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MEETING NOTES
East Boston Greenway Coordinating Council
Harborside Community Center, Conference Room
Monday, February 28, 2000

map of the Marginal to Prescott Segment of the Greeenway
Click to see full map of proposed Greenway

MEETING NOTES
Monday, February 28, 2000

Attending: Valerie Burns, Carolyn Banulis, Christopher Blackler, Connie Carbone, Robert D’Amico, Lorraine Albano-DePaulo, John Eade, Arlene Gehring, Alice Gray (Massport), Blossom Hoag, Cathy Leonard-McLean (Massport), Bill Longfield, Karen Maddalena, Police Officer Stephanie Morrow, Robert Pickard, Karyl Stoia, Mark Warren, Mary Ellen Welch, Joanne Zambuto, Lauri Webster.

1. Introductions and Welcome

After introductions, Valerie introduced staff from Massport, Alice Gray, Lynn Torto and Cathy Leonard-McLean.

2. Progress on Piers Park Phase II

Lynn began by providing an update on the process to develop the East Boston waterfront. Massport is pleased that they have received twelve responses to the Requests for Proposals that they issued for Pier One, the Marina and the Shipyard. Two respondents submitted proposals for all three properties; five submitted for the marina; three for the shipyard; and eight for Pier One.

The selection committee has met once and expects to generate a shortlist for all three sites in March. The next stage is a Request for Proposals. Massport will ask two to four developers/operators for more specific information, including plans, financials and regulatory strategy.

Lynn summarized some of the ideas that came out of the planning process conducted by the Cecil Group: mixed use residential on Pier One, a connection to the greenway, public access to the waterfront (50’ on the side and 100’ on the ends) on Pier One; enhancing and upgrading the marina and upgrading and preserving the shipyard and the jobs it offers as well as being able to open Marginal Street to pedestrians.

Massport is continuing its efforts to get the Green monster out of there.

Alice Gray presented a conceptual plan for Piers Park II. Anyone who wishes to follow along as final design develops can come to the Piers Pac meetings every third Thursday evening at the CA/T office in Day Square.

The main feature of the park is a water feature. Piers Pac has chosen to work with Ned Cones (phonetic spelling) in San Francisco. The sailing center will be relocated from the current temporary building to its new permanent building on the waterfront. The float will be reoriented, allowing added capacity to the sailing program and small boat repairs. The park will also contain court activities (basketball, volleyball and handball). There will be a bicycle path for young children to ride their bicycles (its not for adults). No bikes are allowed in Piers Park One. More swings will be located in the existing play ground. An attractive maintenance building (about 40’ by 40’) will be located adjacent to Pier One near the entrance to the Greenway. The designer is working on a grand entryway from the Greenway and Marginal Street, similar to the main entrances in Piers Park I.

A Council member pointed out that there appears to be conflicting uses in one relatively small area where the entrance to the Greenway, the entrance to the park, the maintenance building and the entrance to the parking lot all merge. The designer is aware of the situation and is working on it. Another Council member brought up the guidelines for the Greenway in the East Boston Greenway Access Plan, with which Alice was not familiar. BNAF will get a copy of the access plan to (Alice) Massport. Another concern involves the Greenway pathway from Marginal Street, across Orleans Street and Pier One into Piers Park Phase II.

Many community members in East Boston had understood that if Pier Five was not going to be a lobster terminal, it would be a park. Community members have just found out in the last several weeks that the legislation that was to guarantee this was vetoed by the governor in ‘91. Pier Five was addressed in Massport’s waterfront planning process (Cecil Group) and is mentioned in Massport’s Request for Qualifications for the Marina. Another Council member questioned Alice about the contamination mentioned in Sun Transcript. Alice said that the information contained in that particular article was for the Navy Fuel Pier, and assured Council members that although there is contamination at Piers Park II, it is being addressed.

The schedule for Piers Park Phase II is as follows: final design will be complete in late fall; they plan to bid the project in March 01; demolition of Pier Three and dredging will take place in July 01; and the construction of the park on the backland will begin in December 01 and be complete by December 02; the park will open in Spring 2003. The funding for construction is coming from the state. Because of the pressures on the state budget, Lowell Richards is working with the state A&F (and Secretary Natsios) to draw down the funding required over three fiscal years. Again, if people are interested in tracking the design of the park, they should attend Piers Pac meetings on every third Thursday at the CA/T office in Day Square.

