Chester Square Association Monthly Meetings
Meetings are held the first Wednesday of the
month at the Harriet Tubman House,
corner of Mass and Columbus Aves at 7pm.
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly Meeting of February 3, 2010
President Ben Garvin called the meeting to order.
Officer Elections
Officers were nominated and all elected unanimously at this meeting. The new officers are:
President, Benjamin Garvin
Vice-president, David Gacioch
Treasurer, Julian Weatherill
Secretary, Matina Madrick
Discussion of the Removal of Bus Stop for Northbound #1 at Shawmut and Mass Ave
- Greg Strangeways, Transportation Planner from massDOT (Department of Transportation) attended the meeting.
- Members of CSANA and the community presented arguments for and against the removal of the bus stop.
- Arguments in favor:
- The only bus stop sited in front of a residential stoop with no retail tenants at ground level. Waiting passengers often leave trash on the steps.
- The buses frequently skip this stop even if not full (may be a function of the Mass Ave construction).
- The stop is only 400 feet past what will be the new Washington Street stop (on the North side of Washington Street). The distance between the new Washington Street stop and the new stop on the North side of Tremont is approximately 1400 feet.
- There is 1000 fee nearby Silver Line has 1000 feet between at least one stop.
- Arguments opposed:
- Only the #1, and not the CT1, service this stop.
- In the mornings, several elderly and disabled people use the stop and it may be problematic for them to walk further.
- Most of the stops on the Boston side of the bus route are closely spaced.
- Mr. Strangeways addressed some specific points and described potential improvements to the #1 route planned by massDOT.
- Increased service. In November more buses were added to the #1 line.
- Improvements. Additional bike racks, bus shelters, and trashcans, increased supervision and communication with central dispatch, and traffic signal preemption. The stop at Columbus Avenue may be removed.
- Stop spacing. Stops are no more than a quarter mile apart and ideally 750 to 1300 feet apart.
- Stop Removal. massDOT is generally asked to add stops, not remove stops.
- Public Process. Public meetings will be scheduled for comment on the plans. More information should be forthcoming in about six to eight weeks.
Update on Installation of Park Benches
- The Parks Department would like the brick pads under the park benches to be the same color as the bricks in the path of the park. This will further increase the cost of installing the benches.
Miscellaneous
- CSANA has completed its comments on the contract from the City for park maintenance. David Gacioch will submit the comments to the City.
- Mass Ave Construction. A couple of questions were raised which association members will try to address. When will the old streetlights be removed? How many trees originally between Tremont and Chester Park Square on the even side? Construction will resume in the spring.
- A Boston University journalism student attended the meeting and introduced herself. She is covering the South End Community for the semester.
- Plantings in the parks will be made symmetrical in the spring.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:06 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Matina Madrick
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting of June 3rd, 2009
The meeting was called to order by president Garvin at 7:05PM
Wine Tasting Event – Tom Bennett reported on the May 31 wine tasting event held at Cru on Washington Street with hors d’oeuvres donated by the Toro Restaurant. He noted that he had hoped for a larger turnout, but that despite pouring rain, between 25 and 30 people attended and donated over $3000 to the parks’ fund that evening. Cru had been very cooperative and welcoming and had not only carried out the wine tasting event at no cost to CSANA, but had donated to the association the price of certain wines purchased by people attending. He said that Cru had indicated its willingness to host another such event perhaps in the fall. He asked that CSANA send a formal letter of thanks to Cru for its support.
Others at the meeting pointed out that the event had fostered a sense of community among residents of the area who ordinarily don’t get a chance to socialize. The event, one attendee said, was like a really good party. The consensus was that more social programs like this should be planned, especially in the parks. There is the possibility of getting a one-day license to drink in public, which means the parks could be the site of a similar event.
Fund Raising Report – Treasurer Julian Weatherill reported that the total raised to date for the parks is $5,338 and that the total in the CSANA treasury now is $14,950.
Design for Future Park Plantings – A Park Design Sub-Committee, chaired by Tom Bennett and including Alma Dell Smith and Susan Faaland was appointed by President Garvin to gather ideas and suggestions about where to add flower beds, additional bushes and trees in the parks. In addition, those residents who are designers or have plots in the community gardens will be asked to involve themselves.The intention would be to shape a set of suggestions to the Parks Department and ask their landscape designers for help in determining a final plan and in designating the specific plant materials to fill out the design.
Among the ideas was the proposal to plant shrubs or flowers to break up the most open spaces in the parks and provide a beautiful view from every angle. It was noted that the open ends of the parks are intended to be an invitation for pedestrians to walk through the parks on their way down Mass. Ave. The sub-committee will approach the city about receiving free annuals, mulch and trees as other parks do. The first effort will be to plant colorful flowers in the urns that mark the entrance to the parks as soon as they are re-installed.
Meeting times and agendas for the sub-committee will be posted on the CSANA web site and anyone with an interest in the issue will be welcome to attend.
Communication – It was noted that many residents liked having the CSANA meetings posted before each session and Alma Dell Smith and Susan Faaland volunteered to post the notices on the odd-numbered side of the square for a year, six months each. The best method of communication is still through e-mail members felt and both Tom Bennett and Julian Weatherill are compiling e-mail addresses of residents of the CSANA area and ask that anyone with such addresses for residents here please to forward them to both men. Obtaining a permit for charitable organizations that allows lower postage costs was also discussed.
Completion Schedule – Cathy Baker-Eclipse, the Parks Department project manager for the parks, said that the contractor had re-seeded the parks and that only when the grass was firmly established would the ribbon cutting take place. The need to mature the grass and the mayor’s busy schedule will probably put the ribbon cutting sometime in early July, Cathy said.
Miscellaneous – Staff at Victory House had found discarded hypodermic needles in the park and removed them. It is felt that people going by may have simply tossed them through the fence. They will continue to monitor this.
The city is sending a summer job street cleaner to the CSANA area who has been cleaning the streets for the last couple of days. Residents of Victory House have also cleaned the area.
Julian asked that the cleaning plan for the cleaner to be hired by the association include not only the parks and the carriage ways on Mass. Avenue, but also those portions of Northampton, West Springfield and Washington Streets that are part of the CSANA district. It was agreed to modify the cleaning plan to include these sections.
The meeting adjourned at 7:45PM.
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting of May 6th, 2009
The meeting was called to order by President Benjamin Garvin at 7:10PM
1. Report on Boston Shines Clean-Up
James Grady reported on the neighborhood clean-up initiative sponsored by the city on April 25th. CSANA had between 12 and 15 volunteers who turned out and scoured the area on that morning, removing a number of bags of litter and rubbish from streets, sidewalks and the edges of the parks. The city provided brooms, gloves and rubbish bags and sent both street and sidewalk sweepers around to pick up debris as well as collecting all rubbish bags. All agreed that the neighborhood looked wonderful after the clean-up and James reported receiving thanks from some residents.
2. Public Works Forum
Adam Horst reported on the latest meeting of the Public Works Forum, attended by Commissioner Royer of the Public Works and Transportation Department for the city.
Main issues discussed:
a) Tracking Mayor’s Hotline calls related to the DPW. The city has compiled data for all neighborhoods and in the South End the largest number of calls (14%) relate to rubbish while the smallest number (3%) relate to snow removal. The city is working on refining the technology so as to be able to connect and evaluate information and data from all city departments and neighborhoods in the future. The South End, Adam was told, is the pilot neighborhood being used to study ways for the city to improve delivery of services. All agreed that the responses on calls to the Mayor’s Hotline have been prompt and effective.
b) City Permitting Processes. The city is inspecting utility work done under permit more rigorously, checking that daily clean-up by work crews, compacting of sub-soil and resurfacing after the work is done, are being carried out properly. The city plans eventually to offer resurfacing work on contract to the utility companies so as to make sure it is carried out properly and to earn some money for the city. Right now, some utilities do a good job of reclosing streets and sidewalks and others leave perennial sunken places in both. Funds provided by the utilities to bond the repairs will now be dedicated for use only to resurface, rather than going into a general fund.
c) Rats. There have been increasing reports of rodents, especially around restaurants on Columbus and Tremont. Members noted that the problems with improper disposal of household trash probably accounted for some of that. Restaurant garbage must be collected daily, but that collection is usually at 4AM leaving hours for garbage to draw rats after the eating places close. The city will require that all garbage cans must be fully enclosed and must not be overloaded so they cannot be sealed tightly.
The city has drafted a reminder to all residents about how to properly dispose of household rubbish but Adam will secure copies of a simpler more direct version prepared by the Union Park Neighborhood Association to be posted in Chester Square.
3. Fund Raising
It was reported that CSANA had received donations totaling $1700 in the first week of formal fund-raising, with $1,000 coming from the Pfizer Foundation, which has donated to the association in the past. Of the first 18 letters sent to whole building owners, investment owners and others, favorable responses were received from seven people contacted on follow-up calls.
The next step will be the mailing of invitations to the May 31st wine tasting sponsored by Cru as a fund-raiser for CSANA. Tom Bennett will manage the project with James Grady refining the graphics of the invitation. It was decided that the invitation would go to all identified condo owners with the cut-off of 55 available openings. This initiative would be followed by a request for donations to all condo owners just before the ribbon cutting ceremony, which is estimated to be in early June.
Tom will request food donations from area cafes like Luz and Toro as hors d’oeuvres for the wine tasting.
Contacting real estate agents for donations to the fund will be handled by Ben Garvin and David Gacioch. Many agents have used the rebuilding of the parks as a selling point for prospective owners in the square and will, it is hoped, be willing to donate.
4. Fences
The temporary fences on the odd-numbered side of the park were taken down in error. They were reinstalled the first following workday.
Cathy Baker-Eclipse, project manager for the parks project, asked if CSANA wanted the temporary fences taken down and only rope and stakes put around the grass areas so that seed could be added to the areas under the support blocks of the fences. The group voted unanimously to keep the fences since the damage of uncontrolled use of grass not yet established would far outweigh the few patches of ground that would need to be seeded once the fences are take away. She will be contacted with this response and will be asked to fully reclose the fence on the odd-numbered side which was not sealed when the fence was reinstalled.
5. Park Completion Schedule
Cathy Baker-Eclipse e-mailed a new work schedule which will have the contractor sealing the basins of the fountains next week. After the sealant cures, the basin pavers will be installed, all grouting will be completed and the fountains will be turned on. The plumber is scheduled for Thursday, May 14th to turn them on. The first mowing and over seeding is also scheduled for next week.
6. Miscellaneous
a) Work on the Mass. Ave. rebuilding will begin on May 18th with a dedicated bike lane, the city having received a federal waiver for lane widths.
b) CSANA received cost estimates from Emmanuel Contracting for 15 additional cubic yards of loam and installation of four benches. The group voted unanimously to proceed with both at a price not to exceed the amount set in those bids but with negotiations being undertaken by Adam Horst to secure a better price.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:15PM
Monthly meeting of April 1st, 2009
The meeting was called to order at 7:10PM by treasurer Julian Weatherill, as both the VP and President could not attend.
