North Providence council hears grants briefing as members debate where to spend matching funds

Maria Vallee, North Providence finance director, and grant writer Lisa Anjosia told the council on April 2 that the town’s grant portfolio includes (1) grants with executed agreements, (2) completed grants and (3) grants that have been submitted but not yet executed. Vallee said she separated the list so council members could see which awards include executed grant agreements and which remain in appropriation and therefore lack defined time frames and allowed expenses.

Vallee said the town has not yet received some grant agreements, so staff cannot yet tell the council what period the grant will cover or which line items the award will allow. “We don’t have the grant agreement, so I don’t know from what date to what date,” Vallee said. That uncertainty limits the town’s ability to solicit bids or obligate dollars until a grant agreement is executed.

Council members questioned whether the town had “lost” any awards and whether the town could reassign site‑specific funds. DPW Director Bernie Salvatore and other members clarified that a grant awarded for Wentworth Street was not lost but the council chose not to expend the approximately $337,000 local match required for that award and instead prioritized Wendell and Link Street work, which local officials argued would better serve the adjacent neighborhood. “We didn’t lose the grant,” Salvatore said. “We chose not to use it.”

Members asked about match rates. Grant staff said many grants carry a roughly 20% match, but some awards reported in discussion had higher local match requirements; council members emphasized the need to track exact match percentages for each award before committing local funds. The council moved to refer the list and related decisions to the council’s grant/finance subcommittee for more detailed review and oversight.

Next steps: the council voted to refer the grants list to the grant committee (a subcommittee of finance) to clarify executed agreements, match requirements, and recommended project priorities; staff will return with specific grant periods and executed agreements when available.