Ex-Officio City Councilor: Bill Humphrey absent 

Community: Phyllis Scherr, and several others unidentified on Zoom  

Action Items 

• Chris to organize an annual survey to gather input from Waban residents on local issues and priorities. 

• Sallee to ensure Friends of the Quinobequin follows open meeting law rules, including posting meetings 48 hours in advance and taking notes. 

• Waban Area Council to define clear goals and processes for engaging with the community and distributing information. 

• Confirmation of Quorum – Councilor Todreas has resigned from the WAC board due to time constraints in her schedule. She did so in an email to the President. 

• Issues from the Community - none 

Discussion Items  

Northland revision and implication for Waban and Newton: Northland Development changes: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/08/15/business/newton-housing-needham-street/  

Review of Slides from Northland 

Questions around the impact on traffic, schools, and finances. 

CC Rena Getz is attending the Northland meeting and will inform WAC at the next meeting 

Friends of Quinobequin – Sumukh Tendulkar 

FOQ meeting to be held on Sep 26th 

Important to follow OML. Chris will share instructions with Sumukh 

Administrative Items 

Treasurer’s Report - same as last month 

Discussion on filing minutes by Clerk. 

New Business 

Discussion around issues and participation of WAC past, present and future 

Proposed – a survey to determine the interests and priorities of the community and get input into projects and volunteers. Mark will examine previous WAC surveys including http://wabanareacouncil.com/issue/future-planning  

Share the invitation on WAC and WIS mailing lists apx. 1000 each. 

Addressing Waban Issues 

The group discussed issues faced by residents on various streets including flooding and pest infestations.  Concern was expressed about the lack of action taken by the city's Department of Public Works (DPW) and suggested that the council needed to re-evaluate their approach to addressing these issues. Chris highlighted the importance of having city officials attend their meetings to discuss specific issues, emphasizing that the council's role was to represent the residents. He acknowledged the need for better attendance at their meetings and encouraged the council members to engage more with their neighbors to gather support for their cause. 

Survey Effectiveness and Community Engagement Discussion 

Chris and Sallee discussed the effectiveness of their survey and communication methods. Chris expressed concern about the lack of a statistically valid sampling of opinions from the Waban community, suggesting that their processes need improvement. Sallee countered that their role was to communicate facts from the city, not to represent opinions. They also discussed the origins of the Waban Area Council and the requirement to obtain 20% of signatures from residents to continue their operations. Mark emphasized the need to understand their reach and engagement with the community, suggesting that they should analyze their website's click rate.  

WAC’s Current State and Future 

Discussion was held on the current state of their organization, which Chris claimed had become less active. Sallee countered that the organization was exhausted from trying to get people to care about the issues. It was noted that the Area Councils had established a great record of accomplishment in producing city wide debates.  

Discussion about the challenges faced by their organization due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They agreed that the pandemic had led to a lack of engagement and energy, and that their organization needed to adapt to the new reality of remote work and online communication.  

The group discussed the importance of clear objectives and a way to achieve them, especially in a time when people's cycles are at a premium. They spoke about the early days of their organization, which started with discovering issues such as the sound barrier and traffic implications. They also touched on Waban’s reaction to the handling of issues like parking meters which cost a Ward 5 CIty Councilor her job. More recently, they discussed development issues with 40Bs in Waban and how the WAC worked with the community to communicate Waban’s preferences to the city.  Chris emphasized the importance of understanding how the city government works and aligning with the people's needs.