Newsmakers 7/3/2024: Newport's Mayor Xay; RIDOT Director Alviti
from 12 News this is newsmakers Newport is synonymous with summer in Rhode Island home to some of the state's most popular beaches and host of iconic events like the Newport Jazz Festival but it's also a time when the city can feel full to bursting as the population quadruples to roughly 100,000 people putting more pressure on a limited housing stock how can the city by the Sea prepare for its next 400 years we ask our guests this week on newsmakers Newport mayor Z korang welcome to newsmakers I'm Ted ni filling in for Tim White who is off this week later on in the show 12 news anchor Kim colians oneon-one interview with Rhode Island do director Peter alviti with the latest on the Washington Bridge rebuild but first i'm pleased to be joined um by my first my guest on the first half Newport mayor zom seorang Z thanks for being here thank you for having me on so let's start off I want to talk about housing first there's a lot we could talk about but um I have heard over and over from especially the folks from Newport I talked to at the state house so much concern about short-term rentals Airbnb things like that in the city um How concerned are you about that and I'm also curious what's the trend are you seeing an acceleration in the number of those is it flatlined what what is going on in Newport with short-term rentals right now we've made an aggressive effort to check short-term rentals where where they are and to focus on cracking down on illegal short-term rentals that exist within our community so we're defin starting to see a plateau in that market which is important because we know that one in four homes in Newport sit vacant for the majority of the Year this while we have residents who badly need housing in order to continue working and living in our community so this has been a primary focus for our city council for our state city Administration and we're very focused on trying to get this issue under control you know for the past 20 years Newport added a net single unit of housing per year so one one okay um in the past 18 months we've put three 00 in the pipeline so we're making progress but the problem is when you have a limited and not growing uh stock of Housing and you start to lose some of that to things like short-term rentals um it impacts the available housing for residents that need it it has an impact on our community character and we need to focus on getting it under control I'm curious you know I there's been a big Statewide conversation going on about housing growth um there seems to be more and more of a consensus about how much supply has to be a big part of the answer a lot more construction Statewide but sometimes I will hear from people on a quit Island um particularly about Newport who say they're not convinced that Newport can sustain a lot more housing density um because it is obviously a pretty tight geographic area what's your view on how much housing growth is possible and doable for Newport well we've under taken a study right now looking at what capacity we have and what our needs actually are that we can manage with the existing land area that we have 90% of our community is built out so when we start thinking about housing it really is through the lens of Redevelopment and we have to think about where those places where our community can sustain additional housing from a utilities perspective but also from the perspective of community character part of what we're selling down in Newport is that Community character you feel when you come into a colonial neighborhood where you go out and visit areas on the southern end of the island where you have those larger Estates so we need to be thinking about how we build housing within that footprint that continues to build on the existing character of our communities but that doesn't overly tax the available utilities and resources we have we're confident that we can add more housing to our community that's going to maintain that but it's a very careful balance that we spend a lot of time carefully looking at that's one of the reasons why in our most recent budget we've appointed a specific position to focus on housing within our planning department we want to make sure we get this right and we need to move quickly to ensure that our residents get the relief that they need right now so uh former Newport Daily News managing Andor Scott Barrett friend of mine recently pointed out another luxury hotel has been uh proposed in the city this one on Belleview Avenue and I'd say PR pretty prominent spot over near the Tennis Hall of Fame in your eyes is that good I know there's strong feelings about this kind thing in the city is that in your eyes good news or bad news or neither well there's obviously Demand right if if you look at the growth of short-term rentals that had happened over the past several years there's demand for that type of stock if you go online and you look to book a hotel you see that as well what we need to focus on is when there are properties that are coming into the city are they being put in appropriate zones this is happening in a business zone are they being in a way that comports with the community character that we have and are they elevating what we're doing in Newport this project right now at first blush seems to hit in many of those marks first uh the actual location itself right within a commercialized District right now it is a Surface parking lot so it's not like we're taking away housing or some other historic structure second the design seems to match what actually was there originally you know there's a structure there it was torn down to build a parking lot just so people can picture it you tell me if I'm wrong I think it's the big parking lot across from the Tennis Hall of Fame I think there might be a CVS in that Plaza among other things that that's right that would become the hotel that's correct yeah that's correct are you worried about the loss of parking no because the project actually incorporates parking underground as well that's