1. Fund Raising
Treasurer Weatherill reported in detail about the possibility of raising funds through the donated “purchase” of park benches, both those already in the parks or to be installed, and brick pavers inscribed with donors names. The city supplied the forms for such donations, which can only be used for articles not for maintenance of city parks.
Benches: New benches cost $5,000 and “donating” an existing bench costs $1500 for neighborhood parks. The small brass plaque with donor’s name is installed on a bench for 12 years after which the bench is up for a new donation with first refusal by the original donor.
Bricks: Permission from both the Landmarks Commission and DPW would be required to supply the city with inscribed bricks to pave the sidewalks in front of the parks’ entrances, but Joe Johson of Greenman Pederson, the engineering firm working on the reconstruction of Mass. Ave., noted that it might be possible to obtain such permission..
Raffle: A model raffle ticket form was considered. If 1,000 tickets could be sold at $5 per ticket, deducting the suggested raffle prizes of $500 (first) $200 (second) and $100 (third) would provide a profit of $4200 minus printing costs.
Wine tasting: Tom Bennett reported that the newly opened Cru Wine on Washington Street would be happy to sponsor a wine tasting benefit for the parks. Their premises can hold a maximum of 50 people and they discussed a Sunday evening, when they would close at 6PM and run the tasting as a private party. They would offer three reds and three whites for tasting and might invite a distributor’s representative to conduct the tasting. They would choose less usual wines at mid-range prices. It should be possible to get local restaurants to donate hors d’oeuvres for the event, Tom noted.
Action Authorized
Benches: Sheila Cheimets will draft, or modify already drafted letters, to a targeted group of possible donors soliciting funds specifically for the installation of the old benches or for the newly installed benches around the fountains.
An appointment with Cathy Baker-Eclipse will be sought to clarify the siting and make clear the previous understanding about the installation of the old reserved benches. The proposed locations will be just inside the side entrances of each of the parks, to provide a more quiet place for park users than the plaza area.
The letters will be followed by phone calls directly to possible donors to solicit bench funds.
Bricks: Julian Weatherill will contact Emily Wolf of the Landmarks Commission to discuss their committee’s position on inscribed bricks around the parks.
Wine Tasting: Sunday evening, May 31 was chosen as the date for the wine tasting. At the suggestion of Tabitha Bennet, So. End Coordinator for the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, Tom Bennett will contact Linda Rubin of Washington Main Streets program to see if it would be possible to use a mailing list of theirs for possible invitees to the wine tasting. Tom will also review the condo and property owners’ list to select invitees for the wine tasting, which will be by invitation only because of the restricted space. At least 100 invitations or more should be sent to secure 50 attendees. There will be a table at the entrance for donations from attendees, but no fee to attend.
2. Rise and Shine Clean-Up
Tabitha Bennett noted that the spring city-wide clean-up date is Saturday, April 15. She will provide fliers to be distributed in the neighborhood and James Grady will spearhead the clean-up.
3. Harassment of the Homeless: Steve Biggio noted that there have been instances of homeless people being harassed by residents of the neighborhood when the park was in use and asked Tabitha if she could research any city ordinance or state law that prevented such harassment. Tabitha urged anyone witnessing such harassment to call the police and also said she would check with the city’s legal office to see if there is such an ordinance.
4. Trash Ticket Enforcement: The bill to provide an enforcement method for payment of trash tickets has been refilled by Rep. Vincent Pedone of Worcester as H-3588. The bill would allow cities and towns to put a lien on property for unpaid tickets. A similar bill was vetoed in the last legislative session because an added amendment about snow removal had essentially changed tort law, which was strongly opposed by the trial lawyers’ association. Sheila Cheimets moved that CSANA support the legislation by contacting CSANA’s state Rep and Senator as well as the Governor. The seconded motion passed unanimously.
5. Cleaning Parks and Square: Adam Horst reported that his neighbor is still interested in cleaning the parks and streets in the square twice a week for $250 per month net. David Gacioch was out of town, but sent a message that the additional costs to cover tax “gross up” as desired by the cleaner would be $45 per month. It is still not clear, he noted, whether this program could be established as a contract rather than as an employee. Sheila Cheimets noted that the Check Casher’s owner had in the past paid to have someone clean the Chester Square block of Mass. Ave.and offered to call him to see if he would cover the costs of this new street cleaning program.
Miscellaneous The mayor is holding a coffee at Sparrow Park on Wed. May 13th at 9:30AM. All are welcome.
James Grady will review the decorations and pictures on the CSANA web site and consider creating a heading for stationary and for the web site use.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:10PM
Monthly meeting of March 4th, 2009
The meeting was called to order at 7:10PM by Vice President David Gacioch, President Benjamin Garvin unable to attend.
1. Report on Park Deficiencies – Sheila Cheimets reported that she and Cathy Baker-Eclipse of the Parks Department toured the parks site and noted a number of problems with the work done so far. There apparently was a slippage in translating the conceptual plan for the landscape design into the engineering specs that went out to bid. The differences between the two are as follows:
the granite planters are much lower than what was indicated. In the conceptual plan, the planters were to be high enough to sit on, intended to help block some of the traffic on Mass. Ave. from those sitting on benches in the plaza.
REMEDY: The planters cannot be changed but larger and thicker plantings can be sited in the planters to serve the same purpose. These would have to be installed over time by the Association since the city is overdrawn on funds for the two parks already.
the level of earth making up the berms behind the curved granite walls in each park is much lower than was designed, since they also were to help mask traffic going by the parks on Mass. Ave.
REMEDY: Cathy Baker-Eclipse measured the present height of the berms and noted that they were between 6”-12” lower than even the specs demanded (which is lower by close to a foot than the height intended by the original plan). She will notify the contractors that they owe the city more fill to meet the specs
.
In addition, she will ask them for a price to bring in enough loam to bring the center of berms close to the height of the curved granite walls. If the bid is low enough, since the contractor has to use the same trucks to bring loam to the same places, CSANA will try to raise the funds to cover this cost.
there is a portion of the decorative brick work missing in each park
REMEDY: The contractor will be reminded that there is more brickwork to be completed, both at the entrances to the two parks as well as where the paths meets the plazas.
there is no planting aside from grass that is specified for the berms, although, again, the plants in the conceptual design were intended to block out traffic.
REMEDY: CSANA will work on planting designs for the berm areas in each park, using the landscape skills of residents and/or the Parks Dept., and will prepare a planting schedule over time so that additional bushes to block traffic will be added to the berms. Again, this will have to be done by CSANA because of lack of city funding.
In the discussion surrounding the parks, the issue of planting beds was raised by members. It was agreed that sites for such beds, to be filled with colorful annual flowers, would be left until the parks were completed so that members could see what would be the best location that would make the beds visible to passersby as well as park sitters. Filling the beds with bulbs and flowers could easily become part of a fund-raising effort for the parks as well, with people donating funds or plants to the parks.
2. Purchase of Additional Equipment – Cathy Baker-Eclipse will try to negotiate a $1500 cost per bench for installation of four benches in the parks, one close to each side entrance of each park. The bid will be requested from Emanual Corp., the company that is building the parks. The expected $6,000 cost was voted unanimously. It is hoped to raise funds specifically for this purpose from selected donors and to offer a brass plaque indicating the generosity of those who provided the funding for installation of the benches.
3. Fund Raising Report – Julian Weatherill reported on the specifics of selling personalized bricks to donors to the parks. The bricks would cost between $10 and $15 to be laser inscribed, and could be sold for $100 per brick. One of the problems is that most of the bricks have already been laid in the parks and a brick would have to be torn out to be lasered. It was noted however, that the sidewalks around the parks have not been done. They will be bricked as part of the Mass. Ave. reconstruction and named bricks could be sold for these sidewalks. Julian will check with Cathy Baker-Eclipse on the legality of selling bricks for fund-raising purposes.
Donors for the installation of benches would receive a brass plaque that read, “This bench brought to you through the generosity of _____”, placed on the bench. An individual could contribute the full $1500 for the large benches or more than one name could be inscribed if more than one person covered the cost of a bench. The small benches on the central plazas of the parks would cost $750 per bench for donors.
The neighborhood wine store has agreed to host a wine tasting event to benefit the park at the request of Tom Bennet. This could be set up with an entrance fee, or as an admission by donation. Tom will check with the store to find out their fire code capacity. This could be combined with a request to one or another of the restaurants in the neighborhood to offer hors d’oeuvres during the wine tasting or as a separate event. Donors and merchants who give could be cited on the CSANA web site or provided with a nicely designed citation that merchants could display. Julian will follow up with Cathy on this aspect of fund raising.
Steve Biggio noted that the simplest and easiest of all fund raisers was pioneered by the Sisters of St. Joseph who raised money by selling 1000 lottery tickets. Fifty percent of the take is given as prizes and 50% goes to scholarships at the school.
Selling bulbs and plants either to be put in the park or to be taken home and planted is another way to raise funds, it was agreed.
4. Park Cleaner – Adam Horst reported on the negotiation with the park cleaner who is willing to clean the park and the square twice a week for $250 per month but requires that amount to be his net, leaving the issue of withholding, social security (7.5% each), taxes, etc. to CSANA. The man would come under these provisions because even if the contract with him was only for 8 months a year, since that $2000 would be well over the $1600 minimum for those classified as employees.
It could be possible to hire him as a contract worker if the contract laid out the goals with him providing all the tools and the relationship was that of an independent contractor. David Gacioch will work out the tax implications and calculate the average amount needed. The motion to move forward with the contract was seconded and voted unanimously to authorize up to $2500 for a year.
5, Public Works Meeting – Adam Horst reported on a Public Works forum held for neighborhood representatives, code enforcement and the mayor’s office. The bulk of the meeting was a discussion of trash and street cleaning and it was noted that ticketing and towing will begin from the first day of street cleaning on April 1, not as in previous years when cars were given some weeks to get used to the idea that street cleaning was back.
The bad news was that the legislation to provide enforcement for trash tickets was pocket vetoed by the Governor at the request of the trial lawyers association. It will be refiled.
The good news was that the Judge hearing the objections to the design of the reconstruction of Mass. Ave. told the state to go ahead with the construction and so the Mass. Ave. bid was awarded. The court case was filed by two groups that wanted to throw out the design plan that had been worked on for over four years by representatives from a dozen neighborhood associations in order to demand an exclusive bicycle lane instead of a shared bicycle lane. The next meeting of the forum will be on April 21.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:05PM.
Monthly meeting of February 4th, 2009
The meeting was called to order by President Benjamin Garvin at 7:10PM.
