Member Survey(Feedback)
Please complete the CSHCA survey. Results will be presented and discussed at the November meeting. Your feedback is important!

Neighborhood Yard Sale(Bargains!)
Friends of Ryan Playground will be hosting a Neighborhood Yard Sale at the playground on Sunday, Sept. 17 from 10 - 3 pm. Tables will be $10 and white elephant table donations welcome. Please call me at 474-0797 for reservations or questions.

Grand Openings on the Avenue (Welcome!)
Over the summer, many of you attended the grand opening of the new McGlaughlin Center at the Daniel Marr Boys and Girls Club. This multi-service center for the youth of our neighborhood will be a great source of enrichment for the neighborhood.

Also, the spiffy new Dependable Cleaners has opened it's doors right next door. Watch for an official grand opening celebration during the week of September 11th.

Columbia Road Texaco Issue (Victory!)
Due to the organization of many of your neighbors and our friends to the north in the McCormack Civic Association, the community has emerged victorious in the fight against the owners of the Texaco to retain the adjacent two-family house as housing as opposed to a parking lot. This is a great victory because  valuable, viable housing will not be replaced by commercial blight.

Savin Hill & Malibu Beach (Update)
With our neighborhood beaches out of commission, luckily it hasn't been a sweltering summer. According to Joe Orfant, the MDC's Back to the Beaches planner, the renovation project is very close to on schedule. He told me that the area should be presentable by the end of the fall, with total completion by spring. As you may have seen, all of the beach grass has been removed and construction of the new boardwalk, which will arc from the north walkway to the vicinity of the bathhouse, is almost finished. The MWRA work is almost completed and the DYC parking area now has proper drainage and pavement.

Broadband Comes to Boston (Text of letter sent to Annissa Essaibi)
A telecommunications company known as C2C Fiber, Inc. will be the lead company for a consortium of telecommunications companies in constructing a "fiber optic backbone" which will bring a variety of broadband services to the businesses and neighborhoods of Boston. This backbone is needed to connect switches in Quincy with facilities in Boston. In an effort to avoid construction on city streets, Morrissey Boulevard was recognized as the route which would be most direct, easiest and quickest to build in and would have the least impact on Dorchester neighborhoods. As a result, C2C has been working with the MDC to put together a plan that would address traffic and noise issues, that would provide immediate and tangible benefits for the community and that could be built quickly. This is a relatively easy build owing to the fact that the conduit will be placed in the easterly sidewalk or the easterly gutter as space permits. These areas have few existing utilities to slow construction and are far enough away from sensitive receptors so as not to cause any impact. I will be glad to show you the plans and discuss the details.

As a second part to this project, there will need to be a connection made from the backbone at or near Freeport/Morrissey intersection to the Verizon (Bell Atlantic) Central Office on Adams Street. This will involve city neighborhood streets. First let me explain why this connection needs to be made; then, how we will work with the neighborhoods to mitigate any adverse impacts.

Fiber optic carriers interface with their customers at those CO's rather than at each home or business. While this saves us from constructing in every street, we must recognize that we must at least get to the CO's if we are to provide service. Those CO's were built in the neighborhoods to service the neighborhoods so, we have to work with those existing facilities. We have selected a preliminary route which was coordinated with the Boston Sewer and Water Commission's Capital Improvement Program and the Boston Pave 2000 Program. While that route will necessarily involve residential streets, we feel that the construction can be quick with minimal neighborhood impact. By bringing these telecommunications improvements to you we would be completing improvements to your infrastructure prior to final paving of those streets.

Bob Albee
Director, Telecommunications Engineering 
Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc

Super 88 (Update)
At the May meeting of the sub-committee, it was agreed by both the owners of So. Bay and Super-88, that they share the expense of a police detail to control traffic exiting at the Super-88 market on weekends. Thus the frustration began.  Boston Police and the State Police were unable to provide personnel for this task. Finally, on July 29, the detail was filled successfully with personnel from Sheriff Rouse's Department. 

Massachusetts Avenue, which has been unfinished since a "cave in" in the early 60s, causes major congestion.  The shopping areas are not to blame for that aspect of the traffic problem.  The Transportation Commission and/or Public Works are.

It's time for all city departments and elected officials to do their job, and take a more responsible look at this major PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE. Be aware, both areas lack complete pedestrian and handicap accessibility, which must seriously be addressed. 

We all need to pay closer attention on our up coming shopping visit, and make our observations known to the following: 

Mayor's office, Anthony Gilardi * Tel. 635-2680 * fax. 635-3498 
E-Mail * Anthony.Gilardi@ci.boston.ma.us

Senator Steve Lynch * Tel-722-1150 
Representative John Hart * Tel-722-2120
Representative Martin Walsh * Tel-722-2188 
Representative Marie St. Fleur* Tel-722-2692
Councilor  James Kelly * Tel-635-3203 
Councilor Maureen Feeney * Tel-635-3455
Councilor Charles Turner * Tel- 635-3510 
Councilor Mickey Roache * Tel-635-3115 
Councilor Steve Murphy * Tel-635-4376 
Councilor Mike Flaherty * Tel-635-4205
Councilor Peggy Davis Mullen * Tel-635-4220

Spire Corporation/Bay Street (Memo of Understanding)
A copy of the memorandum of understanding has been drafted as a framework for cooperation between the Spire Coporation and the Civic Association. At our September meeting, a vote will be taken on whether or not to accept the memo and give the final go ahead for construction. Please review this document!

