hard deadlines

Dedication plaque preserved at National September 11 Museum.

Previous posts here.

Portsmouth High School students donated the most blood this year of any school in the state, according to an e-mail sent to parents today by principal Bob Littlefield. Littlefield thanked all those who contributed, complimented PHS donors on their "mature, courteous, and respectful" work with the RI Blood Center. From Littlefield's note:

Not only did we have the most units of blood donated in relation to the size of our student body, but we generated more units than any other school.

The effort started back in July of 2014 with our summer drive and ended with our last drive of the year in May.

Throughout the year Portsmouth Patriots have given of themselves to help others. Hopefully, they learn to make regular blood donation a part of their every day lives for many years to come.

Equally important, though, is the praise we receive regularly from the staff at the RI Blood Center on how mature, courteous, and respectful our students are. And this praise comes from professionals who work in schools throughout Rhode Island. Our blood drives are organized, quiet, and make little disruption to the school day. This is a great example of Patriot PRIDE.

Editorial note: Written from a PHS group email.

Gov. Gina Raimondo has signed legislation introduced by House Majority Whip Jay Edwards (D-70 Portsmouth) that creates an exemption from taxation for certain residential property developments that are being built on speculation, according to a state house news release.

“This legislation will encourage economic activity in the construction industry,” said Rep. Edwards. “The economy is starting to turn around, the state’s unemployment rate has dipped below 6 percent, and that’s certainly good news; but things are still lagging in the construction industry, especially in the building of new homes. We’re not seeing the type of construction activity we associate with summer. This bill will be just the shot in the arm the construction industry needs to encourage growth.”

Under the legislation (H5044), new construction on development property would be exempt from the assessment of taxes as long as the owner files an affidavit claiming the exemption with the local tax assessor at the start of the project. The assessor would then determine if the property on which the new construction is located is development property. If the real property is development property, the assessor would exempt the new construction from the collection of taxes on improvements, until such time as the real property no longer qualifies as development property.

“Rhode Island has an inventory of old homes, many of them expensive and not energy efficient,” said Rep. Edwards. “And few market rate middle class homes are available or being built, compared to luxury or subsidized units. With the many fees already assessed to the building industry — impact fees, permit fees, review fees — it is no wonder that construction companies are disinclined to build homes on speculation or undertake rehab projects that are going to be a financial burden in the way of real property taxes until the properties can be sold.”

The law defines development property as “real property on which a single family residential dwelling or residential condominium is situated and said single family residential dwelling or residential condominium unit is not occupied, has never been occupied, is not under contract, and is on the market for sale.” It also includes improvements and/or rehabilitation of unoccupied single family residential dwellings or residential condominiums which the owner purchased out of a foreclosure sale, auction, or from a bank.

The legislation received the support of the Rhode Island Builders Association. In testimony presented to the House Committee on Municipal Government when the bill was heard, the RIBA cited an industry study, showing that a healthy construction industry would create $404 million in addition income for Rhode Island households, would generate $60.2 million in additional tax revenue for the state, could create more than 9,000 new jobs (thereby reducing the unemployment rate by two percent).

Editorial note: Written from a state house news release.

The results for yesterday's election for the Portsmouth Water and Fire District offered no surprises, as the incumbents (and sole declared candidates) for each position were all elected by near-unanimous margins, according to tallies provided to the media.

For the two open positions for Tax Assessor, Ted Czech received 64 votes and Michael Nott 54. For Tax Collector, Fred Faerber received 55 votes (with 1 write in) and Treasurer Allen Shers was returned to office with 63 votes (also 1 write in.)

A total of 69 votes were cast in an election where there were 12,779 eligible voters, for a turnout of 0.54%.

Congratulations to our re-elected officials, and thanks to everyone who took time to vote!