Good evening.

Uh ladies and gentlemen, this is the committee on open space environment and energy.

We're meeting today.

It's Wednesday, December 3rd at 6 p.m.

On the dog.

Um pursuant to chapter two of the acts of 2025.

This meeting of the City Council Committee will be conducted via remote participation.

We will also post an audio recording, audio video recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the city of Sumavy website and local cable access channel.

Individuals with disability who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication written materials in alternative format or reasonable modification in policy and procedures in order to access the programs and activities of the city of the city of Somavy or to attend meetings should contact Adria Pomero in advance at 617 6256600 extension 2059.

And so we will start by you know with the roll call for to establish a quorum.

It's a clerk.

Present.

Sorry.

Council Wilson.

No.

Present.

Council Burnley.

Present.

Council Said.

Council Mabah.

Present.

Mr.

Chair, four members of present, one is absent.

We have a quorum.

Thank you, you know, Clerk for Solisi.

Uh I think the record should reflect that Councillor Klingon is stepping in.

Uh uh in you know, it's been appointed by Councillor Davis, who could not be here, and you know, Councillor Said it also has a prior commitment.

So I think we will also begin by uh the first item on the agenda is to approve you know the minutes of the last you know committee meeting.

On approval of the minutes, council Clingen.

Yes, Councilor Wilson, yes, councillor Burnley.

Aye, Council Say, Council Barr.

Yes, Mr.

Chair, four members of voted to approve the minutes.

One is absent, the minutes are approved.

Thank you, Clerk for Solisi.

I also see you know, one of our newest councillor is in attendance.

You know, hi, councillor Hart.

We see you.

Um so we will begin by moving things around as we are also assisted this evening by you know, members from the administration.

We have uh legislative uh liaison radasi.

So thank you, yes.

For helping us as well.

So we will take item if you item out of order, we'll take agenda item number five.

I think which which says that the no, no, no, that's not five.

Mr.

Chair, if if I may, um director Nat Carney is having some issues, some technical difficulties logging on.

Um, so maybe we could table the out-of-order ones just until she's able to join the meeting.

Absolutely.

My apologies.

No, no worries.

Um, so should we take uh Dr.

Olivera's items also out of now, or should we wait?

I think Director Oliveira is also having some technical difficulties.

Um, so maybe we could uh do one that isn't directed towards public safe uh public space and urban forestry.

Apologies.

No, I think we can just you know, like uh since we since we already had two items that you wanted us to take out of order, we can just uh you know revert to the regular items on the agenda, and then whenever oh and uh Mr.

Chair, I just see uh Director Natcarney has just joined the meeting.

So oh beautiful.

So welcome, Dr.

Nakani.

So the item you know, in question is you know, item number five.

You know, I submitted that item that the director of economic development provide a report to this council on the impact of Greentown Labs, including job creation, local economic activity, community engagement initiatives, climate and sustainability contributions, and equity and inclusion outcomes.

And uh just to put some context here, you know, um, or to introduce this item as the maker of the motion.

You know, for 15 years, Greentown Labs in Somerville has carried out operations of shared facility location with mentoring, business support, and financial backing of incubators stage small enterprises in the clean energy sector.

The city of Somerville has tried to encourage these activities and has expected to share in the benefits of their future growth.

We have anticipated that Greentown and its fellow organization of Summer Nova and the engine at MIT will provide the following opportunities for local entrepreneurs and graduates to launch new companies and prove their ideas, growing numbers of jobs for professionals and technical support workers, attraction of more young and talented people into the city and the region, attraction of venture capital, grants, and other funding, a large amount of which clean energy companies will in turn spend on wages and local services.

Finally, having a hub of innovative activity in the sector in summer will help to inspire and educate our public and especially our school children about clean energy.

These expected economic development benefits have been in substantiating reasons given by city leadership for a variety of regulatory actions, zoning changes and approvals, grants and financial support and tax exemption, which the city and the commonwealth have provided for Greentown over the years.

Up to the end of 2024, it appeared that the expected growth and progress of clean energy technologies as well underway.

But in 2025, changes in federal policies and funding for research may be disrupting the sector or changing the direction of its methods and goals.

So therefore, it seems appropriate at this time to look at where the work of Greentown stands and whether the city's strategies and contribution may need to be adjusted.

My hope is that this committee can look closely at the results of our cooperation during the past 10 years and consider what changes in the city's plans or strategies of clean energy may be best help to keep Greentown and the sector active and prospering in the city.

I'm hoping that tonight's discussion can frame the question and suggest a methodology by which Greentown and the city agencies can report on results and define what changes may be needed.

So this is like you know, I'm sure I Director Nakani and I we've actually had this conversation.

It's not new.

I'm just trying to bring it home and put it on record, you know, and uh she probably know also actually like I mentioned, you know, uh to Director Nakani.

I also you know, I'm fortunate to actually know the CEO of Greentown Lab, which I consider also a friend.

So this is just you know, in that Bob, you know, big picture of how do we you know build a better relationship and think out the gaps and opportunities.

So take it away, Director Nakani.

Hi everyone, good evening.

Um Clerk, is it best if I share slides?

I know I sent it right at the end of the day.

I can share screen now if that's the easiest way.

Um if you can, that'd be great.

You got it.

Yeah, amazing.

I did not I I I I promise you I did not see the slide.

Sorry, it was right at the end of the day.

Uh I don't know where you sent it.

Um, but to the clerk, is it possible to um have screen sharing ability?

Right, so you're gonna do it, right?

Is that an alarm at my house or somebody else's might be at yours?

It's not going here.

Okay.

I'm gonna make you a co-host.

It should take care of it.

Thank you.

I see.

All right.

Is that looking?

Yeah.

All right.

Excellent.

Okay.

So with this question in mind, we um I reached out, I've been spoken spoken with the folks over at Greentown a couple of times in the last few days and uh put together just a little bit of a snapshot of where we've been in the history uh and where we are today in our relationship and our engagement with them uh and their impacts that we're seeing in the city.

So first, just a couple of uh background pieces.

Um they Greentown Labs continues to be the largest clean tech incubator in North America.

Very proud of that fact.

Um we really see them as a technical assistance provider in the same way that we do our main streets organizations.

They are currently serving over 140 companies uh at their summerville location.

The main thing that they are offering member companies is access to the shared facilities and equipment.

Greentown Labs operates several labs within the facility, um, an electronics lab, uh, a wet lab, dry labs, all kinds of important shared equipment that really makes it possible for these small startups to prototype their products and test things out.

Beyond the access to the equipment, they run tons of collaboration events and they provide business development support at different stages in the early um startup phases for these companies.

It is a very busy place.

Um what they are reporting right now is that there are approximately at least 200 people there every single day.

That's 200 folks who are out buying coffee, getting lunch, um, acting, you know, operating within the Central Southern Lab area.

And their average right now is 10,000 plus visitors every year.

Almost all of the events that they run are free and open to the public.

Um so they are welcoming in the broader clean tech ecosystem, uh, anything from building decarbonization, uh, industrial process efficiencies, water supply, resiliency.

They are bringing folks in in a variety of targeted conversations.

And uh as the city, we are always welcome to participate as well.

Their only ticketed event right now is the showcase, um, which they do every November.

They do always invite um city staff and um a cohort of umerville high school students to participate in that event as well.

Little on the history of this, they were founded in 2011.

Um it was founded as a little a collaborative of different startups who wanted to share space.

They relocated to Boston in 2012, moved to Somerville in their current home, 2013.

So they've been there now a good long time.

The main expansion to the building that we all kind of recognize is the heart of Greentown was in 2017.

And then their expansion to Houston happened in 2020.

They are um a partner there with Rice University and really embedded in with Rice down in Houston.

On the organizational front, I think this is also an important part of the story of Greentown.

Again, they were founded as a collaborative of startups who wanted to share space um and get cheap rent together.

Um that really turned in they they realized recognized this sort of special sauce of that as more folks wanted to participate uh in the early days and sort of transformed into the incubator that we know today in that 2012 to 2013 uh phase.

When as they've grown in Somerville, they did two major steps on organizational front.

In 2017, they became a B Corp.

That's a public benefit corporation, and then in 2023, uh right at the peak of COVID, they transitioned to being a nonprofit corporation.

Really, that is to cement their role as a business support entity.

They are not themselves that big of a business.

The Greentown staff and is you know, 20, 30 folks, but their role is to support their member companies.

Um their staff is really technical support staff that are helping um boost this industry and support the companies that are housed there.

How have we engaged with them over this these years?

We were actually a big part, the city itself was a big part of recruiting them to Somerville back in 2013.

It was an active recruitment.

There was support that we gave at that moment.

And then over the years that they've been here, we've been a financial supporter as when they've had key growth moments where they've needed access to capital to be able to leverage grants and other things to keep things growing.

And then we also have been a partner with Greentown member companies too.

So two initiatives that happened uh just before COVID, there was a form to factory grant that was a partnership between the city, Greentown, and the state to focus on manufacturing.

And then the Urban Lab Initiative, which was more of a which is really a city focused program, and that was to work with Greentown companies and others to bring their innovation to city streets.

Um the one that I personally got to touch with SUFA.

Sufa brought um signs and uh benches with plugs around in city infrastructure.

So it was really an opportunity for those companies to use Somerville as as a sandbox.

Um, and that program ran 2019 through 2021.

Big picture again, Greentown is really all about the startups that are there.

Um overall, they've had 575 companies that they've incubated between the two locations.

Most of those are Somerville.

Um there are currently 200 member companies, again, 140 of the 200 are at the Somerville site.

They have an extremely strong uh survival rate.

Um, if you think about we always talk about this like can you make it to year one?

Can you make it to year two or year five?

They have an 89% survival rate by their own tracking, um, and that's really impressive to again to get those companies through to the point where they're um operating independently and and out in the world.

By their measure in 2022, um, Greentown companies had had a 9.8 billion dollar economic impact in the world.

Um, they had raised 8.2 billion in investment capital.

There were 560 patents that had come out of Greentown and over 13,000 jobs that were created.

So this is all coming from their impact reports.

Um, as a non, especially now that they're a nonprofit, those impact reports are really important to them, but they've been producing those um as well.

So there's one impact report that covers their 2011 through 2019 years.

Um, again, with the B Corp, they had impact reports from there out basically every year since now as a nonprofit as well.

Technical assistance is where we see them as a strong partner.

Um, again, one of the things that they are really um doing well to to support the industry's growth here locally is hosting events.

So they host over 300 events annually, career fairs with over 500 employee attendees in the last few years.

Um, they are boosting jobs for all of their member companies and nonprofits that are located at Somerville.

So they're posting and amplifying those jobs on their website on a regular basis, over a thousand jobs amplified and counting.

