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MEETING
NOTES
East Boston Greenway
Coordinating Council
Harborside Community Center,
Conference Room
Monday,April 10, 2000
map of the Marginal to
Prescott Segment of the Greeenway
Click to see full map of
proposed Greenway
MEETING
NOTES
Monday, April 10,2000
MEETING
NOTES
East
Boston Greenway Coordinating Council
beginning
its sixth year!
Attending: Valerie Burns,
Christopher Blackler, Aldo Cirone, Carmen
DiPaulo, Loraine DePaulo, Frank Durante,
Terry Iantosca, Robert Pickard, Karyl
Stoia, Mark Warren, Grace Zuccaro, Lauri
Webster.
1. Introductions and
Welcome
Attendance is fairly
light because there are several other
important meetings in the community
tonight - one is the Jeffries Point
meeting on the Maverick gate another is
the Public Health Commission’s
meeting on public health issues in East
Boston and another is a meeting of the
Veterans. After introductions, one
Greenway member said last months
celebration was fun and we ought to have
a party every meeting. The Council voted
to accept the meeting minutes from the
March meeting.
2. The East Boston
Greenway Management Plan Task Force
Now that the Greenway is
starting to be built, we want to look at
how the Greenway should be managed,
including how will be maintained, how
security will be provided, and how it
will be used. The Task Force is comprised
of Council members, different agencies
and elected representatives who are
working together to do the East Boston
Greenway Management Plan. With private
funding, BNAF has hired Epsilon, an
engineering and environmental consulting
firm located in Maynard, Ma. They have a
unit that completes park management plans
and have worked for DEM on several the
state parks.
At the last meeting of
the Task Force, we were treated to a very
interesting presentation by Massport
staff on how they maintain Piers Park
(including staffing, contract services
and equipment) - all information we hope
to apply to other parts of the Greenway.
Representative
Petruccelli is including $315,000 to
expand police patrols at Constitution
Beach, Belle Isle and Revere Beach in the
House version of the budget. Council
members want to support this and asked
Valerie to send letters to both
Representative Petruccelli and Senator
Travaglini.
3. Greenway - Conrail
Corridor from Marginal to Porter Street
The cost of the drainage
improvements is now known to be over
$225,000, more that we expected. Based on
conversations with both the Parks
Department and MHD, we expect that some
of the improvements will be installed
under Phase 1 and some in Phase II. The
condition of the Greenway- that it is
filled with trash- was conveyed to the
City and the resident engineer, who said
he hopes to have the contractor back on
site by May 1, pending a decision on how
to handle this extra drainage work.
We expect Phase I will be
complete in June and the Greenway,
although half finished will be usable
this summer. Pathways will be paved and
the lights will be installed and the
grass will be in. The Parks Department is
proposing to have a soft opening and then
work with BNAF to provide some level of
programming to encourage positive use.
Although BNAF has funding
for a ranger, Parks is having trouble
finding staff to fill their needed ranger
positions. They offered ranger details
for special programs and time slots.
Council members asked if the Council
might find its own ranger, although it
does not seem likely that the city would
agree to this unless they could screen,
hire, train, uniform and supervise the
person.
Captain Claiborne is
coming to the next Greenway meeting in
May and Council members will ask him if
he has any ideas. In addition BNAF will
try to get some programming going like
guided walks, history tours, senior walks
to get people to come and use the
Greenway.
Design and construction
of Phase II, which includes landscaping,
benches, signage, ornamental fencing and
the caboose, will start next fall and be
complete by spring 2001. Council members
suggested writing a letter to the CDC for
their guard at the gumball factory to
look out over the Greenway section by the
condos.
4. Greenway from
Porter to Frankfort / Bremen Street Park
According to an article
in the Herald today, the CA/T awarded the
C08A1 contract. No notice to proceed has
been issued yet. The next CA/T/Massport
meeting is April 19. The RFI/RFP for the
Scolly building has not yet been
released.
5. Updates and Other
Business
•We will be checking
in with Robinson & Cole, the
attorneys who are offering probono
services to set up the Friends of the
East Boston Greenway.
•The City of Boston
Landmarks Commission voted to put the
immigration building under study to
landmark it. Proponents for the Immigration
Museum are not getting any
cooperation from Massport at this time.
•Massport
shortlisted proposals for developing the
Pier One, the marina and shipyard. Shortlisted
developers for Pier One include:
Winn, Roseland Sea-Chain, Ed Fish and
EBCDC, and Modern Continental. They
expect proposals by May 30.
•The Build the Winthrop
Greenway 2000 event is scheduled for
April 29, 2000 from 9 AM to 2:00 PM. Free
T-shirts will be available for the first
100 volunteers who come. Please see their
website for more information:
(www.winthropgreenway.org).
•The process to get
a HOPE VI grant to completely renovate
Maverick Gardens is underway. The
Greenway Council has been invited to
participate in the planning process, and
a Council member will attend. No update
is available at this time, although a
Council member said that the projects on
both ends of East Boston need to be
treated equally and neighbors have no
tolerance for violence, graffiti or
noise.
•The MBTA is
expected to file its NOI to the City and
its Chapter 91 license application for
the Car Yard Project in the near future.
•Richard Pickard
brought in articles on traffic calming
for the Council to read. They appear to
be relevant to Bremen Street, especially
once the park is built.
•The Veterans
are looking to address the City Council
at City Hall regarding 31 hero squares,
the memorial that was at Wood Island Park
and other veterans issues.
•The Sail 2000
is a big event (July 14-20). The Chowder
Fest on Pier One. Two ships may dock at
Pier One. We should showcase the Greenway
during these events.
END/ccmn400
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
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