May 8th Mtg
This meeting and all future meetings will be held at the Waban Library Center unless noted
PRE- WABAN AREA COUNCIL MEETING - ANGIER COMMUNITY& BUILDER MEETING – 7:00-7:30pm
WABAN AREA COUNCIL MEETING: 7:30PM (FIRM TIME)
Approval of Minutes of APRIL 10, 2014 Waban Area Council Meeting
BURNING ISSUES: From the Community (5 minutes total)
ADD-A-LANE AND ANGIER/BEACON ST. WABAN REDESIGN (45 minutes)
Bill Paille and McMahon Consultant to DOT, Bill Steffins, will attend our May meeting to discuss Add-A-Lane concerns; traffic counts; Beacon St. possible changes through Waban; commuter parking on side-streets and on Beacon near Angier; and a possible fix for visually impaired resident on Beacon Street near T in Waban Center.
WABAN ISSUES: Updates: (10 minutes)
1. Angier – Builder meeting with residents, starting at 7pm before our May meeting and continuing into the future, starting a half-hour before our scheduled meetings.
2. Zervas – John Rice
3. St. Phillip Neri – Sallee (Alexandra Ananth)
4. Waban Library Center –Sallee,John Rice
5. Orchard St – Duplicate Street
COMMITTEE REPORTS AND TASKS: (20 minutes)
1. Zoning Relief Panel Discussion sponsored by WAC on May 1. How does WAC follow up on the forum? (10 minutes). Report and discussion –Kathy and Maureen
2. Friends of the Quinobequin (5 minutes) –Maureen
Report of activities during April and futures plans
3. WAC Silent Auction update. (5 minutes)- Sallee
A. Working with Peter Meyer, Steve Feinstein, Dianne Khalaj, and Janet Fagan of NHAC – SL, MRM, BDB, Barbara Brustowicz, and AD of WAC
B. Need volunteers to man table on May 18 for 4hrs. (Not hard work!)(2 hr. min shifts, please!)
C. Need volunteers to man WIS table also! (Next to each other)Whole Council & beyond needed!
4. Community Outreach and Organization – (5 min) Start process with signature petition for enlarged WAC catchment area. Part of plan for canvassing to create mechanisms to poll our constituents. GRASS ROOTS!
5. Recycle can sticker putter-on-er volunteers! (2 min) Andreae
COUNCIL ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONALITY: (35 min)
Functionality: Open Meeting Law and facilitating communication -- among council members, city hall and residents.
Action Choices: What makes something an actionable item? Forms of actions we wish to take?
1. Policy positions:
A. demolition delays
B. zoning reform
C. letters and e-mails (e.g.: signed Council letter on Consolidated Housing Plan)
D. WAC sponsored forums
These four choices above imply information collection.
2. Direction of constituents to relevant resources.
3. Automatically updated information now on our website and/or sent by Google-Group:
A. Friday Packet – agendas, committees, land usages, dockets, etc., updated every Friday.
B. Planning and Development Department weekly report (e.g. Special Permits).
C. Docket Digest (Council Member Andreae Downs interpretation of the important stuff in the week ahead in City Government).
4. Long range perspective items we might add to our website:
A. Funding calendars for City and State annual budgets with dates for public input;
B. The 5-Year Comprehensive Plan and its yearly updates with dates indicated for public comments.
5. Joining with other Area Councils to promote a joint position.
Please be prepared to discuss your ideas on these issues.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. Waban Improvement Society Announcements:
10th Annual Waban Village Day, Sun., May 18, 11am-3pm. Volunteers are needed. E-mail Theresa Fitzpatrick at tabile@yahoo.com.
2. Tour de Newton greeters needed in Waban Center on June 15 to greet cyclists. E-mail Jerry Reilly at jerreilly@yahoo.com (notice double “r” in the e-mail address)
NEW BUSINESS: Should we encourage long term engagement (post-constructions) between WAC and the schools? (Should we ask that PTO liaisons be appointed by Angier and Zervas PTOs to attend WAC meetings?)
Should we invite Candace Havens to our June meeting to speak about Planning?
ADJOURN: Next Meeting: Thursday, June 12, 2014, 7:30pm – Location –WABAN LIBRARY CENTER
Angier Community & Builder Meeting at 7pm to precede WAC meeting.
The location of this meeting is handicap accessible, and reasonable accommodations will be provided to persons requiring assistance. If you need a special accommodation, please contact the Newton ADA Coordinator, Joel Reider, at least two days in advance of the meeting: jreider@newtonma.gov or 617-796-1145. For Telecommunications Relay Service dial 711.
Location
Waban Area Council
Meeting Minutes
May 8, 2014, 7:30pm
Members in Attendance: Barbara Bower, Joe Corkery, Andreae Downs, Rena Getz, Sallee Lipshutz, Maureen Reilly Meagher, Christopher Pitts, Kathy Winters (members are referred to by their initials).
Aldermen in Attendance: John Rice
Other City Officials, State Consultants: Bill Steffens and Erin Pacileo of McMahon Associates (the firm that developed the traffic plan for Add-A-Lane from Kendrick to Rt. 9). Bill Paille, Director of Transportation for the City of Newton.
