Cambridge Civic Journal Forum

Reports, Reports, and a Retirement – Nov 21, 2011 Cambridge City Council meeting

There is much to say about this meeting, including numerous Planning Board reports on recently filed zoning petitions. One noteworthy item is the announcement from City Manager Robert Healy that City Solicitor Don Drisdell will be retiring in January. Don has been with the City for a long time, including many years as Deputy City Solicitor before he was appointed City Solicitor in Dec 2002. Nancy Glowa will succeed Don as Acting City Solicitor, effective Jan 20, 2012.

One of the most striking aspects of the upcoming City Manager’s Agenda is that of the 68 matters listing as "Awaiting Report", there are responses for 29 of them – a huge clearing of the backlog. This points to the possibility of a very long meeting. Topics include: a proposed Farmers Market, the merger of the Longy School and Bard College, trimming tree branches, the McCrehan pool, job training programs, a gun shot incident, courteous driving, a Landmark Designation Study Report for the Ellis School, language for a proposed zoning amendment, cable service contract options, a Yellow Pages ban, a bamboo ordinance, bike corrals, bus shelters, upkeep of the Cambridge Common, bicycle safety, the BIO 2012 Convention, the traffic light at Magazine St. and Memorial Drive, restaurant valet parking, hazardous metal pieces of street signs, Bobcats to clear snow, Household Hazardous Waste Days, Citizen Observer alerts, a technology plan for the City, paying for city services on-line, paperless City bills, a unique identifier for official documents (actually a great idea), Code for America, a service similar to SeeClickFix, and the sidewalks on Boardman Street.

And you want to just watch the Patriots game? Just think of all the good stuff you’ll be missing!

Reports from the avalance of zoning petitions filed in August are now filtering in from the Planing Board. There is a negative report on the Andrews Petition (#15), a positive report on the Bagedenow Petition (#16), a negative report on the Bishop Petition (#17), a negative report on the Runkel Petition (#18), and a positive report on the de Rham Petition (#45).

Manager’s Agenda #37. Transmitting communication from Robert W. Healy, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Number Item Number 11-83, regarding a report on technology plan for the City, the use of social media tools, and identifying projects that would benefit from using Gov 2.0, as well as a response to Awaiting Report Item Number 11-84, regarding the creation of a research and development office for technology.

This is an interesting read. Though the devil is in the details and the City has not always made the best decisions in terms of public communication and web-based interactions with the public (such as the search function of the City website and delays in posting timely information), it seems clear that the City is in the process of making some necessary improvements.

Manager’s Agenda #40. Transmitting communication from Robert W. Healy, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 11-92, regarding the feasibility of creating a system that the general public could use to search by a unique identifier for official documents such as building permits, variance applications, License Commission inspections, and the like.

This is based on a very good Order from Councillor Kelley that would make it possible for a resident to easily research the status of a property across multiple categories – zoning, building permits, inspectional services, variances, etc. This would be a huge improvement for both residents and City administration.

Unfinished Business items include several zoning petitions that have been passed to a 2nd Reading and could potentially be voted. These include the de Rham (#9), Bishop (#10), Runkle (#11), and Bagedonow (#13) Petitions. The Chestnut Hill Realty Petition (#12), the gift that keeps on giving to the campaign accounts of several city councillors, could also be voted. There was some comic relief on the Chestnut Hill Realty Petition at the last City Council meeting when one city councillor who lives at the top of a hill and who rents basement apartments in his building questioned concerns about basement flooding based on personal experience. Perhaps some basic knowledge of physics should be mandatory for city councillors, e.g. the fact that water flows downhill and not uphill.

Resolution #19. Congratulations to Department of Public Works Commissioner Lisa Peterson and Recycling Director Randi Mail for their innovative recycling initiatives that merited the MassRecycle 2011 Board of Director’s Outstanding Achievement Award.   Vice Mayor Davis, Councillor Simmons

It’s worth noting that one of Lisa Peterson’s first responsibilities when she began working for the City 20 years ago was to manage the implementation of the City’s new curbside recycling program. Recycling Director Randi Mail and Commissioner Peterson are always seeking ways to expand and improve recycling programs in Cambridge and they always do so with a clear view of the cost-effectiveness of any initiative. We are fortunate to have both of these people in the City’s employ.

Resolution #24. Congratulations to the members of the Mid-Cambridge Oral History Project and the Longfellow Neighborhood Council and Community School on the publication of "From the Heart of Cambridge: A Neighborhood Portrait."   Vice Mayor Davis

These are the stories of people from my own neighborhood within the larger Mid-Cambridge neighborhood. The best stories are from those who have been here far longer than I have, especially my dear friend Floyd Freeman who now lives in Michigan after his house burned down several years ago and who is still going strong at the age of 96. The book tells the stories of 90 people and their families and friends. It is available for sale at Porter Square Books, the Harvard Book Store, The Coop, Rodney’s Bookstore, and directly from the Longfellow Neighborhood Council. All profits go to support the Longfellow Neighborhood Council and Community School.

