of this Mega Millions project are hoping and praying for; a no holds barred Special Financial Town Meeting to approve funding.

Sarge

SNAFU AT THE SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING

2010-11-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

The Little Compton School Building Committee met on Monday November 15th for a review of what can best be referred to as “loose ends.” Here’s the story behind the story.
The Building Committee somehow got the ok from RIDE to submit the Stage II Application with some strings attached. This all came about because the documentation was not complete. There were some issues, yet to be defined that were holding up the process and threatening to jeopardize the drop dead submission date of November 19th.

A sub committee was created last week to address the loose ends. At Monday’s meeting the sub-committee was supposed to update the rest of the Building Committee on their progress. They had nothing to report.

Then the meeting went on too a general discussion on the overall project. That is when the wheels started to come off the meeting. There are several members who do not think that adequate consideration was given to alternative plans. In other words, fix problems rather than build a virtual new school. Talk about a day late and a dollar short.

Earlier estimates for repairs by The Mount Vernon Group & RGB Architects were kicked around from pillar to post. It was even suggested that there be yet another analysis of a “fix it” solution, possibly by the present architectural firm of Durkee Brown (DB). That suggestion was shot down because it was evident that most thought that DB could not be impartial. One member attempted to make a motion that the Committee take steps to bring about another survey. The chairman would not allow a motion for parliamentarian reasons.

Members of the public spoke up criticizing the fact that the School Department had no back-up plan or a “Plan B” should the present recommendations not pass muster with the voters. It looks like the committee is going to place all of their bets on RIDE approving the present plan and let the chips fall where they may when it comes tome for the voters to have their say.

Sarge

CORRUPTED SCHOOL BUILDING PROCESS

2010-11-16T14:13:00.000-08:00

Let me begin with defining "corrupt" in the context of the Little Compton School Department proposed building project.

Corrupt: "Containing errors or alterations."

It is not that the people involved in the building program are corrupt, certainnly not. They are a well meaning, hard working group of elected & appointed officials charged with the responsibility of assessing problems and making recommendations for resolving them.

I like to use anologies to attempt to bring things into focus. If you were planning a cruise in the family saiboat, you would chart a course and follow the heading and the "Rules of the Road." Otherwise you might get lost or even worse run into hidden rocks and sink the boat.

If you were asked to participate in or even lead a project to investigate the possibility of your town building a new school, It would be wise to learn all of the establised rules and regulations that have been established by the State. Failing to do so could be equally as bad as sinking your boat.

The State of Rhode Island has an establishment called the Department of Education or in short, RIDE. You will see RIDE a lot in this essay.

If you are seeking State funds, RIDE has very clearly defined rules and regulations that must be followed if you are planning a school building or major remodelling project. You will see that the folks charged with the investigation and planning for the possible building/remodling of the Wilbur & McMahon School did not do dilligence and embarked on this project without knowing the "Rules of the Road," which led to what has been thus far a difficult corrupted and error plagued journey.

Back in 2005 the new Little Compton Fire Chief visited the school to conduct the annual fire Inspection. The result was a staggering report with a list of violations that would choke a horse.

The cost to correct the lengthy list of Fire & Safety Code violations had a price tag of $100 thousand dollars.

The Report sent a shock wave through the leadership of the school, The School Committee, and the Town Council. The report became the catalyist for the now almost five year old process to either replace the school or totally refurbish the entire facility. Ironically, the origional catalystic fire inspection report problems have long since been resolved at a cost of about $50 thousand dollars.

The shocked School Committee decided to form an ad hoc committee to investigate the code issues, and to conduct a complete review of the entire facility to look for Building Code issues, and the overall conditions of the school physical plant. The School Committee retained an Architect/Engineering firm the Mount Vernon Group (MVG) to do an in depth analysis.

MVG returned a report with 418 deficiencies ranging from plumbing, to heating, air conditioning (HVAC) roofing, windows, walls, fire protection, security egreess and handicaped access. The estimated cost to make all repairs, upgrading HVAC and installing a fire sprinkler system was 11.7 million dollars. The vast leap from 100 thousand dollars worth of fire safety code violations delivered another devasting shock to the system and it was quickly decided by the School Committee that they should explore building a new school.