Other Attendees: Chris Steele, Nancy Greenwald, Margie Arons-Barron, James Barron, Marilyn Broyles, Isabelle Albeck, Gretchen Friend, Susan Jacobson, Mark Shooman, Sande Young, Monica Grinberg, Barbara Lischinsky, Sandra Lingley, Barbara Brustowicz, Beverly Berenson, Nancy Mansbach, Nancy Cohen, Judy Kohn.
- Minutes of April 10, 2014 meeting approved by unanimous vote.
- Burning Issues from Community. Residents complained about trucks using and speeding on Quinobequin. AD said she would look into who to call about the issue.
- Add-A-Lane. Director of Transportation Bill Paille and Bill Steffens of McMahon Associates gave a status update on the Add-A-Lane project.
- Discussion of design as it addresses problems with Williams St (the office park).
- AD raised issue of lack of sidewalks under the two Rt. 9 overpasses at Chestnut St. and Quinobequin.
- Project website is on MassDOT. Bill Steffens urged residents to use the project website to raise any issues that come up during construction. Bill Paille said residents can also call 311 to raise issues and he will contact DOT directly with the issue.
- Bill Paille said he would be willing to come regularly to WAC meetings to give updates and hear concerns.
- Discussion of traffic counts. Bill Paille said traffic counts would be completed by June 13.
- There is no set standard for what would trigger mitigation from DOT to Waban. Bill Paille said DOT has committed that they will monitor the traffic impact of the project and respond appropriately. Bill Paille expressed confidence in DOT and in the design of the project.
- In response to a question, Bill Steffens assured residents that the contractor will not detour any traffic onto residential streets as a result of construction on Routes 9 and 128 during the Add-A-Lane project.
- Resident asked about building a needed footbridge on the Cochituate trail at the same time. Bill Steffens said that in order for that to be considered, would need to submit a design that would be approved by DOT and would need to have separate funding.
- The planned staging of the project is that the work will start at Kendrick St. and move from south to north, but contractor has the right to alter the staging.
- Bill Paille will come back to June 12 WAC meeting.
4. Beacon St. Traffic Improvements (Angier and Zervas). Bill Paille spoke of other improvements being considered as part of Angier project for Beacon St./Collins Rd. (sidewalks, traffic, street lighting), Beacon St. through Waban center (as far as they can get depending on how much money is left), and Zervas traffic issues.
5. Angier Sidewalk Improvement. Part of the money from the Angier project will be dedicated to improved pedestrian access. AD and BB have worked to compile a list of streets that need improved pedestrian access and have provided the list to Bill Paille. City engineers will take a look at the list and come up with possible solutions. BB and AD will provide CP with a write-up for posting on WAC site.
6. Angier. Angier building update meeting occurred at 7pm and will continue to take place each month prior to WAC meeting for the duration of the project.
7. St. Philip Neri. SL received update from Alexandra Ananth, who told her that the developer is not yet ready to present plans to the community but is hoping to present at the June 26 meeting of the Newton Historical Commission.
8. WLC. On track to have voting occur at the WLC in the Fall. Working on improving the bathroom to make it handicap accessible.
9. Zoning Relief Panel Discussion. Discussion of May 1 WAC-sponsored presentation on zoning relief for housing developments. Motion to prepare a survey of attendees to solicit feedback. 4-4 vote, motion did not carry.
10. Consolidated Plan Update. Chris Steele gave an update on this week’s meeting on the Consolidated Plan. The handout from the meeting is available on the website. Also see www.newtonma.gov/conplan -- there is a survey for residents to fill out.
11. Duplicate Street Names. Board of Alderman passed resolution in support of considering the request of the EMS Committee to rename duplicate streets and in support of considering alternative technological solutions. Information on the issue is up on the WAC website.
12. Friends of the Quinobequin. MRM provided an update on cleanup day. MRM asked that WAC send a letter to Sen. Creem asking that a funding amendment be added to the state budget for improvement projects along Quinobequin. Unanimous vote to approve sending such letter. A copy of the letter is attached.
12. Zervas. Ald. Rice provided quick update. AD discussed the Zervas Community Engagement Group. One priority of that group is to make the school design pedestrian and bike friendly.
13. Silent Auction. SL gave update on Silent Auction.
14. Petition for enlarged WAC Catchment Area. SL described the need for volunteers to solicit signatures for enlarged WAC catchment area. Suggestion to connect with Newton Highlands and cross-reference the streets to determine which streets should be under which catchment. RG will work with SL on this.
15. E-Mail Communication. JC is researching best way for WAC to communicate via e-mail. Mail Chimp is a good free service, but e-mail lists on Mail Chimp are available to public unless the organization is a non-profit. Possible solution is for WIS (a non-profit) to maintain private WAC list and WAC can send emails through WIS. JC will continue to work on this and will provide a written update to the Council.
16. Tour de Newton. SL looking for volunteers on June 15 to greet the cyclists.
Adjourn, 10:17pm
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Winters
Attachment:
Letter to Sen. Creem requesting funds for Quinobequin improvements