Order #2. That the City Manager is requested to report back to the City Council at the earliest possible City Council meeting on the possible uses, and the extent of such uses, per the current table of uses in the Zoning Ordinance, and associated language for building conversions, of the Sullivan Courthouse at 40 Thorndike Street.   Councillor Kelley

The Roundtable meeting last week on this topic struck me more as a marketing presentation than anything else. In the long view, it should be noted that this building was originally permitted because it served an essential government function. It is extremely unlikely that it would have ever been permitted at that site if it had been proposed as a private development such as an office building or residential tower. Nonetheless, the presentation seemed to suggest that the most likely future uses would be as an office building or residential tower. The State has a financial interest in this building, but a good case can be made for cutting this building down to a scale more in keeping with the adjacent neighborhood.

Order #3. That the City Council hereby sets 7:00pm at the Dec 12, 2011 City Council meeting as the time to receive the Red Ribbon Commission Report on Central Square.   Councillor Reeves

Another delay. The real question is whether this eventual report will be anything more than a dressed-up proposal to substantially develop the Naggar property at Mass. Ave. and Norfolk St. in partnership with the City. The more substantial planning effort is, at least in principle, the concurrent one with Goody Clancy focusing on both Kendall Square and Central Square (K2C2). The Central Square part of that study could also become just a plan to redevelop the current Central Square parking lots and add height and density to buildings in the area. Residents of Central Square should follow this closely. There are many good opportunities but also some tangible threats and it is not at all clear whether the residential neighborhoods of Central Square are adequately represented in any of these planning efforts. Time will tell.

Order #10. That the City Council hereby goes on record re-filing as of Dec 7, 2011 the Julia Bishop et al. petition to amend the zoning in Special District 2 in North Cambridge.   Mayor Maher

This Order seems to indicate that the highly contentious Bishop Petition will be allowed to expire and the negotiations among neighbors, City officials, and the developer will intensify with the re-filed petition. Councillors made some clear promises before the election in regard to this petition, and they will certainly have their feet held to the fire on this one.

Committee Report #1. A communication was received from D. Margaret Drury, City Clerk, transmitting a report from Councillor Sam Seidel, Chair of the Ordinance Committee for a public hearing held on Oct 13, 2011 to consider a petition submitted by the City Council to amend the Zoning Ordinance in Section 20.200 et seq., the Central Square Overlay District, by deleting Section 20.304.5.6, which currently requires all establishments where liquor is served to have their principal public entrance on Massachusetts Avenue or Main Street.

There are good, simple alternatives to the petition that was filed – alternatives that will allow new uses where they make sense but not open the door to substantial unintended consequences that could severely impact residential neighbors. – Robert Winters

Fright Night – Halloween at the Cambridge City Council – Oct 31, 2011

This is the next to last meeting before next week’s municipal election. If you understand politics, you know that you get more votes by distributing candy to the children of voters than by chatting away at a Council meeting. Let’s hope this is a short one. Here are a few items that caught my attention this week.

Manager’s Agenda #6. Transmitting communication from Robert W. Healy, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 11-124, regarding a report on the racial makeup of the City’s workforce.

Oct 31, 2011
To the Honorable, the City Council:

Please find attached a response to Awaiting Report Item Number 11-124, regarding a report on the racial makeup of the City’s workforce.

Below is a summary of the attached reports:
Total Employees 2,424
Total People of Color 788 (32.51%) more than double the US Census PMSA goal of 15%. (PMSA Preliminary Metropolitan Statistical Area defined by U.S. Census as our applicant recruiting area. This is taken from the U.S. Census EEO-4 data tool for affirmative action planning purposes. The next release of this tool is scheduled for fall of 2012.)
Women 1,056 (43.56%)

Below is additional information on new hires from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011:
59% of all hires were people of color
46% of all hires were women
86% of all hires were Cambridge residents

Very truly yours, Robert W. Healy, City Manager

If you listened to all the misleading information that’s been thrown around lately, you might find this information surprising. Perhaps you should question some of the drivel emanating from Brookford St. and Hilliard St. One of the worst aspects of municipal election campaigns is the tendency for activists with long grudges to manipulate the facts to suit their agendas.

Unfinished Business #9. A communication was received from D. Margaret Drury, City Clerk, transmitting a report from Councillor Sam Seidel, Chair of the Ordinance Committee for a public meeting held on Sept 7, 2011 to consider a petition filed by Julia Bishop et al., to amend Section 17.20 of the Zoning Ordinance – Regulations for Special District 2, located in North Cambridge along Linear Park. [Order #26 adopted on Oct 17, 2011 to discharge from committee. Report placed on Unfinished Business on Oct 17, 2011.] The question comes on passing to a Second Reading. Planning Board hearing held Sept 13, 2011. Petition expires Dec 6, 2011.

