The following is a story from the newspaper regarding some of what has been going on in my life as far as work goes. Not so great.

By NEAL JONES

SOUTH KINGSTOWN - After five long meetings over a three month period, the Animal Rescue League of Southern Rhode Island's goal to build a new home on 24 acres in Kingston fell short Wednesday night, after they failed to garner enough votes to see the project approved.
Even though three of the five members of the South Kingstown Zoning Board of Review said they would vote in favor of the league's proposed 18,000-square-foot building in Kingston, the project will be denied because a four vote majority is needed for a proposal to be approved.
After five hours of testimony Wednesday night, board members Stephanie Osborn, Robert Toth and James Gies all indicated they would support the project with some modifications. Chairman Ernest George and member Joseph Dailey indicated they would not, and said the building, which was being eyed for a 24-acre lot in a semi-rural neighborhood on the Kingston, North Kingstown and Exeter town lines, would have a significant impact on the community.
"I think it would alter the general character of the surrounding area," George said, adding that he will outline his reasons by the time the board meets to vote on the proposal next Wednesday. "This certainly wasn't an easy one. I think all of us, we're on the fence here."
Animal Rescue League Executive Director Dan Davis was "not happy" after he learned the proposal would ultimately fail. Their current shelter, located on Curtis Corner Road and built in the 1970s, is antiquated at best, and Davis was confident throughout the process that they had found the right site.
"We were very hopeful," he said. "We serve 100,000 people and basically, 50 people denied this. Is it fair? Yeah, I guess it is. I understand their concerns, but we felt we nailed every nail and I think we proved our burden."
While George will explain his reasoning later, Dailey said "initially I thought the proposal was a great idea." But compelling testimony Wednesday night from acoustical expert Dr. William Miller on behalf of objectors and the sometimes passionate pleas from residents to deny the project ultimately swayed him to a no vote.
Miller testified that a single dog barking at the edge of the league's property would "severely" impact roughly 21 homes and "significantly" impact more than 100. The decibel levels of dogs, he determined through testing and computer modeling, would, in his estimation, mean the league would constantly be in violation of existing noise ordinances. Miller also directly correlated higher neighborhood sound levels to depreciating property values.
"We've listened to a lot of people over a lot of nights," said Dailey. "That is unrefuted testimony. We've heard people talk about their own homes. To me, all those stories show how this doesn't fit in the neighborhood."
Anyone looking for an example of the intensity that was a hallmark of the lengthy debate need only look at the fist-sized hole in an upstairs wall at Town Hall.
South Kingstown resident Thomas Roselli, Jr., who was slated to speak at the hearing, punched the hole in the wall before the meeting and then sat down in the rear of the council chambers. Two South Kingstown police officers removed Roselli without incident before the proceedings began, handcuffing him downstairs and carting him off to the station as residents filtered in.
He was charged with vandalism and malicious injury to property and told police he was "upset about the issue at hand in the meeting."
But other residents kept their cool, and effectively said that the league should go somewhere else because increased traffic, noise, environmental concerns, the effect on property values and the sheer size and scale of the building would be too much for the neighborhood to bear.
"It's about time the Animal Rescue League began to realize that animal shelters do not belong in residential neighborhoods," said George Ainsworth.
"We love animals, we laud this project," said Sheila Milton. "But this grandiose dream is somehow inappropriate in this area."
Lawyer James Donnelly, who represented 50 residents against the proposal, said there were sound reasons for the board to deny the proposal.
"This is not N-I-M-B-Y [not in my backyard]," Donnelly stressed. "This is not just 'I don't want it here.' These are legitimate objections."
Gies said all the board members wrestled with this proposal.
"I think we all changed our minds a couple of times on this one," he said.
Legal counsel Nancy Giorgi said she would be drafting a motion in favor of the proposal to be voted on at the board's next meeting on Wednesday, January 15.
Even though the board will vote 3-2 in favor of the project, the motion will fail.

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©The Narragansett Times 2003