A School Facilities Needs Committee was appointed by the School Committee. The Needs committee promptly issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to retain an architect. This was their first mistake. Rhode Island has a mandated procurement process for hiring architect/engineering firms to work on municiple construction projects. (Title 44-55-8.1) The process is called "Qualifications Based Selection" (QBS). For all other procurements of $5,000 or more municipalities are required to create an RFP to solicit bids for services or products. The low bidding qualified bidder is usually awarded a contract.

QBS calls for a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) letter to be sent to a large group of architectural/engineering firms (20-30) who are invited to reply documenting their experience in the field of interest (in this case; school construction). From the list of respondants the committee selects the top five or six firms and invites them to participate in a selection process. QBS relieves the municipality from selecting a firm based primarliy on price.

The Facility Needs Committee did indeed select the low bidder responding to the RFP. In January 2008 JCJ Corporation was hired for a fee of $18.5 thousand dollars to lead the committee through the RIDE process to build a new school. Unfortunately JCJ was not up to speed on the RIDE process and they plodded on for about one year, considering five (5) conceptual plans for a new school. In the meantime the Facilities Needs Committee asked JCJ to take a look at the origional MVG estimate for repairs. This action was in response to growing public concern that the Town could not afford a new school. JCJ came back with a report that added $7 million dollars to the MVG report cementing the concept that it would be foolish to throw that much money into the old school when you could build new one for about $22 million.

Feeling that JCJ had inflated the estimate the Little Compton Taxpayers Association made a presentation to the Town Council totally debunking the JCJ inflation of the MVG report, recommending that the Council urge the Facilities Committee to commission a "independent" update of the MVG estimate. The Town Council thought that was a good idea. In fact the chairman of the Facilities Needs Committee Mr Don Gomez was present for the council meeting and agreed.

The Facilility Needs Committee issued an RFP (here we go again) and RGB Architects was hired as the low bidder ($5,000). RGB concluded that the necessary repairs as documented in the origional MVG report, could be completed for $10.4 million dollars. For all intents and purposes the RGB report was ignored and the Needs Committee pressed ahead.

They finally opted for Plan 5 and presented their recommendations to the School Committee. The School Committee accepted the Plan and instructed the Facilities Needs Committee to prepare a "Roll-Out" series of public presentations and to go forward with plans for a Special Financial Town Meeting to approve funding for a $33 millon dollar project.

Shorthly thereafter the Superintend of Schools, following a convesation with Mr. Joesph da Silva of RIDE, sent the School Committee & the Facilities Needs Committee a memo informing them that they were not incompliance with the RIDE process, and that their efforts to get funding and build a new school were "premature." The memo included details for submitting Stage I documents to RIDE. The first step was a "letter of intent." The memo also admonished JCJ, reminding them that it was their contracted responsibility to guide the committee through the RIDE process. JCJ tried to blame Mr. da Silva for "changing the rules in the middle of the game." This was not factual. The RIDE application process had been revised fully six months before JCJ was hired. JCJ was soon informed that their services were no longer required.

The Stage I applicaton requires the appointment of a School Building Committee. RIDE requires the appointment of eight (8) persons consisting of key people in the School Department, a representative of the town government, a public safety official and a person from either the building or architectural community. Next miscue; The School Committee appointed 20 people to the Building Committee, including four sitting members of the School Committee. Draw your own conclusions.

About a month into the process it was discovered that the Building Committee had not been appointed (as required by RIDE) in accordance with an enabling Town Charter or By-Law or a so called "Charge." Another violation! I'm not making this stuff up.

Still unaware of the State of Rhode Island QBS procurement process, the Building Committee sent out an RFP to hire another achitect. (anybody keeping score) There were 22 firms that responded. They went through a series of dog & pony shows with the committee narrowing the field to six leading contenders. That number was cut to three finalists and those firms entered into "negotiating sessions" The top three bidders ranged from a low of over $300 thousand dollars to a low of $75 thousand dollars. This practice flys in the face of QBS.

Finally it was announced that Durkee Brown (DB) Architects (the high bidder) had been selected. The negotiating committee had talked them down to a figure of $106 thousand dollars. Remember RGB Architects? They were the low bidder at 75 K. Public inquiries revealed that DB has virtually no experience in school building projects. The Committee Chairman said that they were selected because of their expetise in "Historic Restoration." RGB on the other hand sports a resume of 2.5 million square feet of school construction projects. Go figure!

