Providence Committee on Finance-Tuesday, November 4, 2025-5:30 PM
Call to Order, Roll Call, and Procedural Motion
The meeting is called to order, and the clerk conducts the roll call to establish a quorum. A motion is approved to take Item 2 out of order to accommodate the large number of attendees present for that discussion.
Item 2: Lease Agreement with WaterFire Providence
The committee discusses a proposed twenty-year lease agreement between the city and WaterFire Providence for the property at 475 Valley Street. Representatives from WaterFire and the city administration present testimony regarding the organization's financial recovery plan and the economic benefits of the partnership before the committee votes to send the matter to the full council.
Item 1: Infrastructure Project Financing Ordinance
The committee considers an ordinance approving the financing of infrastructure projects through the issuance of appropriation obligations not to exceed $6,073,000. After a heated debate regarding equity, neighborhood representation, and financial rates, the committee votes three to two to pass the matter to the full council.
Adjournment
A motion to adjourn the meeting is made by Councilor Taylor. The motion is approved, and the meeting is officially adjourned.
Speaker 0
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She would. Gina.
Speaker 1
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You're all set.
Speaker 2
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Good evening. Welcome to the committee on the finance regular meeting on it is Tuesday, November 4, at 05:32. I'm Province Councilwoman Joanna Nyland.
Speaker 3
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Madam Clerk, would you please call the line? Chairwoman Ryan. Present. Vice Chairman Taylor?
Speaker 1
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Here.
Speaker 3
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Councilor Member Raychts? Present. Councilor Sanchez?
Speaker 4
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Provoked.
Speaker 3
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We have five present on behalf of Barron.
Speaker 2
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Okay. Let the letter reflect that we
Speaker 3
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are the 95, the
Speaker 2
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councilman, Doctor. Bellis, and I have council one hundred and seven.
Speaker 5
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So noted.
Speaker 2
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Okay. What I'd like to do is oh,
Speaker 5
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No. Yeah.
Speaker 6
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Thank you.
Speaker 2
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You know, it does as well. Not to mention our fabulous courts that run the whole show. Okay. With that, I'd like to take I know you're out of order because we've got so many people here for item two. So I'm gonna ask for a motion to take item two first.
Speaker 2
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May I have that motion? So moved. The motion made by the latest chair too. Second question. Like, I'm second by a customer.
Speaker 2
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And bylaw. Favorable item. Have a motion. Carried. Madam clerk, would
Speaker 3
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you kindly read items two into the record? Resolution requesting the mayor of Providence to authorize and to execute the attached lease with the Water Fire Providence for the property located at 475 Valley Street.
Speaker 2
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Okay. Why don't we get everybody that is going to testify on water fire up down. Are there any residual people here for the other matter?
Speaker 5
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Yes. Liz and Savior, but that's what she says.
Speaker 2
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Oh, yeah. It's okay. I'll just say I'm with Savior once. Let's Oh, yeah. Okay.
Speaker 2
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Madam Clark, would it be okay if you could swear while everyone Yes.
Speaker 5
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Swearing. You swear on the penalty of perjury that testimony you're not to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Speaker 7
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Yes. I do.
Speaker 5
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Please state your names for the record.
Speaker 2
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We can start on the
Speaker 5
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side. Sergeant. Courtney Hopkins chief.
Speaker 1
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Courtney Hopkins. Greg Hoffman, senior engineer.
Speaker 7
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Thank
Speaker 2
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you. Okay. Welcome to the table. Thank you. Please lead off.
Speaker 5
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K. So thanks for having us. Director Wilson and I are gonna go through the lease, and then we're gonna invite the water fire team to come up and talk about why we're doing this, let them comment on their organization's current fiscal stake and their plans for
Speaker 2
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the healing.
Speaker 5
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So in summary, the lease before you is a twenty year lease between the city and Waterfire. The rent for the lease is a dollar a year. The purpose of the lease is to provide for WaterFire Providence to use it for its operations kind of as it is now or as it sees fit. The city is not taking ownership over the operation of the building at all. Water fire will maintain responsibility for a 100% of the maintenance and operations of the building, all repairs, and they have an obligation to keep the building better at its current state or better.
Speaker 5
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They also have a responsibility to insure the building, and then there are, you know, a bunch of kind of standard legal lease terms. In terms of why we're doing this, we talked about it a little bit as it relates to the bonds that came before you. You know, the mayor and his team believe that wildfire is a really important asset to the city. The mayor often says that when he's traveling, the first things people say to him is, oh, we're in the city that lights the rivers on fire. That is so cool.
Speaker 5
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And we believe in the possibility of what this organization can achieve in the future. We all know that WaterFire has had a history of financial challenges and have had the benefit of spending some time with both the board and the leadership team to understand their approach to overcoming those challenges and feel confident in their ability to do that. And this transaction, you know, different from other times when organizations come before us and ask for grants, provides the city with an asset. You know, we will be purchasing the building for a little bit less than half of what its current appraised value was, and we expect the building to appreciate over time, and the city will have future ability to do with that building at a mixed use fit. So different than just giving the organization a grant, this is a transaction that we believe from a fiscal perspective makes good sense for the city.
