7/8/2020
SMITHFIELD – After debate Tuesday, the Smithfield Town Council agreed in a 3-2 vote to allow the rescheduling of the Sour Apple Road Race to Sunday, Aug. 9.
EMA Director Todd Manni said that as of now, this will be the first road race in the state to take place since the start of the pandemic in Rhode Island.
Town Councilor Sean Kilduff motioned for the approval and Councilor T. Michael Lawton seconded the authorization of the request from Ocean State Multisport to reschedule the date of the race to Aug. 9, subject to state guidelines at the time of the race and the approval of local public health official and state officials.
Town Council President Suzy Alba and Councilor Dina Cerra both opposed the motion.
“I’m going to be honest, I do not feel comfortable approving this this evening,” Alba said. “I don’t know if it will be safe enough on Aug. 9.”
Manni said Ocean State Multisport owner Gary Menissian is planning to cap the race at 249 runners to keep it under the mandated 250 people gathering.
“I understand that the number of 250 (kind of) scares people,” Menissian said. “But there will never be 250 people in one gathering at the same time. That’s why we made the staggered starting time. One or two people at the starting line every two to three seconds.”
The staggered start times will begin at 6:30 a.m. and run to 8:30 a.m. Menissian said he has gotten approval from the state for his safety plan and has eliminated many of the normal aspects of races including having no sign-ups on the day of the race or bib pickups that morning. Registration will be done online and there will be no ceremonies at the end of the race. He said runners will cross the finish line, be handed a bottle of water and a medal, and then be told to continue straight to their cars.
Despite not feeling completely comfortable with the idea, Councilor Maxine Cavanagh voted for the motion.
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Other matters on the agenda Tuesday were passed unanimously. The council approved a sidewalk license for Blackbird Farm, at 122 Limerock Road, to allow farmers markets on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through late October.
Jason Marino was approved for a new victualling license for his Juice Bar & Co. at 266 Putnam Pike. The council also approved a holiday sales license for Marino.
The adoption of an ordinance declaring the existence of an emergency posed by the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 also passed Tuesday. Town Manager Randy Rossi explained this would keep the existing declaration in effect and help with funding and reimbursement. It will run for the next 60 days and expire on Sept. 6. He added that Town Hall is not officially open yet and officials have not decided on a date.
The council agreed to allow Rossi to enter a contract of up to $10,000 with GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. for managing and administering reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other available sources for expenses related to COVID-19.
The council also approved a bid award for school transportation services. Only one bid came in, from Durham School Services, said Supt. Judy Paolucci, and the council approved it. Working with school officials, Durham will be responsible for coming up with a cleaning protocols for the buses, Paolucci said.
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July 09, 2020 at 02:25PM
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Smithfield council narrowly agrees to allow road race - Valley Breeze
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