Uh one of the questions uh in the item was about their commitments to and what we were seeing in terms of uh diversity and equity and inclusion.

Um, two things we wanted to highlight.

One is the Excel program, that is a specific um accelerator focused on startups that are led by uh BIPOC individuals that is a partnership with an organization called Browning the Green Space.

Um again, that's really trying to find diverse um uh entrepreneurs across the world.

They actually bring them to Greentown.

Those entrepreneurs in the Excel program are not necessarily located here in Somerville.

They can be globally located, but they are brought to Somerville and I think sometimes to Houston as well for cohort events.

It's a cohort program, um mentorship program, um, and we've been seeing a lot of strength in Excel members then locating uh at Greentown as they grow and staying engaged with the organization.

Um, so that is in its third cohort uh this year for the Excel program, and it's been a really exciting um set of folks to see present.

They often are presenting um at the showcase and in other pitch events, uh, talking about what their products are and the importance of the program.

Uh another metric that we have been able to track, um we um as part of our latest financial event with them, um, have a technical assistance loan that's active right now with them.

And as part of that, Greentown had did have to do some reporting for microenterprises that were participating in the program and receiving their technical assistance support.

So there are 28 companies that were reporting under that, uh, and we asked some questions about their demographics.

So from that set of 28 that we do have demographic information on, 14% have company founders that are Summerville residents, 50% had diverse chip, and 372 employees across that set of 28.

It is a big group of folks, so we don't have full data, and again, um on everything that's been going on in terms of all the different companies that have been there and have grown out of there, but we do know a good amount.

And as we think about the economic impacts, I think one thing that really the word that stands out is sticky, which is a nice technical term in our in our sphere.

But it what it means is that there's there's an attachment to the place.

Greentown itself, Somerville and Massachusetts are sticky when it comes to climate tech industry.

A lot of that comes within our state's support for the for climate tech growth, even in phases where there isn't federal support.

We have a lot of local support here in Massetts for the climate tech industry.

That's part of the Mass Leads Act currently.

But this is data from the pre-COVID years.

So in the pre-COVID years, 89% of startups at Greentown had received some sort of support from the Mass Clean Energy Center.

71% had employees that had were from our local university pool.

66% of companies grew within Greater Boston during that eight-year period.

That's stickiness.

That is companies that are staying and growing because this is where the talent is.

This is where the supports are.

One thing that we a couple other things related to the stickiness.

We know that many of our companies, even the most successful ones, will retain a membership at Greentown and even a desk or two so that they can stay engaged with the community and all the community programming that Greentown puts on.

So again, that that's that's pulling that ecosystem together.

Greentown really is a hub for this industry because of those program, those programs and the network of partners who are coming together there.

Another one that adds to the stickiness is a Greentown member that I wanted to highlight.

That's Forge Impact.

Forge Impact is a really interesting little nonprofit.

And their role is to assist startups with supply chain and manufacturing connections.

So if you're developing a new something or other at Greentown and you want to produce that thing at the next scale, how are you going to do that?

How are you going to find the suppliers that you need or the locations that can do the manufacturing for you?

And so their role is to really help make those connections to Springfield, to Connecticut, to Rhode Island to Vermont, wherever the thing might be.

So if you need timber, they're probably connecting you with Maine or Vermont.

If you need access to precision manufacturing, it's probably something in Western Mass.

And so again, that they're really trying to help localize the growth of these companies so that they are able to stay in Massachusetts as they scale up.

I did want to highlight a few stories of companies that have grown out of Greentown to be really big players in our local economy.

So the first one, of course, is Form Energy.

FormEnergy is a unicorn on the global stage.

They are producing iron air grid scale batteries, really making a dent in energy reliability for clean energy.

And they started with five people at Greentown Labs.

They have grown a ton.

They still have 350 people now located at their Somerville base of operations over on Innerbelt Road.

So they've expanded substantially.

What you see in these pictures here on the left, the first one, that's their very first little battery when there were five people trying to put something together.

In the middle, you see Mare Ballantyne with Ted Wiley on the left.

Tammy, whose last name is escaping me at the moment, and the last person is also her name is uh has run out of my head.

Um but this was a tour of their facility when they were still primarily based um at the Summer Nova campus.

And then what you see on the bottom, this is their this is their large plant.

They are producing their iron, their batteries now at scale in West Virginia.

They need to be where the iron is.

So their production facility is now in West Virginia, but their base of operations for all their research, it continues to be here in Somerville.

This is where the talent is.

Um, this is where the CEO lives.

Um, you know, we're really um they're really proud to be a strong partner here in Somerville.

Um other sort of like it's an uh a tan, a really tangible aspect of the partnerships that they have here locally is that they've been a key partner in getting the connection between the Eastern Rural Green Line Station to Inner Belt Road open.

Uh Tammy, who you see in that picture next to the mayor, she individually as an individual has been uh pounding the pavement, making sure that that um grade connection happened, even while we're working on a longer term solution.

So they're really embedded here in the city.

We love that for them, and um are thrilled that they are have grown with us.

Another one I wanted to highlight is Sublime Systems, Sublime Systems, similar kind of story.

They um started five years ago, actually.

They um started five years ago actually, they started in 2020, which is not very long at all and have grown substantially.

They grew out of Greentown stayed right at Summernova campus.

And so their headquarters is now on Park Street.

They are producing a low carbon concrete product.

They have pilot scale concrete production happening at Summernova's campus.

It is nice and quiet, I have to say I have been next to those machines within two feet and it is not loud at all.

And it's a really great quality product that's more consistent quality than your typical concrete as well as being a lot lower carbon footprint.

We've been starting to explore if there's a partner if there are partnerships we can have with them to to utilize their product here on Summerville projects.

They have grown a lot as well their base of the research base is going to probably stay here in Sunerville as long as it we can keep them but again they're you're not going to be producing concrete at scale in any of our facilities most likely they have actually expanded to Holyoke Holy of Massachusetts for their production facility.

Again that's some stickiness though because if their main production facility is in Massachusetts that makes it a lot easier for them to keep their research center here as well.

The other one I wanted to highlight that's grown a ton and is really probably set for more growth coming up is Transera.

Transera is a um again they have not moved far from Greentown they're at Kent Street but they are producing uh next generation cooling systems um they actually just had a really successful launch of their cooling system they did a first install in Florida um earlier this earlier this fall um it's uh poised to be a really great innovation for the HVAC industry again they've been they've grown a ton and and continue to stay and um build on their workforce sets here in Somerville obviously that's not all it's a very long list um we didn't have time to really do it too deep dive we don't have a good record um and I spoke of Greentown too you know this is a project that we could continue to research um if if that's of importance um but we did pull together a list of you know some of the bigger players so other alumni from greentown that are are still active really locally rise robotics they expanded into Union Square Civil they are um on school street reframe systems has grown a lot locally they actually built their first product um they built a triple decker on Gilman Street Phoenix Tailing Bevy the water producer spark charge and tender which I didn't actually manage to add to the list but got a photo of um tender is producing um a um uh a chicken uh like product um that's vegan and it is you know also in use um and direct to consumers at Bow Market at Sauce so it's you know Greentown is really embedded I think throughout um the Sumerville ecosystem um and it's in a variety of of industries right company um neither really is Bevy but they but they are also right they are still um uh have their their root and their their ethos um as tied to um um a climate tech goals so where are we now um and how do we keep the growth going I think that's uh counselor and a little bit of the question you were aiming for too um and wanted to highlight a couple of things that we've been engaged on so uh the most recent thing that we have been engaged with them on is we hosted a regional meeting between Greentown Labs the engine the engine also has space at the Summernova campus um as well as city staff from Cambridge Somerville and Watertown to think about how we can promote and coordinate around issues in the climate tech sector um and so what we did is we gathered actually all of the regulatory bodies that engage with climate tech companies to talk about how do you how do you talk to a innovation company that's doing something that you've never heard of before and is not in the code books uh what does that process look like what could we be doing how do we be synchronized on this between the three communities where this industry cluster is really growing at its strongest right now.

Really productive series of conversations we had you know building inspector talking to building inspector fire chief talking to fire chief um again really productive set of conversations there's more to more to do uh in that space um but it's something that we are trying to keep uh engaged on at a regional level uh Summerville Public Schools continues to be engaged closely with uh greentown as well um again they have always back and forth for speakers collaborations uh we've been trying to figure out STEM week programming uh OSE is really tightly involved in making sure we're we're pulling this all together along with um the innovation team over at Sunville Public Schools and then the main thing I just wanted to report back what we sort of heard out of this these conversations from and what we've been hearing in a variety of places from from the member companies Greentown is always focused on how we keep those member companies growing um and that's our goal too and what they what they want out of a municipal partnership typically what they're looking for is permitting support and expertise right if you're a company that wants to do something that um has to you know would make a I'm trying to come up there's one that I meant with um they do

And then the main thing I just wanted to report back, what we sort of heard out of this these conversations from and what we've been hearing in a variety of places from from the member companies.

Greentown is always focused on how we keep those member companies growing.

Um, and that's our goal too.

Um and what they what they want out of a municipal partnership.

Typically what they're looking for is permitting support and expertise, right?

Um, if you're a company that's wants to do something that um has to, you know, would make a I'm trying to come up there.

There's one that I meant with.

Um they do um residential energy performance monitoring.

They need what they're looking for is some guidance on how would the an electrical inspector view their product?

What kind of documentation would they need to be able to produce their product in Massachusetts and get it approved?

That's the kind of interaction that some of these companies, when they're at these early stages are looking for our help on, understanding what they would need to do to uh launch their product on the market um and make a difference in reducing the carbon footprint of of the everything in our world.

They're looking for pilot opportunities.

Um again, companies that might want to have something in public space, often are looking to the city and saying, hey, could we do this thing?

What would it take for us to pilot in Somerville?

Um think about reframe systems.

Again, they just built a triple decker.

Um, they needed to get through all of this, right?

They're looking for that opportunity to collaborate uh with anybody and everyone to see if they can uh pull that off.

And then as they're building their products, uh, the collaboration with the fire department, police department, inspectional services are key.

Um the Greentown Labs and most of those member companies will tell you Summerville Fire Department is one of the best you'll ever meet.

Um, and they really do appreciate the the work of the fire inspection um and prevention teams in collaborating with them and being um really sensitive to the innovative nature of their work.

Um these companies are dealing with uh a lot of sensitive data that they don't want to share, but obviously the fire department needs to know what chemicals they're using um in order to keep everybody safe.

So they've really appreciated that um our fire department, our police department, our inspectional services teams are all ready to jump in and have these conversations about things that no one's ever dealt with before.

Um, and it's just something that is um sort of front of mind for them at all times.

So I hope that's a helpful start to the conversation.

Um wanted to get at some some data points to you all.

Well, thank you, Director Nakani.