1. Park Amenities – Additional amenities that might be desirable for the two parks were considered. At issue was the effort to compile an estimate of the amount CSANA would have to raise to cover any such future expenditures. Considered were the following:
- pet waste bag dispensers – from $114 for dispenser alone to $345 for waste receptacle, signs and bags as well. Since dogs would mostly use the grass areas, the dispensers should be installed at each end of each park. There was a question whether putting these in the parks would not only remind people to pick-up after their dogs, but might encourage people to use the parks as dog runs. It was decided to review this item after the parks had been open for a while to see how the parks are being used.
- bicycle racks - $221. It was noted that these could only be installed at one end of each park since there are large electrical boxes at the other end of each park. Tabitha Bennett of Neighborhood Services said the city buys racks in wholesale quantities and the Friends of the Park at Chester Square night be eligible to receive two of them at no cost. CSANA will apply to the city for two racks.
- trash cans – large designer trash cans range in price from over $900 to over
$1200. At least six trash cans are needed for the two parks; one at each end and one close to the center seating area since people are mostly unwilling to walk the length of a park to discard things. The overwhelming cost of the cans left no alternative but to ask the city for six oil drums to be used as trash receptacles. Before renovation, there was only one oil drum in the center of each park.
- Additional bench at each end of each park – The city was asked to save the Victorian style benches that were in the parks before the renovation so the only cost would be for pouring cement pads to which to bolt the benches, one at each end of each park. Cathy Baker-Eclipse has been asked to get a price for the cement work from the contractor.
2. Park and Square Clean-Up – Adam Horst has verified that there is a vendor who would contract to clean the parks and the square twice weekly, following each rubbish pick-up, for $250 net a month. David Gacioch will research whether withholding and other taxes would be required.
3. Financial Report – Treasurer Weatherill reported a total of $9640 in the two CSANA accounts.
4. Fund Raising – The fund raising letter written by David Gacioch and the flier written by Sheila Cheimets (see attached) were approved as part of an overall plan to include a fund raising effort connected to the ribbon cutting ceremony in the spring. It appears that local vendors may be willing to donate food for a reception and might well be willing to run fund-raisers on their own premises, such as a wine tasting. In addition, it was agreed to establish a scale of membership fees, highest perhaps for absentee landlords owning property in the area and set up a booth at the ribbon cutting to solicit donations as well as membership. Other groups have purchased inexpensive trinkets to distribute at fund raising events or flowers and bulbs to be planted, all tied to donation requests.
President Garvin will instruct a fund raising committee to being making plans for the spring.
5. Miscellaneous – The reconstruction plan for Mass. Ave. has been halted by a law suit filed against the Mass. Highway Department and the City of Boston by advocacy groups claiming there was not enough consideration given to creating a marked bicycle lane on the street. It is not clear what the court’s decision will be, nor what the timetable for the decision is. The good news is that the plan went out to bid and came back within appropriations.
Tabitha Bennett informed CSANA that all the Friends of the Park groups in the city are being brought together for a meeting with the Parks Department to review the 2010 budget and find out what the groups will need to do to help maintain their parks under the strain of decreased city funding. She will let CSANA know when the meeting is scheduled.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:15PM
Monthly meeting of January 7th, 2009
1) Election of Officers
The individuals nominated in December were elected unanimously. They are President Benjamin Garvin, Vice-president David Gacioch, Treasurer Julian Weatherill and Secretary Sheila Cheimets.
2) Donation
CSANA received a $1,000 donation from the Pfizer Corporation, the second such donation the firm has made to CSANA. The company offers a donation to those non-profits to which Pfizer employees, such as Ben Garvin, give time and effort.
3) Costs for Cleaning
Estimates for cleaning either the parks in Chester Square and/or the sidewalks in the neighborhood, were reviewed. Sara Lindquist of Glanz Real Estate had provided CSANA with the names of those firms providing similar such services to Worcester Square, where the realty company also owns property. Estimates from Banshee Maintenance differed significantly from those being charged to Worcester Square. Costs ranged from $100 per week (Worcester) to $300 per week (Chester) the difference being that Worcester Square park is much smaller. The price of cleaning the sidewalks twice a week after the Tuesday and Friday rubbish collection was estimated between $250 (Worcester) and $300 (Chester) per week, again due to the differences in size between Chester and Worcester Squares.
President Garvin will check with the city about the availability of summer street cleaners who may be part of the city’s jobs for teens program.
Another option was hiring a resident of the area, contacted by Adam Horst, who had provided an informal estimate of about $250 per month for twice a week pick-up of both streets and park. Adam will confirm this informal offer.
Having a firm cost for the clean-ups will allow CSANA to set a fund raising figure to reach to cover these costs.
4) Fund Raising
A second draft of a fund raising letter a will be presented by David Gacioch at the Frebruary meeting to coincide with a possible flier (see attached) and an invitation to all residents to attend the ribbon cutting for the park in the spring. CSANA will try to get enough early warning of the date of the ribbon cutting to allow a personal invitation to neighborhood residents both to attend the ceremony and to donate to the park fund for maintenance and for plant materials.
5) Dogs in Park
Concern was expressed over the fact that some dog owners are pulling apart the insufficiently secured fences in the parks and putting their dogs in, although Cathy Baker-Eclipse, the project manager for Parks and Recreation has been asked more than once to get the construction firm whose responsibility it is, to securely seal the parks. It was noted that after a winter of dogs roaming free in the parks with no pick-up of the feces, since the owners do not go in to the parks, it would be difficult to start a lawn..
Cathy will be contacted again to urge her to pressure Emanual Construction.
5) Richard Glanz received support for his project to build a garage at the back of 538 Mass. Ave. and create a garden apartment and deck out of presently unused storage areas at the back of the building. The new unit would be the sixth in the building and the back façade would be at exactly the same height as the present deck and garage at 540 Mass. Ave. He has already received building permission for another unit but not for a garage. These plans would g hand-in-hand with the firm’s intention to repoint the back of 538 and create a more attractive West Springfield Street façade. Attendees reviewed the plans for the addition, drawn by David Neilson, and voted unanimously to support the expansion. .A letter indicating such support will be prepared.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:05PM
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting of December 3, 2008
The meeting was called to order by President
Benjamin Garvin at 7:05PM.
1. Status Report on Park Construction
- Before closing and sealing the park for the winter, the
contractors will complete laying the brick around the fountain
plazas, will seal the sumps and intakes so they won't fill
with water and freeze, will complete repairs on the fences
and install missing fence posts that were taken down to
allow access for construction vehicles, but may not have
time to install the new benches. The remaining work, which
will not be done until spring, includes completing the fountains
(the first two tries at waterproofing the basins of the
fountains failed) testing the fountains, loaming and seeding
and installing benches. Cathy Baker-Eclipse of Parks and
Rec. assured us that the late planting of bushes and trees
would not harm the plants as they area already in hibernation.
If any plant does not survive the winter it will be the
responsibility of the contractor to replace it.
2. Rubbish Control Tactics - In any situation
in which a resident can identify the person who has put
rubbish out too early or on the wrong day and can find a
letter addressed to that person or a bill showing name and
address, the city will ticket. Send a short note indicating
the place, date and time the rubbish was found and when
the regular rubbish pick-up day is, include your name and
address and the bill or letter that identifies the rubbish
dumper and send it to the following address: Captain Chris
Stockbridge, 1010 Mass. Ave. 4th Floor, Boston, Ma 02119;
Attention Code Enforcement. To have an officer come out
to inspect rubbish and try to identify dumpers, especially
in a location notorious for rubbish, call 617-635-4896.
3. Rubbish Enforcement - Members noted
that there is no penalty for non-payment of rubbish tickets
as there is for parking tickets. Tabitha Bennet , the Mayor's
South End Representative, said that a new Home Rule petition
will be filed by Speaker Sal DiMasi in this legislative
session to create a penalty and with the Speaker's backing
has a good chance for passage. The bill crates a set of
penalties culminating in a lien against the property.
4. Neighborhood Cleanup - Members considered
various ways to keep the neighborhood cleaner, commenting
that the fund-raising Worcester Square Association does
goes both toward keeping their park clean and also their
streets and sidewalks. Crystal Parker, from Victory House,
was asked to determine whether there were residents of that
facility who might be interested in a two-day a week clean-up
of the streets and sidewalks and parks. The job could pass
down from person to person as people leave the facility
and the clean-up would take place after each rubbish pick-up
in the area. Ms Parker said she would ask for an estimate
of cost and whether there were those willing to undertake
the work. In addition, at least one other member said he
would try to get a cost estimate from others who perform
the same kind of function. Some members are having problems
with neighbors who leave rubbish on their fire escapes.
It was strongly suggested that Code Enforcement and the
Mayor's Hot Line be called since this is a safety issue
not just an aesthetic one.
5.Keeping the New Parks Clean- It was
suggested that a flier be drafted that would go out to everyone
when the parks were finished to urge people to dispose of
their rubbish properly in the new parks and help in maintaining
them once they are turned over to the neighborhood. In addition,
it was suggested that a neighborhood meeting of dog owners
and residents be called in the spring when Sgt. Rudack,
the animal officer, said he would attend, so people could
discuss the best ways to keep the new parks beautiful.
6. VinFen Problem - Two more residents
of the area have been accosted by a resident at VinFen's
building, the same resident about whom there were discussions
in past months. It was strongly urged that such incidents
be reported to the police, because without a police file
there cannot be any evictions from that building. Either
verbal or physical threats or inappropriate approaches of
any kind should be reported immediately.
7. Elections - Elections for officers
for 2009 will be held at the January meeting. Nominated
so far are: Ben Garvin for President, David Gacioch for
Vice-President, Julian Weatherill for Treasurer, Sheila
Cheimets for Secretary.
8. DPW Forum - Tabitha Bennet reported
on the issues discussed at the DPW Forum held Dec. 2. These
included snow removal and the information that city snow
plows are now tracked on GPS so if you report a street unplowed
after a storm the city can expeditiously get a plow to that
location. The city will plow the sidewalks around the parks.
The hotline number for snow is the Mayor's hotline number:
617-635-4500.In addition, the forum discussed the ways in
which a private alley can be taken over by the city. Also,
there will be representatives from all the city neighborhood
associations making streetscape surveys of conditions on
the city streets, such as flooding areas, condition of sidewalks,
dead trees, etc.
9. Miscellaneous - Parish Café
has only been awaiting Landmarks approval and the solution
to some structural issues and expects to open in May with
a beer and wine license…
Requests for donations for the District 4 Police campaign
to provide toys for children of families in need. Call or
write Carolyn MacNeil, Director Neighborhood Watch Unit
at 617-343-5682, Boston Police Department, 20 Vine Street,
Boston 02129. Checks should be made payable to District
4 Toy Fund.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:55PM
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting of November 5, 2008
The meeting was called to order by President
Ben Garvin at 6:55PM.