Indications are that the City Council will not take final action on this petition before the municipal election, but I’ve seen votes taken on the eve of an election that nobody would have expected. Fear really is a great motivator.

Unfinished Business #10. A communication was received from D. Margaret Drury, City Clerk, transmitting a report from Councillor Sam Seidel, Chair of the Ordinance Committee for a public meeting held on Sept 7, 2011 to consider a petition to amend the Zoning Ordinance filed by Elizabeth deRham et al. The petition proposes an amendment to Section 9.16 of the Zoning which currently provides for a $100 per violation per day fine upon conviction of said violation. The amendment would provide for a fine not to exceed the maximum specified in M.G.L. Ch 40A sec.7, currently $300 per violation per day and would allow the fine to be levied at the discretion of the Superintendent of Buildings. The question comes on passing to be ordained on or after Oct 31, 2011. Planning Board hearing held Sept 13, 2011. Petition expires Dec 6, 2011.

Committee Report #1. A communication was received from D. Margaret Drury, City Clerk, transmitting a report from Councillor Sam Seidel, Chair of the Ordinance Committee for a public meeting held on Oct 13, 2011 to consider a petition filed by Laura Runkel et al. to rezone 41 Bellis Circle, an area abutting the northern block of Bellis Circle, bordered on the north by the commuter rail tracks, on the south by Bellis Circle and on the east side by Sherman Street, from Residence C-1A to Residence C.

I have this theory that because so many zoning petitions were introduced recently it may be a good political move to pass one or two of the less problematic ones as kind of a "peace offering" on the eve of the municipal election. These two seem like good candidates.

Order #2. That the City Manager is requested confer with the Police Commissioner and report back to the City Council with the details of the recent string of street robberies and the police action being taken to maintain the safety of residents and report back to the City Council.   Councillor Toomey

I believe I actually saw the two perpetrators who were robbing people at gunpoint the recent night they robbed a guy on Harvard Street in Mid-Cambridge. Something at the time told me that these guys were up to no good. There have been quite a few of these robberies lately. We had a motorbike and several bicycles stolen from my block over the last few weeks. As a voter, public safety is my personal bottom line. If city councillors cannot address this most basic concern, then everything else they say and do is irrelevant. There will be a Community Meeting hosted by City Councillor Tim Toomey and the Cambridge Police Department on Wed, Nov 2 at 6:00pm in the First Floor Community Room of the Police Station (125 Sixth Street) to address the recent armed robberies in the East Cambridge and Wellington-Harrington area.

Order #3. That the City Manager hereby is requested to provide information responding to questions raised in the Ordinance Committee hearing on a proposed zoning amendment to allow the construction of basement units.   Councillor Seidel, Mayor Maher and Vice Mayor Davis

This concerns the Petition That Will Not Die from Chestnut Hill Realty, financiers of several City Council reelection campaigns. My view is that these basements should be used for storage, bicycle parking, laundry, and utilities. The only purpose of this petition is to create money. It has nothing to do with good planning or quality of life.

Order #4. That the City Manager is requested to confer with the City Solicitor to look into the feasibility of instituting a policy that, after ascertainment, if the City of Cambridge takes more than 90 days to negotiate a contract with a potential cable service provider, the potentially new service provider can operate under the same terms as the existing incumbent service provider, with the option to continue negotiation with the City of Cambridge while operating under those terms, and report back to the City Council on this matter.   Councillor Cheung

Who knows whether anything will come of this, but anything that offers even a glimmer of hope for competition with the Evil Empire Comcast is worth pursuing. Good move, Leland.

Order #8. That the City Manager is requested to confer with the Assistant City Manager for Community Development to develop a plan for obtaining regular updates from state officials and for keeping the City Council and the surrounding neighborhoods informed on the status of the future use of the courthouse in East Cambridge.   Mayor Maher

Note that on Monday, Nov 14 there will be a City Council Roundtable Meeting with Commissioner Carole Cornelison, Massachusetts Department of Capital Asset Management, and her staff, to discuss plans for the East Cambridge Courthouse site.

Order #12. That the City Manager is requested to advise the City Council as to the prudence of taking the former NBC Harvard Street lot by eminent domain.   Councillor Reeves

This is long overdue. Take note, however, that this Order does not call for the taking of this property. It merely asks the City Manager to advise the City Council as to the prudence of taking the former NBC Harvard Street lot by eminent domain. – Robert Winters

Highlight of the Oct 3, 2011 City Council agenda

There is nothing especially significant on this week’s agenda and this should be a short meeting. There is one noteworthy item that could potentially impact quality of life and public safety somewhere down the road:

City Manager’s Agenda #3. Transmitting communication from Robert W. Healy, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 11-63, regarding the impact of the Batelle Study recommendation on Cambridge and Awaiting Report Item Number 11-110, regarding a report on the impact the proposed alternative route would have on Cambridge Non-Radioactive Hazardous Materials traffic.

