easthead5a.JPG (22114 bytes)

Disclaimer: In an effort to foster a better informed citizenry with regard to its local affairs,eastboston.com provides these documents in electronic form as a public service. EBOL bears no responsibility for typographical errors. Contact the document writers for hard copies. Some documents have been scanned using an Apple Scanner and OmniPage OCR software. Others have been obtained through e-mail and cut and pasted here. Please send comments and suggestions to editor@eastboston.com

East Boston - Chelsea Creek Action Group
Meeting Minutes -- July 10, 2002

Attending: Vinny Ieni, Phil Grifone, Nancei Radicchi, Maddy McComiskey, Lucy Del Muto, Robertson Ward, Christopher Blackler, Gail Miller, Susan Voloshin, Ethan Hoag, Karyl Stoia (Friends of Belle Isle), Florence D’Avella, Edith DeAngelis, Arthur Cardoza, Ana Maria Gomez, Loretta Pardi, Carmella Ferrante, Theresa Czerepica, Kwabena Kyei-Aboagye (Executive Office of Environmental Affairs), Brian Palm and Vivien Li (Boston Harbor Association), Nancy Kafka (Trust for Public Land), Louis Silvestro (Channel Fish), Grace Perez (Mystic River Watershed Assn), Lauri Webster (Boston Natural Areas Network), Priya Patel (Boston Parks ), Sarah O’Leary and Aaron Toffler (Urban Ecology Institute) and Stacey Chacker (NOAH).

June Meeting minutes were accepted.

  1. Updates/other business:

    1. Five CCAG members and 3 staff are going to "Creating Greener Communities" Conference, July 11th

    2. Chelsea Creek Visioning

      1. Last public meeting was held June 19th. Terrasphere (the consultants) are in the process of producing report, and we will then figure out next steps.

      2. TerraSphere met with Boston Harbor Assn. Aaron attended this meeting and reported that the Boston Harbor Assn. is supportive of CCAG doing a Designated Port Area Planning Process (DPA). The DPA planning process is part of the Municipal Planning Process (which is currently not planned for the Chelsea River). We will need to discuss whether we think this is a strategically good decision for CCAG to advocate for a DPA planning process. CCAG members pointed out that we can currently use the DPA zoning status as a protection – and should not seek to designate until we have commitments for specific development at specific sites (so that developers won’t be able to do whatever they want).

      "Boston Harbor Assn. is supportive of a DPA

      Master Plan for the Chelsea Creek. The DPA Master Plan is generally a part of the Municipal Harbor Planning Process,   but can occur on its own. "

    3. Runway 14/32 – Gail requested that everyone make calls and send letters to politicians to continue opposing Runway 14/32. She passed out an information sheet with who to call and the message.

    4. McCardle/Meridian Street Bridge - Dumping: East Boston resident, Phil Grifone reported the following: He was on his boat in the Chelsea River, today, July 10th. At 4 P.M. he observed that the East Boston side of the bridge was opened to let four tugboats pass through. At this time, the workers on the bridge took the "vacuum truck" off the bridge on the Chelsea side. At 5 P.M. the Chelsea side of the bridge was opened to let a large ship come through. As the draw bridge was pulled up, all of the materials that the workers had been sandblasting (he estimates 500 lbs.) fell into the Harbor/Chelsea River.

  1. We agreed to the following follow-up. Stacey will send out e-mail to as many government officials that we can think of, including U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, MA. Dept. of Environmental Protection, Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, etc. Lauri will make calls and do follow-up.

  2. Connecting the Chelsea Creek to the East Boston Greenway: The Trust for Public Land (TPL) received a grant to do a feasibility study to see how we can create a path – or a connection on streets to connect these two resources. TPL is working with the East Boston Greenway Council and Boston Natural Areas Network on the East Boston Greenway, and with EB-CCAG and NOAH to see if we can acquire the land for the Hess site.

    3. Robertson, EB-CCAG member, brought a map he did to show possible connections, and to emphasize the availability of the rest of the Conrail line, and the importance of connecting to the Wood Island T station. Theresa pointed out that a section of the Conrail line is supposed to be the Truck Haul Road and that a line item for $10 million dollars has been put into the Transportation Bill to pay for it. There is debate as to whether this is feasible or not, and mixed feelings regarding this road that would take trucks from the airport to the airport overlay district in Chelsea. Chelsea residents are worried that this will mean more truck traffic for Chelsea, a community already overburdened with trucks (as East Boston). Stacey shared that next spring, CCAG will sponsor a study done by Worcester Polytech Institute students with oversight by the Environmental Protection Agency on "diesel hot spots" in Chelsea and East Boston and perhaps they could focus on this area.  Gosh its amazing you remembered all that. The Greenway Council has supported the truck route to get the traffic out the Neptune Road/Bennington/Saratoga/Chelsea Street intersections. I do understand Chelsea residents concerns however and it would be great to better understand the impacts of the truck traffic : what (and how many) trucks will use it, where are they going and will this increase the number of trucks going to Chelsea along Chelsea truck routes.

