The ProvPort tax deal is moving forward. Here's how.

Critics of a controversial move to greenlight a tax deal for ProvPort have finally found middle ground with the city's deep-water port operator.

On Thursday night, during the final meeting of its term, the City Council approved a 30-year tax exemption agreement, a lease extension and bond indenture for ProvPort two weeks after agreeing to table the matters amid complaints that the process was being rushed as the council wrapped up the year.

But its former opponents — now calling a truce of sorts — have negotiated a path forward.

According to Julian Drix, head of the Providence Sustainability Commission — tasked with advising the city on environmental issues and a strong critic — said an agreement was reached that allows the process to move forward with the current council, albeit more slowly.

The lease extension and bond indenture, which each require only one vote from the council, will not take effect until the tax exemption ordinance — which requires a first and second vote from the council — receives the second vote. That second vote will happen when the next council meets, giving some current members and incoming members a say in the agreement.

Drix said the outcome "wasn't unexpected."

"Basically, the resolution did pass as a kind of show of good faith that we want together to come up with a solution we can all agree on," he said.

What's in the deal?'Why now?' New ProvPort deal closer to approval despite vocal opposition

Linda Perri, head of the Washington Park Association, has expressed concern about poor air quality in her neighborhood, which has been attributed to the port. ProvPort has argued that it is bearing too much blame for environmental impacts given that it occupies only a fraction of the port. However, Perri and Drix met with Sean Bouchard, the council's director of policy and research, and Councilman Pedro Espinal, who previously opposed the speed with which the ProvPort deal was moving. According to Perri, the group discussed amendments to the deal. As discussed in the council meeting, changes included a prohibition on the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure in the area.

The deal also has the support of outgoing Mayor Jorge Elorza and his successor, Brett Smiley.

Perri shared with The Providence Journal a letter from Mayor-Elect Smiley to Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan — who chairs the Finance Committee that had considered the deal. In the Nov. 28 correspondence, Smiley offered his support for the tax agreement, calling it "critical that we remain competitive with other ports along the coast."

That concern was shared by Ryan, who had told The Journal she worried about losing jobs to Boston and felt there should be urgency around the deal.

"Sometimes you just can’t fight City Hall," Perri said.

Council President John Igliozzi said the deal is "just as important to this council as to the next council" and that the current council "wanted to make sure that it was moving in the right direction."

More:Allegations, complaint follow ProvPort deal discussion. What to know.

Monica Huertas, head of the People's Port Authority, a group advocating for community oversight of the port, had been a vociferous critic of the deal, but is now on board with moving forward.

"We're really happy that City Council stopped and put in the amendments that were recommended by community residents who were concerned," she said. "We look forward to continuing the conversations in January with the new City Council."

Behind the scenes, ProvPort has been trying to win support. Spokesman Bill Fischer said about 10 days ago, Councilwomen Mary Kay Harris and Rachel Miller, who is slated to become the next council president, toured the port. Then this week, Chris Waterson of Waterson Terminal Services, which manages ProvPort, attended one of Perri's meetings of the Washington Park Association.

Fischer said that earlier this month when the deal was tabled, "it wasn’t 'This thing’s done for the year;' it was 'We need to keep talking and this thing’s done for tonight.' "

"I honestly, at that moment, didn’t know where it was going to go for this year, and we started to feel some momentum on the resolution."

As for whether the next council will push the deal past the finish line, Fischer did not indicate he was sure but welcomes new members to tour the port.

"We’re not writing anybody off," he said. "And we’re not assuming anything."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: ProvPort and Providence City Council move forward on tax deal