CSHCA General Membership Meeting September 12, 2022
Host and President: Elizabeth Doyle
Minutes: Doreen Miller
Special Guest: Captain Shawn Burns
# in attendance: 32+
Police Report (Officer Keamy)
- 8/22, 5:15 PM, near Autozone, drunk 22 y.o. arrested for public drinking and disorderly conduct
- 8/29, 2:10 PM, 39 y.o. man from JP lurking at 375 Morrissey Blvd with a bag of B+E tools tried the front door and vehicles. Arrested for attempted B+E, 3 warrants were out for his arrest.
- 8/30, 2 PM, 55 y.o. homeless man with 4 bags of crack near the Seven Eleven. Charged with possession and intent to distribute.
- 9/8, around 11:30 PM, investigation of a stabbing either at Savin Hill T station or near Cristo Rey school. Victim had a cut to his right thumb. No real crime scene. Victim’s story kept changing.
- Today between midnight and noon, B+E at Hong Kong Chef, 889 Dorchester Ave, $189 stolen.
- BPD received a call about a raucous party at 20 Carson Street over the weekend. They will pay them a visit to discourage future loud parties.
Special Guest: Captain Shawn Burns
- He has been on the force for 21 years in different districts in the city.
- He comes to C-11 from district 7 and has a background in community service.
- He was born and raised in Southie and lived for 10 years with his wife and two children on Minot Street in Dorchester.
- He comes to Savin Hill a couple of times a week.
- He looks forward to working with our community.
- He assures us there is an extensive plan for traffic flow management on September 24th for the Open Streets Event.
CSHCA would like to thank the BPD for their presence this summer in the typical neighborhood hot spots at the beach and elsewhere.
Treasurer Report (Des Rohan)
- There is approximately a $22,000 balance in our account.
- Des is still working on committee budgets.
- Des is looking into new software to facilitate financial record keeping.
- He and the IT manager Taufiq are looking into a better mail option other than Constant Contact. Mail Chimp is cheaper and might be a possibility.
- He should have updates and more information at the next meeting.
- The CSHCA Zoom account has been paid for in the past by Dot Block and is paid up to June 2023. Catherine O’Neill assures the association that Dot Block would be happy to continue making this donation.
Committee Reports
- Events Committee (Michelle Miller)
- Past events this summer include the Book Swap, the Native American Event, the Community Picnic, and the Savin Hill Yard Sale – all of which were well attended and successful.
- Upcoming events
- Food Tour, Saturday, October 8, in the afternoon.
- Tickets are $50 each and limited to 15 total. They will be going on sale within a week. All monies go to the restaurants.
- The tour includes stops at 5 restaurants along Dorchester Avenue from Savin Hill to Field’s Corner.
- Music in the Park, Sunday, October 16, in the afternoon. A “Books and Bulbs” table will be set up. Bulb packets will be sold; the books will be free.
- Food Tour, Saturday, October 8, in the afternoon.
- Social Media – An Instagram page has been launched to promote events and capture memories. Check it out!
- Outreach and Engagement Committee (Heidi Moesinger)
- They are working on an up-to-date merchant member list.
- The Merchant Member postcard has been finalized and printing costs approved by the general membership.
- Once the list is complete and the postcards printed, the cards will be mailed out.
- The next meeting is 9/19 at 7 PM on Zoom with the link on the CSHCA calendar.
- Safety Committee (Dianne Lescinskas)
- There were no meetings in July and August.
- Captain Burns is aware of the traffic and parking issues at Savin Hill Village (Sydney Street and Savin Hill Avenue intersection).
- There has been an increase in State Police presence on Morrissey Blvd to tag speeders.
- The lights at Freeport have been re-timed to facilitate better traffic flow.
- Current Issues
- Walgreens on Dorchester Avenue (Heather Harris)
- There have been needles, vagrancy, and public defecating and urinating.
- There has been no response from the manager there or from the BPD.
- Councilor Baker’s office has been notified. Julie Ryan indicates that they met on 8/23 with Keith, who runs the task force on problem properties, and they are taking action with the corporate office.
- George Huynh says Walgreens has been made a top priority as a problem property. He’ll have more updates after this Wednesday’s meeting, which he will email to the safety committee chairs.
- KFC property in Edward Everett Square (Margaret Foley)
- This property has similar issues to Walgreens.
