April 10 2014
AGENDA
WABAN AREA COUNCIL
Thursday, April 10, 2014 – 7:30pm
NEWTON CITY HALL – Room 222
Approval of Minutes of March 13, 2014 Waban Area Council Meeting
BURNING ISSUES: From the Community (8 minutes total)
WABAN ISSUES:
1.) Waban Area Council – future meeting venue. (3 minutes)
2.) Updates – (Total 15 minutes)
A. Angier – Builder meets with residents, starting at 7pm before our May meeting and continuing into the future, starting a half-hour before our scheduled meetings.
B. Zervas – Meeting on April 3 – John Rice
C. St. Phillip Neri - Sallee
COMMITTEE REPORTS AND TASKS:
A. Friends of the Quinobequin (12 minutes) – Sallee Lipshutz and Maureen Reilly-Meagher
- Report of March 27 meeting and opportunities arising thereafter.
B. Vision of Waban (2064) (5 minutes) –Chris Pitts – First Report - November, 2014?
What is the committee doing/envisioning?
C. WAC Silent Auction update. (5 minutes)
1. Working with Peter Meyer and Dianne Khalaj of NHAC – SL, MRM and BDB
2. Need volunteers to man table on May 18 for 2hrs@. (Not hard work!)
D. Zoning Relief Panel Discussion to be sponsored by WAC on May 1. (10 minutes)
This educational program/panel discussion on zoning relief for developers, sponsored by the Waban Area Council, is scheduled for May 1, 2014 at the War Memorial Auditorium at Newton City Hall.
(Council Members Kathy Winters, Matt Gardella, and Maureen Reilly-Meagher report progress of plans.) Status of citizen involvement timeline determinations.
1. Need Councilor to take responsibility for advertising to the public. (SL will help).
2. Need volunteers to distribute flyers to Village Centers (~10/Village Center)
COUNCIL ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONALITY: (1 hr.)
- Table and chair set-up and break-down.
- How do we make our meetings more efficient and effective to accomplish what we are trying to accomplish? Since we operate under Open Meeting Law, and cannot deliberate between meetings, how can we make determinations without allowing deep discussions on issues at scheduled meetings? (Many committees meet for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.)
- Do we wish to take positions on such issues as demolition delays, zoning reform, other? How do we decide to support/not support other Councils’ positions? (Use Bob Burke’s paper submitted to Newton Highlands Area Council to discuss how we will think about combining Area Council information and influence.)
- What gets posted on our website and who decides? Do we upload e-mails on issue histories?
- How can we organize that info on website and not have readers’ eyes glaze over?
-How do we form/join committees? What is responsibility of committee to WAC and vice versa?
- What are the Councilors doing on behalf of WAC between meetings?
- If you have self-identified an area of interest, how will you inform the Council about what you are doing?
- How do we respond to problems between meetings?
Please be prepared with your ideas on these issues.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
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.
NEW BUSINESS: (To be discussed at May 8, 2014 Meeting) Bill Paille and, possibly 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.
ADJOURN: Next Meeting: Thursday, May 8, 2014, 7:30pm – Location –WABAN LIBRARY CENTER
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.
Waban Area Council
Meeting Minutes
April 10, 2014, 7:30pm
Members in Attendance: Rena Getz, Sallee Lipshutz, Maureen Reilly Meagher, Christopher Pitts, Kathy Winters (members are referred to by their initials).
Aldermen in Attendance: Deb Crossley, John Rice
Other Attendees: Marilyn Broyles, Dianne Khalaj, Deena David, and Barbara Brustowicz.
- Minutes of March 13, 2014 meeting approved by unanimous vote.
- Water & Sewer. Ald. Deb Crossley gave an update on water and sewer issues. She provided the Council with an email update on the water and sewer rate restructuring, a copy of which is attached. The City is going to be studying water and sewer engineering issues that need to be addressed and Quinobequin will be looked at.
- Zoning Reform Initiative. Ald. Crossley gave an update on the status of the Zoning Reform Initiative. The final draft document of Phase 1 is complete and the document is before the Zoning and Planning committee. Board of Aldermen has to approve the reformatted version. Once Phase 1 is complete, Phase 2 of ZRI will address substantive reform. Phase 2 is expected to take at least two years. There will be a Citizens Advisory Committee that will be refreshed for Phase 2.
- Waban Library Center/Meeting Venue Update. Ald. John Rice informed us that plan is in place for Waban Library Center to become a voting place. WAC will also be allowed to hold monthly meetings there. Plan will be in place to install improved ramp, new door hardware, repave the parking lot and update the bathrrom.
- Angier Update. Ald. Rice provided update on Angier rebuild, which continues on track. Construction manager will have a meeting with public at WLC before our next WAC meeting. As part of the Angier project, trees will need to be removed along the MBTA track. The MBTA has informed that this work can only be completed between 1am and 4am. It is estimated that the work will be done in mid-June and should take approximately one week to complete.
- Angier Traffic Redesign. SL presented four rough drawings that Bill Paille, Director of Transportation, presented at the last Transportation Advisory Committee meeting for the redesign of the traffic triangles near Angier. Ald. Rice assured the Committee that neighbors will be informed and engaged in the process as the project moves along.
- SPN Update. Possible options for the St. Philip Neri property will be discussed at the April 24 Newton Historical Commission meeting.
- Friends of the Quinobequin. SL provided a recap of the meeting held on March 27. It was a successful meeting with good turnout. Information about FOTQ is posted on the WAC website. Council members voted unanimously to officially establish FOTQ as a committee of WAC.
- Vision of Waban Project. CP gave update on his Vision of Waban project, which is in its early stages. CP discussed his plan to conduct meetings over time to gather input from Waban residents.
- WAC Silent Auction Update. SL gave an update on the Silent Auction project, which will be done in conjunction of NHAC. BB, MRM and SL are working on the effort and need help with donations. They need volunteers to sign up for 2-hour shifts on May 18th to work the auction table.
- Update on May 1 WAC Presentation on Zoning Relief for Housing Developments in Newton. KW provided update on status of preparations for May 1 presentation. SL and MRM gave an update on marketing efforts. CP will investigate NewTV coverage.
- Waban Area Council Functionality. The Council members present decided to defer the discussion of WAC functionality until the next meeting so that more members could participate. The Council discussed communications issues.
- Zervas Update. RG and KW met with Chris Neal, Waban resident and member of the Zervas School Building Committee, who briefed them on his work with the committee. Chris has set up an email address to receive comments and to build an email list for announcements and quickpolls. Information on how to contact Chris is posted on the WAC site.
Adjourn. 9:40pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Winters
Attachment: Ald. Crossley Water and Sewer update
