Neighbors press council over North Elmore stormwater project; DPW says work required by DEM wet-weather findings

Multiple North Elmore Avenue residents told the Town Council they had not been adequately notified about recent tree clearing and construction for a stormwater filtration project in a conservation/open-space area. Residents said the site clearing created an eyesore, removed buffers that protected nearby homes and lacked posted signage and outreach; some suggested the parcel carried deed restrictions against development. Steve Potassie said he contacted DEM and the EPA and reported that officials there said they had no record of the project as of his call.

Bernie Salvatore, director of the Department of Public Works, responded that the project follows a stormwater plan advertised since 2017 and stems from a DEM-mandated wet-weather survey that identified elevated bacteria levels at two outfalls. He said the town has a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Level 4 permit and was directed to reduce bacteria discharges to the Asquonet/Asquatucket watershed; the present work is part of that remediation. Salvatore said the plan, dated 02/2017, was advertised in the North Providence Breeze and that the town applied for and received grant funding to reduce taxpayer cost. He described measures the town will take to screen the completed site (6-foot vinyl fence, raised planting beds, mature specimen trees and a landscaping plan) and committed to providing wet-weather and stormwater reports and any DEM correspondence to council at the June meeting.

Council members pressed for clarity on notification and permitting. Salvatore said the town believed the work was non-permitted under DEM’s thresholds (the project had been accepted and grant-funded) and noted the site contains preexisting utility easements and infrastructure. Residents and several councilors requested more documents, including the DEM wet-weather survey and any permit correspondence, and suggested sending letters to DEM and the Watershed Council asking for records and a fuller explanation. The council voted to continue the matter to June, to request documents from DEM and the watershed district, and to post downscaled blueprints to the town website for public review. The council also agreed to send the requested letters and to make the wet-weather report available at the next meeting.