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MEETING NOTES
East Boston Greenway Coordinating Council
Harborside Community Center, Conference Room
Monday, May 17, 1999

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

Attending: Carolyn Banulis, Christopher Blacker, Valerie Burns, Connie Carbone, Anna DiGenio, Arlene Gehring, Blossom Hoag, Karen Maddalena, Karyl Stoia, Mark Warren, Lauri Webster, Mary Ellen Welch.

1. Introductions and Welcome

After introductions, we began the meeting by voting to accept the meeting minutes from the April meeting.

2. Goals for the Next Three Years

Valerie provided an update on the organization that will accept the $100,000 from TPL. Council member Mark Warren did a great job drafting the proposal requested by the Trust for Public Land. There is more work to do, however, and the Council will be asked to review successive drafts. BNAF also obtained a copy of the Friends of the Public Garden by-laws, and everyone wanted a copy, which BNAF will provide at the Council meeting in June.

Valerie was the speaker at the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Public Garden, who invited her to do a presentation on the East Boston and Neponset River Greenways; they were intrigued. Greenway Council members marveled at the ball thrown as a fundraiser by the Friends earlier in the month. There may be a ball in the Friends of the East Boston Greenway’s future.

3. Greenway - Conrail Corridor from Marginal to Porter Street

A pre-construction meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, May 18, at the MHD Arlington Office and Lauri will be attending. It is likely that we will see the Contractor start work on site in June. BNAF will provide a status of what is happening with Phase II at the next meeting.

Council members reported on the meeting with Peter Smith and John Stubbins of the Boston Society of Architects who may form a Task Force to look at the East Boston master plan and waterfront development proposals. The BSA Task Force did a great job in South Boston. It is important to note that the Task Force would be interested in pursuing excellence in urban planning and design and would not be acting as a consultant for the Greenway Council.

Council members from the Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association reported that at their May 10 meeting, the proposed waterfront planning process was discussed with respect to development density, height and traffic. JPNA voted to send a letter to Mayor Menino asking for a moratorium on all development until neighborhood concerns were addressed. Members were assigned to look into making Pier One conservation land.

4. Greenway - Conrail Corridor/Bremen Street Park

There was a Central Artery meeting on April 28, 1999. Lauri summarized Council members’ comments made during the meeting in a letter to Mike Lewis (copies distributed) dated May 12, 1999. If there are any corrections or omissions, please let BNAF know. The biggest concerns included the Donald McKay sculpture (the empty head); the omission of the minigolf course; concerns about the design of the security building in Bremen Street park; the disposition of the Scolly building; and the pedestrian entrance into Memorial Stadium.

The CA/T Project may have to surplus the Scolly building to DCPO. Council members directed Valerie to write letters to Mayor Menino, and Councilors Davis-Mullen, Murphy, Roache and Scappicchio to avoid the DCPO process if possible. Valerie will call Councilor Scappicchio and Sal LaMattina.

5. Updates:

Sal is leaving his current position for another at the City. This is a big loss for the Greenway Council, and a bigger loss for East Boston because the artery project is just starting in East Boston and a person like Sal will be needed. Valerie may write Andrea D’Amato about the Council’s concern.

None of the Council members present attended the MBTA meeting. Council members felt that the PCG meeting was not informative and the next community wide meeting is on May 26. Massport’s next meeting is on May 24.

6. Other Business:

Congressman Capuano may come to the next Greenway meeting. Council members decided they should approach it this way: provide a description of the Greenway, a chronology of events, and present him with a T-shirt. Then the Council decided to discuss the importance of the Land and Water Conservation Fund for making Greenway connections through Belle Isle Marsh and Wood Island Bay Marsh.

The 11.3 mile bike trip led by council member Mark Warren was very successful, and with many people coming from out of town. The homeless under the Porter Street bridge cheered them on. The Summer Youth Conservation Corps is all staffed up. Most of their work will be at Belle Isle Marsh working on the retention pond, restoring habitat and building a moveable bird blind, but they will also be growing native plants at the Eliot House and doing a photography project along the entire Greenway.

Since all funding will be in place by the next meeting, the Council will have to talk about how to convene a group to work on the Management Plan and how that group will work with the Greenway Council. It is likely that the working group, which will need to include agency representatives, will have to meet during the business day. The Greenway Management Plan will address the following topics: Ownership, Management, Maintenance Programming and Security. BNAF will draft a proposed scope for the Management Plan for discussion.

END/ccmn599

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