Town Manager Report for the week ending March 20, 2026
ANNOUCEMENT: Coventry Parks and Recreation is having its Annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Town Hall Annex on Saturday March 21 from 1200-130. The Rain date is Sunday March 22. They are having free pictures with the Easter Bunny, a DJ, Petting Zoo, Pony Rides, food trucks, and a 7000-egg hunt. It is being sponsored by Warwick Tree and Planet Fitness.
On Monday and Tuesday this past week we had our scheduled Budget Workshops with the Council and our department directors. Director Civetti reviewed the expense side of the entire budget as a whole and then broke it down by each department individually to dive more closely into the details. The Council had some very good questions and asked for us to provide some additional backup data regarding some questions they had. It was a very productive 2-day meeting and I will be presenting the full budget including the Capital Improvement Plan on Tuesday March 24 at 600.
Also, on Tuesday we had our monthly call with the Auditor General Dave Bergantino and Chief of Municipal Finance Steve Coleman to get an update on our submitted deficit reduction plan for the school’s remaining $4.5m deficit-down from $5.8m. They reviewed the plan as presented and instead of the 5 year plan we have the deficit being paid in 3 years if all of our assumptions are correct. The Council and School Committee will approve the plan the at their respective meetings this coming week.
We had our monthly call with the state Pandemic Recovery Office this week who reviewed all 18 of the Community Learning Center project timelines and finances. They will be coming out to visit our center at the Annex on April 1st for their quarterly review. We have had a couple of setbacks on the project and are hoping to wrap up construction and punch list items by the beginning of May.
We met with the School Superintendent and Finance Director to review next year’s budget with the recent notice of our health care premiums increasing by 17% on health and 11% on dental for the Town and 14% health and 5% dental on the school side. This is a national trend that is affecting both private and public insurers this year.
On Thursday the RI League of Cities and Towns had its Annual Convention at the Crowne Plaza. It was the largest ever with over 500 participants, vendors, and presenters. There were very informative presentations on a variety of municipal issues including 2 sessions with Planning Director McLean as one of the presenters.