1. Report on City Hall Meeting about Dogs
- Tom Bennet attended a recent meeting at City Hall which
brought together people from neighborhoods across the city
to discuss dogs. He met Sgt. Rudack, the Boston Animal Control
Officer and reported that the discussion revolved around
two points of view. Dog owners urged the city to provide
more leash-free areas for dogs in the major parks in the
city, while irate residents complained about dog owners
who do not control or clean up after their dogs. Residents
of the North End were particularly incensed because dog
feces made their narrow streets and sidewalks impassable.
The city took under advisement all the testimony offered
that night.
2. Fund Raising Ideas - Michelle Blanc,
event planner for Harvard University, offered her help in
creating a fund-raising strategy for CSANA to cover costs
of maintenance of the parks and purchase of plant materials.
CSANA won't know how much is needed annually until the proposed
contract with the Parks and Rec. Department is approved
and we know what is required of us.
Michelle's suggestions and the on-going
discussion resulted in the following ideas:
- Direct solicitations of condo owners
and commercial property owners whose property value has
increased because of the renovated parks, as well as renters
with a new outdoor space and real estate agents and business
owners in the area with a new amenity that enhances their
businesses.
- Events such as a Tastes of Chester Park party with donations
of food from restaurants in the area including Mike's Diner
which has a history of donating to such events, wine tasting
at the new Parish Café when it is opened, or partnering
with the annual jazz festival using Berklee College as a
resource.
- Expansion of the existing non-profit Friends of Chester
Park with an annual membership fee, perhaps of the $25 Sparrow
Park Friends pay, and some special events, ribbon or badge,
for members.
- Solicitation of the major institutions within the CSANA
area such as Boston Medical Center, which has donated heavily
to other neighborhood associations in the past.
- Creation of a maintenance fund as well as setting aside
a portion of what is raised each year to build a trust account
of sufficient size to allow maintenance costs to be covered
by interest income.
- Selling engraved bricks for the sidewalks around the parks
at the entrances of the parks.
Among the comments was the information
that Worcester Square and Sparrow Park both use their funds
not only to supply plant materials but to hire commercial
firms that sweep and clean the parks on a regular basis.
It appears that the funds Worcester Square raises also pay
to have the whole square cleaned on a regular basis.
For the larger property owners, a personal visit would be
used to solicit funds. The ribbon cutting for the park should
be held on an evening or weekend day to allow the largest
participation for the kick-off of these parks, with food
donated by the restaurants in the area and invitations to
people like Sonia Chang-Diaz, the new state Senator.
There is a pressure to go green; CSANA should investigate
the possibility of tying the parks into some green initiative
or programs involving children that might result in grants.
Davd Gacioch will draft a potential letter of solicitation
for a tentative spring mailing while these ideas are considered
for further discussion at the December meeting. Probably
a sub-committee will be created specifically for fund raising.
3. Parks Open or Closed - Cathy Baker-Eclipse
asked CSANA to decide whether to leave the unfinished parks
open to the public or fenced off for the winter. The unanimous
decision was to have them closed. That decision will be
conveyed to her.
4. Mass. Ave.Construction - Para Jayasinghe
of the DPW has reported that the project funds have been
secured, the contract books are complete and bids on the
project will be opened in November or December. Work is
tentatively expected to start on the reconstruction of the
street in the spring.
5. Tubman House has announced that it
will charge CSANA $25 per month to use a meeting room.
6. The meeting ran late and the agenda
items on trash and dogs were held over to next month.
The meeting was concluded at 8:05PM
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting of October 1, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 7:05PM
by President Gen Garvey.
1. Dog Grooming Company -
Kathi Malloy described the creation of a dog grooming and
training facility she and Bob Malloy plan to open in 4,000'
of retail space in the Minot Hall building. The facility
will include retail sales space for dog equipment and food,
a self-serve dog washing space providing tubs and equipment
and full professional grooming services. There will also
be training and social events for dogs, but no overnight
boarding or outside kenneling. Condo owners at Minot Hall
have indicated their approval of the facility. Rubbish from
the facility as well as dog waste will be stored inside
and removed by private contract. A motion was made to support
the zoning change necessary to add dog grooming to the allowable
retail uses in the space and was approved unanimously.
2. Park Construction -
Progress has been made and water lines have been connected
but it appears that the park completion schedule is falling
even further behind the Oct. 10 date, partly because of
rain delays. Members asked whether the newly seeded grass
in the parks could be protected from being trampled with
temporary plastic fences during the winter. In addition,
a question was raised about the kinds of grading and drainage
being provided in the park itself since the recent rains
left both parks awash in mud. Both questions will be raised
of the Parks Dept. project manager, Cathy Baker-Eclipse.
3. Mental Health Facilities -
John Murphy of VInFen, service provider for the mental health
facility in Chester Square, and Cynthia St. Pierre of the
Dept. of Mental Health discussed the ways in which mental
health clients are serviced in an independent living facility.
No individual client's case can be discussed, they noted,
but they did say that problems raised by members last month
about one of their clients did appear to be significantly
better. Members asked why clients in the facility didn't
appear to use any daytime programs and were told that a
number of such programs are offered but no-one who has graduated
to an independent living apartment can be required to attend
them. VinFen has been holding weekly tenant meetings at
the facility and uses the sessions to get feed back from
the residents. CSANA residents were again urged not to hesitate
to call VinFen, Dept. of Mental Health or the police if
there are problems.
4. Hurley Field Regulations
- Marjorie Soto, principal of the Hurley School, outlined
the provisions for neighborhood use of the field. Any group
can request and reserve time for using the field, as have
a group of doctors from MGH. No metal cleats are allowed.
The issue is to be able to hold someone accountable if there
is damage to the field. It was noted, however, that random
people are climbing over and under the fence to play in
the field evenings and weekends.
5. City Contract - The
proposed contract with the city was reviewed (see attached)
and approved. It will be sent to the Parks Department for
their approval.
6. Fund Raising - It
will be necessary to do the following in order to make a
serious fund-raising effort:
- get estimates of what it would cost to open and close
the fountains each year
- calculate the trust fund amount needed to yield that sum
each year
- contact professional fund raisers to get an idea of how
to structure a campaign.
Ideas presented at the meeting included
selling name plates for the benches, selling engraved bricks,
selling raffle tickets, appealing to property owners whose
property has been made more valuable by the renovated parks,
appealling to real estate agents who use the parks as selling
points to clients. It was also suggested that a PayPal account
be set up so it becomes very easy for people to donate,
using a shorter name than the current web site name. Julian
Weatherill, Sheila Cheimets and Steve Biggio will report
back on their research at the Nov. 5 meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:10PM
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting of September 3, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 7PM by
President Ben Garvin.
Parks Construction Status
Cathy Baker-Eclipse conducted a walk-through
of the building sites to review progress. All construction
is expected to be done by end of contract, October 10.
1. Delays
There were delays caused by problems with the lighting.
A confusion in reading the drawings resulted in the replacement
of all the wiring in the parks, and held up the work. It
probably also resulted in the street lights being off for
some weeks. We are told it has been corrected now. Also,
the excavations uncovered a completely unknown set of drains
and water lines leading from one park to the other. It isn't
clear whether these were the water lines that serviced the
original single fountain or whether it was intended in 1952
when the road went through the park, to provide hose bibs
to the two smaller remaining parks. It took time to trace
and remove the lines.
2. Construction
The construction is proceeding from low numbers to high
numbers on the even numbered side of Mass. Ave. and in reverse
on the odd numbered side of the street because of the need
to allow a clear entry at one end of each park for construction
vehicles.
3. Current Status
In both parks, the fountain foundations have been poured.
We are assured that although they look octagonal, they will
in fact be round when the granite is installed. Huge 8'
diameter dry wells have been installed to provide drainage
for the fountains in the fall when they are emptied. The
water meter pits are done and one curved wall has been poured
but the water lines have not yet been connected and the
center planter bases have not yet been poured on either
side.
4. Underground Waterlines
The Mayor, at the ground breaking ceremony, noticed that
there were no underground water lines to water the grass
in the park and instructed the Parks Department to put them
in. So, we have underground watering paid for by the cheaper
price we got for using solid granite instead of veneer,
which is what we wanted to use in the first place. That
is a win-win of huge proportions.
Operation of Mass. Ave. Facility by VinFen
John Murphy of VinFen, a social service
agency that manages the programs at 528 Mass. Ave. attended
the meeting in response to complaints of some residents
of incidents involving tenants in the building. He explained
that the property is owned by Mental Health Programs, Inc.
a private entity solely responsible for the physical management
of the building and the only entity that can evict a tenant
even if that tenant is refusing the take the medications
that are necessary to allow that person to function outside
a hospital setting.
In order to evict, it was pointed out,
or to commit a patient for hospitalization, documented evidence
of aberrant behavior is needed, including police reports.
Residents are urged to call the police if there are any
incidents of indecency, noise, threats or other such behavior.
Residents were told to call:
The Police at 911
Philip Moncreiff, Program Director at VinFen at 617-232-6120
X214 or 617-230-7112 cell.
Ed Fox, Facilities Director at MHPI at 617-817-4834 cell.
Mr. Murphy said that he would have someone
from the Dept. of Mental Health
come to the October meeting to discuss these issues.
Federal Historic Preservation Tax Initiative
Tom Bennet shared the information he received
at a seminar describing the federal income tax incentives
available to homeowners who join the program. A homeowner
gives an easement to the federal government to preserve
forever the historic outside of his historic building. The
National Park Service administers the program, signs off
on maintenance of the outside of the building and inspects
each year. Homeowners must give a contribution of $1400
to the trust that manages the program, and must pay a filing
fee of $500 to the IRS. Approval of state and local officials
and the bank holding the mortgage must be sought.
In return, an appraiser assesses the difference
between the value of he property before the easement and
after and that value is taken off the property owner's income
taxes.
Further information and details can be
received by calling the Trust at 1-888-831-2107 or by email
at info@architecturaltrust.org.
Mayor's Liaison to the South End
Tabitha Bennett introduced herself to
the CSANA and was asked to make some efforts to controll
rubbish problems in the area. She was asked specifically
to change the street sweeping day to a time after, rather
than before, rubbish pick-up day and to include in any new
mailings to residents information about putting returnables
out separately so bags would not be broken into by people
searching for cans.
Foodies' Anniversary
Foodies Market is holding a 10th anniversary
celebration on September 13 from 10-2 and Washington Gateway
will be conducting a tour of the urban landmark information
at the bus kiosks on Washington Street on that day as well.
Street Trees
There has been no indication of why the
flowering pear trees in Chester Square were cut down, but
the DPW has promised to replace them with six new pear trees
when the street is rebuilt in the spring. The trees will
be sited at 524,525,526,569, 574,and 577 Mass. Ave. and
will be joined by six other trees of a different species.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:10PM
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting of June 4, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 7PM by
President Ben Garvin.
1. Church of Scientology
Robert Castegna, a volunteer at the present site of the
Church of Scientology, described the literacy, phonics and
study skills programs the church runs for both adults and
children and noted that a new program in communications
has just begun. The church is open seven days a week and
has a total of 30 volunteer staff working weekdays and 30
on weekends. The church's operation does not include a Sunday
service that brings all members together, he said, but rather
is a space for religious courses and spiritual counseling.