This is great, you know.

It's like really along the lines of what I expected to get out of this conversation.

You know, there's a lot we can get into, but this is you know, for I think most of some of the companies you mentioned, we were there when they launched Sublime.

We were all there, and then Rise Robotics, I think also when, you know, saw some of my colleagues as well there, you know, they I think Rise Robotics even won like Ines Book of Record for like um strength test.

You know, I think so.

Wilson was there.

It was it it it is good.

It is good.

I think um uh one key thing I want to see and underscore, which is what I talked to you and I talked to the CEO Greentown Lab, was that the gap that I saw that was visible was that collaboration between Greentown Lab and Somavia High School.

I met the superintendent, everybody is just nobody is you know, everybody's clueless about uh it's just this there's some there's some collaboration sort of is it's from people who have like some connection or somebody knows someone and then they bring somebody.

It is good that we establish a formal relationship so that kids from the high school could benefit, they want to get in involved in green tech.

It's so I told Georgia that, and she was also excited about the idea.

And so I will want us to, you know, as especially when somebody's excited about something like that and said they were not even sure what was going on, you know, and that they just know that some of their colleagues know somebody you know in the school, and then they so I feel like that was, you know, if if you can if the city can establish that, it will be huge, you know, to be able to like really, you know, get in get this this uh create a pretty robust collaboration between the men, you know, uh not men uh uh green tech in North America, like and having the footprint, you know, weave into a community.

Yeah, there's if I if I may, there's um there's a program where that the um schools are trying to start uh related to the STEM week, um, and trying to establish a more formalized program.

They did a really interesting pilot working with um a group out of Tufts to test it last year.

Um establishing a full program for the schools takes actually multiple school years to just to just to launch um because they need to bring in so many teachers and administrators and make sure it's gonna really function within the you know the standard requirements that they need to be meeting throughout the school year.

Um and there's just so little time um to get the everybody engaged.

Um so we were hoping to launch something this for this year.

It didn't quite come together after the the pilot happened in June.

We were trying to pull it off uh STEMY cabins in October, um and June to October was a little bit too tight.

Um, but that ITA is very much alive and well within the school um school department, the school department um um and the administrative staff and the science departments as well.

So definitely the energy is there, it's a matter of um getting everybody aligned so that it it has that robustness that you're you're hoping to see.

Amazing.

Thank you.

And I would love to be part of those evolution as you know, for something like this that you know I'm pressing on.

Um, and then it in fact, like the the data also that it gave was really big, you know, it's like big picture, it's great.

I I mean like you I I found most of those also like on their website itself, you know, so which is great.

I guess one of the things I was curious about, like just like how many jobs have they created in Somerville, you know, in in, you know, and have been made available to qualify, you know, city residents.

That is also like, you know, uh maybe even just like through their activities, you know, it could be like do we, you know, like do we have any of that data?

We don't actually have any of that data.

That is not something that we're actively tracking.

Um we this is something as we um again, our workforce development team is is sort of in a rebuilding moment.

Um, but we are uh we have it on our goals for when we have a new senior planner uh for workforce development that their role there one of their main tasks is going to be engaging with our employers around what their employment uh looks like and you know what the what's the skill sets are that they're searching for.

So we have on our goal list for that person.

Um that seat will probably be filled in January, we expect um that they'll be engaging with our top 10, our top employers first.

Um those are generally not folks in the climate tech sphere, but form might be actually in that top list um or close to it, um, and then start to work our way through and and get a good sense of you know what are the hiring practices and and needs of of those companies.

Um, but no, we don't we I will say we don't have a local job board that is um sort of tracking this on the local level.

Yeah, no, that's fine.

You know, it's just to kind of like I want to frame like the big picture so that as we start to evolve in this conversation, this is the kind of things that we need, you know.

Also, like what level and volume of wage wages does Greentown, you know, and the climate sector provide, and how significant is this volume as part of the total payroll for all city workers.

It's like it's just those kind of data that is, you know, it's like it just builds into like the I a big picture of what we are looking to get.

Yeah, and that's that's a good question.

It's uh it's a tricky data point.

It's gonna be a tricky data point to get, to be honest, because it's Greentown is um their own workforce is small.

Their own workforce is you know, it's 20 some people right now.

Um the member companies, that that's where the inform where the employment is.

Um most of those companies are start out really, really small.

Um you're often talking, and this has been one of the challenges that we see in the workforce development conversations we've had, is that um typically their next hire when they're ready to grow beyond Greentown, their next hire is business director.

Like you're going from scientist who's now CEO and needs to fill out their C-suite of you know, uh of business director level folks.

Um it's the the next like the next like several tiers of jobs might be technicians, um and and folks who may have a variety of of skill sets, but typically the in the early days of hiring, you're going when you're going from the five person to the 10 person, you're going from like inventor to inventor plus C suite.

Um and so it's this has been a debate that we've been having too of what's our what is our role and our goal as a municipal support partner um at that stage.

Finding a business development, you know, partner is is maybe not the thing that we are most skilled at supporting in, nor is it something that we need to track as as closely.

Where we really care about from the workforce side is how are we getting our our folks who don't necessarily have a PhD into these companies.

Um no, no, thank you.

And also when member mentioned uh uh member company, you know, I was wondering like how much investment capital has green town, you know, and the climate sector brought into somebody is on behalf of their member companies, you know.

Yeah, that's that nine billion, that's that nine billion number.

Uh huh.

It's not a small number.

You know, they brought that to Somerville.

Yeah.

You know, and in uh yeah, no, I I think I will probably you know pause for now and just open it to my to committee members so that I don't, you know, do any committee members have something to you know, any question?

Mr.

Chair, um I'll thank you for putting in the item here and uh and thank the director for the presentation.

Always good to be looking at what are we getting back for what we what for what we're putting in uh for these sorts of things, right?

You know, we're out there trying to do some stuff, stir things up, see what we can get going.

You know, we just did the the recent uh TIFF looking to bring someone in.

So I just think it, you know, as we go around uh giving up benefits, uh, you know, to private companies looking to uh looking to make things happen.

These are the sorts of discussions we should be having.

So thank you both.

Thank you, Councilor Wilson.

Um so any other members, you know, any committee member have any more questions.

You know, and and so no, Dorothanakin, thank you.

I'm so glad that we even just you know, uh it's like just like how like sometimes when we put this thing, you know, it's just because sometime, like I you remember I told you like I actually it's because somebody introduced me to you know, like the CEO, and this is like we actually had a mutual friend, and they say, Oh, and then I'm like, oh, Greentown Lab, okay.

Let me see.

So I was excited to meet the CEO, but I was excited to understand like what the industry is all about.

Like we we hear all this big stuff, you know.

How do we like like you know get some get some benefits and also talk about it?

Um if I may, I forgot to mention also so in my conversations with them over the last couple of days, they definitely said happy to host um city counselors for a tour come spring.

I know we've got three city counselors who are joining um new, they're um you know, definitely willing to put together uh a specific city of Somerville tour um that could be for you know, for city staff, for councils, for um, and we could do an open, they were saying we could do an open advertisement, you know, tour for community members.

They do have tours for the high school all the time uh with science classes.

So um they're definitely again, they especially under their new nonprofit status, um, you know, really um diving deep into the mission and and embedding.

So um we we can pull that together um in the new year as well for sure.

Absolutely.

No, I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Oh yeah, forgot to even mention that as well.

I maybe maybe this is just the last uh um just a curious cut here.

Like I'm just curious in terms of like the changes in federal policy, you know, in federal funding, like is it any way it's affecting Green Town, Greentown Lab and its member companies?

It is absolutely affecting Greentown and its member companies for sure.

Um Sublime had a contract, had a grant that I mean for sure.

The grants had there's an article on their website about the one of the grants that they they lost.

Um, but you know there's been a lot of pullback in in grants that are focused on this sector.

Now, that said, there's a lot of need for this sector.

Um the AI boom is coming actually at a not bad time um because there is a need to be more efficient with our energy, and we need every energy source if we're going to be able to supply the AI boom.

Um, and so there's a lot more renewed focus on um the technologies coming out of Greentown and its ability to um support um the energy needs of of the country.

Um that is a big part of the Houston story with Greentown too.

Being embedded in Houston gives them uh gives member companies a different, it's a different sector, right?

In some ways, um, but a lot of the technologies that might be more oriented towards improvements to the traditional energy sectors, um, the greening of the traditional energy sectors, they find a lot of partnership in the Houston office.

Versus if you're the Massage in Somerville, you're likely to be more involved in a whole variety of things.

I think one of the coolest ones I've ever met is somebody who came out of biotech, um, and she's developing um a more energy, a more material efficient bead production using tech like using equipment that you typically use for 3D production, like 3D printing in the biotech sector.

She adapted it to make 3D printed beaded fabrics uh for high-end fashion houses.

And she's doing that out of about 30 square feet in Greentown Labs.

Um, and that's not something that you would think of as an energy saving uh technology, but it is.

Um, and so there's a lot of those really unique niche things that are coming out of Greentown and that cross-sector collaboration that we see at our Somerville location is just phenomenal.

Amazing.

And you're talking about that.

I just remember we've not even gotten into data centers, you know, which has been like a huge proliferation of data centers, you know, when you talk about AI.

I'm sure Greentown Lab is already is building something, you know, somewhere in the city or down the street, you know.

But it's I think this is you know, it will be nice to really, you know, as we continue to see how we can support, you know, and grow together, you know, and start to, you know, that symbios, you know, between the city and Greentown Lab, I think it'll be huge.

Thank you, Dr.

Nakani.

Uh it's as always.

I appreciate your work.

And uh I think since we have a lot to you know, like to discuss down the road, I'll be inclined to keep this, you know, for future conversation so that we can continue to kind of like examine, you know, uh what opportunities there and what and how we can continue to support Greentown Lab as well.

Okay, yeah, thank you so much.

Is there any member of the committee that has any last minute, you know, uh any last talk that you want to chime in and ask yes, your chance or forever hoy up.

Thank you, Dr.

Nakani, for your time.

Appreciate it.

So Lia Zong Radasi is do we have is it okay if we take the other item out of order?

The chair, yes.

Uh Director Oliveira is here, so she can speak to the pollinator action plan and the open space and recreation items.

Amazing.

Thank you.

Wow.

And I didn't I didn't know that this on and now I see why, you know, like I I could not believe, you know, that this took us almost 45 minutes.

So Dr.

Olivera, good to see you.

Good to see you.

And uh thank thank you.

So we have the next item, you know, that we'll take is 10 and 11.

Is that correct?

Are you gonna present both together?

Okay, yes.

Um, if it's possible, I am going to do 11 and then 10.

Absolutely.

You know, so an 11 is that the director of public space in urban forestry convene, the summer open space and recreation plan 2025 to 20 to 2035.

