January 9 mtg
Swearing-In Ceremony 7-7:30 Due to space limitations - this is not open to the public.
Short joint Area Council Meeting at 7:30 with Newtonville, Highlands and Upper Falls Area Councils to address common issues. Public is invited to attend.
- Agenda: Adoption of by-laws.
- Election of officers
- No other business is planned for discussion.
Next Waban Area Council meeting date Feb 13 if no interim meeting date is set.
Location
Meeting Minutes January 9, 2014
Members in Attendance: Barbara Bower, Joe Corkery, Andreae Downs, Matthew Gardella, Rena Getz, Sallee Lipshutz, Maureen Reilly Meagher, Christopher Pitts, Kathy Winters.
Aldermen in Attendance: John Rice and Brian Yates.
Other Attendees: Isabelle Albeck and Nelson Lipshutz.
This meeting was held in the cafeteria at City Hall and took place in conjunction with the swearing in of all members by Mayor Setti Warren.
1. Joint Meeting With Area Councils: Prior to the swearing in ceremony, the members of the Waban Area Council met briefly with memebers of Newton’s other three area councils (Newton Highlands, Newton Upper Falls, and Newtonville) and discussed ways of facilitating communication among the area councils. The members of all of the Councils agreed that it would be effective to have representatives from each Council meet from time to time to share information.
2. Adoption of By-Laws. The proposed By-Laws, a copy of which is attached, were approved by unanimous vote.
3. Election of Officers. The following officers were elected by unanimous vote:
President – Sallee Lipshutz
Vice President – Maureen Reilly Meagher
Treasurer – Rena Getz
Secretary – Kathy Winters
4. Issues Overview. There was a discussion about the various issues that certain members have been involved in and that can be expected to be of ongoing interest to Waban residents and the Council: the zoning reform initiative, the Rt. 128/Rt. 9 ramp redesign project (“Add-A-Lane”), a possible “Friends of Quinobequin” group, the Angier and Zervas construction projects, and traffic calming (specifically “play streets”) were all raised as possible issues for the Council to work on. Both Aldermen Yates and Aldermen Rice informed members of their areas of focus and provided advice as to how the Council can effectively advocate for Waban.
5. Public Input at Meetings. It was agreed that meetings should include a public comment period at the beginning of each meeting where residents could raise new issues that could be discussed or docketed for future meetings.
6. Next Meeting Date. The next meeting is set for Thursday February 13th at 7:30pm at the Waban Library Center.
