East Boston - Chelsea
Creek Action Group MEETING MINUTES – May 14, 2003 Attending: Lucy Del Muto, Vinny Ieni, Patty D’Amore, Rose D’Amore, Jim Viggiano, Sal Matti, Chris Blackler, Robertson Ward, Nancei Radicchi, Leigh Hall, Ralph Agostinelli, Tomasa Brenes, Juana Borja, Jennie Cherry, Elaine Arsenault, Angelo Cataldo (Angelo’s Auto Body), Tony Casso, Hugo Prelico, Mary Ellen Welch, Charles Simmons, Grace Zuccaro, Aldo Cirone, Stanley Buonagurio, Patricia Fidler, Gail Miller, Dan Simmons (Police, District 7), Luke Murray and Paul Sutton (Boston Parks), and Meghan McGrath and Stacey Chacker (NOAH). Meeting Minutes: April 9th meeting minutes accepted Updates/News/Misc: Boudreau "Boatyard" – 479 Meridian Street. Stacey attended the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting in May where they announced the following determination: They would not give the permit or variance to use the site as a salvage yard, as based on findings from Boston Law Dept, the site had not been continuously used for this purpose (in 1994, the owner submitted a request for a variance to the City to use the site as a salvage yard). Boudreau’s lawyer disagreed with this determination. The ZBA said that the burden of proof is on the owner. They will come before the ZBA again on 6/10/03 to present any evidence. If anyone has information about site use around 1994, please contact Stacey. Creek clean up at with EPA on April 30th to commemorate Earth Day: 18 volunteers worked for 5 hours on the site between the Urban Wild and Hess site. They loaded up four large truckloads full – filling an extra large dumpster. There were car parts, a half of a boat, a freezer, pieces of an old boom, tons of styrofoam, at least 6 computer monitors, and tires, etc. Boston Parks provided the dumpster, and the owner of the site, provided a truck and employee to help. Webster Engineering, the contractor working on the Urban Wild, helped out with their backhoe. There wasn’t enough room in the dumpster to finish; NOAH will organize a second clean up to finish. Still, it was a dramatic change to the site. Greenway to Chelsea Creek Feasibility Study: We are prosing the 4th Tuesday or Wednesday to Trust for Public Land who is organizing these meetings. Environmental Youth Crew: 32 youth applied for 5 positions. Meg is interviewing – in two groups, and then with each individual teen. NOAH must inform the Boston Youth Fund by the end of the week who we have selected for these positions. CCAG was selected to receive an intern by the Environmental Careers Organization for the summer. We are in the process of hiring an intern to work on graphic design issues – a Chelsea Creek brochure and possibly web site, newsletter template, etc. Eastern Mineral’s Salt Pile – Chelsea Greenspace is meeting with Senator Resor - May 22 at 10am at the State House. Gail and/or Jesse will try to attend. Condor Street Urban Wild Public Art work on the site: B. reported that on May 7th, the first public artwork, the "Chelsea Creek Clipper" was delivered to the Urban Wild and set into place. This work includes 29 stones, set into the shape of a boat, each with a statement sandblasted into it reflecting the history of the neighborhood, etc. Second piece of sculpture for the site: a) As shared previously at meetings, the Browne Fund is providing an additional $23,500 for a second piece of artwork – the "Flying Condor" (named after McKay’s "Flying Condor"). This piece is being created from an old boat discovered right off the site. B. proposed to EB-CCAG to preserve is as a "time piece" by recreating it from bronze impregnated with epoxy, reinforced with fiberglass. B. would like to inscribe a four to five lines of history onto the hull of the boat with reference to the place and passage of time. She would like to work with a sub-committee as she did for the first art piece. B. will contact all of those who worked on the first piece. No additional people volunteered, though anyone is welcome. If you are interested, please contact Stacey; b) Location for the "Flying Condor": This piece needs to be placed close to an entrance as it will not be possible to take a crane truck on site after the construction is completed. The thought is to place it close to one of the four entrances – probably near the first pathway, and in a direction so that it looks as if it’s going out to sea, slanted a bit so that it is easy to see the message engraved on the side. Luke pointed out that may need to raise the boat (on a bed of concrete) so that you can see it when the grasses are high. Everyone present was delighted with the installed art piece and the proposed "Flying Condor". There was a discussion about saving artifacts from the site. B. and Luke explained that they are saving three single and one double bollards to place at the top of the site on the plaza – to potentially use as seating. They also reused cobbles from the site on the edges of pathways, and are looking into reusing an old chain (from an anchor?) as part of a gateway. Construction update and design issues/decisions Update: a) Contractors will be seeding first week of June and expect construction to be completed by June 15th; b) Luke is going to meet with Army Corps of Engineers, as they said that they have a problem with the pier – saying that it is too far out. Luke shared that it was in a permit that they approved. (Since the EB-CCAG meeting, Luke found out that there is no problem with the pier). Vinny brought up that Parks first presented that the pier would be made of wire mesh. Luke said that it could have been a construction issue, but that’s how it was set when he came on the project. Guardrail: Luke shared that there is evidence of cars driving onto the site – perhaps SUV’s coming for a joy ride. All agreed that need to