13-R385
2013 -- S 1050
Enacted 07/03/13
S E N A T E R E
S O L U T I O N
THAT THIS SENATE
HEREBY ENCOURAGES AND SUPPORTS THE EFFORTS OF THE
RHODE
ADMINISTRATION
TO LOCATE A
STREET POWER
STATION IN
Introduced By: Senator Daniel DaPonte
Date Introduced: July 03, 2013
WHEREAS,
University), and the
education and research programs, which produce approximately
80% of the state's nursing
program graduates each year; and
WHEREAS, The facilities housing the nursing programs at the College
and the
University are aging, lack current technologies and smart
classrooms, and are at their physical
enrollment capacities; and
WHEREAS, Projected local and national shortages of nursing candidates
for licensure
and nursing faculty are expected to adversely impact the
delivery of health care in the coming
years; and
WHEREAS, It is in the best interest of the State of
and the College to educate students at all levels in the
sciences and caring for complex health care
challenges in a low-risk environment, to provide critical
continuing education in order to support
workforce development, and to produce more nursing graduates at
the baccalaureate, masters, and
doctoral levels; and
WHEREAS, It is in the best interest of the State of
financing for its public nursing higher education facilities as
outlined in the May 23, 2011,
feasibility study authorized by the General Assembly of the State
of
year 2012 budget which proposed the development of a
single, shared, inter-institutional nursing
sciences and education facility to be located in
WHEREAS, Location of a
shared facility in
College and the University to maximize symmetries and
current collaborations with Brown
University's Alpert Medical School (AMS), and the
state's major hospitals and other health care
providers; and
WHEREAS, A shared
nursing education facility would be an investment by the citizens
of
area in which the new nursing school will be located, with
programs to encourage the pursuit of
careers in nursing, increased opportunities to attend the
College and the University to pursue
nursing education, and financial and other assistance to
facilitate nursing program completion;
and
WHEREAS,
College Hill to the Jewelry District and create a
campus environment on and around the Alpert
WHEREAS,
collaborations with the University, the College, and other institutions
of higher education; and
WHEREAS,
Ventures, LLC (the Developer) to renovate and develop
the South Street Power Station at Davol
Square into a shared facility sufficient to house
Brown's administrative programming, and the
nursing programs for the University and the College; and
WHEREAS, In order to
address the projected shortage of new nurses, to attract more
nursing faculty, to provide state-of-the-art technology for
teaching and research capabilities, and
to ensure cost-effective development of higher education
facilities, the Board of Education and
the Department of Administration intend to work together
to enter into a partnership with Brown
University and Commonwealth Ventures, LLC, to locate a
be shared by the College and the University in the South
Street Power Station; and
WHEREAS, A major vehicle
making the development of the abandoned and vacant
South Street Power Station possible is the State's
historic preservation tax credit program
intended to support a previously planned use of the building
and now potentially helping to
enable the building to serve, in part, a beneficial State
purpose; and
WHEREAS, The Developer has
proposed that with the South Street Power Station leased
in its entirety by Brown and the NEC, the developer will
privately develop at least one hundred
sixty five thousand (165,000) square feet of residential apartments
suitable for rent by graduate,
medical, and upper-class advanced undergraduate student
housing on the adjacent parcel; at least
ten thousand (10,000) square feet of retail space; a six hundred
(600) car garage (to be financed
and developed by the City of
develop at least fifteen thousand (15,000) square feet of
incubator lab space in an adjacent
facility; and
WHEREAS, The Developer
anticipates the development of the NEC project in its
entirety will launch a $206 million economic development
project that will generate local
construction and other permanent jobs, and enhance a major gateway
to
WHEREAS, After analysis, the annual lease costs for the NEC in the
South Street Power
Station project represent the lowest cost alternative
for this type of project, without the additional
long term burden of ownership; and
WHEREAS, The Board of
Education, the University, the College, and the Department of
Administration intend to negotiate the terms and
conditions for the development and lease for the
NEC in the South Street Power Station with the
Developer to protect the short and long-term
interests of the State, the College, and the University; and
WHEREAS, A shared
governance committee for operational purposes will be established
as outlined in the feasibility study, and will be
comprised of appropriate and equal numbers of
individuals from the University and the College and chaired by a
senior staff member of the
Board of Education, with a process whereby the appeal
of decisions made by the governance
committee may be made by the University or College directly to
the Board; and
WHEREAS, Decisions
regarding the NEC that involve and impact both the University
and College nursing programs shall not be made by either
the University or College alone; now,
therefore be it
RESOLVED,
That this Senate of the State of
supports the efforts of the Rhode Island Board of Education
and the Department of
Administration to locate a
nursing education center "(NEC)" at the South Street Power Station in
RESOLVED,
That in the event that the State Properties Committee
and/or the Board of
Education approves a lease
with good, clear and marketable title to said property for the NEC, it
shall immediately forward the proposed lease to the Chair
of the Finance Committee of the
Senate of the State of
it further
RESOLVED,
That the Secretary of State be and hereby is
authorized and directed to
transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Governor,
the Chair of the Board of
Education, the Director of
the Department of Administration, the State Budget Officer, and the
Chairman
of the State Properties Committee.
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LC02975
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