Dana? I'm ready when you're ready.
Yeah. But this is loading up right now.
Okay. My name is Melanie Anthony. I'm the chair of the committee on finance and appoints. We're a regular meeting on Tuesday, 04/29/2025 at 05:30PM. Madam Clerk, would
you please call? Chairman Anthony. Present. Vice Chairman Taylor?
Councilor Antoine? Present. Councilwoman Graves? Yes. Councilor Sanchez?
Yeah. Five present. We have a form.
Thank you so much. And I'd like to recognize that we've had our madam auditor, Gina Costa. We have Becky Shaw from the solicitor's office. Thank you very much. Got Erin Gardner, our director of policy.
Thank you for coming. And we have Carissa and Angela staffing us today. Thank you so much for that. Okay. With that, on October, would you please read the item number down?
Resolution authorizing approval of the following contract and board by this order of contract and supply in accordance with section 21 through 26 b two of the court of ordinances, Drones and Storage, $21,000, Department of Parks. Thank you.
I think we have the suit and intent for this this evening.
We will swear you when? Do you swear at them
to read that testimony about to give this the truth,
the whole truth, and not about the truth? I do. Please state your name and title for the record, please.
Thank you. Thank you, superintendent, for coming. I'm sorry. We grabbed you out this evening. I think we had at least one of us, me, at least, that me.
I had a question question on this item. I'm wondering if you can present it to us. Sure.
This is fascinating stories. Like, we have a lot of really cool, stark furniture and storage It's been there from twenty seven years ago from e from easy Hopkins House on Admiral Street. So when years ago, when the building went went renovations, all the store all the furniture items which we went to store at home were put in storage. And they are at Jones Storage, and they've been there for twenty seven years in a climate controlled area. They are the only climate controlled place in Rhode Island that stores historic furniture.
But, currently, on the eve of COVID, Jones decided that they were going to maybe look at changing the rate, which hasn't been changed in twenty years at the time. And they put it in the side of the folder and then COVID hit, and they forgot to look at it again until Michael was asking, I wanna come see our furniture, and we realized that they had stopped invoicing us yearly, and we had forgotten
so we he said he was gonna change the rates, and I said, we can't do that. But we'd be happy to pay the rate that we owe for the past five years. And so that's when we put this in. I have the collection if anybody's interested in historic furniture. Some of this is really interesting, but here's the assessment from the from Christie's, the office house that we had the estimates done in 2010, which estimated the furniture collection upwards of $270,000.
I'm sure that is sustained, but there's some really fascinating things like that.
move that up down storage and into any other facility, it would be cost per capita.
I'm not even sure we're about
So Okay. May I have a motion to mark this exhibit in Christine's exhibit number one? Motion made by councilor Gray, seconded by councilor Taylor. All in favor? Aye.
All opposed? Any abstentions? So my question is, are people is this in a facility where the public is not allowed to see it?
No. It's in a private controlled air film store right up here on Pranston Street, so it is not. It is it is taped away tightly. We we have nowhere to display it. We've been talking to Providence Preservation Society about the The renovations are eventually done at the Easy Popkins House, which right now is a work and training program to solely renovate the house over time and let it, you know, just
it it's you know, the the easy
pop ins houses easily over a million dollars worth of additional work that we're doing. So we're doing this work training program. We're probably the preservation society where we hold classes in the trades that we start preservation, and we're slowly doing the interior of these apartments. So there might be a future where this furniture might come back. There might be a situation where we it might go on loan to RISD or it might go on you know, it we might have an exhibit possibly at the museum in National District, but it really is it really is secure.
I guess when I saw this originally, I did not realize this is the kind one. Somehow, actually just getting a little storage unit.
4,200 in a year. And, again, it hasn't changed in twenty years, but he said, please find the attached invoice for five days of storage charges for the easy cost collection. We do apologize for late billing and any issues that it may cause. It appears that in February, March 2020, we put this folder aside more to review it. There has never been a rate change.
It because there's never been a rate change in over twenty years due to the folder being set aside. The regular invoice did not jeopardize.
Thank you. I was just wanting to hear when you were sure. It sounded like we were going to stores for. I Not necessarily. Okay.
So I am very excited to hear that I may have a home. Otherwise, what are we doing? It's was basically what I was thinking. But, past committee members, any questions? Yes.
Oh, this is a nice start to the evening, so thank you very much. The members started with Christine Christie. Yeah. That's a good one.
But call the version, if anybody wants it, is much more much more compelling, but it is it's a full story, and it's it's the speaks to the diversity of the parks portfolio.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
like the motion to approve number one.
Okay. Motion to approve made by counselor Taylor. Seconded by counselor Graves. All in favor? That's right.
All opposed. Thank you so much. Thank you. For attending. Okay.
With that, I would like to I'm gonna ping this over. No. I'd like to have a motion to raise the reading of agenda items two through six. Second. Second by councilor Taylor.
All in favor? Aye. All opposed. So with that, we will begin the this evening's budget hearings, and we've got. So thank you
very much. Yeah. As always, we have the
official with them. Shall they all be in Yes, please.
The councilor, seconded by councilor Graves. That's all. All in favor? Aye. All in favor?