And then 10, it's that the director of public space and urban forestry convene the summer V Polyneto Action Plan related updates.

Take it away, Director Olivera.

Thank you.

Uh, through the chair.

Is it possible for me to share screen or I know I I sent the slides very late?

It's been a week.

You have authorization to do that.

You should be able to okay.

Can everyone see the slides and hear me?

Uh, yes, if you can magnify a little bit so we can make presentation mode or something like that.

Does that help at all?

Yeah.

A little bit.

Okay, uh, great.

So the chair, my name is Luisa Oliveira.

I'm the director of public space and urban forestry for the city of Somerville.

And I'm going to speak to you about two things that our division just completed.

Both of these are available online on the Summer Voice page, which many of you may know is where most project information and plan information lives.

And I'm just going to give you a glimpse into these two plan documents, but I encourage you all and welcome you all to please go to the Summer Voice page and have a look.

These are both things that took years to put together, and I think are very useful in terms of setting the course for the next 10 years and what is going to happen in our open space with our network of open spaces.

So if you'll allow me, I'll just uh go through.

I will stop after every slide if anyone has any questions, or shall I wait till the end.

Oh man, your preference, I think we we have some pretty modest people on this.

So I think why don't I think whatever you through the chair?

I think I'll go through and then if there are any questions.

Um again, I'm really just giving you a taste of this.

So the open space and recreation plan is a policy document that's required to receive state funding.

Many of our parks, most of our parks receive um funding from the parkland and acquisition parkland acquisition and recreation something.

It's PARC for communities, I believe.

And PARC is a grant that gives usually about a half million dollars for us to build parks.

And one of the requirements is that you have an updated open space and recreation plan.

Most cities have a have one that meets all the requirements, but ours kind of goes above and beyond because we actually use it for um setting policy and doing projects in open space and recreation.

One of the this is a plan that has a lot of elements to it, but one thing that I uh I'm particularly happy about is that we have highlighted some of our success stories.

So you can see on the left, for example, it's about our policy uh from for public privately owned public space.

You may know this at Luann David Park, the Cala building, all of those spaces in the middle are also publicly accessible open spaces.

Uh and this is a photograph of those.

It also talks about our uh privately owned public space policy, also found on Summer Voice.

Um and the acreage as of 2025 that we've added is 6.37 through privately owned public spaces.

Uh another example is our proactive maintenance for trees.

So uh we early on realized that we were uh planting 350 trees a year, but they weren't really getting any kind of maintenance.

Uh they get maintenance at the end of their lives, kind of, uh when they're large and someone asks.

So we put in a couple of proactive programs.

One is for young tree training.

So after Dr.

Bukili plants them, they are under warranty for two years.

And at about the third year, they are assessed for health and given any kind of pruning that helps them to grow in a more structurally sound way.

And then we also have a parks tree health program, which is all all of we have this year completed a cycle of all of our parks to have the same type of treatment for each park, uh each tree in each park.

A couple of other ones, the Miyowaki Forest, as many of you may know, behind the high school.

Um, this was a great example of uh volunteers, and some of them who continue to volunteer today, uh volunteer planting with 34 different native species and 410 uh plants that are planted.

It's a microforest.

It's planted in enriched soil, and it's supposed to create biomass quickly.

Um so that is also another success story, and then the fields plan, which for those of us who have been around for a while, we know this fields plan um that people spent many hours on is was completed, and we now have uh renovated six fields, uh created three new synthetic turf fields, um and one at DCR, as well as the rehabilitation of two um natural grass fields, one of which is the Dilbo Stadium, which is still being renovated right now.

So throughout the plan, there are some highlighted uh stories like that.

The other thing that this plan has is a lot of data.

So it's very um it for example, this is a chart that shows what all of our open space who they're owned by and what protections they have.

Um, this is very useful for all of us to know.

Um, you know, does this have um this and this is a requirement?

So some of these things feel a little weird to say whether it's active or passive, but it's a requirement of the um park of the um for the park grant.

So they give us this chart, we fill it out.

But important for this is also uh the can the protections.

So are they protected in perpetuity?

What other protection do they have?

Um, so this is just one page of that chart.

All of it can be found in the plan itself.

Moving on to more uh data.

We also at the end have the accomplishments of what we've done since the last open space plan.

And you can see the schoolyards that we've finished, uh, and all of the different uh renovations and additional open space that we've completed.

This is one of I think six pages.

There's also um sections about the geology and the history of Somerville, as well as census data information and how it has changed since the last open space plan.

All of these, uh if you like data, are very much worth uh having a look at.

And if you have a question, you can always refer to this because all it is all there.

Another um part, another thing that we have, these are oh, more accomplishments.

Um you can see we're we're doing pretty well in terms of getting these things done that we said in the last open space plan that we would do.

Um part of this plan was having a very uh robust community process where we had different public meetings at different parts of the city, as well as one online to engage residents about the open space network and trying to understand what goals and objectives they would like to see.

And you can see some of these are ones that we had before.

Always people want us to add more open space.

We're trying our best to do that.

Um, but then there is also some trying to keep some of the parks that we are, but just make upgrades instead of doing full renovations and making our parks more inclusive, which we're also working towards, and uh resilient landscape practices.

Most of our parks are not only parks but um working landscapes.

So many of them have stormwater storage features, uh the plantings provide habitat and shade.

Uh so people want to continue doing that, and we are really have to because of climate change.

And then recreational programming.

We did um have more people talk about parks and recreation or the recreation programming and continuing to improve and have more equitable programming.

So again, these are um five goals, and then at the end of the plan, at the very end of them, uh, we have those goals put in and have an action plan.

So this is just one page of the things that uh goal one is to acquire new ones, and here are the steps that we would like to take within the next 10 years to try to get uh to that goal.

Oh sorry.

So that is the last one, and I will take any questions.

Uh Dr.

Thank you so much.

No, this is very rich information.

Um I'm looking at this on just, I mean, this is terrific.

Thank you.

I think you're doing an amazing job.

It's like all this private owned public space is a public space, and then one is privately owned, like so.

It means is that accessible to the public, or like what like oh, like why do we like the Mata Peri Lowy Park?

New construction.

It says privately owned public space.

Just remind me again, what is it like?

So through the chair, privately owned public space is space, for example, that is public is new open space that's generated through development.

So, for example, there are spaces in assembly square, there are spaces in Boyton Yards, there's a park in Boyton Yards, there's Martha Perry Lowe Park and a number of other ones that are built by developers, but they have agreements with us that the public are allowed into.

I see.

Yeah.

And it's so funny, you know, honestly, I have some friends that don't even know that that is like uh a public space.

That's why I ask that question.

Like, is there like a sign that's you know, I think they should maybe they actually do have it.

It's time that should say public space so that nobody feels weird, you know, like that they're encroaching.

Do I make sense?

Yes.

So um, as you through the chair, as you know, I've been here for 15 years, and quite early on in my time here, we started to realize that there were uh spaces that don't read this way.

There's been a considerable amount of research that's been done on how these spaces are used.

Oh, you're muted.

I'm sorry.

And uh we tried in our policy to try to address some of the problems.

So each of these spaces does have a sign, and it says this is public space, all are welcomed.

Now, sometimes there are some spaces, for example, there's one near where I live that was sold because the developers will then sold sell them later on.

And I notice that they have a sign up that says only the people, this is Millbrook, or I think it has a different name now.

Uh, but only people who live here can use this sign.

Though that is not allowed.

So we do require them to put up signs that say these are welcome to the public.

It is a problem because things get sold, and then um those uh agreements, you know, nobody sees those.

They are part of the the deed.

Um so we've been working to both make them more readable to encourage developers to put more active uh elements in it because they often want to build something that's going to be for their workforce.

Uh, but we also want the parks to be used when there's nobody in the building because they're in communities and we have so little open space that we really need that open space.

So I can't tell you how many times I've had beef with developers about putting in a basketball hoop.

You will see some around the city.

Um, but but yes, they are the opposite of what you were describing.

They're privately owned, but they are in perpetuity public open space, and we try our best to make sure that they read that way.

Gotcha.

I can see Councillor Wilson is anxious to ask this question.

But there just one last one that I have is like, so again, this which neighborhood do you think that you know uh face the largest open space deficit in the city, you know, and in any uh do you have any kind of like creative, you know, like space use opportunity that you can, you know, it could be yeah, you know what I'm you know what I'm getting at.

Through the chair, I do.

Um the neighborhood that has the least amount of open space is brick bottom.

Unfortunately, that's a uh transformed neighborhood, so it is getting more open space.

Uh, but also one thing that we have with being only four square miles is that our walkshed, which is a measurement of a half mile, 10 minutes walking to a park is very high, and we're at about very close to 100%.

So even if there's not a park in front of your house, you can't you have access to one within uh 10 minutes or so.

There are a couple, the walkshed analysis is also in the plan.

There are a couple of small deserts, but again, um they're just outside that walkshed, and unfortunately, doing analysis like that is great because we know where those areas are, but we can't necessarily um make the parks appear or even the parcels to to purchase.

But we are lucky because we're kind of like uh the kitchen at a party in that uh everything is pretty close, like everyone is pretty close to a park.

Does it have exactly the amenity that you're looking for?

Sometimes not, but um, it's much better than most municipalities because of our density, um, because of the neighborhood parks.

Gotcha.

Thank you.

And and do we have any any uh um consideration again?

I think we talked about it like in the past, like for rooftops, you know, like are they you know, pocket parks, like all this, you know, are they like uh uh under consideration also for in your chats?

Absolutely.

Whenever we are able to make a park, um, you know, we just finished Ken Kelly Park, that's a pocket park, Quincy Street Park, also a pocket park.

I'd call Martha Perry Lowe a pocket park.

So even if they're small, we're trying to uh there's another one that a developer made um in East Somerville on Tufts Street, Leonard Grimes Park, also a pocket park.

So even small spaces we are considering uh with roof gardens, there is a an ordinance, I believe, that was passed that development has to have green roofs or roof gardens.

Um and those are great in many, many ways, but I do have a concern that green roofs and roof gardens are not accessible to the general public, and that not everyone feels welcome going through you know a lab building to get on top of the roof.

So I would like to continue to encourage um you know, earth level development that everybody feels uh welcome to go into.

Uh and there are a lot of um barriers sometimes to these parks, and there's a lot of pushback on certain people being in parks, but in the end, they are public spaces, and it we all feel very strongly that they should remain public.

Gotcha.

Thank you.

See, you've been waiting.

I appreciate your patience and Council O'Clinga and Council Boney.

Uh you guys have the floor now.

Yeah, Chair, I uh thanks.

Uh didn't did wasn't trying to rush it, it was just waiting my turn, but uh appreciate you calling on me.