The church needed a larger site as its headquarters in Boston
and its purchase of the Alexandra will provide that space.
The church's intention is to restore the building to its
original state and Mr. Castegna provided photographs of
similar renovations in church buildings in other cities,
such as San Francisco. The adjacent property, called the
Ivory Bean Building, has been condemned and will probably
have to be torn down and completely rebuilt. Engineers are
presently measuring both sites to determine usable space
so that architects can begin working on plans for the renovation.
Although there has been no decision made about retail use
of the street floor, Mr. Castegna noted that no such uses
had been included in other of the church's properties
Along with present programs, the church plans drug education
and outreach programs at the new site.
2. Elder Homelessness
CEO of Hearth, Inc. Mark Hinderlie, described their mission
to develop and operate permanent low-cost housing for the
homeless, and to provide outreach and advocacy for these
men and women 55 years of age and older.. The group presently
operates 136 apartment units in the South End, Brookline
and Milton, providing some meals, medical, mental health
and social services, at a cost less, he said, than the cumulative
costs of servicing the homeless through shelters and emergency
room treatments. His organization, Mr. Hinderlie said, was
very pleased that they had made a measurable dent in the
number of the homeless in Boston, calculated as 770 in the
2000 census. Forty of them live in individual apartments
at 1640 Washington Street in the South End, in a facility
deliberately made attractive and welcoming. The retention
rate for those who are moved into their own apartments,
he said, is an "amazing" 97%.
There are other homeless who are alcohol or drug addicted
who refuse treatment and for those there is a new initiative
under discussion to provide housing first and then attempt
treatment. Also under discussion is an effort to transform
present shelter funding into financing for permanent housing
and to collaborate with other cities who are interested
in Boston's unique program targeting the elderly.
Mr. Hinderlie said that Hearth plans an open house and art
show soon and the date and time will be sent to CSANA's
web site and will appear in the South End news.
3. Enlarging the South End Library
Marleen Nienhuig, president of the Friends of the South
End Library, discussed the need to rejuvenate, enlarge and
enhance both the physical site and the programs of the branch
library. Many programs for teens, elders and the homeless
are offered by other cities but not here, she noted. The
branch, Ms Nienhuig said, is small, cramped and not in the
20th century technologically. The Copley Square main library
has finally completed its multi-million dollar renovation
and the mayor's focus now is on a similar rejuvenation of
all of the branch libraries in the city.
Although hard plans await a new president of the Boston
Library system (currently the city is interviewing candidates)
there is a working committee established by the library
already urging that overhauling of branches be the next
big project for the system. The first step for this neighborhood
would be a privately funded $40,000 assessment in the South
End of both programmatic and physical library needs, of
which $20,000 has been raised so far. The Friends will continue
fund raising to complete this study by a consultant and
has already established a 501c3 non-profit status. The city
has already allocated funds for necessary roof and wall
repairs for the South End branch which she hopes can be
used to open up the forbidding brick walls of the building..
The Friends has succeeded in clearing the park of drug dealers
and running a successful Easter egg hunt with eggs stuffed
with candy and poems in both English and Spanish. Concerts
and other future events will be planned for the library's
park space, she concluded.
4. Bus Shelters
This item was deferred to another meeting, since the person
raising the issue was unable to be present.
5. Contract With the City
Sheila Cheimets described the maintenance requirements outlined
in the sample contracts the city supplied CSANA as the contractor
began work on renovating the two parks in the Square. Such
things as semi-annual clean-ups, flower and bulb planting,
weeding and mulching and watering were outlined in the Oak
Square Common contract used as an example of the city's
joint agreement with a neighborhood association. None of
these requirements were any different from the projects
that residents have undertaken in the past, she noted.
However, the opening and closing of the fountains, so that
their pipes are not damaged by freezing, requires professional
help. Ms Cheimets has asked for estimates from a number
of companies of the costs of providing such services once
the warrantee by the contractor has run out, usually a year
from completion of the work. Work on the Chester Square
parks is scheduled for completion by the end of September.
The first verbal estimate was for $400 per fountain for
each work project, meaning a total of about $1600 for a
year. Such funds would have to be raised by CSANA, she noted.
5. Miscellaneous
A. President Garvin announced a timely $1,000 grant from
his company, Pfizer, for the park fund.
B. Brant Welty of East Springfield Street, described the
high end wine and spirits store he will be opening at the
former 1750 Washington Street site of Store 24. There will
be no nips or loose beer sold, he said and it will be a
family owned business run by himself and his sister. He
is hoping for a July opening when the build-out is complete.
Store hours will be noon to 11PM and noon to 6 on Sunday.
His background has been in high end retail, for years at
the Alpha-Omega store in Prudential but he also has experience
in dealing with liquor sales in restaurants.
The store has already received approval for its liquor license
and will go before the Zoning Board on June 10th for which
he asked a letter of support. Such a motion passed unanimously.
C. Members asked about how to fight the graffiti that is
increasingly appearing in the neighborhood. Sheila Cheimets
noted CSANA had spearheaded a graffiti removal initiative
about ten years ago by getting authorization signatures
from property owners and then arranging for the city to
remove the graffiti with its steam cleaners. Contact information
about the process will be forwarded to those interested,
she said.
The meeting was adjourned approximately 8:15PM
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting of March 5, 2008
Minutes of CSANA Meeting of May 7, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 7:10PM
by Vice-President Julian Weatherill in the unavoidable absence
of President Garvin.
Disabled Parking Spaces - Commissioner
Stephen Spinetto of the city's Commission for Persons with
Disabilities reviewed the procedures for granting a disabled
parking space and noted that he would personally review
the number and allocation of such spaces on West Springfield
Street since there seemed to be a larger number than the
four spaces the city's records show.
To secure such a space a disabled person must first obtain
a Registry of Motor Vehicle placard, not a rigorous process,
he said. The application to the city must include medical
records, proof of ownership of a motor vehicle, and a neighborhood
parking sticker. Only those with movement impairments can
receive a space and in every case, the city reviews applications
every two years to assure that the person who had applied
for the space is still there using it.
Such spaces are reserved for the physically impaired but
they are not exclusive to the person who applied for it;
anyone with the disabled placard can use the space, Spinetto
said.
He noted it was possible sympathetic city workers might
have erected disabled parking signs at the request of a
disabled person, leaving the city without records to show
such a space exists. For that reason, he welcomed the opportunity
to personally inspect West Springfield Street and would
report back to the Association on his conclusions.
Youth Art Auction - Sandy
Martin of the Youth Workers Alliance outlined the work the
Alliance does as well as its biggest fund raising event,
the Youth Shines Art Auction to be held Tuesday evening,
May 20 from 6-8PM at the Boston Center for the Arts.
The group, which is a coalition of all the youth programs
in the South End neighborhoods, provides services to children
and youths from 6 to 21 years of age. There are 35 such
programs, she said, including a large number of teen programs.
The Alliance provides information and direction to youngsters
as they move from one program to another and networks the
services. Other youth workers, she added, have begun to
copy the Alliance's method of operation and one suburban
school system liked the idea so much that it has submitted
an art work for the auction.
The young artists are invited to the auction to see their
own art hung on the walls of the gallery and sold to the
highest bidder in open and silent auctions. She urged CSANA
attendees to inform their friends and neighbors about the
event.
Parks Report - Sheila
Cheimets reported on the Landmarks Commission meeting on
bricks for Mass. Ave. sidewalks (see attached), on the hearing
for the Parish Café (see attached) and on the construction
schedule for the parks. Ground should be broken for the
parks in mid-May with a completion date of end of September.
Work will commence on both parks at the same time. About
ten days is allocated to install the water pipes for the
two fountains, three weeks or more for the granite work
and a month for all the landscaping, among the other tasks
in the timeline report prepared by the contractor.
Cathy Baker-Eclipse, Parks and Recreation project manager
for the park restoration, provided a sample of the granite
that will be used in the parks, for CSANA information.
Contract with the City -
It was emphasized again that the city requires CSANA, like
every other neighborhood negotiating a renovated park, to
prepare and sign a contract that spells out the maintenance
to be undertaken by the residents and the work to be done
by the city. In this case, there will have to be some level
of involvement by residents with maintenance of the fountains,
since Parks and Recreation staff believe city workers not
to be capable of providing the care required to keep the
fountains operating.
If the fountains are not properly drained in the fall, the
pipes will burst during the winter. If they are not properly
cleaned they will clog up and stop functioning. Sheila Cheimets
suggested that those members of the organization with construction
knowledge begin to determine what is feasible for CSANA
to undertake in relation to the fountains.
Bus Shelters - It was
requested that the subject of additional bus shelters in
Chester Square be put on the agenda for the June meeting.
The meeting closed at 8:10PM
ADDITIONAL REPORTS
Hearing on the Parish Café
- The developers of the new Parish Café, planned
for the corner of Mass. and Tremont on the site of the old
furniture rental store, was held on Wednesday, May 7 before
the Boston Licensing Board. CSANA was recorded in support
of the new restaurant with the following provisions:
- additional insulation and soundproofing will be installed
in the ceiling of the café to prevent noise from
disturbing condo residents who live above the site
- the licensing of the café will be for this owner
only; zoning will revert to rental store if or when this
owner sells, to protect nearby residents
Chairman of the Licensing Board Daniel Pokaski instructed
the owners to make sure that residents of the building above
the site are not disturbed by sound from the café
and noted that the Licensing Board has full authority to
make sure that any future owner comes before CSANA and the
Board before any transfer of license.
Representatives of the café said
after the hearing that they would immediately contact the
architect working on the build out to make sure that additional
soundproofing is included in the plan and further committed
to keeping the sidewalks on both faces of the café
clean of debris.
Landmarks Commission Hearing on
Mass. Ave. Design - The Landrmarks Commission held
a hearing on the historic aspects of the renovation design
for Mass. Ave. from Albany Street to St. Botolph Street
on Tuesday, May 6, 2008. It is currently planned that the
project, which covers 285 properties, will go out to bid
in June.
There had been some question whether the Boston DPW would
request a design that replaced all sidewalks in the build-out
area with cement sidewalks. At the hearing, however, Para
Jayasingh, project engineer for the $40 million project,
provided plans that showed brick sidewalks in every block
of the project, including the sidewalks around the two parks
in Chester Square and the medians that are not landscaped.
Medians from the Boston Medical Center to Tremont Street
will be landscaped by the Medical Center; the rest of the
medians will be city hall pavers.
He noted that the city had researched bricks that would
be acceptable under the requirements of the 1990 American
Disability Act and had identified wire cut bricks called
Artisan from the Morin Brick Co. of Maine as meeting those
standards. The city faces stiff penalties if it does not
secure bricks that meet the standards. These bricks were
already used once, to rebuild West Newton Street sidewalks.
