March 2011 Eight Streets Neighborhood Association Meeting

Announcements

• New business Wholy grain is now open (Hanson & Shawmut). We encourage everyone to stop in and say “hi”.
• BPD reports car thefts are up, so we encourage everyone to remove all valuables from their cars when they park in the neighborhood. Some residents stated they’ve had cars broken into just to steal the spare change in the cop holders, so there’s nothing too small to be taken.
• Along those lines, people are encouraged to look out their windows when they hear unusual sounds or such late at night. Everyone is encouraged to call 9-1-1 (or 617-3434-911 from a cell phone) to report unusual activity. It’s OK to call these 911 numbers for non-emergencies – the police will prioritize calls and send a car to check out your suspicions. Read more about Boston 911 service

Suzanne Lee

City Council candidate Suzanne Lee came to speak about her candidacy. She is running for the District 2 city council seat. (District 2 includes part of the South End, South Boston, Chinatown and part of Downtown). She spoke about her background and goals as a city councilor. She then took questions from the audience. You can read more about the candidate on her web page.

City Council elections will be this November. We will invite all candidates to speak at ESNA.

Berkeley Garden plantings

Ann McQueen from Berkeley Gardens came to present us their plan for plantings along the Berkeley street edge. This is the next phase of work planned for the fence project. Their goal is to compliment the fence and provide greenery and year round color to the Berkeley edge year round.

The project will put down a ‘mow strip’ – a small concrete strip right under the fence to control weeds. The soil between the fence and the first garden path will be replaced with healthy soil. Then a variety of plantings will be added to this strip to both provide color, be low maintenance, add to the garden, and provide berries and such to the variety of birds that make Berkeley their home.

Plantings to include ‘Artic Fire’ Redtwig Dogwood, Winterberry Holly, Periwinkle, Feather Reed grass, Bamboo (on the Tremont end), Issai Hardy Kiwi vine and other flowering plants.

Berkeley Gardens is applying to the Browne fund to raise money for the project. Eight Streets will send a letter of support to the fund for the project.

5 Dwight Street

Rob Ferris, developer of 5 Dwight street, came to update us on the project status and some external elements he will be upgrading. He wanted to get neighborhood feedback on some of the changes on rather than when he comes to us for official support.

Changes include replacing all front and back windows; with the front windows being formed to match the unique window openings. Changing the rear gabled windows to a full dormer that is aligned with the rest of the windows; two rear porches and a roof deck; and a small courtyard in back in addition to three parking spaces.

All changes were well met by attendees; and are consistent with other building projects in the neighborhood. Once Rob has met with the official city boards, he will come back to ESNA where we will vote on any official approval letters he would like us to send to the city.

Open Member Discussion

Some general discussions includes

• Fliers for future meetings – Joe volunteered to post some fliers, so we’ll look to do that come Springtime
• Recycling is an issue. “why are my neighbors putting out recycling in paper and ‘shaws’ bags?”. Recycling needs to either be in an official blue bin or in clear plastic bags. Tabitha said the city will look into distributing the Recycling handouts in ESNA. Perhaps we could re-print the PDF fliers as well and distribute those
• Reminders to call the city Hotline to report potholes, sidewalks not shoveled or trash not put out properly. You can call 617-435-4500, use the City Web Site, or get the Citizen’s Connect app on iPhone or Android.

Thanks to Tony of Hingham Savings for providing coffee for the meeting.

Meeting adjourned. Nest meeting Tuesday, April 5^th at Project Place