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Narragansett
-URI Coalition
Building
a community of mutual respect
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday – March 22,
2005
7:00PM
Narragansett Town Hall
The Coalition Meeting convened at 7pm.
1.
Presentation - RHODY RIDES PROPOSAL
Following a national student
government conference at Texas A&M during the spring of
2004, participants Judy Duhamel and Emily Anderson, URI
students, began planning Rhody Rides, a designated driver
program modeled after Texas A&M’s award-winning CARPOOL
system. Rhody
Rides will use volunteer drivers to provide free rides home to
intoxicated students through the use of a 6-vehicle fleet
rented from Enterprise Rent-a-Car. For a complete review of the Rhody Rides proposal, please see
the Coalition Website (www.uri.edu/alcohol/coalition)
and click on “Presentations.”
2.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
·
Steering
Committee
a.
The Steering Committee informed the membership
about several bills that are currently under review at the
State level:
§
First, the committee announced a House bill that would allow
homeowners to begin eviction proceedings based on the first
violation of a renter’s lease, provided the lease is for a 9
month contract. This
bill is in response to a particularly difficult house on the
party list, where it took over 9 months to have the tenants
evicted.
§
The Steering Committee also provided the coalition with an
update on Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) legislation.
Legislation mandating RBS training was placed on hold
for an additional year because of concerns about the way the
law was crafted. Beginning
this Thursday, March 24th, a group of legislators
and activists will begin meeting to re-draft the legislation.
§
The Steering Committee also briefly reviewed information on
legislation about breathalyzer refusal, alcohol inhalants,
club admissions for those under 21, and social host
responsibility. Information about these proposed laws, as well as contact
information for local legislators, will be available on the
Coalition website (www.uri.edu/alcohol/coalition)
as part of this meeting’s minutes.
b. The Steering
Committee also announced membership changes:
§
A representative of the Chamber of Commerce was added to the
committee
§
A Greek student representative will join the committee
§
Toni O’Neil will replace Jerry Sahagian as the
representative from the liquor stores on the Steering
Committee.
a.
The Steering Committee has been invited to a luncheon at the
Newport Marriott on April 11th.
The luncheon is part of a conference of researchers and
campus administrators from across the nation working on the
development of campus-community coalition.
·
Communications Committee
a.
The communications committee is in the process of
developing new goals, involving the improvement of both
internal and external communication.
Some of their goals include:
§
Developing an action plan for publicizing the events and
accomplishments of the Coalition.
§
Working to update the website; and considering moving it from
its current location on the URI server to an “org”
location.
§
Working to identify members of each subcommittee and updating
the membership as a whole.
·
Programming Committee
a.
The Office of Student Life is currently accepting
applications for the new “community liaison” positions.
b. The annual
spring cleanup will take place on April 23rd.
c.
The committee will also be sponsoring a “Spring
Carnival” on April 30th. The purpose of the
carnival is to invite community residents onto campus for a
day of fun, family-oriented activities.
·
Realtor/Neighborhood Association Committee
a.
The Realtor/Neighborhood Association Committee
has reviewed the model lease and submitted
suggestions/recommendations to the Board of Realtors who are
in the process of revising the lease.
b.
On May 2nd, local realtors will be
sponsoring a seminar that will host presentations from town
leaders and local building officials.
The purpose of the seminar is to improve communication
in the community and to provide landlords and realtors with
the information needed to manage properties in an effective,
responsible way.
c.
The Realtor/Neighborhood Association Committee is
also seeking to work with URI to create a similar program for
students planning to live off-campus.
The committee is still brainstorming ideas, but is
thinking of offering reduced application fees to encourage
student participation.
d.
For the
next meeting of this committee, members are asked to think
about priority issues for the committee to work on next Fall.
Neighborhood
assoc,/realtor committee reference in the minutes---- our
committee did not revise the model lease.
·
Common Ground
a.
Common Ground discussed 7 different possible
environmental management initiatives. These initiatives
include:
§
responsible beverage service,
§
designated driver programs,
§
alternative transportation programs,
§
cops in shops, party patrols,
§
ID checking, and
§
drinking and driving enforcement.
b.
During the next few weeks, Common Ground members
will identify their priorities from this list of initiatives.
3. Open Forum
A.
Alex
Brincko asked for points of clarification regarding Rhody
Rides.
B.
Nancy
Devaney made a request for student representatives on the
Common Ground Subcommittee.
4. Closure/Next Meeting
The next coalition meeting will
take place on Tuesday, April 19th at 7:00 in the large
assembly hall of the Narragansett Town Hall.
**SUBCOMMITTEE
MEETINGS**
Common Ground and the Communications Committees will meet at
6:00pm prior to the Coalition meeting on the 19th
in the Narragansett Town Hall.
The Realtor/Neighborhood Association Committee and the
Programming Committee will also meet in the Narragansett Town
Hall prior to the Coalition meeting, but will convene at
6:30pm.
Respectfully
submitted,
Kristin
Quinlin
Graduate
Assistant
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