As Massport staff packed up, Council members thanked them for their time. Everyone is very excited about the Piers Park II, which promises to be a terrific addition to the existing park. The Council voted to accept the draft meeting minutes from the January meeting. Valerie passed out the newsletter from the Lila Wallace Readers Digest Fund which features a story about the East Boston Greenway.

3. Status of the Immigration Museum

Arlene reported that the Landmarks Commission voted to put the building under study. People acknowledge the building has little architectural value, but a great deal of cultural and historic value. The core of supporters is growing and there will be a meeting to introduce this to the larger community on Wednesday night at 7 PM at the Jeffries Point Yacht Club. Please come! The Navy Fuel Pier park could serve as the front yard for the museum. The museum would need a ferry stop to get there (no one drives to Ellis Island.)

Massport owns the land and building (both are within the boundaries of the shipyard), but so far is not participating. Massport should be invited to celebrate what they did and still do (act as the gateway to this country). The next steps include convincing Massport, pull together a group of individuals to act as a board and organize the community.

4. The East Boston Greenway Management Plan

So far the Management Task Force has met twice, with the next meeting scheduled for March 16. We hope to make a decision about what consultant to hire by the end of March.

. The Greenway and the MBTA Car Yard in Orient Heights

BNAF sent a letter to the MBTA regarding the Car Yard Project and the Orient Heights Station requesting information. The MBTA has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday, March 7, 2000 at 6:30 at the Beachmont VFW to discuss the Car Yard. Please come.

6. Greenway - Conrail Corridor from Marginal to Porter Street

The technical solution to the flooding, which includes connecting the basins and adding a pump, has been approved by Boston Water and Sewer Department. The solution is now waiting to be approved by Boston Edison. The Parks Department maintains that the cost of this should be under $90,000, which is roughly equivalent to the remainder of our ISTEA grant, the fate of which we are contesting.

The status of Phase II, which includes signage, planting, fencing, art and the caboose, is of great concern. BNAF has a meeting next Monday with the city to discuss what is going to happen to the Greenway this summer. Phase I will be completed, but not very pretty. We need to begin discussing strategies for promoting and protecting the Greenway, which may include press releases and a big event; rangers to provide information, patrol the Greenway and offer programming (BNAF has some funding available for rangers); the Youth Conservation Corps and Sheriffs office to provide some light maintenance assistance; and special events (a foot race, a parade, a dress up your bike day, adopt a block, planting annuals, etc.); temporary signage posting rules and hours open so that enforcement is possible.. We also need to discuss strategies for getting phase II moving including getting the City to provide more than its required match to do the design, getting the ISTEA grant to come directly to the City and other ideas. BNAF should invite the Captain Claiborne to the next meeting.

Thanks to watchful eyes in the community Boston Police Office Favale caught some juvenile graffiti artists under the Sumner Street bridge with 20 gallons of paint.

. Greenway from Porter to Frankfort / Bremen Street Park

According to Mike Lewis (at the last CAT meeting in mid February), bids for the C08A1 contract will be opened the end of February. Mike assured everyone that the budget for this project is not threatened and offered to have federal officials come to the meeting to say the funding for this project is not in jeopardy. People at the meeting said that they would like to have this in writing. BNAF sent a letter to Mike the next day asking him to go ahead and invite a federal official to the next meeting. There was no time to discuss Robey, which was on the agenda.

Several Greenway Council members went out to look at Venice Street to ponder the connection from Maverick Street to Memorial Stadium. In general people felt that the 14’ width is too narrow; it requires construction within the dripline of trees that we are trying to save; and the connection needs to be wide enough to accommodate, wheeled and pedestrian uses as well as emergency vehicles. The standards in the East Boston Greenway Access Plan should be used.

The RFP for the Scolly building has not yet been released.

. Updates and Other Business

Robinson and Cole, the attorneys who are offering probono services to set up the Friends of the East Boston Greenway are working on the draft documents and expect to have the organization up and running by the end of May 2000.

Upcoming CAT meetings are scheduled for March 1, March 8 and March 22, 2000.

March marks the fifth anniversary of the East Boston Greenway Coordinating Council. Please come next month prepared to celebrate.

END/ccmn200

These notes are written to the best recollection of the authors. Please let BNAF know if corrections are necessary within 30 days of the date of the meeting notes. Contact BNAF@aol.com

BOSTON NATURAL AREAS FUND. INC.(BNAF)
59 Temple Place, Room 558
Boston, MA 02111-1307
(617)542-7696
(Fax)542-0383
e-mail: BNAF@aol.com

Go to other Greenway meeting minutes