In a relaxed meeting tonight, the Portsmouth Town Council heard presentations from the committee working on the Quaker Hill/Turnpike Ave center, and representatives of the Potter League on their new building plan. It was a cordial meeting, a welcome break from the stress of court today, and a reminder of what Town Council meetings used to be like. Carol Dietz of the Town Center Committee (TCC) kicked it off.

"If properly developed," said Dietz, "It will give Portsmouth a sense of place." The emphasis, she said, was on traffic calming and walkability, to be accomplished by installing 3 roundabouts -- one at the top of the hill, one at Foodworks, and one at Clements.

After doing their initial work (Download the PDF) from 2002-2005, the 15-member TCC was on temporary hiatus last year as they waited for the State DOT to sign off on the roundabout concept. Not only did the State approve, but they are now aggressively pushing roundabouts in other communities.

The TCC was before the Council tonight looking for ratification of by-laws and reappointment of members in what amounts to a real kickoff for the group, and approval to begin shopping RFPs for design and communications work (all of which will be paid for out of a $190K Federal grant.) The appointments were accepted, the other items had minor rework and will be resubmitted to the council soon. Expect to hear much more about this as the TCC gears up for a workshop where they'll bring the DOT here in late June.

Most Aquidneck Islanders are familiar with the Potter League, the folks on Oliphant Lane who shelter the Island's stray and homeless animals, conduct education and outreach programs, and support animals and their companions. Exec Dir Christie Smith and President Sheila Reilly talked about their service line and vision.

"You talk about regionalization," said Smith. "The one regional program that works on Aquidneck Island is the Potter League." Indeed, the Potter League, for more than 30 years, has been the shelter for Newport County, and a very cost-effective one for the towns.

Portsmouth, which accounts for 20% of the stray and abandoned animals at Potter, provides just 4% of their funding with our annual contribution of about $48K. As Smith and Reilly pointed out, Portsmouth could never run a shelter for that number.

As many know, The Potter League has just embarked on a major facility renovation. Their current building, last upgraded in the 1980s, is too cramped to accommodate current volume, and the design of shelters has moved on from the concrete and chain-link pens of twenty years ago to something more welcoming for adopters, as well as providing space for education (both for the animals and people.)

To this end, they plan to break ground in May on a new 7.5M facility, and they are asking each of the communities on the Island for an additional 150K donation, spread over 3 years. This still sounds like a bargain to me, even added to our yearly contribution.

Update: Just had to add this snarky tidbit. Tailgunner Gleason, always looking for ways to save the taxpayer money, asked the Potter League president "Have you thought of fundraising activity?"

Sheila Reilly, principal of the nationally known market research firm the Reilly Group, former chair of the Aquidneck Island Land Trust, one of the biggest fundraisers in Newport County, gently replied to Gleason that they were in fact in the first phase of a multi-stage capital campaign.

But Gleason persisted. "Because, you know, kids like to collect pennies."

Make of that what you will.