Um through you uh I I want to really praise our city staff for producing a really excellent report here.

Uh, I've heard from a lot of committee members who really appreciated this.

Uh I'll just say it this goes way above and beyond what one might expect for a required report to get grant eligibility.

So I am here for that.

Uh a thing worth doing is worth doing well.

So uh and great to hear the shout out for the Miowaki Forest.

I partially tore my rotator cuff digging holes for that planting.

So makes me feel good to see it.

It probably feels like I uh uh it wasn't all for not.

So uh in the summary of community needs portion that it talks about the desire uh for unprogrammed passive open spaces.

Uh this is something I see a lot.

There's a huge appetite from our community for things uh like spaces for pick-up soccer games, a place to play catch.

Uh, you know, I'll tell you, uh coaching soccer, one of my maybe I'll say my least favorite thing is having to show up and kick someone off of a field that's in their community that they were just trying to go use because we have a field permit.

Uh I I feel like garbage every time doing that.

And every time it makes me really want to try to figure out a way to do uh community hours on on our on our fields.

Um is that one of the things that that came through loud and clear is the community's uh desire for something like community hours, specifically on our turf athletic fields that can sustain that kind of activity.

Through the chair, um honestly, no, that wasn't a conversation that was had, and I think we are very honest about the folks who showed up to the meetings and are acknowledging that they were for the mark for the most part a very similar demographic and that we don't hear from all voices.

Uh so that the fields conversation wasn't so much of a discussion.

There was a lot of, and I think this is a post-COVID thing.

Like people really want to walk and be closer and in nature, and we all want that, but it does require some larger parks.

I think we will have that um with some of our upcoming parks, like the art farm.

Um, but uh I do want to acknowledge that our outreach, as always, is not represented representational of who is on the fields.

And I know that there are many, many people who want to use athletic fields and non-athletic fields all the time, and that yes, they get kicked off because of the permitting.

I myself am not a fan of the only permitted uses.

Um, because again, it's public space, and the reason to make all these very expensive turf fields is so that we can get more uses out of it.

So I think uh we certainly could do community hours or find some other way.

Um the recreation division really uh does the permitting for the fields.

We don't have anything to do with that.

Um but they're public fields and they're they should be people should be able to go and play on them, whether they're playing a pickup soccer game or they want to play Quidditch or whatever people want to play.

Absolutely.

Uh through the chair, uh you'd mention the recreation uh parks recreation department that handles the permitting of our outdoor athletic facilities.

Um I I'm guessing that the scope of this didn't include uh looking into the the permanent hours of of those facilities or the hours requested.

That was something I remember during the um uh the athletic fields master plan process.

That definitely was something we heard a lot about.

You and I engaged a lot on that specific thing, as I recall.

Uh, but that wasn't within the scope of this.

Through the chair, no, and I am not sad about it because I spent many hours of my life pouring through that data.

Um, there is a system, and I think that data could be looked at, but we didn't look specifically at that.

That's not in the scope here.

We did hear, you know, people want a rec center, they want indoor recreation.

There are um, there was a lot of conversation about having a community center or youth center, something like that.

Uh, and we do, we are, you know, for example, when we have pops, the developers want to be able to use the space as if it is their own.

And I have insisted that they need to go into the permitting system, just like anybody else because they're public spaces.

So, you know, you can get a permit to have a uh birthday party or a party or any kind of thing like that through the permitting system.

So uh rec, I think would be able to gather that data if that was needed.

Yeah, through the chair.

Um, yeah, totally, totally understandable.

I want to ask about uh community gardens.

Uh talks about in the community garden program improvements, the long wait times to get a plotter mentioned.

Um, I know we got a got an email from is that part of was that part of like the uh sorry, I wanted to make sure that I'm glad you mentioned that because I actually thought it was like another item.

But this is probably just in line with this agenda item.

So thank you for sorry for I live.

I almost wanted to, I thought we were gonna get to that item, but this is actually on point.

Oh, yeah, chair.

Uh, you know, through you, yeah.

This is uh this is what that email was about, right?

Um, you know, in a city where space is really constrained, we're always looking at, you know, how can we create more?

Um are we that there were a number of very creative uh solutions proposed in that email?

I won't go into detail on them.

Uh maybe we should encourage that email to be uh forwarded to public comments and and uh I'll I'll just ask, you know, do you see any creative solutions out there for creating more of these community gardens?

Uh through the chair, there will be some community gardens as part of the programming at the art farm.

And um we are always looking for places to expand.

Just a little asterisk on the 600 number.

The community gardens are governed by the conservation commission and the conservation commission um has recently done some, they've had a subcommittee and they've been looking at their community gardening program.

They they're the community gardens themselves are self-self-governed, and they've always really resisted our involvement because we know, for example, that they're the the plots are not equitably sized and that some of them are not visually accessible, et cetera, et cetera.

But folks have been very clear that they don't want our help on this.

Um, but we do know from the subcommittee that the 600 number is a little bit misleading because oftentimes people will put their name on it, and then they, you know, maybe they're a student or young or they're moving out of Somerville, and when they go to call, they have to go down like eight different people before they get someone who is actually still on that list.

So there is an absolute need for it.

We also had conversations with them about limiting the time because once people get a garden, they can stay for life.

And it turns out that the those lifetime gardeners are the people who kind of hold these gardens together.

So, for example, if you go over to Lincoln Park, which that one we piloted having a three-year limit on, and people are not uh, you know, I think a lot of people want to garden, but they don't realize you actually have to do it and do it frequently if you want to get something out of it.

So we've piloted a number of different things, not having fences, having fences, having open gardens, having having um wait lists, and um, I think our thinking has changed a bit on that because those stalwart gardens are really the people who hold that community together.

We've also realized that most people are not going to be able to feed their families by a community garden plot.

And what it really does.

Sorry, director, you're muted.

Sorry, I don't know how uh I apologize through the chair.

What it does is build community more than anything else.

Um, so and that is very important.

There are others in the city who feel that we should abolish the um community garden programs altogether because it's a privatization of that space.

So, you know, we have 81,000 clients.

There's a lot of different um opinions, but we are always looking to add more community gardens and to really work with the garden committee to be more efficient on the turnover and and activating them.

We have some community gardens that are that I think could be better used.

For example, the ones at Chucky Harris Park.

Um, and there, you know, there's some issues with the design there.

But if there are people that wanted to garden flowers, that's a perfect place for them.

I believe the Project Soup may have been using them for a little bit.

Um, but yes, we're absolutely aware of the community gardens.

We absolutely want more into our system uh because there is a need, even though some people are vehemently against them.

So again, as with everything, we want more open space for everything.

Absolutely.

Um I appreciate that.

Question about art farm.

It's come up here a couple times.

I see a couple different statuses listed in there.

It's that one says it's um on hold because of the work at the Pablo Street Pump Station, another says design being finalized.

We get asked about that a lot.

Uh here we are, you know, in front of the public.

I'll ask, what is what where are we?

What's where's where's our farm at right now?

Uh Council Wilson, I think the director rich actually sent a memo about specifically for that.

But I'm glad you're asking that because maybe Director Oliveira also has answered.

So, you know, I already call you director.

Uh liaison, that's the like can you comment to that?

Yes, through the chair.

I know there's another item on this on the agenda.

Um, so uh director Rage did submit a memo providing the most up-to-date um information for our farm.

That's what I would just, you know.

So uh happy to wait and have that discussion when we take that up.

It just our farm had come up, and I wanted to ask about that.

Uh chair.

One last question I had.

Uh and and that is to do uh to do with uh the the fields master plan stuff.

Uh very excited for double auxiliary field coming online next year.

Thank you, CPA funds.

I have to ask about Lincoln Park, specifically the soccer field.

Uh it's just it's not able to support the full programmed use it was intended to have just because of our inability to have a you know healthy grass surface on it.

How important is that uh in the director's view uh for us to get that field surface issue solved.

Uh through the chair, I have not been really involved in Lincoln Park soccer field for quite some time.

I know that there's the grass was struggling.

I thought that there had been some improvements made and it was doing much better.

Um I think that at this point we do have enough synthetic turf fields to support at least what we have now in some growth.

Um I I you know, maintenance of our assets is always a continual uh thing that we work very hard with DPW on.

Um, but I I really don't know what where what status the Lincoln soccer field is at this moment.

Well, Chair, I'll just say this about the Lincoln Park Soccer field.

It's uh, you know, really should be a gem.

We've really struggled for a few reasons I won't get into here.

Uh we've struggled to maintain that anywhere near the quality it should be at, um, given the amount of money we put into that and its importance.

Uh yeah, we we absolutely we have a lot of turf fields in the city.

We need more grass athletic fields.

That's why that field is so important.

So uh, you know, I that's gonna it it's I'm just gonna name that.

That's a problem we have to be working on.

We have to get serious about uh about making that surface work.

That's all I had.

Thanks, Chair.

And thanks, Director.

Sure.

Through the chair, just one word on that.

You will see when we open Dillboy, it will be perfect.

Uh, just like when we opened the lawn at Prospect Hill Park, it was perfect.

And I took a picture because I said to myself, it will never look like this again.

Um, and the truth is these are heavily used public spaces with dogs, rain, trampling after rainstorms, all the stuff that comes with heavy usage, it is a challenge to maintain them.

We don't have enough fields to let them rest while others recuperate.

So yeah, unfortunately, this is always a challenge with any municipality, but most especially with ours because we just don't have the space to be able to rotate things around.

And also we would have to, you know, cordon off a large part of the park, which we've done for quite some time at Lincoln.

So thank you, Director.

Um appreciate your patience.

Uh no problem.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um, yeah, through you.

Um just a couple of quick questions.

One um I noticed that, and maybe it's I don't I think we acquired it officially, but I noticed I didn't see the um Sewell Street lot in this line.

I know it's not named or anything like that, but um, it is officially ours, I believe.

Um I didn't see that on there.

I guess my question is is um do you know how many like square feet of open space that that adds?

Because that isn't going to be a pop.

It's not gonna be a privately owned public space.

Um we were able to negotiate it to be uh city city land.

So the chair, um Sewell Street wasn't uh part of the inventory because the inventory was finished before it was uh negotiated.

But yes, I I imagine it's it's a less than a half of an acre, if that, because it's quite small.

Um, but you know, we'll take every square inch we have succeeded in getting, you know, in the last 10 year, I think about 16 um acres, which maybe 16.

I don't know if that's right, which doesn't sound like a lot given our goal was 154 or something, but it actually is a lot because of how densely populated we are.

Yeah, no, no problem.

I just figured that, you know, you would I thought it would have been added just because of course, you know, what you want to we want to look as good as possible here on paper.

Um the chair, it's true.

We do want to look as good as possible, but we actually only add things after a ribbon cutting.

That's kind of our okay.