what we need to move towards I think surface lots are the lowest possible use of property and so we need to start thinking about how we use areas that are surface lots for structures that are going to be more productive for our community we are near a Tipping Point though where this community can only handle so many hotel rooms so this really becomes this Redevelopment decision that we need to make when we're looking at development in our community are they things that are putting land to higher and better use and are they elevating the overall brand for Newport this project I think is going to hit that so you talked about demand to be a Newport I said in the top of the show summer you think of Newport everyone everyone up in the part of where e Providence taping this we all think of going down to Newport it's summertime going to get down there um also a huge part of the city's economy took a huge hit during the pandemic as tourism did everywhere are things fully back to normal now would you say post pandemic and what changed what's different about the summer tourism in particular in Newport versus before the pandemic newport's tourism is very complex you have many layers of activity that are happening the Newport Bermuda race um about a week and a half two weeks ago we just had the US Senior Open we have the Tennis Hall of Fame Championship the jazz festival The Folk Festival these are the big events you typically think of and then you have your traditional Travelers who maybe came down because of one of those experiences fell in love with our community fell in love with their favorite bartender or that tour guide that really has that Personal Touch and they come back every single year and there's that repeat tourism on top of that weekend tourism you have a Monday through Thursday very robust um level of Tourism from people who are coming in either for culturally different tourism they want to really soak in some of these experiences or they're coming in for Gatherings where uh the the convener is looking to elevate thought to get people inspired and focused so these are small corporate Retreats these are uh nonprofit Gatherings that are important to really elevating the level of thought that these organizations are producing that's probably been the biggest development but we are back better than ever I've talked to many um of our our local businesses their revenues are up year-over-year looking at the tax receipts right we're looking at an increase of between two and 3% already this year and given all the rain we had last year and given how great the weather's been so far this year I think this is going to be a blockbuster season for the City of Newport so I want to ask you about the debate over the new Rogers High School uh Savannah Dunning who does a nice job down with the Newport Daily News had a story this week about strings attached to funding that the city council uh strings attached to City council's putting in place my sense from chatting with some people preparing for this show is there's some question is the council truly committed to this project with the new high school what would you say to that to Residents this council is 100 committed 100% committed to not only this high school but to the kids in our Public Schools we have to focus a lot on what's actually happen happening inside the schools itself I made focusing on what our community can do to support education a top priority what we're seeing with this building right now is uh project overruns that are concerning and this project is 50% over budget if you're to do this project today if you're to go out do a bid to build this project this project as it currently runs is 25% higher than it would be if you were to start this project guys switch from percents to dollar amounts what was budgeted and where is the budget for it now 98.5 million budgeted right now we're looking at just about $144 million and do you think that's a final number or are you concerned it will keep going up nope I think it's going to keep going up what we're trying to do here is put in some checks and balances so I think if you have a project that's run 50% over budget that the contractor on that budget needs to be the first person to put the skin on the game so to the extent they have contingencies and their contracts that can get put towards the project before another public dollar goes in we want to see those contingencies put on the table is is it I mean you know I cover all sorts of construction projects all over the region is it just what seeing everywhere else or is there something you know inflation uh cost materials Etc or is there something uniquely problematic that's gone on with the Rogers project inflation is unquestionably an impact on things but when you look at if you were to build a school new today that it would still be cheaper than this project has been given the cost overruns I think what you're seeing is a project that has suffered the Whiplash of all the experiences that Co dealt to us in the form of project overruns in the form of inflationary expenses that really put a lot of pressure on the project itself I will say this our SCH School building committee is doing the absolute best that they can but when you look at the state structure for how they establish these School building committees they're putting together members of the community people who don't have a background and experience in construction management and you're putting them in charge of hundred million doll projects I'm not convinced that that's the best possible model to make sure projects get built on budget on time and deliver on the expectation of what a community originally voted for so uh while we're talking projects two big projects down there that both have to do with kind of resilience and the the challenges along the shoreline in Newport the cliffwalk and the future of Easton's Beach where the old facilities have just been torn down now I I know a lot of federal money came through for the cliffwalk I Know Jack Reed and the delegation very happy about that touting it um