The purpose of this document is to formalize the agreements between the membership of the Columbia/Savin Hill Civic Association (herein after called "the Community") and Spire (herein after called "the Business"). This agreement, reached after a series of meetings between the Business and the Community shall govern the Businessís activities upon taking residence at the industrial site at 65 Bay Street, Dorchester MA 02125.

The Business and the Community have agreed to the following:

Design Review:  The Business agrees to involve the Community in all aspects of the design process. This shall include, but not be limited to the following:
1. Architectural Review
2. Landscaping Review
3. Building Materials
4. Signage 

Construction:   During construction the Business agrees to carry a builder's risk policy and the General Contractor will have liability and workmen's compensation insurance. The contractor will be responsible for hiring a pest management company and taking all reasonable measures to ensure that construction does not cause a rodent problem in the neighborhood. The business will continue to have a separate pest management program while operating at the 65 Bay Street site.

Community Hiring:   The Business agrees to make all reasonable efforts to fill open positions with residents of the  Columbia/Savin Hill community. These efforts should include, but are not limited to the following: 
1. Notification to the Community of open positions
2. Advertisement in local newspapers (Dorchester Reporter, Dorchester Community News ,Dorchester Argus)
3. Posting jobs at The Little House (265 East Cottage Street, 282-2180)
4. Posting jobs at The Col Daniel Marr Boys and Girls Club (33 Deer Street. 288-7120)

Maintenance:    The Business agrees to take all reasonable efforts to maintain the grounds to a level that will make them pleasant to the eye and a source of pride for the community. These efforts shall include but are not limited to the following:
1. Adequate maintenance of landscaping (Lawn mowing, etc., weekly or as needed)
2. Outdoor trash receptacles will be permanently enclosed and emptied according to the following:
a. Between the hours of 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM
b. As required to keep them rodent free, but a minimum of once a week.
3. Emptying of exterior trash receptacles as needed; to keep them rodent free and as unnoticeable as possible.
4. Adequate exterior lighting shall be provided on grounds during evening hours.

Traffic:   The Business agrees to the following:
1. Dorchester Avenue to Dewar Street will be used for all vehicles entering and exiting the property. (If a road to Freeport Street is built then this agreement will require all commercial vehicles entering or exiting the facility to use that road to enter and exit.)
2. No vehicle shall enter or exit the property on Bay Street except in the case of emergency.
3. To support the Community in its efforts to have the City of Boston install a trip light at the intersection of Dorchester Avenue and Dewar Street. (If the Community should desire to change this request to a trip light atthe corner of Dorchester Avenue and Bay Street, accompanied by the reversal of Bay Street traffic between Auckland and Dorchester Avenue then the Business shall support that as well.)
4. Traffic to and from the site will abide by all existing City of Boston traffic laws.
5. Truck traffic entering and exiting the property shall be subject to the following conditions:
a. Primarily limited to between the hours of 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM.
b. The maximum number of trucks per day shall not exceed the following:
Semi-Trailers:   6  Small Trucks:  8 
c. Trucks waiting on or off the premises to deliver will be required to turn their engines off. The Business will stress to its suppliers that it will not accept deliveries from suppliers that violate this condition.
d. There will be no overnight deliveries
 

General Considerations:
1. The Business agrees along with Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation (herein after DBEDC) and the Community that this agreement once signed will become an appendix to the property lease that the Business is operating under and that any violation of this agreement shall be viewed by DBEDC as a violation of the terms of the lease.
2. DBEDC further agrees that in the event that the property is sold during the terms of the lease that the new property owner will be required to live up to agreement contained in number 1 above.
3. The Business agrees that in the event that ownership of 65 Bay Street is transferred to it or another party that the conditions contained in this memorandum will travel with the transfer. 
4. The Business agrees to be an active member of the Columbia/Savin Hill community. Some suggestions on how this may be accomplished follow:
a. Membership in Columbia/Savin Hill Civic Association (CSHCA)
b. Encourage employees to become active in the community and members of CSHCA
c. Regular attendance at CSHCA meetings to stay informed
d. Support of local organizations, including The Little House and the Col Daniel Marr Boys and Girls Club.
e. Participation in community events such as neighborhood cleanups, etc.
f. Offering of scholarships to community residents for computer training and design courses.

5. The Business agrees to supply an incentive for its employees to use public transportation in their travels to and from the site. (i.e. MBTA pass subsidizing, etc.)
6. The Business agrees to encourage its [transcript error]

In recognition of the Business's consistent efforts to develop a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship with the Community, the Community will make every effort to be a fair and cooperative neighbor. In the event that a dispute between the two parties to this agreement should arise, the Community will make every effort to balance the needs of the Community against those of the Business so that a solution workable to both sides can be reached.

This agreement has been executed by the parties below on  (Date):
Skip Dyer, Spire 
Rick Dyer, Spire 
Rick Theder , Spire 
Annissa Essaibi, President, CSHCA
Paul Nutting, Vice-President, CSHCA

New Website (Thank you)
One of our members, Elizabeth Zarrella, has volunteered to undertake the role of webmaster for our new website. The website is up and running, but just as with this publication, it cannot run without your input. If you have community announcements or even event photos, these can be posted on the site. The webaddress or URL is  www.columbiasavinhillcivic.org    Thank you Liz!

Please Submit! (Appeal from Newsletter Editor)
Please feel free to contribute to the newsletter. Your stories or opinions are important to your neighbors. It is very difficult for me to develop all of the copy every month and some help would be appreciated. PFN