If the Landmarks Commission approves the future use of these
bricks they could then be installed uniformly in all public
applications in the city.
After considerable discussion, the Landmarks Commission
mandated the use of tinted cement for all sidewalk ramps
to blend with sidewalk brick and asked the DPW to work with
the Morin Company to create bricks of the same Artisan wire
cut type but with a reddish or purplish cast to blend more
with the old bricks around the city. They approved the use
of Victorian double standard lights for the rebuilding of
Mass. Ave. and reviewed the pattern of the crosswalks. In
addition, the Landmarks Commission set up a sub-committee
that will meet to review the new colors of the wire cut
bricks when they are ready. The Commission required that
the lids of all coal chutes in the project area of slate,
bluestone or granite be carefully removed and replaced.
If broken in the process, they will be replaced in kind
CSANA representatives urged a quick
resolution on the color of the bricks, pointing out that
the park project will begin construction in mid-May and
will be paving the parks' paths by August. The intention
is to have the parks' bricks match the city's choice for
the Mass. Ave. sidewalks.
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
-- April monthly meeting cancelled
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting of March 5, 2008
The meeting was called to order at 7:01PM
by President Ben Garvin.
1) Parish Café
Gordon Wilcox and Peter Culpo, owners
of the Boylston St. Parish Café, and their attorney
Peter Lyons, described plans for developing the old Rent-a-Center
site for a second such restaurant. Zoning at the new location
at the corner of Mass and Tremont, (493-495 Mass. Ave.)
will have to change from the present check cashing use to
restaurant use. There would be 75-100 seats and a possible
outdoor patio in the future, with a 2AM closing and 1:30AM
as the latest for ordering from the kitchen. The owners
expect to transfer a beer and wine license purchased at
an auction to the new location. The price range on the menu
will be between $7 and $16 and the site is expected to draw
heavily from the neighborhood. No valet parking will be
provided.
The original café has been successfully
in business for 16 years and has never had a problem with
the city or with its neighbors, the owners said. It will
take 6 months to complete the build-out and the city permitting,
for which the owners have borrowed over $1 million. There
will be daily trash removal, as is required for all restaurants
in the city, and Landmarks and the neighbors living at 493
Mass. Ave. will be consulted on the renovations to the façade
of the building.
Concern was expressed about noise from
the restaurant or from the proposed patio and also about
the zoning change passing along to less responsible owners
in the future. Attorney Lyons pledged that he would file
for a change of use for this tenant only so that if the
new Parish Café closed, the use would revert to check
cashing only. In addition, Gordon Wilcox committed the firm
to provide additional and very substantial soundproofing
of the ceiling of the restaurant to provide a buffer for
upstairs residents.
It was pointed out that any permission for a patio would
have to be requested from the city separately and the owners
would then come before CSANA again, allowing neighbors of
the restaurant to assess its operation before approving
such a request.
Seeing no objections, President Garvin
committed CSANA to provide a letter of support for the owners'
zoning change request.
2) Parking on Shawmut Ave.
Meghan Haggerty, the South End liaison
for the mayor's office, reported that the city's Parking
and Traffic Department had approved the request to make
one half of Shawmut's 40 parking spaces resident only parking
with the other half 2 hour parking during the day and resident
parking overnight from Worcester Street to Mass. Ave. The
department is behind on installing signs, Haggerty noted,
but will do so as soon as possible.
In addition, Haggerty will urge Parking
and Traffic to review the multiple disabled parking spaces
on West Springfield to ascertain if they are still needed
for residents of that street or can be turned into regular
parking spaces.
3) Park Bids/Grant Application
Sheila Cheimets provided a copy of the
bid summaries for the renovation of the parks, noting that
Stan Ivan, Director of Construction for Parks and Recreation
was still reviewing the bids and had made no award. Still
being discussed was the actual cost for installing the two
fountains and whether solid granite for the curved walls
would be the same price or cheaper than building curved
forms to pour cement for those walls, which will act both
as retaining and seating walls in the park. For this reason,
there is at present no firm estimate of what the shortfall
is between money available for the park and funding required.
While awaiting this information, Cheimets
said, CSANA applied for a $10,000 grant from Small Changes,
a fund created by the Democratic National Committee to beautify
Boston before and after the national convention here. This
money would have to be matched from CSANA funds and would,
if granted, probably be used to install granite planters
to buffer the central seating areas in the parks.
4) Trash Initiative
Meghan Haggerty described the South End's
new initiative in trash control which makes recycling much
simpler and has resulted in a manifold increase in recycling
in the city. Clear plastic bags are to be used in which
all recyclables, paper, metal, plastic, etc. will be placed
together. The city is expected to pick up the blue bins
when they are phased out. Putting returnables in a separate
container, open to can pickers, should always be done so
that bags aren't torn open.
5) Alexandra Hotel
A request to attend a CSANA meeting has
been received from a group that has concerns over the use
of the building by the Church of Scientology. President
Garvin noted that anyone was welcome to attend the CSANA
monthly meetings but that these meetings were not a forum
for protest. He will request that someone from the church
attend one of our meetings to discuss the plans for this
historic and important building. Meghan Haggerty noted that
the BRA has urged the church to consider allowing a retail
use, perhaps a café, in one of the two storefronts
in the building and that the church has said it would consider
this, while noting that it would possibly use the other
storefront for a bookstore or café of its own. It
is expected that the church will carefully restore the building,
since it has a history of interest in historic properties.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:05PM
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting of February 6, 2008
The meeting was opened at 7PM by
President Ben Garvin.
1) The first order of business was the
nomination and election of officers for the 2008/2009 term.
Nominated and elected were the following:
- For President : Benjamin Garvin
- For Vice-President: Julian Weatherill
- For Secretary: Sheila Cheimets
- For Treasurer: No nomination
2) Grants and Applications: A $1000 grant
was applied for by President Garvin from the Pfizer Corporation
and awarded last month.
An application has been made to Jane's
Fund, a local foundation that deals with historic restorations
and parkland projects. CSANA has been informed that proposals
are reviewed in February and those organizations being considered
are asked for further information.
An application will be made to the Metropolitan
Area Planning Council, which also funds projects involving
historic restorations and parkland, especially in areas
contiguous to transportation routes such as Mass. Ave.,
which is a connector between Boston and Cambridge. This
application is due in May.
3) Bid Status: CSANA has been informed
by the Parks Department that 16 contractors picked up bid
specs, a very good sign since that means there is little
work and the bids could be as low as possible. Unfortunately,
the bids are not due back until February 7, therefore we
won't have any news about the range of bids until they have
been reviewed next week.
Note: The bid range and how close the
bids come to the amount needed to complete the project will
be posted on the web site as soon as the information is
available.
4) Contract With the City: The Parks Department
will require CSANA to sign a formal contract outlining the
types of maintenance that the city will provide the new
parks when the renovations are complete and the kinds of
maintenance the neighborhood association will perform. Much
of what residents will be expected to do is not much different
from the past: semi-annual park clean-ups, picking up debris
in the parks, monitoring dog owners, keeping leaves from
clogging the fountain, etc. Anything requiring serious equipment
(lawn mowing, tree trimming, spraying, snow removal, trash
pick-up etc.) will be done by the city.
The issue for CSANA is the maintenance
of the fountains, which the city urges the association to
undertake by raising funds for a small trust that would
hire private maintenance firms to clean and close down the
fountains each fall and re-open them each spring. The problem
is that the city is less than effective in performing these
functions and if the fountains are not drained properly
the pipes burst during the winter rendering the fountains
unusable.
It was agreed that the costs for closing
and re-opening the fountains would be researched to determine
what kinds of funds need to be raised. In addition, the
association would consider creating a Fountain Fund for
which donations would be asked from residents, commercial
and residential property owners and real-estate firms among
other sources.
It was also agreed that model agreements
would be drafted for review at the next meeting.
5) Hurley School Parking: The city has
finally removed the no parking signs next to three new parking
spaces on West Springfield Street. Unfortunately, those
who parked there after the curb cut was removed but before
the signs were taken down were required to pay the $75 tickets
they received.
6) Miscellaneous: Linda Rubin Royer, the
new director of Washington Main Streets, introduced herself
and reviewed the inventory of retail development she had
just completed. At least a half-dozen new stores and shops,
including hairdresser, chocolate maker and wine store will
be opening soon in street-level spaces on Washington Street.
In addition, Main Streets expects to discuss with the new
owners of the Alexandra Hotel, the Scientologists, retail
uses for the street floor of that building.
President Ben Garvin expects to meet this
week with former President Ben Miceli to change the names
on the CSANA bank accounts.
Secretary Cheimets expects to file required
annual reports with the Secretary of State and the IRS after
reviewing the latest bank statements.
Julian Weatherill has agreed to continue
as web-master for the CSANA web site and to flier for neighborhood
meetings.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:40PM
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting of January 2, 2008
1. Nominations for officers for 2008.
2. Request for support for a psychic's license for 780 Tremont
Street (corner of Mass.) from attorney Dan Lindley representing
Sherry Frank.
3. Report on final detail discussions with the enigneer,
Icon Design, on park design.
4. Update on grant requests.
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CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
Monthly meeting of December 5, 2007
The meeting was called to order at 7:10PM by President Ben
Garvin.
Attendance: See attached
1. Grant Applications
The association received a letter from
the Henderson Foundation rejecting the CSANA grant application
for funding renovations in Chester Square parks. No reason
was given.
A concept letter has been forwarded to
Jane'sTrust with a similar request. Jane's Trust is a Boston-based
foundation that supplies funding for historic restoration
and public space renovations among other projects. If the
Trust is interested they will contact CSANA and ask for
a more detailed proposal. They will review requests after
January 10th.
A revised grant request was forwarded
to the Browne Fund for additional funding beyond the $50,000
already granted to install fountains in the parks when it
was discovered that amount would only cover one fountain.
Although there has not been a formal response, it is possible
the fund would look favorably on funding the second fountain
at the cost of another $50,000 in its April grant review
cycle.
President Ben Garvin noted that his company,
Pfizer, has a discretionary fund for grants to non-profits
and that he will make application for $1,000 for planting
materials for the parks.
2. Liquor License Request
The attorney representing Paris Café
canceled his request to discuss the restaurant proposed
for the corner of Mass. and Tremont in the old Rent-All
space because the principals have not yet closed on the
property. In addition, they must seek a zoning change from
present allowed use as a check-cashing venue, to restaurant
use. They expect to reschedule with the association at a
future meeting. The company has a similar sandwich/drinks
restaurant on Boylston Street, also called Paris Café.
3. Review of Engineering Plans
Angela Murray of Boston Parks, project
manager for the Chester Square parks, reviewed the final
engineering drawings and construction documents for the
parks. She displayed the engineering drawings that will
go out to bids in early January in hopes of receiving the
lowest possible bids for the project. She noted that the
final plans retain the two decorative urns presently in
the parks and place them in what she described as the most
exciting part of the plan, the central plazas in each park.
