Community Benefits Committee Meeting Minutes, 3/22/23

Meeting Summary
The committee focused on:

  1. Update of key factors driving committee’s efforts ; basically, a replay of prior meetings
    -10k housing units and 7m sq ft of commercial space; planned by city project by project, not comprehensively
    -actual amount of total Community Benefits yet to be established; waiting for city clarification Could be $100m in combined amounts; TBD
    -Senator Nick Collins and Councilor Frank Baker working on separate necessary infrastructure financing options
  2. Efforts to reach out to potential supporters of Comprehensive Planning
    -Recap of whom we contacted; general consensus that we have not seen any follow-up -agreement that we should put together a “public meeting” and ask key officials to tell us what they are doing to produce Comprehensive Planning
    -report on our “mapping” effort that dramatically portrays the 10k u8nits and 7m sq ft commercial; James Christopher provided examples of maps he is working on; the group was very impressed; James will update the maps for next meeting
    -agreement that these maps would be the focal point of the public meeting and trigger officials’ responses
    -noted that Kristine Hoag has volunteered to pull this public meeting together
  3. CSHCA Priorities for distributing Community Benefits Funds
    -quick review of our 5 priorities (Comprehensive Planning, Infrastructure, Beautification, Pedestrian Ways, Public Parks)
    -agreement to hold “dollarizing” our priorities until we know the actual amount of the Community Benefits funds
    -agreement that Don Walsh will emphasize the CSHCA priorities at the next Morrissey Community Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting (whenever it reconvenes)
  4. The $750k “gift” from Center Court developers
    -we agreed to recommend to the CSHCA membership that we accept the money with some conditions
    1. we determine how we structure the receipt (form a 501C3 non profit, ask an existing local non profit to receive and hold the money or some other approach); Bill Walczak volunteered to lead on this and report back in April
    2. we develop a document with Center Court (donor of the $750k) that outlines any and all conditions of their gift
    3. we need to continue our efforts to identify the process of how we will determine how the money will be used
  1. New name for area seeing the 10k and 7m
    -roughly Uphams Corner, Hancock St, Freeport St, Morrissey Blvd, Columbia Point, Andrew Square, South Bay, Uphams Corner
    -we reviewed over 40 potential names for our expanded CSHCA area and agreed to narrow the list to the following five -Dorchester Harbor -Port Dorchester -Dorchester Shore -Dorchester North -Dorchester Bay -we will revisit this list at next meeting
  2. Next meeting
    -Wednesday April 19th at 7pm at SHYC (subject to availability of the space)