- A van with temporary Arizona plates was parked in their parking lot for 5-6 days. People were living out of the van. 311 was called. Police would not get involved as it was on “private property.”
- Councilor Baker’s office was also notified, and they reached out to Peter from the Street Outreach Team on Saturday, and he was able to get the van relocated and services provided. It was a housing issue.
- Margaret requested that George Huynh add KFC to the problem property list to be discussed this Wednesday.
- For any issues, please reach out to Julie Ryan: julie.ryan@boston.gov
- Walgreens on Dorchester Avenue (Heather Harris)
- Community Benefits Committee (Don Walsh)
- A letter was sent out to Mayor Wu urging the city to engage in comprehensive planning for the many large developments taking place in our area.
- Don Walsh, Kristine Hoag, Elizabeth Doyle and Eileen Boyle met with Jemison and Mark McGonagle, the BPDA coordinator to discuss the need for comprehensive planning and the use of the community benefit money. Everyone felt the meeting was productive. Next steps will include the BPDA coming up with the elements for comprehensive planning and presenting them at a future meeting.
- The Baker Commission is working with the state for transportation planning for K-circle and Morrissey Boulevard. CSHCA feels these infrastructure plans need to include Dorchester Avenue, Columbia Road and Day Boulevard.
- Beautification Committee (Eizabeth Doyle)
- Thanks go out to everyone who participated in watering the plants at the Savin Hill T station.
- The Annual Bulb Sale will take place at the October Music in the Park Event on 10/16, coordinating with the Events Committee for a “Books and Bulbs” table.
- Bulbs have been ordered and are due to arrive October 3. A request for help in packing them for sale will be sent out. Consider volunteering.
- The city daffodil program goes online September 14.
- Planning Committee (Kristine Hoag)
- The BPDA presented the Glover’s Corner and Dorchester Avenue impact study.
- 35-75 Morrissey presented for a 2nd time. Details at this link.
- The agenda for 9/13 includes
349 Savin Hill Avenue: Proposal to renovate 2nd Floor and renovate and expand 3rd floor by 481sqft. See Plans Here See Presentation Here.
1121 Dorchester Avenue: Proposed transfer of liquor license See Restaurant Floor Plan Here See Draft Menu.
6 Pleasant Street: Proposed curb cut and addition of driveway and parking for 3 cars along side yard. See Plot Plan Here See Refusal Letter Here.
9 Sydney Street: Revised proposal to raze existing 2.5 story 3 Family and replace with a 4 story 5 unit dwelling. See Updated Plans For 5 Units Here See Refusal Letter Here See Original Plans for 6 Unit Dwelling Here.
- By-Laws Ad Hoc Committee (Heidi Moesinger)
- The committee has met several times and methodically worked on updating the by-laws to reflect current practices. The final meeting will take place at the end of September.
- Process
- The new by-laws will be shared with the E-Board in October, after which it will be mailed out to the general membership for review.
- The by-laws will be presented for discussion at the November meeting.
- If favorable, an up/down vote will be taken in December by the general membership.
- If there are issues, edits can be made and voting deferred until February.
- It is the goal of the committee to have the new by-laws approved before 2023.
Upcoming Events
- Sunday, Sept. 18, 11 AM – 6 PM, The Boston Polish Harvest Festival at
Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish, 655 Dorchester Avenue - Saturday, Sept. 24, Open Streets, 9AM – 3 PM, along Dorchester Avenue from Freeport Street to Gallivan Boulevard.
- Saturday, Sept. 24, 10 AM, Savin Hill Wildlife Garden fall planting. Projects include seeding clover, planting daylily and tulip bulbs, weeding, glass and trash clean-up.
- The Mayor’s Holiday Trolley Tour with tree lighting, Santa, and goodie bags. This generally takes place the Saturday after Thanksgiving or early December. Due to construction at Ryan Playground, the trolley will stop elsewhere. Ideas include:
- At Savin Hill Park
- At McConnell Park
- At another location in the McCormack Civic area.
Other Business
- Catherine O’Neill reported that the Dot Block Pleasant Street-Hancock Street intersection traffic lights will be going live within 3 weeks. We will be informed as to when the streets will be closed for this to happen.
- Future CSHCA meetings will continue to be a hybrid of in-person and Zoom to accommodate more members. The next meeting is Monday, October 3, at 7 PM. The zoom link is on the online CSHCA calendar.