House passes bill to give Warwick a seat on the RIAC board

WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE) — After decades without the option to weigh in on Rhode Island’s largest airport, Warwick is one step closer to have a voice in what happens next.

With acres of land and a massive economic footprint, T.F. Green has an enormous impact on the 80,000 people who live in Warwick.

Mayor Frank Picozzi said while it’s something they live with; the city deserves input.

“When the RIAC board meets, they’re concerned with airport matters. They’re really not thinking about Warwick or how it affects it, so somebody will be there to remind them,” said Picozzi.

Representative Joseph McNamara recently introduced legislation that would allow the city to have a seat on the Rhode Island Airport Corporation board, but it may not fix every problem residents are concerned about, if passed by the House.

“You know, sometimes people just don’t realize that we can’t tell the airport what to do. The FAA sets their flight schedules, they set their flight paths,” said Picozzi.

“But I mean, they can like build a cargo facility, they can take houses without us having any say at all. When they expanded a few years ago and made an international airport they moved a street, they took more houses, they’ve taken probably close to a thousand houses from Warwick over the years,” he said.

The bill was originally introduced in January and saw opposition from the Rhode Island Airport Corporation and Governor Dan McKee’s office.

“…the Mayor of Warwick’s first obligation is to the city of Warwick and he or she may find themselves in a state of continual conflict as the RIAC board has a mission to serve all of the residents of Rhode Island,” stated the letter from RIAC.

McNamara says the recently passed bill has since gotten support from McKee.

“You don’t drive through Warwick, you drive around the airport,” said McNamara.

If the bill passes, Picozzi would recommend three people for McKee to pick from for the position, and that seat would report to the city council and Picozzi’s office.