Well, that was my question.

I didn't that's exactly what I was getting at.

I just although I I didn't see uh whatever.

Um okay, but that's exciting.

And then the other question was around um as far as well, this is kind of on the pollinator garden thing, but have you been in touch with Mystic River Watershed Association around the MROS project and like the kind of I guess the I think it's gonna kind of decimate the um pollinator garden that's over um currently on the uh shore drive uh area, which the pipe is going to go right through that pollinator garden.

Have you been in touch with them about what the plans might look like?

That's that's the that's I think the other item is about pollinator.

Oh, okay.

Yes, yeah, yeah.

Um the chair, the other item is about the pollinator plan.

Uh Counselor Klingon is act is asking about a project that has the potential to destroy the pollinator garden that was uh that's on the mystic banks.

Yeah, yeah.

Um I am aware of that, and uh I have made an appropriate amount of noise, as has everyone on my staff.

Um, but there are infrastructure needs, and I don't think it can be avoided.

It's it's also a particular shame because that pollinator garden uh people always think that meadows are very easy to establish, and that pollinator garden was a perfect example of why we've always been saying it's really not like that, because I believe DCR has put more than 150,000 into it and many, like many iterations over years to get it to finally be doing what it's supposed to do.

Uh and yes, this project threatens to go right through it, and um it's very unfortunate.

Yeah.

I just brought up in the context of you, you know, blessing of the bay park is on there, which this is that's technically part of the whole the whole park.

Um then the last question would be as far as um, and this may fall, you know, hopefully the the new administration will really kind of re-explore the possibility of um getting an MOU with the state for FOSS Park.

Um I just you know, I get a lot of a lot of the people on Fellsway West, you know that at this point it seems like there's a few, they just redid all of these softball fields, um, the furthest ones down towards Mr.

Cav, and they don't really get any use.

And I just feel like there's so much possibility there with you know, potentially, because the state doesn't morally want to get involved with dog parks, it seems like you know, that's kind of like they they kind of resist that's not something that they seem interested in doing, but it seems like if we were able to get an MOU with the state and could take control of FOSS, um, potentially we could get a dog park there.

Um potentially we could get a dog park there.

Um and then other and maybe even more garden space, you know.

I it it is you know, multiple potential uses where it's currently not being used right now.

Um those softball fields included.

Um do you have any thoughts on that?

I'm just curious, like in terms of FOSS and you know what that would look add to our um stock.

Um DCR made a pretty substantial investment by putting the field there that is heavily heavily used.

Um and does provide a lot of that.

Uh there's always people on it.

It provides a lot of the informal um games that are not permitted.

Um, and they we have had numerous processes where we've spoken to people about what they'd like to see at FOSS, but you know, DCR is a huge real estate holder, and they have investments all over the state.

Um I don't we've not really they have planted trees there, additional trees, but it's very hard to get them uh to commit to changing things or to get them to agree to let us change things.

So really that's like something that needs to be worked through um to the state delegation.

Okay, which has been very involved.

I mean, honestly, I personally through you, Mr.

Chair.

I don't know that I would want to see us take on another pool per se.

So I I think maybe, and they love their soccer field, so maybe you know, everything from the new soccer field on, they they maintain, and we work out idea where we can develop in some way, you know, you repurpose the rest of the of the open space that doesn't get uh a lot of use.

And the one of the softball fields does, but the other two way down, they're not seeing any use at all.

They've gotten all weeded over even after they spent a bunch of money to to uh to redo them.

So anyway, I just like to have that conversation as far as you know, FOS goes and as part of our open space uh amenities and stuff like that.

Um hopefully that's something we can work towards.

Um that's all, Mr.

Chair, thank you.

Great presentation, by the way.

Thank you, Councillor Klingon.

Um I guess uh Dr.

Olivera, you can see that you have you continue to have like an all star you know tonight.

But I want to go back to this you know, email that we got that I'm not sure you got it.

Um of our constituent elish, you know, really I I literally had to print this email because I guess one thing I I was trying to know is that so community guidance are they under your purview?

No, the community gardens are managed within themselves and they're under the purview of the conservation commission.

Yeah, I know you mentioned that.

So, but do you have thank you?

And so, but how do we because you also mentioned about trying to add community gardens?

So it seems like you guys overlap.

Is that correct?

So the chair.

So PSF designs and constructs the amenity, and then it is managed by uh ConsCom.

Also, I believe that this I don't know if this email is one of the items, uh another in another item.

I wasn't sure if it had to do with that.

Uh there's another uh let's see.

I don't I don't know if it came to to us.

I don't I think it was directed just to just to members of the committee, but it's pretty substantial.

It's very to the chair, it's very similar to the ones about uh policy for our the use of open space on municipal property around city buildings for community gardens.

1427.

So we I we could take that up now or we can keep going.

Um that's why you see when when Councillor Wilson mentioned it, and then I was like, okay, I thought it was an yeah, no, I think we should um I don't know.

I think maybe we should is that okay if we just take it because you're still gonna be here for that one, correct?

To the chair today is the Louisa show, so I am here all night.

My cat is now joining me.

Okay, so so what is what is the item number for that one?

Um that one is 1427, but we were go we were moving towards, I think.

Uh we were on oh yes, yes.

Okay.

Let me let me hold off.

Let me just yes, okay.

Do the um uh pollinator option planning.

Yes, I got distracted because of once a wisdom that I'm asking this question, I'll say, okay.

This is like I got it, it threw me off.

Okay, well, I'll always so pollinato garden through the chair, yes.

So next slide is um something that we uh uh you again for those of you who have been around for a while.

Um, the pollinator, we've had a lot of uh activism on pollinator action and also on native species.

This really was something that was championed by Mayor Ballantyne and started with a native species ordinance where we were able to set percentages for types, different types of landscape for native plantings that also allowed us some flexibility to respond to climate change because nativity is always changing and plant ranges are actually changing with climate change.

But as a second part to that, we were able to uh the council voted unanimously, thank you for the funds to create the the Summerville Pollinator Action Plan.

This is the first of its kind in the United States, and um you can find it on Summer Voice.

Here's the QR if you want to zap that, or again, it's on the Summer Voice page, and we're constantly adding information.

The Summer Voice page has the methodology of it, it has videos um of different pollinators, it has presentations that the scientists gave us uh on it, and it is really a wealth of information that is a benefit to being open source because many, many other cities in the region have used it, and we are constantly getting um feedback on it, very positive feedback.

Um so again, it's worth reading.

I know we have two New York's time, New York Time bestsellers, but this plan is very, very good, and it is really an overlay of our city with the science, pollinator science uh on top of it, and then the plants that go with it.

So let me just give you a couple of um highlights.

So this is the there was an 11-person uh um advisory committee, citizen advisory committee.

This may be a lot, this is the one we uh uh finished the plan, and there were a number of people who spent a year and a half coming to meetings and writing them, as well as Alison Maurer, who's in the left corner, uh, who is the project manager from Public Space and Urban Forestry.

Um this plan had a lot of, you know, they the committee was involved in hiring the team that wrote it and in reviewing their work and arguing different points, and I think what we came up with is a is something that is very good, very, very hyper local, but also very usable to others and user-friendly.

We hope there are some parts that are, for example, there is a database where you can search plants to figure out if there are particular pollinators you are trying to support, uh, or if you're looking for a particular color to use in your garden, that is a very detailed Excel spreadsheet.

And then we also have a residence guide that is about 10 pages long, so that you can just um get a glimpse of it.

So it's from you know, gardeners to horticulturalists.

We had a in addition to the advisory committee, there was a lot of outreach that was done.

Part of the um picking the advisory committee was people that had networks of others that we could really share this work with.

So we had scientists on the advisory committee, people from the growing center, the garden club, um people from the uh agencies that are working on pollinator um stuff statewide.

So we had really a lot of expertise, as always.

We have a lot of uh very smart people in Somerville, and we had a we had youth as well.

They're also smart, but we also allowed some young folks and um ex officio members of, for example, conservation commission or other um adjacent committees.

Um this is the kind of science that was involved in making this plan.

So just as a quick um the the first step, we had a brilliant scientist, Dr.

Nicholas Dorian, who had also started the Tufts Pollinator Initiative.

And the first step was to say, well, which pollinators are in Somerville?

Because people often will get a plant that says this supports 52 pollinators, but if only two of them are in your area, it's not really that useful of a plant.

So this is a chart that maps the interaction of pollinators to plants.

So on the bottom is your plants, on the top are your pollinators.

And when you see the bigger uh bands, it means more insects have visited those more times, and those are like the high-value pollinator plants.

So there are a number of metrics that were done this way.

And this was done through citizen science by combing not only local data that um one scientist had had here information from the Tufts Pollinator Institute, but also a program called I natur I Natural, where people are able to take a photograph of something and geolocate it.

So we know which insects are actually here.

We found over uh close to 300 uh species of insects and pollinator, which which is really goes far to let us know that cities really can be part of the answer to the biodiversity crisis.

Um so heavy on science, really fascinating.

Um then from the plan, we we had a number of different things.

So we uh put in front of City Hall.

We don't see them anymore because we're at the Tab building, but three pollinator gardens that were built according to these recipe cards that are in the plan.

So for people who don't really know what what plant design they want, they can pick a recipe card and say, I want a purple garden or a garden that supports butterflies.

And we had three of them installed in front of City Hall.

Um, people now I see getting married in front and taking photos in front of it, which is super cute.

Uh, and then we also the iNaturalist program is runs.

There's a Somerville pollinator action account where you can um identify pollinators, and we would like to encourage everyone to do it because adding more habitat and then being able to measure the difference is what really tells us if the plan is working.

We also um this year, as part of the implementation, we're able to add more habitat to five different gardens in the city.

The on the right is the wedding nook at um Prospect Hill.

It's one of the ones that received it.

We also put plants in Conway Park, Hoyt Sullivan, um Chucky Harris Park, and there's one more, but I can't remember.

But anyway, you know, part of the the whole point is to add habitat to know who who is here and then to add more places for them to overwinter for them to breed for them to eat.

Uh, we also have there's a section in the plan about landscape practices and about leaving leaves, not using pesticides, um trying to buy pet uh plants that are neonic free.

We had a whole discussion about that last night, all very important things.

Um, and I'm really happy to say that we this plan has been really highly regarded.

We won both uh an award from the Boston Society of Landscape Architects and an a national award actually from the American Society of Landscape Architects, and we presented it at the conference and had um just really glowing people were really really happy to have this information.

Uh and these things are important also because not just because our team is landscape architects, but because landscape architects are the ones choosing the plants for most public spaces in the area.

So that's like a big network of people who now is realizing okay, here is this plan.

This information is um relative to us in the Metro Boston area, but also could be replicated in other cities, and here's the methodology for doing it.