There will be end tables between each four foot bench surrounding
the fountains; the length of the benches was chosen to discourage
people from sleeping on them and it is hoped that the height
of the end tables will also be discouraging.
There will be a three-tiered fountain
in each plaza and water will circulate from each of the
tiers into the bottom basin. Retaining walls abutting the
fence behind the plazas will buffer this main sitting area
from the massive traffic flow as will the 18" berm
along some of the edge of the park facing Mass.Ave. There
are still questions about the materials to be used for the
fountains' basins and rims, the end tales and retaining
walls, whether concrete alone, concrete faced with granite
or solid granite. Ms Murray will research this and provide
further information. The paths in the parks will be of whatever
brick the city chooses for Mass. Ave. to match the proposed
new sidewalks around the parks.
She noted that the Parks Dept. is in discussion
with the DPW, which will begin work on Mass. Ave. in late
2008, about having them extend the water and electric lines
to the edge of the parks. This would save money on the parks'
renovation without holding up construction on the parks
if all park work was completed first to the edge of the
parkland and then left to await the Mass. Ave. project construction
to reach the site. Members requested that more than one
bib hose be scheduled for each park so that residents could
effectively water future plants and flowers.
Ms Murray said that work could begin
on the parks in April after a January bidding procedure
and could be completed by fall of 2008. She noted that the
new openings in the ends of each park would discourage dog
owners from letting their dogs off the leash and that newly
handsome parks tend to get people to treat them better.
Ms Murray said she hopes in the future
to provide a more aesthetic trash cans for the parks but
that costs of $800 per can as opposed to $50 for an oil
drum put them out of range now. The expensive cans are built
into the ground with openings too small to allow household
trash to be dumped.
The meeting was adjourned by President
Garvin at 8PM
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Meeting Notes - October 3, 2007
The meeting was called to order by President
Ben Garvin at 7:10 PM.
1 - Chicago Pizza Request for
Extended Hours
The owner of Chicago Pizza requested extended hours to 1
AM. The association granted his request. There were no attendees
against the request. Due to Sheila Cheimets being away a
letter from the association approving his request will be
completed later. Trash issues around the restaurant were
discussed. We asked that he maintain a clean sidewalk.
2 - Trash
The group discussed the trash issues in the area
and the new city decision to use clear bags for recycling.
Attendee Steve Biggio said he would contact Sam Yoon about
the trash issues to see if there was a way to improve cleaning
the streets.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:40
PM.
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Meeting Notes - September 5, 2007
Meeting brought to order at 7:05 PM
Sheila Cheimets filled in for President Ben Garvin who was
unable to attend the meeting.
Other Attendees: Julian Weatherill, Roberto
Poli, Ben & Christina Ludwig
1 - Review engineering estimates
for the parks' renovation.
The latest estimate for renovating the parks is $750,000
of which the City Council has only appropriated $500,000.
Due to this shortfall the members reviewed and discussed
the current park plans and cost estimates for individual
elements of the design using proposals made by the Parks
Department that would delete or defer parts of the implementation.
It was decided to go along with the current proposal to
fund the work beneath ground first for the fountains. Plantings
and other "beautification" will be done with other
funding.
Click here for past park meeting minutes.
2 - Grant Funding
The Brown Fund has generously funded an additional $50,000
to the parks project. This will be applied to further restoration
costs of the park. In addition, the Browne Fund has been
asked to reconsider its award in view of the larger cost
estimates for implementing the park plan. Grant proposals
are being prepared to ask other funding agencies for more
money to allow for complete funding of the projects. A proposal
to the Henderson Fund has been submitted and 1-2 others
will be sent out when the time is right.
3 - Parks Partners commitment
The group discussed the city's request to have the cooperation
of the neighborhood to help maintain the parks from time
to time. It was agreed that the neighbors would help out.
4 - New Business
Chicago Pizza (Corner of Mass Ave / Tremont
St)
Chicago Pizza's owner appeared at 7:15 with a request to
extend the business hours from 11 PM to 1 AM. Since no one
from the neighborhood had known he was coming to the meeting
it was decided to put off the vote until October's meeting.
Fliers will go out before next meeting alerting neighbors
of the agenda. He will attend next months meeting for a
vote.
Trash and neighborhood cleaniness.
Members brought up the amount of trash in the neighborhood
and how to deal with it. Due to the return of college students
a large amount of trash has appeared in the neighborhood
on non trash pickup days. It was decided that a tasteful
flier be distributed door to door reminding residents how
to deal with trash, etc.
Safety Issues
South End Pizza was discussed as having reckless drivers
and no respect for the neighborhood. It was decided that
the association should take some action and request Meghan
Haggerty, Mayor's South End liaison, to address this.
Traffic/Parking meeting
Julian Weatherill will follow up with Meghan Haggerty to
get meeting date and time in regards to lost parking from
the new Hurley athletic field.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM
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JUNE 6, 2007 MEETING NOTES
The meeting was called to order by President Ben
Garvin at 7:10PM
1. Neighborhood Services
Liaison Meghan Haggerty
a) 24-Hour parking on the Mass. Ave. straightaway was discussed
with the traffic department which is nervous about the congestion
that could be caused by an additional line of parked cars
during heavy traffic daytime hours. They will study the
issue.
b) As a fall-back, members asked if allowed parking hours
on the straightaway, now 6PM to 7AM, could be extended to
8AM, making the parking more useful to residents who don't
leave for work early. Haggerty will discuss this proposal
with the traffic department.
c) When private buses idle in residential neighborhoods
the city can respond through the BTD, meter maids and Environment
Department during the day when these groups are patrolling
the city. It is more difficult at night when police have
shown themselves reluctant to give out the $500 idling ticket
that is charged against the driver, not the company. Residents
noticing the buses should report the hours when the buses
are seen directly to Haggerty who will inform the appropriate
city departments. There are legal drop-off, pick-up and
bus parking areas prescribed by the city.
d) Haggerty will ask BTD to do some research about the decibel
level of jake braking and whether the level breaches the
city's present noise ordinance. In addition, she will discuss
whether "No Jaking" signage can be installed on
Mass. Ave.
e) It is not clear what summer grant program was meant by
the message CSANA received from Parks and Rec,
but the association will pursue information for next year.
2. Report on Park Restoration
Issues
The May 29th vote on the funding for restoring the parks
in Chester Square was put off until Friday, June 15th. All
councilors have received information about the project.
In addition, the engineering plans for the parks are complete
and the firm doing the work is now engaged in costing out
the project.
3. Study of Neighborhood
Groups
Sylvie Tissot, a graduate student at Harvard, is doing research
on neighborhood organizations, has interviewed some of the
CSANA membership and would like to attend a meeting in September.
4. Pizza Parlor Request
The owner of the Chicago Pizza restaurant did not appear.
5. New Business
Members reported a left-turn light knocked down in the middle
of the median at Mass. and Tremont and two street lights
out approximately at 530 and 532 Mass. Haggerty advised
reporting lights directly to Joe Banks who manages light
repairs for the city or to the 24-hour hotline at 635-4500.
Members also reported significant deep holes in the paving
along the sidewalk on West Springfield Street.
It was noted that unless there
is an emergency issue, there will be no monthly meeting
in July. The meeting adjourned at 7:55PM.
MAY 2, 2007 MEETING NOTES
CHESTER SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
The meeting was called to order by President
Ben Garvin at 7PM.
Reassignment of Responsibilities
The upcoming move of President Dawn Barnhart required
the reassignment of some of the responsibilities for CSANA.
The following decisions were made:
- Vice-President Ben Garvin moves up to the presidency
- Julian Weatherill undertakes the responsibility of updating
and managing the CSANA web-site that was created and formerly
monitored by Dawn Barnhart. Julian is a Chester Square neighbor
and was asked to undertake the job by Dawn.
- Sheila Cheimets, who remains as secretary, undertakes
to provide information to the South End News and Boston
Courant about agendas, meetings etc. of CSANA
MBTA
The updates provided by the MBTA in its newsletter
were reviewed. Major news included the T's effort to increase
the frequency and number of buses on the Silver Line, which
is notoriously crowded much of the day. In addition, the
T noted that work on the next stage of the Silver Line's
route to the airport was going forward with the project
receiving eligibility for federal funding and choosing a
modified Charles St. alignment. Next step will be an environmental
impact report and further public meetings. CSANA members
agreed that a direct route mass transit route to the airport
would be valuable.
Reports
The report on the Hurley School playing field was
reviewed as was the report on the CSANA park design meeting.
There was general agreement that the more expensive benches
(such as the ones in Copley Square) were not supported for
use in the parks.
Lobbying for Park Funds
Sheila Cheimets reported that the capital budget
section with funds for the Chester Square parks renovation
is supposed to be voted on May 29th. The response to lobbying
requests was very good and city councilors received "a
blizzard" of e-mail messages and calls. It was decided
that it will be very useful to remind the city councilors
closer to the date of the vote that they have pledged to
support it.
Sheila will e-mail everyone who responded
last time and ask for a further reminder note to go out
to the councilors before the vote. Other members will e-mail
as well and possibly leaflet the neighborhood.
Meeting with
Mayor's Rep.
The mayor's neighborhood representative was unable to make
the May meeting but will be re-invited for June. Among the
issues to be discussed with her will be parking along Mass.
Ave., buses idling for hours at a time while parked in the
neighborhood and possible controls on the jake brake system
that causes huge amounts of noise when trucks use it to
slow down at the intersections of the park block.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:45PM
CSANA REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING
April 4, 2007
The meeting was called to order
at 7:10PM.
Report
On Lobbying Effort
President
Barnhart reported on the success
of the lobbying effort undertaken
to raise support for the $600,000
included in the Parks and Recreation
Department’s
capital budget to implement the
landscaping and renovation plan
for the parks at Chester Square.
Some city counselors noted they
had received a “blizzard” of
e-mail and phone calls asking
for their support and both Councilor
Chuck Turner, whose district
includes the parks, and Councilor-at-Large
Mike Flaherty pledged their strong
support.
The council will receive the
budget around April 12 and will
probably vote on the Park and
Rec budget sometime in late May,
Councilor Flaherty noted. It
was suggested that follow-up
reminder calls be placed in the
middle of May to the councilors
to make certain that the strength
of the community support for
the project was not forgotten.
Park Design Meeting
Project manager Angie
Murray of Parks and Recreation
set up a meeting between the
Friends of the Parks Committee
and Icon Design, the company
translating the landscape conceptual
design into engineering plans.
The purpose was to clarify certain
design details. The full
report of the meeting was
reviewed and is included as linked
pdf to these minutes.
Tubman Request
Tubman House asked members of
CSANA to complete a questionnaire
about services provided at the
site seeking to broaden its view
of community needs that can be
served by the facility. Copes
of the survey are available at
Tubman or call (617) 375-8139
or can be responded to at krobidoux@uses.org.
