PROVIDENCE – Gov. Donald L. Carcieri has appointed four people to the Coastal Resources Management Council’s 16-member board, which has been operating with only eight members since 2008.
Two of the appointees will act as public members and the other two will represent coastal municipalities through January 2013, the governor’s office said in a news release on Wednesday.
The public members are Allen P. Durand of Fiskeville, business manager and financial secretary for the International Brotherhood of Electrical workers, and Robert P. Kermes of Wakefield, president of Hannibal Development Company LLC.
The coastal municipalities will be represented by L. Neill Gray, owner of Newport Mooring Service, and Judith M. Swift of Kingston, professor at the University of Rhode Island.
“The Coastal Management Resources Council is essential to the preservation and management of critical assets of our state. I am very confident that they will perform their duties mindful of the needs of all Rhode Islanders now and for generations to come,” said Carcieri in a statement, while noting that the appointments are subject to the advice and consent of the R.I. Senate.
The appointments come four months after the National Oceanic and Atomspheric Administration released a review on the CRMC’s operations, calling on the governor to fill the eight vacant seats board by Dec. 1.
In the report, NOAA also outlined seven “accomplishments” for the CRMC – including programs to eliminate invasive species, address sea level rise and develop management plans for environmentally sensitive coastal areas – five “program suggestions” and three “necessary actions,” including the board appointments.
The “action” list also said the CRMC’s legal counsel must make himself more available to staff and the agency must separate the duties of legal counsel and administrative hearing officer due to a conflict of interest.
