Mystic River Watershed Open Space Subcommittee Monday, October 4, 2010,10:00 am Groundwork Somerville 19 Properzi Way Somerville, MA 02143 Workgroup Attendees: Joan Blaustein (MAPC), EK (MyWRA), Ellen Mass (Friends of Alewife Reservation), Nick Cohen (Tri-CAP), Jennifer Lawrence (Groundwork Somerville), Ivey St. John (CWC), Karen Simpson (EPA), Caitlyn Whittle (EPA) and Lynne Hamjian (EPA) Agreement Points 5 Priority sites were chosen o Chemical Lane/Monsanta Site o GE Site in Everett (Rivergreen Technology Park) o Draw Seven Park in Somerville o Sandy Beach on Upper Mystic Lake o DCR properties in Chelsea Individuals of subcommittee will open dialogue with developers of these priority sites to establish a positive relationship Open Space subcommittee members decided to use MAPC's Environmental Atlas as platform for maps Discussion of Mission and Priorities Go through DCR Master Plan, pick items from there and understand specifics in the report Surface priority actions to the top - Review DCR plan but expand to entire watershed, include important open space issues that are not included in the plan Open Space subcommittee members decided to use MAPC's Environmental Atlas as platform for maps Next Steps/Updates - Ellen Mass requests letters from individual NGO's in order for impact studies to be carries out at Alewife Reservation Chemical Lane/Monsanto site: o Developer: Gary DiCicco o EK has contact with the developer o DiCicco is currently in court to get access from previous owner's attainment of the property o Seems to be responsive to advocacy groups for support of his vision of the land. ¦ This vision is not known, but we might be able to provide him with one o We need to get in contact with the developer in order to pump him up about developing the land as green space ------- Other priority sites? o Draw 7 Park in Somerville ¦ Important for fishing and EJ communities. DCR property o DCR properties on Chelsea Creek o Rivergreen Technology Park. GE Site in Everett (across from River's Edge) o Shannon (Sandy) Beach on Upper Mystic Lake ¦ Needs better facilities and capital funding ¦ Support from Open Space Subcommittee to help with signage and funding opportunities - What can non-profit advocates add to development of brownfields that developers can't? o Access of funds? o Collaboration for development money? Suggestion: Convene a summit in each city to discuss brownfields o Should be the second step? Behind outreach to individuals? ¦ Establish a relationship with developers/key players first - Next meeting's agenda item: what does the Steering Committee bring to the table? o Input to the community o Support for current proj ects o Current relationships Choosing 5 priority sites sounds reasonable because some of them have made substantial progress already There is a lack of green space in Chelsea and East Boston - Not very much opportunity in Winchester and Woburn - Upper Mystic has reasonable riverfront access already - Larger grants are available from the EPA Brownfields Program to collaborations of communities o The amount of money increases per parcel if more municipalities are involved o Lynne will speak to Alan for more information There may be some EPA contractor money available (small amount) o Lynne will look into this - Boston Architectural College is looking for sites to design sustainable landscaping. They would like to work with UMASS Boston biologists during the planning stage o Liability and access may be an issue to students for the Chemical Lane site - Make initial contacts with developers to open up dialogue and establish a relationship and an action plan o Talking points: goals of Open Space subcommittee o Past successes o Funding sources o Establish that EPA is separate because it might scare them away. Their role is to assist in finding funding sources. ------- Groundwork Lawrence received a $2.5 million from (STATE??) for the Merrimack and the Spicket Rivers o They are willing to show us their progress via site visits (Save for the spring) Get more information regarding brownfields money from Alan Peterson - Use Charles River as a model - Don't discount parts of the Mystic that are not included in the DCR Master Plan - Request for Dan Driscoll present the DCR plan for Alewife Brook to the Steering Committee at the next meeting, as well as provide an update of DCR plan implementation Follow-Up actions - EK will contact Chemical Lane developer Ivey and Jen will contact folks associated with Draw 7 - Nick will open up dialogue for the GE site - Patrick has already made progress on the Sandy Beach site Contact Chelsea Greenspace regarding DCR properties, try to get them to join. Jen will contact Groundwork Lawrence regarding a presentation to the Open Space committee - Reconvene as a group before the next Steering Committee Meeting - Lynne will contact Alan Peterson to see if she can get more information regarding the EPA Brownfields Grant - Next meeting will be either November 9 (Monday) or November 4 (Thursday) o Location is TBD o Groundwork Lawrence will present their work o Report outs by individuals who have contacted developers at each chosen priority site ------- |