    EB-CCAG decided that it is a good thing to co-sponsor the "connecting’ planning process, and that we will hold two special meetings regarding this subject (probably in October and November – in addition to our regular meetings). Nancy from TPL said that during the process: 1) we will outline what we’re looking for in terms of places to make the connection between the Greenway and the Chelsea River; 2) prioritize what connections should happen first (it’s not huge grant, so the planners won’t be able to look at everything); and 3) develop a plan that shows the best connections. In response to the concerns about the proposed truck route, TPL will include a stakeholders analysis regarding opinions about the truck route.

  3. Condor Street Urban Wild:

    1. Update construction schedule

    2. Public art - next meeting with artists in August and Sept.; seeking stories for stones; artists will choose key phrases.

    3. Presentation regarding pier design options

  1. DPW Yard (15 minutes)

    1. Update re: condition

    2. Where should EB-CCAG go next.

  1. Chelsea River Water Quality Testing – Mystic River Watershed Association

    2. - Why, How, and When (if funded) (15 minutes)

  2. Next CCAG meeting – August 14th. Should we have two meetings in Aug – one for art and regular meeting? If you have agenda items, please call Stacey.

  1. Condor Street Urban Wild – Construction Update and Design Issues

    1. Construction: Bob Cummings of East Coast Engineering explained that the Parks Dept. was ready to start breaking ground to create the Urban Wild Park as soon as they had the permits necessary. This is expected to be in July.

    2. Pier: Parks is running into problems permitting the boardwalk and viewing platform in the area where it was originally planned. Permits cannot be issued to grow salt marsh under the platform, and so if the platform was to be built on the left side of the viewing cone, no marsh could be built there, and it would interrupt the view and sense of a continuing line of marsh. For that reason, Bob recommended changing the platform to be on the right side of the viewing cone, where it would be built over rock. This would also be less expensive, and would free up some funds for other parts of the project that are currently under-funded.

      3. Because of the new location, the size of the viewing platform will also need to be reduced. Bob illustrated how large it would be and members felt satisfied it would still be adequate.

      In response to questions, Bob clarified that fishing would still be possible in the new location, and it would not interfere with maritime usage in the new location. All present felt that these changes were acceptable and they should try to get permits as speedily as possible.

    3. Misc: The ground will be sloped up in the front of the Urban Wild, which will help prevent cars from driving up into it.

  1. Public Artist Presentation:

  1. Introduction: Nancei gave a brief update of the artist selection process. The Browne Fund suggested that EB-CCAG meet with Urban Arts. EB-CCAG formed a sub-committee including Nancei, Lucy, Maddy, Roberta, Ana Maria and Vinny to select the artists. Based on a conversation with Stacey regarding what EB-CCAG members were interested in, Urban Artists selected slides of approximately 20 artists to show the sub-committee. The subcommittee identified 6 artists -- four who were interested in interviewing for the job. From the interviews, Kokoro Carvers -- B. Amore and Woody Dorsey (a team) were selected unanimously. B. Amore grew up in East Boston, where her grandfather ran a dry cleaning business on Border Street. She is delighted to bring the stone working skills of her and her fiancée back "home".

  1. The artists, B and Woody presented a slide show giving a general idea of their work. They work with large pieces of stone, generally emphasizing people’s interactions with the landscape, and favor using materials that have a connection with the site ("saving the bones" of a place). Past projects have provided people with places to gather, and places to look out on the scenery from a different or heightened perspective. They also presented a number of slides that showed their exploration of the Urban Wild, and their interest in particular artifacts from the site, which include unusual blocks of stone that were quarried in the 1800’s.

  2. The artists general idea is to create a boat shape out of rock dust on the west side of the viewing cone, and arrange the large rocks in the center, as a place to sit and gather. Each rock will also be a "story stone’, and tell a part of the history of the area. The center stone will have the seal of East Boston engraved on it. At the next meeting, residents should bring their ideas for stories that would be interesting to have on the center rocks. This area will be accessible by wheelchair.

  3. The artists and members also discussed other ideas for art on the site that could happen if additional funding was made available. Members were interested in having a stone on the top of the viewing cone, or to have stones replace benches in that area. Other ideas included an eagle, to represent the U.S. and Eagle Hill, and a flagpole. B. Amore has also done some preliminary investigation into working with a decayed boat hull currently in the water. This boat hull is hidden and revealed as the tide comes in and out, and it gave her the idea for creating a cold-cast bronze boat sculpture that would somehow capture the idea of a timeline revealing itself as the water receded. NOAH has submitted a proposal for additional funds to the Browne Fund.

EB-CCAG 2002 meeting schedule is second Wednesdays throughout the year

Meetings will be at the Harborside Community Center, 312 Border St, unless otherwise noted.

August 14
September 11
October 9
November 13
December 11th

Source of meeting minutes: Stacey.Chacker@noahcdc.org Contact her for more information at 569-0059 x 13. .