Jumping back a bit, in December of 2009 Joe da Silva of RIDE met with the Building Committee.

It was a highly informative meeting. The Committee was taken aback when Mr. da Silva informed the Committee that they had one (1) year from the date of the Stage I submission to complete Stage II and have it on his desk by November 19th 2010, otherwise the process would have to start all over again next year. That gave the Committee 11 months to respond.

Back to 2010. On Memorial Day (can you believe it) the School Committee Scheduled a "Special" meeting to vote on the appropriation of the $106 thousand dollars to pay DB. They wanted them to start on the first of June. The School Committee made a major mistake and failed to advertize their meeting in the newspaper. The Little Compton Taxpayers Association (LCTA) filed a complaint with the RI Attorney General who later ruled that the School Committee was in fact in violation of the RI Open Meetings Act. There is no excuse for "ignorance of the law."

That sort of brings us up to date. As of today (11-16-10) it appears that RIDE is cutting the Building Committee Some slack on the sumbission of a complleted Stage II document. RIDE is going to accept the work that is finished and give them a couple of months to tie up a few loose ends. There was a rather tumulteous meeting of the Building Committee last night. I will chronical that for you in my next post.

Sarge

New School Express

2010-11-15T06:55:00.000-08:00

It's been far to long since I updated you on the proposed new school project here in Little Compton. Last Tuesday night, November 10, 2010 the School Committee on a four to one vote, Joe Quinn the only dissenter, approved the recommendations of the School Building Committee and sent the package along to the Town Council for their approval, the last step in the Stage II submission process.

Remember the addition you have been planning, or that garage that you always wanted to build? forget it! The School District needs that money to pay for remodeling the school. According to the latest scheme (their choice of words) the homeowners in Little Compton will have to ante up $34,690,543.00. Let me spell it out: Thirty four million six hundred thousand five hundred and forty three dollars. That is about $15,000.00 for every home in town.

Now the planners will tell you not to worry, the State of Rhode Island is going to reemburse us for 40% of the cost, maybe even an additonal 2% for really green stuff that they plan to do. Even if that happens the taxpayers are still stuck with a 20.1 million dollar bill over the next 20 years.

I don't know about you, but that does not give me a warm and cozy feeling. Even if the State, which is on the brink of bankrupcy, sends some money back to the town, where do they think that money is coming from? It there a money tree that we don't know about growing under the statue of the "Independent Man?"

I'll bet it really makes folks in Tiverton, who are already broke, feel great about having some of their money going to the "rich people" in Little Compton.

I thought for a while that there was a glimmer of hope that our Town Council in their wisdom, would take a hard look at this massive expensive project and say wait a minute we can't afford this 34 million bill, there are only 310 chidren in the school, that's almost $122,000 per kid.
Unfortunately it does not look like that is going to happen.

The School District had until the 19th of November to get the whole Stage II application signed, sealed and delivered. When it became clear that they were not going to make the date, they cut a deal With the Department of Education (RIDE) that is allowing for the submission of an incomplete application. The deal is that the town is going to have about two months to get their act together. In the meantime RIDE will be reviewing the unfinished product that was sent to the Town Council who will broom it to the State.

It looks to me like Joe da Silva from RIDE is bending over backwards to make this project happen. I can understand that, Joe needs work to justify his existance. Times are really tight right now and there are not a lot of towns that can really afford these big school projects right now.

Should worse come to worse and the State gives it's blessing to this massive project you and I are going to have the final word. The school building program advocates are calling for a Special Financial Town Meeting next year to approve funding for a Bond Issue to pay for the project.
It doesn't matter that the RIDE regulations call for a referrendum, the school house gang want's a Special Financial Town Meeting. Surprise, surprise.

I can see it now, the Wilbur & McMahon Gym packed to the rafters with Mom's Dad's, Grandmothers and Grandfathers, Aunts & Uncles, friends and neighbors of "the Kids" all eager to have us plunk down 34 million bucks for a virtual new school. The Gym has a capacity of 700, there are more than 2500 registered voters, somebody is going to be left outside. It will be chaotic!