but what needs to happen at Easton's beach now that you've taken down the existing facilities there and how concerned are you about that well much of our community's focus on East speech has been on the amenities that people know and love and that makes sense because that was a very special part of East speech that's been down there for a number of years the bigger issue that we're facing is eastn speech is more than just a tourism amenity for people who come to visit Newport eastn Beach is the barrier that sits between the Atlantic Ocean and newport's public drinking water supply and during any major storm where you're seeing the waters not only wash out those facilities and amenities we have at the beach but coming halfway up the dam for a public drinking water supply so our first priority is Public Safety and public Wellness what we need to do is figure out how we reinforce that barrier Beach to to make sure that our public drinking water is safe and protected right now we're losing about a foot per year on that beach and so our Focus really needs to to be on how we rebuild that beach itself across the city itself resiliency is a top tier Focus for us because it is existential to our existence we are on the front lines of climate change and while we will do what we can to manage our own individual impact on climate change much of our focus is on resiliency that's why we've reorganized most of our city government under a chief resiliency officer so our Public Works director utilities director planning zoning anybody who has any impact on something that gets built in our city is now going to be looking at those projects to the lens of is this going to be here for the next Generation so uh people think you will probably run for higher office someday um I should note for people in the other 60 something communities uh that are watching this across our TV Market that the mayor of Newport you are what in other places a city council president right that but we you call it a May in Newport because that's how they do it in Newport um so could you see yourself on the ballot for higher office in 2026 I don't know right now I'm having a tough time looking past the immediate challenges that Newport has oh come on you're sure about it by far one of the best jobs in Rhode Island Public Service I mean Newport is an incredible Community we have an enormous amount of activity every single day and I'm focused on doing that job that's why I just announced for and I'm running for a second term to make sure we see through that exercise and keep at it I will say this though I do not believe that public government is best served by people who serve an entire lifetime in an individual role I think we need to go in do our jobs in public office and then move on once the job is done all right well it wasn't a no folks so we'll have you back on to see what you do in the F mayor Z from new Newport thank you so much for coming up for this have fun down there in the summer but don't go away you're watching newsmakers and coming up we're going to have a oneon-one with r Island dot director Peter alvid on the Washington Bridge crisis stay with [Music] us welcome back to newsmakers I'm Ted nii well a winning bid has been selected to demolish the closed westbound Washington Bridge and it won't be cheap the contract coming in 57% higher than expected if the company achieves all its incentives that's one of the topics 12 news anchor Kim colian covered with do director Peter alvid when he joined her in studio Tuesday for an interview on 12 News at 4 here's some of that conversation so let's talk about the Washington Bridge some more um the contract that was awarded just last week we've talked about how the cost this project wouldn't really be known until these contracts were awarded um but were you surprised that the bids for the demolition of the bridge were 50% higher than what the state had estimated it would cost well um a bit uh but there are a number of factors I think that play into what could have been the increased cost of course we're Bound by law uh to conduct our um procurement and our award of these contracts in accordance with both federal and state laws so we're Bound by those laws and the RFP clearly spelled out the terms of the uh awarding process that would be the most points would be given for an accelerated schedule uh the next uh number of points would be given for the cost and uh consideration would also be given to the technical Alternatives and in this case the evaluation team that was Guided by the fhwa we had fhwa Representatives we had um State Department of administration representatives and we had owners representation by our Consultants guiding us through this selection process unanimously awarded T and Bridge um the cost did come in a bit higher but uh there are a number of factors I think that may have influenced that there's an abundance of work out there uh on all throughout the region as a result of the federal government's funding of the infrastructure and jobs act okay so there's a lot of work out there and and contractors that have a lot of work tend to be little little higher on uh the projects that they're competing for in addition um there's a high level of risk associated with this job there it's a complex structure and it is an unstable structure that needs to be demolished in close proximity to another so the Assumption of that risk by the contractor is a factor that they get more conservative in their approach and therefore their cost to be able to uh assume the risk of an unstable structure like this and and then there are other factors Regional uh factors and uh the additional oversight and controversy that comes with this particular project that um would tend to make contractors a little more conservative in their approach to the costing of it so all we're looking into all of that and we'll U make some determinations with regard to what may have influence cost but any all of those and other things may have influenced the the cost of the project so should we expect the cost of the construction of