have a guardrail; after discussion, approved the proposed timbers (they are 8" by 8" and will be placed three feet high on wood bollards). This will cost $23,500 and will come from the additional $ that NOAH raised for the project. Luke assured everyone that timber would keep cars off site (that it would do significant damage to any car that did try to go through), and said that since it is easy and inexpensive to repair, it would make maintenance for the City easy. There was a question as to whether we could use steel bollards or granite instead of the timber, but we do not have enough $ in the budget for this. Gateway: Luke will come to a future meeting to talk further about design of gateway. Flag: Vinny proposed a flagpole with American flag at the top of the site. Luke explained the following: * site is owned by the Environment Dept, and since designated an "Urban Wild" they want to maintain a natural habitat; and * a flagpole would need to have a spotlight, or be taken down daily. He is happy to work with community members to get a flagpole put up in the American Legion Park across the street. Benches – there was a question as to whether there would be benches on site (yes). Luke pointed out that Parks Dept. has bench donation program if anyone wants to donate additional benches. Discussion on how to keep the Urban Wild safe: Need to address the issue of speeding cars on Condor Street and safe crossing between the Urban Wild and American Legion Park. Suggestions include: a) speed limit signs at 20 miles an hour and children playing signs; b) yellow flashing light; c) crosswalk painted on the street. Luke suggested sending request to Sal LaMattina at the Boston Transportation Dept (Stacey will write); Luke will also put in request. We discussed putting up a speed measuring sign, but Officer Dan Simmons (Station 7) reported that theirs is broken. Safety on site: Dan Simmons said that Station 7 will be happy to work with us, but we need to understand that with budget cuts, there will be less officers on bicycles, that they are losing 6 officers and there are no motorcycles in East Boston. Said to call 911if you see problems. You may also contact the Community Service Division at Station 7 – 343-4220 (Sergeant Mike O’Connor is in charge of this unit). Rules for the site: We discussed possible rules for the site. Luke said the more rules the more problems – people get frustrated and angry when it there are many "don’ts. Parks Dept. will make final decision on the rules, but Luke will present suggestions. We discussed the following: a) Dogs – should they be allowed on site. Luke said: * people will bring dogs anyway, and Parks prefer there to the ball field; and * Parks Dept. doesn’t supply dog poop pick up bags. He’s found that those who clean-up after their dogs carry their own bags and those who don’t wouldn’t even if bags were there. Officer Simmons said that dogwalkers are often the eyes and ears of parks, as they are there at all hours, in all seasons and report problems; B) Skateboards and Roller blades: Luke doesn’t for see problems, as there are no stunt areas for skateboarding, and the hill would be difficult to come down on rollerblades. Nancei pointed out that she went everywhere on skates as a kid. All agreed that there should be no restrictions for this use, or for bicycles; c) Hours: It was agreed that there should be a sign saying "Open from dawn to dusk - no trespassing after hours" (or something like that). Officer Simmons said that this would help the police to get trouble makers off the site after hours – by enforcing the rule, but that if people were walking on the site peacefully, that would not be a problem; d) Suggested rules: * Open Dawn to Dusk; * No motorized Vehicles; * No BBQ’s or open fires; * No drinking alcoholic beverages; * Leash and clean-up after your dog; * No loud music. Again, Luke will bring these to Parks Dept. for final decision. Urban Wild Crime Watch or Safety Committee: Stacey suggested forming a sub-committee to meet regarding specific safety and programming issues for Urban Wild – Meg would work with this committee. All agreed that we should dedicate the first hour of our June meeting to the subject of "Crime Watch". We will invite the Boston Crime Watch unit to the meeting, and Officer from Station 7 will attend. If available, we will hold this meeting at EB High School. Programs for the Urban Wild: We discussed official park opening/ribbon cutting, and agreed that it would be better to wait until August/September when the grasses are grown in (or at least partially). Luke will "partially release" the site in June – meaning that people can go on it, but he doesn’t want us to promote any kind of public events that would bring crowds of people as the grass will just be growing. Luke will put up ropes and signs asking people not to walk on the grass. We will hold a potluck (or something like that) in Sept for EB-CCAG to celebrate our hard work. We brainstormed the following program ideas: kite flying; movie nights; concerts (Fat City Band); astrological phenomenon/star gazing – get the Museum of Science to come; Tai Chi; nature walks; catch and release fishing; school visits; art lessons; Fire Dept boats – doing water show; rap contests; bird watching; temporary art making with material on site (e.g. paper making w/ grasses, pressing leaves), rap contests, snow sculpture contests. EB-CCAG 2003 meeting schedule All meetings, unless otherwise indicated will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Harborside. June 11th Minutes submitted by Stacey Chacker. Call 617-569-0059 ext. 13 with corrections or additions. Source of meeting minutes: Stacey.Chacker@noahcdc.org Contact her for more information.
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