The Central Falls City Council will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. on Aug. 4, its first such meeting in more than a year.
The move comes after a Rhode Island Superior Court judge, invoking a new state law, said the council could meet to advise the state-appointed receiver on municipal matters.
Judge Michael Silverstein ruled July 22 that the council could convene legally.
“The court finds that the City Council now has the statutory authority to convene in order to provide the receiver with advice — even where it is not sought — on matters relating to the operation of Central Falls,” the judge said. “Despite this newly minted authority, however, the court must reiterate that the City Council ultimately remains subject to the receiver’s superceding powers.”
The receiver, Robert Flanders, in February had blocked action by Mayor Charles Moreau and the council by refusing to make the city clerk available for meetings.
Central Falls, a community north of Providence that faces an $80 million pension shortfall, has been under receivership since May 2010.
