No money was added for mold cleanup at the vacant former school. Lawson’s motion was not put to a vote after colleagues said the traffic signal money is a grant match. A member said a proposal using unallocated capital funds would come at the next meeting.
East Providence, R.I. — East Providence Councilman Rick Lawson proposed shifting $250,000 from traffic signal work to mold remediation at a vacant city-owned former school building during Tuesday night’s budget workshop, but the motion was not put to a vote after colleagues defended the signal money, according to the East Providence City Council’s published meeting recording.
The council went on to approve the fiscal year 2027 budget ordinance on a 3-2 roll call, with Lawson and Councilwoman Anna M. Sousa voting no. The ordinance appropriates $241,580,171 for city government for the fiscal year ending Oct. 31, 2027. No money for the mold work was added.
What Lawson proposed
Lawson first laid out three capital changes: $50,000 for the school building fund, $300,000 for mold remediation at the former school building, and $750,000 for roads. He said the budget puts no new money into capital, which he called “reckless.”…