Um so very proud of this work.

We had a, you know, we had the same conversations that we have all the time with some people being more purists, some people being less, and then trying to hunt down the science because this is a science-based plan.

But in the end, I think there is something for everyone in this plan.

Um, and uh I'm really uh proud of the work that we've done.

I think that's oh, yes, that is the last slide.

So here is a bee getting some pollen.

Amazing.

Wow.

Excellent presentation.

When I saw this, the garden, like I always think about my friend Tori, you know, Antonino, like she's always, you know, like trying to create these, you know, plans that uh, you know, uh whenever I see like a D or like you know, in some of those gardens, I just think about just how much we are so rich with community members that are so that invest in the building.

This kind of a native, you know, gardens that we had as banning.

No, but I appreciate that.

This is this is excellent.

You actually I was you took words from my mouth because I wanted to build up the new niche conversation into this, but you came like just went writing.

No, it's it's good.

I appreciate it.

Um any member have any question?

Thank you, Director.

This is an excellent.

So uh we will mark uh 10 and 11 work complete.

So if I may, through the chair, just to add a couple of things.

There is a discussion about neonix here, and uh um, you know, to increase awareness of what the damage it does to pollinators, and then also um Tori was actually on the committee.

She was in the photograph that you saw, and is also you know, the whole committee is on the award.

So uh, you know, we're really excited about the collaboration and the work that was done um on this plan, and it really was um I think uh super active, very engaged advisory committee that enabled us to get such a good product.

Excellent.

Wow, I did not I couldn't believe I did not recognize Tori in that picture, but she's right next to me.

Oh, yeah, no, I see how those those those glasses.

I yeah, I know I had seen I saw that one.

Yeah, anyway, thank you, Director.

Um I think we should we could we can quickly move.

You can I think maybe uh uh liaison Radasi can pick the different items for you because you you seem to occupy a bunch of the agenda.

So I don't know which one do you want to want us to pick up maybe maybe maybe nine since we're talking about you know that the director of public space on urban forestry discuss with this council a policy for use of open space on municipal property around city building for community gardens.

Yes, oh my god, it's this is this is the one that you know if you do not get this memo, like I gotta make sure that the clerk sends it so you should be attached to it because this is like from uh a resident, very thoughtful, you know, it's really explains even like the potential spaces to create, you know, like uh uh community gardens, even if it's just for temporary use, and they even mention like uh uh uh 45 college half, even describing, you know, like how convenient the location is 24 cross street, you know, 19 Warner Street, 9 Allen Street.

I mean, like they did their homework, and so uh I just want to hear your thinking because I just think it makes so much sense.

I could not believe that, you know, when I read this thing and then realizing that people like the wait list is just like exceeds like 600 people, it's just too much, you know.

Um and I mean, and they actually even have suggestion about like how to kind of like really create this thing so that it can be fair and equitable, you know.

I mean, of course, the only thing I didn't really appreciate is, you know, I mean, the last part in the last paragraph says like, oh, if this on the use spaces cannot be used for community allotment, can they at least be made into temporary pollinator gardens in a city as dense as Somavia under utilizing municipal own space is positively criminal?

I don't I think that was like a little bit of a stretch right there, but I I I guess you know, yes, it's something that we should pay attention, you know, to be able to like I mean I got the idea, but I mean I would not have used that that last word, you know.

So can you just you know speak to this item and how you can you know help our residents kind of like really feel included into some of this underutilized municipal spaces?

Yes, through the chair, thank you.

Um I have I have read the email that was sent to I have, and I've actually met with Eilish before to discuss some of these things.

So um, yes, I and this is actually not the first time that these ideas have come up.

They come up quite frequently.

Um, but there are unfortunately uh a number of problems.

The the first one being that we are in an urban environment and a lot of the land on properties can be contaminated.

And if we um if we test the property, we then need to remediate it, and there's no way around that.

So we could go around and test the soil on every single city asset, and then we would need to remediate it.

Normally, the um when there is a real estate transaction, the developer is the one who remediates the soil when they're building something.

So the first thing is that there's soil can be contaminated, and we do not want people gardening in contaminated soil.

We know that all of the community gardens presently have clean soil because we built them.

Um there is also an issue with um, you know, sometimes some of these areas, so there's a number of categories of areas that she mentioned them.

Some of them are like city property, and again, there's the contamination issue.

90 Washington is a perfect example.

We are trying to dispose of that lot.

Um, but we in order to let people garden there, and this is really about vegetables, but could also be about even gardening flowers, depending on the contaminants.

Um and then if we let people garden there, we don't, if we test it, we're liable for it.

If we don't test it and something happens to someone, we're then liable for that.

So there is a big issue with contamination.

Um, you know, we just have been through Conway Park.

We know what kind of um stuff that that leaves.

So that that is a big problem.

There are, and I have said this to Eilish, there are a number of places that I think are gardenable now.

For example, uh Chucky Harris Park doesn't have anyone gardening there.

Um, we are also have been awarded through participatory budgeting money to create pollinator gardens, which will be we will be doing.

It's also part of the implementation of the pollinator plan.

But those have to be in spaces that we know are one safe and two are being cared for.

And um it is there are volunteers who are very committed and they care for things and do things, but volunteering is not um is not a sure thing to assure the maintenance of spaces.

So um there is that as well because people are very committed and then they move away, or they have other things happen to them, or and they just can't be committed anymore.

So there are some other things.

I think that there are a number of opportunities for residents to be involved, be it through the growing center, the garden club, uh through uh various pollinator plantings that are going to be coming up through the community gardens, for example, and find like underutilized ones um where they're planting plants, but the you know, there's also other things that are when people are planting uh on city land, sometimes, for example, in areas of high traffic, there isn't any thought to sight lines or things like that.

So, you know, there's there it seems like such a simple idea, and why don't we just do it?

But unfortunately, in the land of liability, it is not a simple idea, and there's a number of different things to consider.

Um are there parcels that belong to the city where that could happen?

Frankly, I don't know because I don't know what all of our assets are, and I think some of the things that she mentioned were potentially private properties.

I don't know.

No, I think one thing I'm glad to hear is that you know, you're meeting with her, which is for me that's it's super helpful, you know.

So um, yeah, hopefully, you know, we'll continue this conversation and you know, figure out a better way, you know, because it's like every community problem, you know, has a community-based solution.

So and how like it's all about how what is that that process looks like.

Um, but thank you for engaging with her.

And it's um yeah, I don't know, you know what to say.

I think um I'm not sure how to dispose of this item.

And I think um I don't know, those what do you think?

You know, I'm I'm asking members of the committee, like right now, like you know, Councillor Wilson, you know, I know you started this conversation as well.

You know, so this is now we are not on this sauce.

Yeah, uh Mr.

Chair, since you asked, uh, you know, probably our last meeting of the year, right?

So these items are all gonna expire at the end of the year.

So I'd if we if it was sent for discussion, we discussed it.

Just one man's opinion, but I'd mark it work completed.

Yeah, I thought so too.

And also we can resummit something in the year if this conversation doesn't really pan out, you know.

So thank you.

So, you know, Claire for Celeste, we're gonna mark this as well complete as well.

Um we gonna go back to the I just feel like we're just going uh backwards for some reason.

We started from nine from 11, we went to 10, went to ninth.

Um maybe we should just return to the regular order of business.

No, maybe maybe no.

Well, Dr.

Oliver, yeah, we'll get we we want to get rid of you now, like so.

I gotta look at what I what what item applies to you, so you can we can let you go.

So the chair, I think there are a couple more because I haven't had as long as a city council meeting since the fields debates, so okay.

So are you also you know the one for dog parks?

Yes, okay, so nice.

So we're gonna move to three.

Um that the director of public space and urban forestry discuss with this council opportunities to create a dog park in West Somerville.

So uh wow, you you're gonna this is gonna be a good time for you know with you and you and the committee to actually have fun before the end of the year.

So uh Councilor Davis sent in a uh an email that wanted me to read this into the record.

So bear with me.

Mr.

Chair, as we discussed, I wouldn't be able to attend the open space meeting this evening due to pre-existing conflict.

However, I'm providing this message for the benefit of the committee to provide some historical context on the topic.

Please read this into the record if you will be so kind.

I think I am kind.

In June of 2022, I raised the question of an off-leash area in the western part of the city to the administration and suggested perhaps Net and Tufts Park might be an option.

Director Olivera noted that it is an historic district which would necessitate going through the historic preservation committee.

I also reached out to a few folks in the ward and heard some resistance to the idea, which led me to conclude that it will be an uphill battle, an effort would be better for us elsewhere.

At the time, Director Oliveira also noted that the city was working with the state to potentially open an off-leash area somewhere in the vicinity of Dale Boyfield.

I don't know where the effort stands, but I maintain that that would be an ideal location in many ways if it were possible.

Another password that will seem to be an obvious location is the ever source property on Wheel of It is currently zoned as civic space, which will allow this use.

If the city were able to work out an arrangement with Eversource, it would be an opportunity to turn a significantly underused parcel into a public open space.

I've also long suggested that that parcel will make an excellent location for an eventual replacement for the Brown School, and this will be a beneficial use of the space that will not foreclose that opportunity.

Yes, thank you through the chair.

So um this a lot of this conversation comes from a feasibility study that was funded by the community preservation act, I believe in 2019, and it identified that there are no uh off-leash recreational areas for dogs in West Somerville.

Um the study had some flaws in it, but um in fact there is not an off-leash recreational area in Somerville that is owned by the by the city.

I know there were people that used to run their dogs at Tufts University.

I don't know if that one still exists or not.

Um the problem with as with everything is uh not having the open space to meet everyone's needs, and there were some places suggested in the study, but they were not feasible.

For example, um when you go and look into them, like the Nathan Tufts park, and you see it is historical, and you know, as many people want a dog park, there are people against it.

So there's a couple of things when citing a dog park that I think we need to remember.

One is that it's it is um able to be fenced so that dogs can run freely but not interfere with other people that may be outside that area, and that it is not adjacent to residential properties.

Um, I know that Nunziato is, but that one was um done before really there was any real thought to it.

And we also get a lot of complaints from neighbors about Nunziato Field.

So that said, um, I know there is a need for this, and I we there was some conversation about DCR, but I don't believe that DCR allows dogs off leash in their properties anywhere.

Um, there's also a playground there near Dilboy, so it would have to be fenced off.

And again, that's something that DCR would need to do because it is not our property.

As to the Eversource property, people bring this um this property up to me a number for many things because it's filled with invasives, because it could be something else.

Um, but it is owned by Eversource.

So our ability to tell anyone what to do with private properties is really um very difficult.

I mean, and a little bit, you know, we I don't really know what to say because I you know it's a private property.

I don't know that we have any influence over what they can and cannot do with it.

