Meeting MinutesWaban Area Council

Sept 12 7:30-9:15pm

Waban Library Center

All WAC members present.  Members of public present :Maureen O’Reilly Meagher, Bill Humphrey.

Issues from the Community  Rte 128 Sound barrier.  Maureen O’Reilly Meagher asked if there had been any follow up since John Rice said in May that he would speak to Ruth Balser about the fact that there is no sound barrier on the Newton (Waban) side of Rte 128.  A sound barrier was constructed on the Wellesley side as part of the Add A Lane project.  Meeting attendants generally agreed that noise from Rte 128 had increased as a result of Add A Lane.  Kathy Winters promised to follow up with John Rice.  There was also some discussion about WAC holding informative sessions to help educate interested members of the public on how Newton government works and how best to address concerns of members of our catchement area. 

Update on NewCAL. Bob Jampol has emailed WAC members written summaries of the discussion taking place around site choice for NewCAL.   In addition, reasons for a building a new senior center in Newton and questions regarding its placement are posted on the WAC website.  At this point it seems clear that no open green space will be utilized as a building site.   The top contender at this moment is the Albemarle Site (see Mayor’s Update August 13 2019 http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/98447) but a lot of review is still necessary.  WAC members are concerned that Newton’s state policies regarding use of public space, in particular green space were not followed in selecting potential sites for NewCAL. Essentially, open meeting rules were ignored.  It was moved that Bob Jampol will write a letter stating WAC’s objections to the process to date and that the letter will be posted on WAC  website.  It was also informally agreed that Chris  Pitts will conduct a poll via email blast.

Recap of July meeting re Chestnut St. Repaving is due in the summer of 2021.  Approximately 15 people attended.  Driving speed is general concern, residents want traffic calming and missing sidewalks to be “filled in”.   Ward 5 councillors were present as was Director of Transportation Nicole Freedman.

Joint area council debate planning.  Remaining debates will be Oct 20 and 27.  CP working with other area councils in organizing the debates and choosing appropriate moderators.

WAC letter to Ruth Balser and Cindy Creem/ Update on re-development of Wellesley Office Park  The town of Wellesley is considering a 40R mixed use development at the site of Wellesley Office Park (https://wellesleyma.gov/1298/Wellesley-Park-40R-District

).  300-350 residential units will be added.  The development will impact Waban in a number of ways, yet no Newton representative has been included in any of the discussions  Sallee Lipshutz drafted a letter to Ruth Balser and Cindy Creem thanking them for allocating $50,000 to study Quinobequin Parkland.  Included in the letter are WAC’s concerns about the potential new development at Wellesley Office Park.  KW will write to Mayor Fuller and all Ward 5 councillors in order to make sure Waban concerns are heard.  KW’s email is an action item and can be completed without a motion.  KW will incorporate the contents of SL’s letter into her email to Mayor Fuller.

Update on 20 Kinmoth Road development.  Special permit has been filed. 

WAC policy on content for email blasts.  Written up by SL and RG.  Item #5 amended to include time sensitive information.  Approved as amended; will be posted on WAC website in the section on Bylaws and Policies. 

Announcements  As in Agenda.

Meeting adjourned 9:03pm.

Respectfully submitted by

Dinah Bodkin September 24 2019