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MEETING
NOTES
East Boston Greenway
Coordinating Council
Harborside Community Center,
Conference Room
Monday, September 20, 1999
map of the Marginal to
Prescott Segment of the Greeenway
Click to see full map of
proposed Greenway
DRAFT
MEETING NOTES DRAFT
Harborside
Community Center
Attending:
Eugenie Beal, Eva Bisceglia, Christopher
Blackler, Valerie Burns, Congressman
Michael Capuano, Connie Carbone, Aldo
Cirone, Rose D'Amore, Florence D'Avella,
Edith DeAngelis, Frank Durante, Danny
Ekasala, Stephanie Gaeta, Arlene Gehring,
Donald King, Vincent LaBella, Karen
Maddalena, Chris Morton, Police Officer
Stephanie Morrow, Peter Nagle, Gregg
Nolan, Fran Riley, Karyl Stoia, Jack
Sullivan, Andrea Tassinari, Mark Warren,
Lauri Webster, Joanne Zambutto, Grace
Zuccaro.
1.
Introductions and Welcome
After
introductions, and welcoming Congressman
Michael Capuano and his aide, Gregg
Nolan, we began the meeting by voting to
accept the draft meeting minutes from the
August meeting.
2. A Short
Tour of the Greenway
Using slides
Valerie and Council Members gave a short
"tour" of the Greenway from
Piers Park to Belle Isle Marsh to
Congressman Capuano. At the end of the
slide show, Congressman talked about his
experiences as mayor when he opened the
bikeway through Somerville. The bikeway
is a success and he is very proud of his
role in making it happen.
He noted that in
Somerville they had elected to keep the
natural look to make maintenance easy,
cautioning Council members to not make
the East Boston Greenway too nice, or
else they would be forever chasing the
city to maintain it. He wanted to know if
the East Boston Greenway had lighting (it
does) because he thought that was very
important. He also said Somerville had
added a garden along the Greenway which
he recommended that we do if the
opportunity is there since the garden had
worked out very well.
He told Council
members he, along with the entire
Massachusetts delegation, is supporting
efforts to refund the Land and Water
Conservation Fund stateside, although
there are a lot of issues to balance. If
refunded, Land and Water Conservation
Funding could be used to build the
connections from Annavoy Street to the
main part of Belle Isle Marsh
Reservation.
Council members
also made it clear that ISTEA funding had
been very important to the East Boston
Greenway, but that it has been a struggle
since all the state funding is going to
the Big Dig. He has just learned that the
state is not funding highway projects
that have been approved and funded by the
federal government and he is starting to
look into it.
Congressman
Capuano spoke candidly about what he
could do for his constituents and what he
could not do, now that he was working at
the federal level. He also commented on a
proposed tax break, Medicare and social
security. Before he left the meeting, he
posed for a picture with Council members.
3. Greenway
Council Wins Award from MoveMass
MoveMassachusetts
has awarded the East Boston Greenway
Council an Environmental Achievement
Award, in recognition of the remarkable
community initiative and collaboration
that has resulted in the emergence of a
new East Boston Greenway. The awards
dinner is Wednesday, October 13, 1999 at
5:30 PM at the Westin, downtown. Valerie
passed around a list for people to sign
if they were interested in attending.
Tickets are $75 each, but MoveMass staff
are trying to get a number of tickets
donated, or at least offered at cost so
community people can attend.
4. The East
Boston Greenway Festival
The Harvest Fair
(co-sponsored with Zumix) was great fun,
with an apple pie contest, awards for
local garden produce, cider pressing,
crafts, children's theater and music. YCC
Corps members and Pier leaders Imelda
Loza, Andrea Tassinari and Stephanie
Gaeta worked at tables helping children
with their crafts. Valerie handed out the
Greenway Festival brochures, noting the
activities and events that remain:
Walk the
Greenway under construction on
Tuesday, September 21, at 6:30-7:30 PM.
Landscape Architect Jane Shoplick will be
on hand to help us "see" what's
in store for East Boston's linear park.
Wear comfortable shoes. The Star Party
with the Museum of Science astronomers is
at Belle Isle on Thursday, September 23,
1999 at 6 - 8 PM. On Friday, September
24, 1999 from 6:30 - 8:30 PM, there will
be a Beach Party and Movie at
Constitution Beach. Popcorn is free!
Call and
register for Canoeing at Belle Isle
Marsh on Saturday, September
25, 1999 at 10 AM -12 PM. Its our last
canoe trip for the season. Its
co-sponsored by the MDC. On Sunday,
September 26, 1999 come enjoy Arts in
the Park with Friends of Belle Isle
and the MDC from 1 - 4 PM. There will be
art exhibits, children's crafts,
hayrides, music, nature walks and more.
5. Greenway -
Conrail Corridor from Marginal to Porter
Street
Construction of
Phase I is underway, and all seems to be
going well. All parties involved, the
Boston Parks Department, the
Massachusetts Highway Department, Fleming
Brothers (the contractor) and the
Landscape Architect are all working well
together. It is possible that Phase I
will be completed late this Fall.
Getting Phase II
continues to be a concern. Valerie handed
out a letter sent to Commissioner
Amorello of the Massachusetts Highway
Department by Councilor Scappicchio.
Senator Travaglini and Representative
Petruccelli must be infomed about the
lack of progress in getting Phase II
rolling.
6. Greenway
from Porter to Frankfort / Bremen Street
Park
There is a CA/T
general status update meeting on
Wednesday night, which will address
outstanding park design issues as well as
construction progress and schedules.
At the meetings
for the Scolly Building (a.k.a. the
Boston and Albany Locomotive House), the
CA/T staff provided a beautiful rendering
of what the Scolly Building could look
like. The project intends to release an
Request for Expressions of Interest this
Fall. The next meeting is October 6, 1999
at the CA/T Community Outreach office at
6:00 PM.
7. Grading
the Walk with the Boston Harbor
Association
On October 19,
from 5:15 to 6:45, The Boston Harbor
Associates and Boston Natural Areas Fund
are sponsoring "Grading the
Walk," a walking assessment of the
existing and proposed Harborwalk from
Pier 5 to LoPresti Park, if we can make
it that far before dark. Please call BNAF
if you would like to attend.
8. Updates
Mark Warren will
be meeting with a law firm, Sherrin and
Lodgin, to see if they are interested in
providing pro bono services to the
Friends of the East Boston Greenway.
In October, BNAF
will set up a meeting with Council
members in the Palermo Street
neighborhood to discuss strategies for
making the Belle Isle Connection and to
understand possible objections.
There is no news
on the RFP for Massport's Pier One
development, but as soon as printed
material is released, it will be made
available for Council members to review.
END/ccmn999
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
Go to other
Greenway meeting minutes
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