The only fair and open proceadure is a referrendum where the folks can show up between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM to cast their votes just like a regular election. The stage is already set for this upcoming battle. I will keep you posted.

In my next article I am going to expose the courrupt process that has taken place over the past four plus years during this whole school building debacle.

In the meanwhile please contact your Town Council members to express your opinions and concearns about this whole sorted affair.

Sarge

Little Compton plans to build a new school.

2009-12-11T06:03:00.000-08:00

While you have been wondering where your next paycheck was coming from, or maybe still recovering from the shock of skyrocketing costs of gasoline, heating oil, food, homeowners insurance (If you can get it) the Little Compton School Committee has been planning to build a new school.

While you have been watching Patriots and Red Sox games, American Idol or whatever on your wide screen LCD-TV the big spenders on the school committee have been planning the biggest raid on your tax dollars in the history of Little Compton.

I'll spell it out for you; thirty five million dollars. Here we are in the middle of the worst economic times since the Jimmy Carter years, and the liberal majority of the school committee led by Michael Harrington Esq. have launched a plan to tear down most of the Wilbur & McMahon School and replace it with a state-of-the-art "Green" school house.

While you have not been watching, they have already expanded the third grade program, and instituted an All-Day Kindergarten, now its lets build a new school.

Back in 2006 the Fire Marshal conducted his annual fire inspection of the school resulting in a list of code violations with a price tag of about $100,000. This rocked the administration and prompted a further engineering evaluation of the facility conducted by Mount Vernon Corporation. Mt. Vernon estimated that it would cost 11.5 million to upgrade the facility, including the fire code problems.

It gets better, or worse depending on your vantage point. The school committee decided that they should look at alternatives i.e. build a new school rather than fix it up. They created a "School Facilities Needs Committee." It should more appropriately be called the School Facilities "Wants" Committee. The Needs Committee promptly decided that it was a waste of money to fix the problems, and that the only solution was to build a new school.

To assist the needs committee the school committee hired Greg Smolley of JCJ Architects. Mr. Smolley's main task was to guide the committee through the maze of applying for state aid from the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE).

The committee ploughed through countless meetings over the next two years and came up with a plan to replace the school, and a strategy to convince you that it was the right thing to do. They were in the process of developing a "roll-out," sort of a trade show format, to educate all of us and convince us that it somehow makes sense to spend 35 million bucks.

The Facility Needs Committee presented their recommendations to the now Harrington led School committee which gave its blessings to the program and told them to go ahead with the 'roll-out.' Unfortunately there was a little problem. Superintendent Dr. Ron Devine discovered that the needs committee under the guidance of Greg Smolley, had not followed the RIDE regulations. So, it was back to square one. Well almost.

Getting back on the track of building a new school, the school district entered into the RIDE Stage 1 process which included a letter of intent along with the appointment of a School Building Committee. This is where it really gets interesting.
According to RIDE regulations the building committee must be made up of specific members of the town government and the community.

According to RIDE, "The school building committee must, at a minimum of eight people, include the superintendent of schools, at least one member of the school committee, the local official responsible for building maintenance, a representative of the office or body authorized by law to construct school buildings in the municipality, the school principal from the subject school, a member who has knowledge of the educational mission and the function of the facility, a local budget official or member of the local finance committee, and at least one member of the community with architectural, engineering and/or construction experience to provide input relative to the effect of the project on the community and to examine building and design plans for reasonableness,"

It is clear that RIDE wants a well rounded committee with expertise and experience to move the process. Let's see how well they did. Here is a list of the members:
1. Harold Devine, Superintendent of Schools
2. James Gibney, Wilbur & McMahon Principal
3. John Osborne, Maintenance Supervisor, Wilbur & McMahon
4. Donald Gomes, School Committee member
5. Lynn Brousseau-LeBreaus, School Committee member
6. Micha Shaipiro, School Committee member
7. Michael Harrington, School Committee Chairman
8. David McGregor, Retired Wilbur & McMahon teacher
9. Donnie Wordell, Wilbur & McMahon teacher
10. Robert Mushen, Town Council Chairman
11. Ben Gauthier, Budget Committee member
12. Blair Shanklin, Architecht
13. Mark Rapp, Architecht
14. Russ Racette, Engineer
15. Tom Adler, Carpenter
16. Margaret Manning, volunteer
17. Donnie Freeman, volunteer
18. Beyrl borden, volunteer
19. Jake Talbot, buildier
20. Paul Golembeske, Town Council member (alternate for R. Mushen)

I don't now how much experience you have had working on or with committee's, but I can tell you from my experience that working with 20 people on a committee is a nightmare. It is hard enough to get five people to agree on anything, never mind 20.

