At its May 8th meeting, the CSHCA Executive Board agreed to recommend to the full civic association the formation of a new committee: the Community Benefits Committee.
According to Don Walsh, this committee’s purpose would be to identify major potential community betterments that the civic association would want, if funds were available. The context for this recommendation is the recent decision by the City of Boston and the developer of the former Globe site to set aside $500,000 for “community benefits,” plus several other actions. The fairly loosely worded statement referenced funding actions in the area “at and adjacent to the MBTA’s JFK/UMass station.” The Executive Board welcomed this decision and then considered parallel efforts from other major development in our area (Dot Block, Glovers Corner strip between Savin Hill Ave and Freeport Street, other sites on Morrissey Boulevard and Mt Vernon St and Sydney Street/Crescent Ave).
The Executive Board believes the civic association should consider whether there are any “major” benefit projects that the association should request. Rather than “piecemeal” projects scattered around the area, the idea is to combine the individual projects’ “community benefits” into a substantial amount that could accomplish something otherwise never funded.
The CSHCA will debate this topic during its Monday, June 4th, general meeting. Members are encouraged to attend and join the discussion.