October 3, 2011

To the Honorable, the City Council:

In response to Awaiting Report Item Number 11-63, regarding the impact of the Batelle Study recommendation on Cambridge and Awaiting Report Item Number 11-110, regarding a report on the impact the proposed alternative route would have on Cambridge Non-Radioactive Hazardous Materials traffic, please be advised of the following:

Boston is seeking MassDOT and FHWA permission to ban Hazardous Materials through trucks (the majority are gasoline, diesel and home heating oil carriers) from downtown Boston. They are proposing Rt. 128 as the alternate route. Although the alternative route is a positive, most trucks would use the City of Cambridge as their alternate route rather than Rt. 128. A copy of the City’s response in opposition to the Boston through truck ban is attached.

Very truly yours, Robert W. Healy, City Manager

---

September 22, 2011

Thomas F. Broderick, P.E.
Acting Chief Engineer
MassDOT
10 Park Plaza, Suite 4160
Boston, MA 02116
ATTN: BOSTON HAZMAT ROUTE

Re: Boston Non-Radioactive Hazardous Materials Routing.

Dear Mr. Broderick,

The City of Cambridge has a long history of working to protect residents in Cambridge from the adverse noise impacts of through trucks. These impacts are most adversely felt at night when residents are trying to sleep.

The City’s location is particularly challenging, situated between exit 18 on the Masspike (I-90) where HAZMAT is restricted east of that location and the fuel farms and depots in Chelsea and Revere; the City currently experiences a lot of through trucks and every street in the City has residents living along it.

In 1998 the City did a cordon count around the City including truck counts and recording the hazardous placards. At that time approximately 14,000 trucks passed through the City or about 2,450/week. This is more than twice the 1200 shipments per week that Batelle estimates are traveling through downtown Boston. This volume is likely to have grown. Of the hazardous materials carriers 90% were gasoline, fuel oil and diesel. Of the 25 locations with the highest number of hazardous carriers – 59% were gasoline predominately in trailer trucks and 32% were fuel oil/diesel predominately in single unit trucks. These are exactly the kinds of through trucks that Boston is trying to restrict. We believe that almost every truck that Boston restricts will end up going through the City of Cambridge unless the Cambridge route is also restricted.

The difficulty with Boston’s proposed restriction is that it is addressing a regional issue with only a local solution. Cambridge also experiences a high volume of cut through trucks which we have always advocated should be using I-93/I-95 rather than cutting through the City. However, unless Boston’s through truck restriction also restricts through trucks on the alternate routes through Cambridge that were studied, we cannot support Boston’s restriction.

We support their recommended alternative route of I-93/I-95. However, we do not believe the trucks will divert that far out of their way. The Batelle study showed that the Cambridge route did not meet the criteria for an acceptable alternate route. The Cambridge routes have more nighttime residents along them than any other route and are no safer than the route through Boston. The alternate route designation has no control over the route the trucks will choose and cannot prevent them from shifting their through route into Cambridge. Boston’s requested truck restriction does not offer a through truck restriction in Cambridge which is required if trucks are truly going to be diverted to I-93/I-95.

Through trucks volumes, especially the gasoline and fuel/diesel carriers are currently using both a routing through downtown Boston and a. routing through Cambridge. A restriction in Boston may improve public safety there but it will dramatically degrade public safety in the City of Cambridge.

Cambridge had the courage to provide a signed truck route through the City. We have tried to be reasonable and also protect residents from the adverse noise impact of nighttime trucks. If the Boston restriction is approved, the safety and quality of life for Cambridge residents would be sacrificed.

The Batelle study shows that alternative routes 2 and 5 through Cambridge do not meet the criteria for an acceptable and safe alternate route. The acceptable alternative route is I-93/I-95. However, nothing is offered that would restrict those trucks from using Cambridge as alternate route instead. The City of Cambridge is strongly opposed to Boston’s currently proposed restriction because a through truck restriction in downtown Boston would not divert trucks to the proposed alternate route (I-93/I-95) but would instead divert them through the City of Cambridge.

Very truly yours, Robert W. Healy, City Manager

The letter from Mr. Healy really says all that needs to be said. A hazardous materials truck ban in Boston could easily lead to Cambridge being a preferred cut-through – unless appropriate steps are taken to prevent this. One need only look to the fact that when the Prudential Center was built over the Massachusetts Turnpike Extension, such trucks were banned on that road, and Cambridge has been dealing with the consequences of their exiting at the Allston-Brighton tolls ever since. – RW