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MEETING NOTES

East Boston Greenway Coordinating Council
Harborside Community Center, Conference Room
Monday, February 22, 1999

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

Attending: Carolyn Banulis, Christopher Blacker, Connie Carbone, Louis Covino, Rose Christopher, Ken Crasco, Robert D’Amico, Rose D’Amore, Blossom Hoag, Vincent LaBella, Sal LaMattina, Karen Maddelena, Mark Warren, Lauri Webster, Mary Ellen Welch, Joanne Zambuto.

Lauri facilitated the meeting in Valerie’s absence. After introductions, we began:

1. Greenway - Conrail Corridor from Marginal to Porter Street - At the January meeting the Council asked Valerie to write a letter to Senator Travaglini requesting his assistance in getting MHD to award the contract for the Greenway project. Instead of writing a letter, Sal LaMattina set up a meeting with the Senator (thank you, Sal). The Senator said he would try to help but has other projects in his district in the same situation. Lauri handed out the thank you note Valerie sent to Senator Travaglini.

Ken Crasco of the Boston Parks Department said that he had a conversation with David Anderson, the Deputy Chief Engineer at MHD, just this afternoon, who told Ken that with respect to the Greenway contract, there is nothing anyone can do, that MHD is working on it, and that this project has a high priority. They have a deadline - June 1, 1999 - for the remediation work, so they need to free up the funding and get going. There are 80 -100 projects statewide that are in the same situation.

Lauri reported that Nancy Kafka had been talking an MHD attorney who told her that she expected the project to be awarded by the end of February. Council members thought about strategies to use to get the project going. Blossom wondered if Ann Fanton might have some information. They thought Valerie should write Governor Cellucci to support his intention to use the state surplus to cover all the MHD projects (see Globe article this past weekend) and they thought we should invite Congressman Capuano to the next Council meeting.

Ken had some good news - the Greenway was recommended for phase II funding for $565,000. According to Ken, Parks has already done almost everything on the list. Ken is trying to get a draft contract together. Copies of the letter from MHD to the Boston Parks Department were passed out.

2. Greenway - Conrail Corridor/Bremen Street Park

With a respect to the land swap, Sal said that the CA/T Project will be issuing a Notice of Project Change in early Spring. The Mayor wrote a letter to Peter Blute encouraging him to work with the residents in planning the improvements and parking lot. Sal passed out copies of the letter. Council members were pleased the Mayor wrote the letter.

Bob D’Amico said the letter reflected neighbor’s concerns. Massport had met with the Maverick Street abutters and last week the abutters met with the abutting neighborhood. There will be a public meeting to address related concerns from all East Boston residents. So far it seems people are on the same page, with everyone agreeing that the direct abutters should have the most say.

To a Council members question whether the land swap is a done deal, Sal replied that the project is proceeding as if it is. Mary Ellen added that from the community’s perspective, it is still on the table. Massport must deal with the residents in good faith. They must come up with a great plan with a buffer on Maverick and Wellington. If not, there are other options.

3. Greenway - Bayswater

Bob D’Amico reported that at the most recent meeting with Massport and the consultants, the community liked what they saw, although some fine tuning is still required. The community would like to see the streetlights on the water side rather than the house side. They also were not really happy with the selection of the light fixture (they really like the Van Buren it is a pedestrian light and probably cannot be modified to function as a street light). The consultants will get back to the community.

In addition the consultants said they can’t touch the embankment, but Bob said he met with a CZM staff person out on Bayswater who said it would be possible to build up the embankment where it has eroded above the water line. The consultants will check this out and come back to the community.

The Conway Memorial will be the crowning improvement. A bronze plaque will be mounted on a massive rock and will be surrounded by sea roses and grasses. They are still talking about putting the utilities underground, although it is costly. There will be no benches.

4. Updates

Council members reported on what was going on at planning other meetings (as they relate to the Greenway):

With respect to the BRA Planning Process, Lauri said she had gotten a call about making Marginal Street a waterfront boulevard. This has not shown up in the plans although there is quite a bit of talk about traffic and impacts on the abutting neighborhood. Jane Howard of Howard, Stein Hudson is the transportation consultant.

CAT Airport Station - No one present had attended the last meeting. The last CA/T meeting was a short one with the project talking about Scolly and construction schedules.

5. Other Business

Our 4th Anniversary - March 1999 meeting will mark the Council’s fourth anniversary together. In thinking about how we should celebrate, we decided to have food (probably pizza) and cake. Perhaps we should give an award to Lila Wallace - Readers Digest Fund for its support.

Amelia Earhart is coming to East Boston on March 25. Council members asked if it was possible to reschedule Amelia’s visit since that is the night Massport is coming to Land Use Council March 25. The road trip to see two greenways in Rhode Island is on March 27. Please call and sign up! Lauri handed out the Winter Programs Calendar. Please come to the Swamp Safari on 3/13, the bird walk on 3/21, Amelia Earhart on 3/25 and the Trip to East Bay Rhode Island Greenways on 3/27.

Lauri handed out the BRA calendar of East Boston meetings.

On the subject of Runway 1432, Mary Ellen said that Massport wants to relocate nesting upland sandpipers, a species listed on the endangered species list. There is already legislation in place saying that the National Park (Harbor Islands) cannot interfere with FAA operations. There is a City Council hearing on March 2nd and a rally is being planned for the end of March.

END.

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These notes are written to the best recollection of the authors. Please let BNAF know if corrections are necessary within 60 days of the date of the meeting notes. Contact BNAF@aol.com

BOSTON NATURAL AREAS FUND. INC.(BNAF)
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