Co-chairs: Dianne Lescinskas, Jennifer Deabler
Minutes: Doreen Miller
Also in attendance: Heidi Moesinger, Jake W.
Walgreen’s Update
- The chairs met on Friday, 9/15, with the new district manager.
- The purpose of the meeting was to gather information and relay those concerns to staff and sub-contractors
- The district manager seemed responsive.
- There was no talk about future plans for that site
- The management met with staff on Monday 9/18 – no updates from that meeting.
- The streetlights along Savin Hill Avenue by Walgreen’s are out. Heidi will call to 311 to report.
Neighborhood Parks – Updates
- Julie Ryan from Councilor Baker’s office is still waiting for an update on installing real sidewalks by the tennis courts so that crosswalks can be provided.
- The word from Julie, Rep. Dan Hunt, and Senator Nick Collins is that the gate at McConnell Park will be installed soon.
- Residents have noted that the temporary gate is not in the right location as party-goers can still access the back parking lot by the challenger field. They are concerned the permanent gate will be in the wrong location and thus will not address the problem.
- The chairs will follow up with city liaison Ryan Cochran as well as our reps about the correct location for the permanent gate.
- The Dorchester Yacht Club is in full support of the gate, and, in fact, is taking credit for the idea. They are working to get permits for members to hang in their windows.
Slow Down for Savin Hill Campaign
- Funding for this campaign was approved by the general membership on 9/11.
- About 60-70 people have visited the website so far.
- Things that need to be done:
- Post more signs to telephone poles. Dianne and Jennifer will do this.
- Order the larger lawn signs. Jake is negotiating for a lower price. They should arrive by the end of the month.
- Get people to agree to post lawn signs.
- Jennifer will reach out to those who were at the park meeting at the end of June.
- The chairs will reach out to the owners of the perfect lawn at 175 Savin Hill Avenue, between Playstead and Denny streets.
- The chairs will reach out to Mark Lydon at the corner of Morrissey and Old Colony Terrace.
- Perhaps we can post some larger signs at the Sydney Street and Savin Hill Avenue intersection. Businesses there will be informed.
- Other possibilities to post signs with QR codes include:
- McKenna’s
- The Daily – The chairs will speak with Jill about putting a sign in the lobby.
- Next steps include talking about how to drive momentum and community participation.
- Getting publicity
- Channel 5 News recently highlighted a group in East Boston called Walk Massachusetts, previously Walk Boston. They featured video showing how unsafe it was for pedestrians in certain areas, especially in crosswalks.
- We could
- take pictures of unsafe sidewalk conditions – Heidi is willing to take photos.
- take video highlighting the dangers in our own neighborhoods, especially by the park areas and at various intersections.
- Interview on video residents and people who use the parks about the dangerous conditions for pedestrians here.
- Share our photos and videos with a local news station.
Mail Theft at the Savin Hill Ave Mailbox Near 219
- Two neighbors have set up a video camera to catch the mail thieves in action.
- Multiple videos show two people coming at 5 AM, generally on a Monday morning. One opens the box with a key and empties it while the second one stands as an outlook.
- Footage has been sent to the US Postal Inspection Service. There has been no response as of yet.
- Unfortunately, the video quality is not super hi-res and it is difficult to see faces, but it clearly shows the theft with the use of a key.
- Dianne will reach out to Rosemary Powers who knows how to get in touch with Representative Stephen Lynch to see what can be done.
- We should also get publicity on this with Channel 5 News.
- Dianne’s sister is friends with Rondella Richardson at Channel 5. Perhaps she would be willing to do a piece on this using the video footage of the crime.
- The Safety Committee will take credit for the video footage to protect the names of the neighbors who installed the camera.
- Jake has a copy of the video and will share it with Safety Committee members.
Next CSHCA Safety Meeting – Tuesday, October 17. Link on the CHSCA calendar page.