Speaker 5
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I will allow director Wilson to comment further about the organization. But before I do that, I also wanna say that I've been around a lot of nonprofit boards. I have been very impressed by the commitment of this board to both provide oversight, but also to actually do work that helps the organization, which makes me personally feel much more confident in how they move this forward. You're gonna hear from some of those board members tonight, but I think it is a testament to how important this organization is to the city and the state that the caliber of people that have committed themselves to another organization are also doing significant work to help move it forward. And And director Wilson sits on that board as part of his official capacity.
Speaker 7
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All I'd like to add is that there are things that are iconic in the city and the state. We talk about, you know, the what do you the hot dog, the gaggers. We talk about the the the bucket of calamari that was at the Democratic National Convention. We talk about the cohorts that we put in airports. But there is no signature event that brings the people of Providence in this state and region together like wildfire.
Speaker 7
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And I think that it is an important time for the city to make a statement here by investing in one of our, if not most important cultural assets in this city. This goes at the heart of our identity as a city. And I'm I don't think that any of us want on our watch to see a piece of our identity, our soul ripped away because of the challenges that the organization currently faces. And to the chief's point, sitting on this board, I have witnessed the level of care and expertise, thoughtful collaboration that has gone into, not just seeing this purchase as a Band Aid, but as a sizable shift in how this this institution the culture of how this institution does its business. And so on behalf of the Department of Art of Culture and Tourism, the city of Providence, as a proud member of this community and of this state.
Speaker 7
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I think this is singularly one of the most important investments in our cultural landscape that we are making in a generation. This is an important investment. It's a smart investment. It's a strategic investment. And so I full I full heartedly support of this work, and, and you all heard me talk enough in the past, so I don't need to go over it.
Speaker 7
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This is an important investment, and the city would be stupid to not double down on what the board is trying to do and what we are trying to do in terms of the mayor's office and making sure that water fire once and for all remains at the center of the identity of our city. But more importantly, celebrating, we believe I believe, as the first day, I believe, was one of the most important infrastructure investments in a century, which was uncovering that river and what that has meant for downtown and then for Providence and really what is meant for this truly generational investment in terms of our our. So but that that's all.
Speaker 2
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Thank you. Should I
Speaker 5
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go back to Water Park? Before
Speaker 2
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you speak, Paula, I would like to ask my committee's members for the motion to add item two a, see what happened from the letters that we received on this matter into the record. May I have that motion? Motion made by
Speaker 8
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Thank you, madam chair, members of the committee. My name is Bob Walsh. After a brief 16 absence, I made terms with the Water Fire Board last year, and I've got the easiest job of the board members testifying tonight. First, I wanna say that our chair, Kate Ramson, very much wanted to be here. She had a business commitment, but she watched the tape.
Speaker 8
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So I wanna make sure I mentioned that Kate Ramson wanted to be here tonight. And, really, I just wanna start with thank you. Thank you to the city council. Thank you to the mayor and the many mayors before for a thirty year relationship. It's called Water Fire Providence for a reason.
Speaker 8
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It is a partnership that works for all three parties very well. And this, the least before you tonight and the bond that you have already approved, strengthens and expands and allows that partnership to really continue for another twenty years. When I returned to the board last year, I realized some things were exactly the same, that we had a wonderful event that many of you would participate in and seen on the river. And we had something they didn't have when I left, a water fire center, a building, a place for the community to gather in a different way than they gather at the water fire events. And both are important.
Speaker 8
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And I've got experts to talk tonight about why. First, you're going to hear from Warren B. Evans, who we all know, who is the creator and still a live participant in making sure that the heart and soul of the event continues. Then you'll hear from Kristen Odomo, who is a WaterFlyer board member. You'd like to hear from her also in her day job as the head of Go Problems, the problems organization, the bureau, to talk a little bit about the economics.
Speaker 8
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And I saw Kristen and her crew at WaterFire on on Saturday night with 30 travel writers from around the country so they can go and extol the virtues of coming to problems. And, frankly, you'll hear from Allen, who we brought on just last year, as our interim executive director. And as of tomorrow's board meeting, it will be our permanent executive director, that help us, move forward into the future. We have a real challenge, that was fairly obvious when I I came to the board. It was, you know, this COVID thing that caused us not to be able to do events, and, that caused a pretty big financial hit to the organization.
Speaker 8
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But the good news, while we did not have an endowment, we did have a building, and the building was essentially the endowment part of the organization. And, you know, on the fiduciary responsibility and board members, we had two potential directions. We could sell out, and Courtney pointed out, the cost of the building they're paying is less than half the appraised value. You'd say, why would a former banker like me, you know me as a union guy, Joe Ed, the chair remembers that I was a banker in my early life, do that because, well, you put the rest of the value into the lease payment. So you get a deal on the building, and we get a deal on the lease, and you still have a wonderful economic value for the whole package.