Leadership Change
President Barnhart reported
that she has accepted a position
at a college in Denver, Colorado
and must therefore submit her
resignation. Vice-President Ben
Garvin will succeed to the post.
She and others will begin searching
for someone who can take over
the CSANA web site in order to
post minutes and reports and
retain the ability to communicate
with the community at large.
The meeting was adjourned at
7:45PM
See linked
Park
Design Meeting Report -
pdf format
Agenda - March
2007
- Presentation of
the proposal to construct a
curb cut/parking space in the
rear of 529 Massachusetts Avenue
- Graffiti and trash
clean up and reporting
- Hurley School update
- Chester Square
Park Funding potential
- Resident feedback
CHESTER
SQUARE AREA NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
2/7/07
CSANA MONTHLY MEETING
The meeting was called to order
at 7:10PM by President Dawn Barnhart.
1. Hurley School Report – President
Barnhart and Secretary Sheila
Cheimets described two meetings
held the previous week on the
Hurley School’s intention
to create a playing field out
of a paved area next to the school
currently used after school hours
as parking for residents.
The first private meeting allowed
neighborhood representatives
to raise their concerns: the
loss of between 45 and 55 parking
spaces represented by the change
caused anger among residents
and the possibility of night
lighting and night games in the
new field concerned CSANA representatives
since the majority of bedroom
windows on the east side of Chester
Square face West Springfield
Street.
At the
second meeting, school officials
indicated that the modified
plan will solve many of the
problems raised by neighbors.
The field, which will be of artificial
turf, has been made smaller to
retain 12 parking spaces. There
will be no lights and no night
games. In addition, residents
will be allowed to park in the
teachers’ parking lot,
which has previously been closed
to residents. It was estimated
that these changes would result
only in the loss of about five
resident parking spaces, making
a much smaller impact on tight
parking conditions in the area.
In addition, residents asked
that the signs preventing parking
in front of two sets of unused
gates to the school yard be removed
adding two to four parking spaces
on West Springfield. The BTD
was also formally asked to check
on the number of disabled people
at the Tremont Street end of
West Springfield Street since
it was not clear that all six
of the disabled spaces were currently
in use. The most urgent request
of neighbors was that they be
involved in the planning and
staging of the playing field
since it will so deeply affect
them.
Meghan
Haggerty, the mayor’s
representative to the South End,
who attended both meetings, was
asked to push the parking questions
at the same time as the playing
field initiative moved forward.
Parents of Hurley students,
Katerina Edlund and Scott Slarsky,
attended the CSANA meeting to
describe the initiative for the
playing field as coming from
the Hurley parents group. Parents
have involved themselves deeply
in the school, helping create
a library for the first time,
hiring full time special teachers
and working to create enrichment
after-school programs, they noted.
2. Meghan Haggerty – The
South End representative of the
Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood
Services introduced herself and
described her job as maximizing
resident input to city service
providers. She noted that the
Boston schools and the parking
department will be holding interdepartmental
meetings to deal with the logistics
of the playground project at
the Hurley and also to look at
the whole traffic impact of the
construction phase of the plan.
The issue of parking in other
areas was raised by attendees
and Haggerty was asked to look
into increasing the time allowed
for parking on the Mass. Ave.
straightaway in Chester Square
from 6PM to 7AM to 6PM to 8AM
thus giving people who have to
drive to work a very useful overnight
parking space. It was noted that
the lane used for parking at
night is not available for traffic
in any event since it is a parking
lane at the end of the square.
Haggerty was also asked to request
additional police patrols in
the area and for a return of
the trash barrels that were removed
from both parks. In addition,
she was asked to be an advocate
within the administration for
further stages of rebuilding
the two parks.
3. Liquor
License near MInot Hall – President
Barnhart received a call from
someone who wants CSANA support
for a liquor license on Washington
Street near Minot Hall. Since
no-one was present at the meeting
to make a presentation, the
request was shelved.
4. Hotel
Alexandria Report – Cheimets
reported on the final disposition
of the Alexandria Hotel case,
in which the city had been
trying for a dozen years to
take legal control of the renovation
of a building that has been
essentially derelict for 20
years or more. Since the owner
of the building had repaired
the safety and health issues
raised by the city as its reason
for taking control, the court
denied the city’s long
standing request despite the
fact that potential buyers
and developers continue to
back out of the project and
there seems no prospect or
renovating or putting to use
the classic old hotel. The
court did set a date certain
in six months for the owner
either to have a buyer or to
begin construction on renovations
of the eyesore or the city
will again be allowed to sue
to claim authority over the
building.
5. New Police Commissioner
- Cheimets attended
the session to meet the new
Police Commissioner Edward
Davis and District 4 chief,
Captain Evans. She reported
that the Commissioner spent
28 years in Lowell where he
instituted intensive community
policing that dropped the crime
rate dramatically. He intends
to emphasize the same policy
in Boston, to get his policemen
out of their cars getting to
know the people in their areas.
In addition, he intends to
shift standards of judging
an officer’s work from
arrest rate to quality of life
issues. The BPD has been seen
as a worldwide model for community
policing, he said; he wants
the new philosophy of community
policing to embody a relationship
with the community.
6. Parking Space on
Northampton - Katerina
Edlund asked that CSANA put
on the March CSANA agenda a
request to support the addition
of a parking space on Northampton
Street in the backyard of David
Hocker’s house at 529
Mass. Ave. Edlund will be the
contractor for a renovation
of an apartment in the Hocker
house and the parking space
in the backyard needs a ZBA
waiver.
7. Chester Square Festival -
Scott Slarsky asked that the
possibility of a Chestsr Square
festival be put on the agenda
for the March CSANA meeting.
He noted that the buildings in
the Square are unique and such
a festival, perhaps opening with
an open house at 531 Mass. Ave.
which he and his wife have just
renovated from the studs out,
would help raise consciousness
about the architectural beauty
of this neighborhood.
The meeting adjourned at 8:10PM
JANUARY
2007 ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
The January 3, 2007 organizational
meeting was called to order at
7:10PM by President Ben MIceli.
The first order of business was
the election of officers for
the 2007-2008 CSANA year.
1. Secretary Sheila Cheimets
listed the candidates put into
nomination at the December 2006
meeting. They are as follows:
For President – Dawn
Barnhart
For Vice-President – Ben
Garvin
For Treasurer – Ben MIceli
For Secretary – Sheila
Cheimets
Those present voted unanimously
for the slate.
2. Sheila Cheimets noted that
the annual reports for the 2006
fiscal year of CSANA are due
to the Attorney General, the
IRS and the Secretary of State.
A check of $10 and one of $35
will be required to accompany
the filings. The Secretary will
complete the forms; Treasurer
Miceli will disburse the checks.
3. A short report on the status
of the renovation projects for
the parks in Chester Square from
Sheila Cheimets noted that the
dispute over tree removal had
been resolved in favor of following
the conceptual plan endorsed
by CSANA and the neighborhood.
The Boston Parks and Recreation
Department has contracted with
a company called Icon to prepare
the engineering plans that will
be the basis for bid specs. Payment
for this work is coming from
the Parks and Rec budget.
Parks
and Rec Commissioner Toni Pollak
informed the Association that
she would ask for lobbying
support from CSANA in the spring
when funds for implementation
of the parks’ renovation
in her capital budget will come
before the city Council.
4. Congratulations were expressed
to Ben Garvin and his wife on
the birth of their new daughter.
The meeting was adjourned at
7:25PM
MONTHLY
MEETING MINUTES 10/4/06
In
the absence of President Ben
Miceli, Treasurer Eric Andrewson
called the meeting to order at
7:05PM.
The United South End
Settlements is sponsoring a
phone bank to get out the vote
for the November election and
is soliciting volunteers to
call registered voters and
urge them to vote on Thursday,
Nov. 2 and Monday, November
6. They will provide phones,
numbers and refreshments. Further
information from Kyle Robidoux
at krobidoux@uses.org or
617-375-8139
1. Sheila
Cheimets gave an update on
the status of the Alexandria
Hotel, which was supposed to
be sold June 1. According to
the BRA, the financing package
the potential buyers had put
together fell apart on the day
of closing and they are now seeking
new financing. The P&S under
which they are operating expires
on October 30th and there is
no information as to whether
it will be extended. The next
court hearing date is October
27 and the judge has asked for
an update from all parties at
that time.
Ms Cheimets noted that yet again,
after at least 12 years of discussion,
there has been no progress on
renovating the building that
anchors the only corner of Washington
and Mass. Ave. that has not been
brought into full commercial
vitality again.
2. The
501c (3) tax exempt designation
of the Chester Square Area Neighborhood
Association, apparently suspended
because required financial reports
were not filed on time with the
Secretary of State’s office,
has apparently been reinstated.
The letter received by the organization
from the federal government says
only that CSANA is deemed a public
charity and that its tax exempt
status was never in question.
The original information from
the IRS was not to that effect,
but since, as a member pointed
out, no-one speaks tax code here,
the letter will simply be filed.
3. Jamie Curtis, representing
the developers of The Modern
on Northampton Street, provided
an update on the development.
There are 25 units, 9 of which
have been reserved already, including
one of the penthouse units sold
for $1,399,000. The bulk of the
units are in the $600,000 range.
A portion of the units has been
set aside for artists to purchase
for under market price. The amount
of profit such owners are allowed
to take on a resale is strictly
regulated so the units remain
below market and artists are
required to submit a portfolio
to verify their status. There
will be a second phase building
as well, expected to begin construction
in two years.
The buildings
will have a common roof deck
with an outdoor kitchen, parking
at street level and a connecting
bridge. In addition, artists’ studios
will be at ground level in
a retail kind of space while
their living quarters will
be on the second floor of the
unit to maintain privacy during
such events as open studios.
Street level parking will be
accessed from Tremont as well
as off Mass. Ave. to decrease
the amount of traffic on Mass.
Ave.
Mr. Curtis noted that the developers
are very eager to work with all
of the neighborhood associations
in their area to improve the
streetscape of Northampton St.,
including securing brick sidewalks,
Victorian street lights and street
trees. He asked if CSANA would
be willing to work with them
toward these goals. In addition,
members noted that basic streetsweeping
is not being provided by the
city for Northampton Street and
urged the developers to press
for that as well.
Mr. Curtis said that the firm
would develop a plan to move
forward in contacting the city
and would get back to CSANA asking
for its support.
4. Members
expressed some concern about
safety issues connected with
a number of area buildings
that appear to be derelict
to a dangerous degree. Those
mentioned included the building
next to the funeral home on
Washington Street, which is
only a front shell, Sallie’s
store on Northampton Street
and the League of Women for
Community Service building
on Mass. Ave. Members mentioned
seeing slates, glass and masonry
on the sidewalks that had fallen
from these buildings and expressed
safety concerns.
The meeting adjourned at 7:40PM
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