Agenda
- Greetings & introductions
- Police Report
- Updates – Parks, Peace Garden, Housing, Other
- List of Issues for Discussion with Boston Transportation Department
Police Report
Officer Martinez & Sgt. Cunningham attended and gave us the Police Report. Discussion included:
– increase in residential burglaries
– children involved in mischief on West Walnut Park
– rise in loitering, public drinking, drug activity, and nuisance behavior at the ‘wall’ next to the parking lot at Atherton & Washington
Parks Update
Robert Lawson Park – The draft final designs for Robert Lawson Park and Dixwell Park has been completed by Jess Wilson of COGDesign. There will be a public meeting soon to display the plans and collect feedback; plans will also be posted on line. A Love Your Block grant application was filed by Lawson Park Friends Group to request funding for Winter Holiday Lights. Holiday Lights funding has been raised over the past two years through GoFundMe campaigns.
Amory St. Pocket Park (corner Dimock & Amory) – A meeting was held at this park on 5/25 to generate ideas for quick improvements and to help begin a Friends Group for the Park. The Tenant Task Force from 125 Amory St. participated, and a Love Your Block Grant was submitted to request funding for clean-up, painting, and planting supplies, and to hold one or two events at the site. There are plans in the works and funds committed to renovate this park more substantially in a couple of years, but there is a desire to make the park more immediately useful and welcoming, especially for the seniors living nearby.
Peace Garden
Night of Story Telling for the Egleston Square Peace Garden was held at Greater Egleston High School on June 4. There was a good turnout, and people recounted their experiences with the Peace Garden from times both recent and long ago.
Clear Channel has taken down the sale listing of the Peace Garden. Discussions between the City and Clear Channel are continuing. A private donor committed $150,000 per year for 5 years to a fund to contribute to programming and improvements if the City obtains the Peace Garden. Denise Delgado of Egleston Square Main Street attended the recent City Council budget hearings on Parks to advocate for City acquisition of the Peace Garden.
Housing Committee Update
– 175 School St. is being sold by its long-term owner to Gary Martell, a local developer. Gary and his partner held a meeting on 5/9 with abutters to discuss neighbors’ opinions on replacing or renovating the house.
– 174-176 Boylston discussion will continue on June 16; the City is planning this meeting to further discuss constructing housing on this vacant, City-owned lot. The meeting will also include discussion of 23 Dalrymple; this is also a vacant, City-owned lot; neighbors can offer their preference for keeping the site as open space, or putting it to some other use.
– 3226 Washington St. is on the market; this is an approved project (not yet built) to construct a five-story building with 43 residential units at the corner of Green and Washington.
Other Updates
Urban Edge held its annual meeting on May 25 – the first time in a few years they have been able to hold this event in person. Leneva reported it was a wonderful time.
Lena from Sen. Chang Diaz’s office reported that the Senator helped acquire funding for abortion providers, language to protect abortion rights in MA, funding for Metco, funding for low-income households to acquire solar power, and funding for immigration services.
Lisa from Councilor Murphy’s office reported that the Councilor has been advocating for mental health services in schools and for programming in parks, especially for young people. The Councilor has also submitted a home rule petition to make it easier for deployed military members to vote.
List of Issues for Discussion with Boston Transportation Department
We are continuing to discuss the new Columbus Ave. bus lane and traffic in general. Bus riders are reporting quicker travel times and more satisfaction with the new bus shelters. Boston Transportation Department (BTD) is actively involved in Egleston Square, both with the bus lane and with the Egleston Square Redesign. William Moose from BTD is in good contact with ESNA and is planning to attend ESNA’s September meeting. We would like to collect a list of questions/concerns ahead of that meeting so that we can have a focused discussion. Some of the things on our list:
– Reckless drivers using the bus lane
– Distance between crosswalks and lights cause confusion
– More parking than expected was lost
– Designated parking for handicapped needed near St. Mary of the Angels
– Traffic backing up on Washington in both directions
Additional questions/comments can be sent to esna@esna4all.org
Upcoming:
Saturday, 7/9/22, 9 am-1 pm, Robert Lawson Park – Open House to view and comment on draft final plans for Lawson & Dixwell Parks
Wednesday, 7/20, 7 pm – BPDA public meeting to discuss Request for Proposals to build housing at 7-9 Westminster Terrace
Registration: bit.ly/WestminsterT
Next ESNA Meeting is Monday, 7/11/22 at 6:30 pm.
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