I hope that you noticed that in its wisdom, the school committee appointed four of its five members to the building committee. Unless I am mistaken, doesn't that constitute a quorum of the school committee? It shall be interesting to see how that works out relative to the RI Open Meetings Act.

I should also point out to you that seven (7) of the former "Needs" committee have been appointed to the building committee. Maybe we should forgive them of their mistakes of the past.

Folks, you really need to start to pay attention to this band of thieves who are about to raid the treasury and send your real estate taxes skyrocketing. There has got to be a viable alternative to building a new school. Right now it looks like it will come down to a Special Financial Town Meeting some time next year. In the meantime, attend meetings, get involved, watch Channel 18 for meetings which are being produced by the LCTA. Do something, before it is too late.

Sarge

Who'd uh thunk it?

2009-02-02T12:37:00.000-08:00

I have not been writing for my blog for about a year or so. If you look at the last entry it's kind of spooky.
Here we are in 2009 with a new president... To be honest with you I thought that Mitt Romney would probably have been sworn in by now. But, oh no. Who did the republicans run? Does the name John McCain ring a bell. I forgive you if you forgot.
What a loser! This guy couldn't to get out of the way of a freight train. What the hell were the republicans thinking about? Did they forget where he was on immigration and Gitmo? The only thing John what's his name had going for him was that he was right about the "surge."
Well anyway, the nation needed a kick in the ass, and they got it. Barack Hussein Obama.
Man did he ever take the nation by storm... Every bleeding heart from under every rock came out for this guy. He used the Internet like a rented mule. Pretty smart guy, after all he learned his political lessons the hard way, Chicago gutter politics. Actually it is only gutter politics when they emerge from the sewer.
Well whatever, it's all over now but the "stimulus packages." We're going to spend more money bailing out losers that we did to win WWII.
Guess it's time to get back on the local beat again... Not a moment to soon. The LC FTM (Financial Town Meeting for you auslanders) is just over the horizon.
The Little Compton Taxpayers Association is all over the new "liberal" school committee with their video cameras. Check out Cox Channel 17 for a schedule of televised meetings of the school committee and town council.
What with the stalled economy, State contributions to the towns being cut to the bone and the ever declining Tax Cap, local elected officials and department heads are pulling out their hair to try to make ends meet. Face it boys and girls, it's time to get out the scissors.

Sarge

2008 Presidential Politics

2008-01-08T06:26:00.000-08:00

Who would have thunk it six months ago… It looks like Hillary is on the canvas waiting to be counted out. I am no political pundit, but I never thought that she would ever allow Obama to get out of the box before she nailed down the cover.

I caught a sound bite on the Limbaugh show today, and Hillary was actually in tears. I would have believed it if she was seen throwing ash trays along with a barrage of four letter words, but tears? Unbelievable!

Barack Obama must be clean as a hounds tooth; otherwise the Clinton Gang would have already been castrating him without the benefit of anesthesia… If they have anything on this guy they better let it out real soon before the “Fat Lady” gets her vocal cords in gear.

If Barack sweeps Hillary under the rug in New Hampshire the way he did in Iowa, he can put it into cruise control all the way to the Democrat National Convention where he will sew it up on the first ballot. If that happens, you ain’t seen anything yet.

Clearly Barack Hussein has captured the hearts and minds of young voters. In Iowa he stimulated the greatest turnout of young men and especially young women in the history of the state. He is the darling of the “politically correct gang… Trust me, if you oppose the Obama nomination and election you will be branded as a racist.

Shame on the Republican administration and the Republican members of the House and Senate for ever getting us in the position of setting the stage for President Barack Obama… Thanks for botching up Iraq, failing to safeguard our boarders, spending us into oblivion and failing to fix Social Security. It will take a long time, if ever for conservatives to get back into the drivers
seat. So much for Trent Lock’s brand of bi-partisanship.