GLOCESTER – Glocester Police Chief Joseph DelPrete had no hesitation about, “calling out,” Councilor Cheryl Greathouse for what he referred to as a lack of support for the proposed renovations at the police station at a recent meeting of the Glocester Town Council. Greathouse was the sole vote opposing the station’s renovations.
“My call out is to Councilor Greathouse,” said DelPrete. “I invited her 10-15 times to see the police station, to see the condition, to see how the grants would be applied to the emergency operations center, to see what the new dispatch center would look like, to see the deficiencies, the work that would be done to the building, the back garage on the grounds…she never came once. I said, ‘Please come, Cheryl. Come see what you’re doing.’ She ignored me every time.”
“I appreciated what was shared, and I believed what you told me,” responded Greathouse. “I was totally in favor of allowing the addition to go forward. I was not against the addition to the police station. I just suggested it be downsized a bit so it wouldn’t cost as much money.”
“You were derelict to your responsibility as a councilman for not coming to the police station,” DelPrete responded. “Everyone else did. This has been going on for five years, and you sided with other people to condemn the project.”
Greathouse said she didn’t side with anyone, she simply wanted it downsized so it would be more affordable.
“I simply suggested that it be downsized,” Greathouse said. “I simply went on your word that the conditions were not meeting the needs. I was not against the project. I know that you need more space, and I agree with that. If you want to call me out for that, go ahead.”
“I am calling you out for that,” responded DelPrete.
DelPrete praised the people who helped put the proposal together, including the councilors who supported the project, for their hard work and long hours over the last five years, including Council President William Worthy, Vice President Stephen Arnold, and Councilors Jonathan Burlingame and Walter Steere.
“You people worked very, very hard for me on that,” said DelPrete. “You supported the police department, and I can’t thank you more personally and professionally. I really appreciate it.
DelPrete said he was honored to work with Town Planner Karen Scott, IT director Matt Floor and Emergency Management Director Gerry Mosca.
“You’re talking three of some of the very best employees I have ever worked with in my 38 and a half year career,” he said. “They worked so hard to get these grants, and they saw this strategic plan, this comprehensive plan for the future of Glocester for the next 30 years. Kudos and accolades to those three employees. No one realizes how talented they are and what they did.”
DelPrete added that Floor worked after hours to help push the grant for the new tower through.
“We are probably going to have to give that up, probably, but we are going to do all we can,” he said.
Mosca, he added, did much to help secure grants for the proposed emergency operations center, his “passion.”
“Now, it’s defunct because of this vote,” said DelPrete.
Adding the center would have made Glocester a main recipient for aid during emergencies, since it would have been coordinating northern Rhode Island towns at the location.
DelPrete also praised Town Clerk Jean Fecteau and Deputy Town Clerk Christine Mathieu for their hard work over the years.
“Tons of hours to get this off the ground,” said DelPrete. “They’ve been working on this for three or four years to get additions, to get renovations, and it culminated in a large grant award.”
DelPrete thanked the police officers and residents who supported the proposed station.
The work put in to obtain grants, he said earlier in the meeting, may all be for nought, including more than $5 million the town was slated to receive in federal and state grants.
“I was in a three way call with Washington, D.C. and Senator Jack Reed’s office, his chief of staff,” said DelPrete. “They asked me if the million dollars is gone. I said most likely. We are not going to be able to match that.”
DelPrete added that moneys for a new tower, which has increased in price, may also be lost.
“We may be giving that back too,” he added.
“Again, we didn’t want to lose that $5 million because it is now going to come out of capital improvement money, with no help,” said Worthy. “Just so we are 100 percent clear.”
Earlier this month the bond was narrowly defeated in a vote of 370 to 342, and the council had made a last ditch effort to save the project and more than $5 million in grant funding at an emergency meeting to discuss putting the issue back on the ballot in November. Town Solicitor David Igliozzi pointed out that wording in the original proposal clearly stated that the vote would take place on August 6. The solicitor said that if the language had stated, “on or before,” the November ballot, the town could have tried again.
Worthy pointed out the attempt to try again would have been was more about saving the grants than pushing the bond through. Now, improvements will have to be funded completely by the town.
Additionally, councilors noted that grants are given with the expectation of being put to use. If it is thought that a grant won’t actually be used, there is less chance a town will receive it. Some people, said Worthy, may have been misled about the decision to not approve the bond for needed improvements on the police station. He said grant money was lost, costs are going up, and though it may have appeared to be a good decision now, in the long run it was a bad decision.
All the police stations in Northern RI are outdated. Pay now or pay later. Just like North Smithfield, thos was foolish!
And so what does our town council President want to do about it now? Put it back on the ballot as a referendum question looking for a reduced amount of taxpayer cost. Exactly what councilor Greathouse had originally suggested.
Go figure.
Work together to get the job done!