the new bridge to also be much higher than the initial estimates well we'll be receiving those uh bids uh and those proposals beginning tomorrow and uh at that time we'll look to see what they say and uh I have no predisposition as to what to expect um we've talked about the forensic analysis before and the Day of Reckoning to hold people accountable for the problems that gut us here in the first place um now the company that was chosen for the demolition Etna had previously worked on the bridge and even received a letter from The Firm that's putting this whole forensic analysis together can we be assured then because Etna was chosen for this project that they won't be facing legal action from the state so we there are a number of legal entities that inform dos like ourselves as to which companies are eligible and or debarred from participating in in the bidding process on projects like this um as of the date of the award even up until now only one company only one company has been debarred from doing business with the state of Rhode Island that's Barletta um in their consent agreement between them and the Department of Justice on another project dispute uh they uh self-impose the debarment from doing business other than them no federal state um uh uh governmental agency that has perview over debarment of companies has informed us that any companies are debarred from that practice so we're Bound by law to keep the procurement process open to all companies both federal and state purchasing laws we follow those laws and Etna unanimously came out as the company dos all over the country regularly do business with companies that they have claims against or companies that have claims against them either way um and business continues as those claims go on uh we have not been informed of any Department um so conducted this in accordance with that guidance and it sounds like things could potentially change down the road that if they change they change down the road I'm not going to speculate right now as to what the the outcomes of that is well we'll let that play out and happen as it as it happens uh Max wistow one of the lawyers on this forensic team told the Providence Journal last week that he hopes this forensic analysis is going to be done within a month but that doesn't mean that it's going to be released to the public do you think and hope that the findings will be made public to the taxpayers of Rhode Island I as quickly as we can see them at do we'd like to be able to see them to have that inform our processes not only in do but in our in our conduct of business with contractors so yes we await them as as eagerly as you do and you hope that the the people of Rhode Island will be able to see those findings as well we do um let's talk about traffic on the bridge we talk about this pretty much every time we speak last time we sat down you said you were looking at making some changes maybe around India Street um in downtown Providence where there's some backups in the Cities traffic is still pretty bad on the eastbound side what's going on any changes coming well it's funny you should mention that I I just came came away from a meeting you know we have review of the traffic situation on a regular basis and now with the summer months coming in we're beginning to see some ease up on the eastbound traffic also because of the reduction on the number of people that are in those particularly the am Peaks getting children to school there's no school so we're seeing some relief there but we're also looking at other Alternatives and ways to mitigate the eastbound traffic congestion and I think the analysis that we've had we've had two different Consultants look at that uh at those Alternatives and they they're showing promise uh it's going to take a bit more work on our part to uh figure out the cost and the actual constructibility but um we are actively working on additional improvements in the eastbound Direction so there is still hope for some the good news is that the number of accidents um has actually declined at or below what it has been historically even before closing the bridge the westbound Direction both AM and PM Peaks and on weekends is essentially the same or better than it was before we Clos the bridge and the eastbound continues on the weekends and off peak hours to be essentially the same as it was pre uh bridge closure so we're working on that pm M Peak delays that we're experiencing um and we're looking at ways to mitigate that even further and now that this contract to demolish the westbound side has been tentatively awarded when can people expect to see the wrecking ball well I think um you'll see some activity out there not necessarily a wrecking ball because there's some um mobilization activity but I think you'll see it immediately Upon Our uh formal award once the once the contractual issues are settled in all the papers assigned to the contracts assigned which would be mid Monon this month uh later in this month we begin to see the presence of that contractor on the site mobilizing and staging and then uh toward the latter part of the summer I think you'll actively begin to see the the actual deconstruction take place RH Island do director Peter alvid thanks so much for being here thank you that was 12 news anchor Kim cloan speaking with the director of the Ryland dot stick with us you're watching newsmakers welcome back to newsmakers I'm Ted nii Rhode Island US senator Sheldon White House was a key player in this week's debate over whether President Biden should step aside after this headline grabbing interview with 12 News to be clear I expressed horror about both individuals there are people who are very legitimately frightened about what Donald Trump means for the America's future I think those fears were worsened significantly with this captured Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision yesterday that was actually White House's second interview with reporters this week about his comments you can find all that on wpri.com we'll see you next week on newsmakers
2024-07-08 03:11