So I acknowledge the need, and I wish I had a better solution, but uh there really aren't parcels that we own in West Somerville for the purpose of this.

Thank you, Director.

Um any members of the committee have any question?

Uh Councilor Wilson.

Thanks, Chair.

Um, yeah, appreciate that update.

Um I will note there have been cases where uh folks have gotten DCR to basically be okay with off-leash recreation areas.

Uh Sheepfold is one of them.

Um I don't know that we have enough space to the big thing about Sheepfold has a ton of space, and that's where they can get away with it there.

I'm not sure that's gonna work well in Somerville, but hey, always worth the conversation.

Um the Tufts uh area would right on Powder House uh Boulevard that has been sort of de facto dog park for a while.

Tufts had cracked down on that at one point.

Uh I'll just say I've spoken to uh our main contact at Tufts about formalizing something there.

Tufts is always looking for ways to to demonstrate value to the community.

I think that would be a really good community benefit were Tufts to figure out a way to provide a dog park uh to a really uh to an area of the city that is underserved by dog parks.

So that's just all that's all I want to say.

Thanks, Chair.

Thank you, Chair.

I agree.

Yeah, thank you, Chair.

I also 100% agree.

Not tough should actually, you know, like uh create us a dog pack, you know, as part of the community benefit agreement so that I can actually go and you know, maybe kind of look through the window view because if you if you're aware somebody from Cameroon, no, we are not like into dog, but hey, again, I want to I like to see it through the fence, you know, no leash in an open space, but through the fence, I can like just see the dogs run around, jump and do the uh the um you know performance.

You know, there are some of this dogs.

I just love this ad that actually see how smart they are like in pulling stuff.

But yeah, we definitely need something in, you know, with uh on, you know, like Rio State is it's so scarce.

But thank you for you know thinking in that direction.

Councilor Klingon.

Yeah, um, thank you, Mr.

Chair.

So just so kind of what I was saying earlier, just to Director Oliveira.

Um is it a policy or is it no, as far as say Dilboy is concerned, right?

Like I heard you say, you know, the state doesn't allow dogs off-leash, right?

But are they sort of just adverse to creating dog parks, I guess was was sort of my question earlier.

Is that something that you know to be, you know, I don't know about fact if they have it as down in writing, but or do you know that?

I don't know.

Through the chair.

I I don't know that.

Um what you know, in that Dilboy area, there is a playground, so there's that factor.

So it would need to be fenced.

I don't know if they would be amenable to doing it.

Personally, I am completely in favor of having a dog park because what's gonna happen is that the field that we just invested almost three million dollars in is going to become a dog park.

And you know, short of having someone there telling people not to put their dogs on it.

Uh we can't really prevent that.

So um, and the dogs, the dogs, um, you know, on in a dog park, they're not damaging anything, but on an athletic field, they are um because they dig and their urine burns the grass.

So um, yes, I would love to be able to solve this problem.

I don't know if DCR, when we the interactions we have with DCR are really at the staff level of like other people that are doing the design work or going through green docket review.

Uh, I'm not sure, and I can try to reach out to one of those contacts to see.

I'm not sure if they have a policy.

Um, I don't know if they would be amenable to it there because it's near playground.

Yeah.

Well, I definitely, yeah.

I mean, again, I'm not saying Dilboy near the playground per se.

I guess I'm I I mentioned Dilboy because it's state land, but um more curious.

I'll be great if we could ask that just because I know a lot of dog parks.

I have a dog and I know all the different I don't think I know of one off-leash, like dedicated dog park that's on state property.

And it's my it's been my understanding that especially since they know about the situation at FOSS, where it's basically becoming unofficial off-leash dog park, which you know in the summertime I get complaints because there's the tennis camp and everything.

Um they're aware of that situation, and I tell people I don't think that the state, because of whatever you know, reasons.

I don't think that they're you know, whether it'd be having to go do the main, you know, pick up the dog, the the bags or whatever any of those reasons just seems like there is an either unspoken policy or there is a policy somewhere that we just never asked, but um, because I think about places like if we were to talk to Medford, I think it's Medford's land, but you know, near the corner of danger of Boston Ave and thing that there's like these odd open spaces where there's no children's parks around nearby, but but really could uh satisfy the need for say a dog park or something like that.

Um so anyway, that's just kind of my my dog thoughts on dog parks and the state and whether or not because they have the most abundance of sort of free open land um in our area.

So yes, through the chair, I I imagine it's also a question of resources.

You know, they already have so much land that they need to maintain and renovate, and maybe they have decided that's just something they don't want to get into.

I don't know.

I can um ask with DCR, they're not the best communicators.

Um, but I can certainly see if there's a reason.

Yeah, thank you, Council O'Tunga.

I think it's all about capacity, you know, as well in audience agency.

Counselor Wilson.

Yeah, Mr.

Chair, I just want to highlight something we just heard, which is that the ward four counselor is getting questions about Foss Park because we all know Foss Park should be in Ward 4.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh so you know we're all in agreement that we want a dog park, but how to get it, it's an immense the million dollar question.

So we'll make this as well complete.

Um thank you, director.

What those comment?

So the next one is item number four, that the director of public space and urban forestry plan your trees and maintain existing trees in Magoon Square on Metzwood Street and on Broadway.

I think uh if I'm not mistaken.

I remember okay.

Yeah.

Through the chair, um on Medford Street and on Broadway.

Uh so that's a little bit of a broad request.

Recently, the urban forestry division has planted various trees on Broadway, and they'll be planting new trees along Central Broadway as part of the Central Broadway project, which is on um the summer voice page, Broadway corridor.

So that those trees, there have been trees planted there.

They've also we have a routine pruning program for medium to large street trees and are cycling through the all the streets.

And it was so far we've completed wards one and two, and are currently working in ward three.

So we'll probably be working uh through the pruning cycle for Magoon within one or two years.

Again, we just don't have the resources to do it all at once.

The other thing, um, I don't know if people know, but any time there is a place to put a tree, they can submit a 311 or any tree issues uh that they would like to speak to the arborists about, they can send to trees at Somerville Ma.gov, and that goes to the tree amigos as we call them, the two arborists in public space and the um tree warden in DPW.

So um, you know, they're there we plant 350 street trees a year, and um we try to spread them out through wards, but many of them are um people that are asking for a tree.

And uh, you know, every single one of those trees, Dr.

Bukhili goes out, finds the location, finds the appropriate species, checks for gas lines to see if the sidewalk can be built.

So we welcome people telling us where there are spaces for trees because it's pretty labor intensive.

Uh, and then she goes out and makes sure that they have all been planted as well.

So we we really do rely on the community to give us information about trees if they are um able to.

Thank you, Director.

Um yeah, no, that makes sense.

I guess when I hear like 350 trees a year, that's like a significant amount.

So, how many of them survive?

Because I mean, we still seem to be like template, like, you know, the the area, and we're still at the lowest with trees.

So how can you, you know, how do we like how many, like how many of them survive?

Uh and since when have we been trying to planting 350 trees a year?

I think we should have been like the number one tree city.

Through the chair.

Um, so we've been planting 350 trees a year, probably uh two years after Dr.

Bukili got here.

If you want to read a third New York Times bestseller, the Urban Forestry Master Plan has all the data on the Somerville tree canopy.

Uh, we we have probably around uh 16,000 trees right now, and yes, we have less than a lot of other cities because we are more densely populated.

We also know that we trees are lost a lot to uh private property, and we cannot control that.

We have a tree protection ordinance, which we also enforce, but um we're not losing our canopy in our public spaces, we're losing our canopy in the private spaces.

There is a loss um of street trees, it's about a 1% death rate.

Those get replaced within those two years.

Um street trees, if you look at what they're growing in, they got to be really tough.

They're in a three by three pit, people trample all over them, dogs pee in them, like we have a lot of real survivors um that are doing very well despite those odds, but we do uh we uh every year I'm amazed that she can still find a place to put 350 trees, but she's doing a spring and fall planting.

All of those tree locations are up uh on our website in GIS, so anybody can look at those.

Um, and if there's one, I mean there's many things that Dr.

Bukili does well, but the she has all the data on the urban forest um and knows exactly where she has planted and what year she planted them in.

It's all in a huge uh database.

So um, yes, uh we would love to plant more trees everywhere, but if there's specific locations, please tell us where, and we can you know, put it in the spring planting.

Yeah, no, thank you.

Thank you.

No, I appreciate it.

And I'm also a big fan of Dr.

Bukele.

I guess, you know, um, one of the things I was cute about is just um not a big deal, but just to kind of like uh how to you know tell which maybe locations, you know, uh of priority that will have like the greatest environmental health benefits, you know, like what is like that like if you're doing that kind of like you know, I see you're not in yes.

Yes, so that analysis is in the urban forestry management plan, and we know that the the neighborhood that needs it the most because they are environmental justice communities and because they are so densely populated and have the least amount of trees, is of course East Somerville uh and into Winter Hill.

But we've actually had a lot of efforts, made a lot of efforts to plant in those two neighborhoods because they are uh the most vulnerable.

And uh, you know, the trees are also create a substantial benefit for climate change.

They're very important, and they are the one asset that appreciate as they get older, right?

So when we plant a tree, it's worth a lot more in 10 years than it is when we first uh plant it.

So um, yes, we're aware of where there is a need, and we are try to work with residents to get as many trees as possible.

Amazing.

Amazing.

Um thank you, director.

So we'll mark this as well complete, and then I think we we'll have to like move chase.

This is what happens.

I I thought this was gonna be like a 30-minute, you know, like committee meeting.

So um the next one is I think maybe you're gonna help me with this one too.

Well, it says parks and rec.

But this is just me, you know, like we go at the deal boy pool.

This is like item number six, because we've really done number five.

And the director of parks and recs, you know, install a clock on top of the deal boy pool building, you know.

I think um, I see liaison Radesi wants to take this one.

I thought I thought Dr.

Olivera is gonna like just knock off, knock off this, knock her socks off tonight.

Yes.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Yes, um, any additional context on this item would be really helpful.

Um, we have shared this request broadly with parks and recreation staff.

Um, and I can follow up once a new director is on boarded, but in the meantime, any context would be helpful.

Oh no, uh uh, thank you, uh Liazon Radesi.

No, I mean, this is just straightforward.

I mean, there was, you know, like during the summer, like people come there, and I just overheard like everybody just saying, like, I mean, like, I mean, I also felt that we would be nice, you know, to kind of and not just put a clock, we can even do like some solar panel, you know, like you know, like climate adaptive kind of innovation because people come use that swimming pool just by seeing the clock on top of like the buildings.

You can if you even visit it, you will see what I'm talking about.

But it's just a nice aesthetic to show that hey, this is like um like a own way to kind of like show that community spirit of like it's something just something that's small, but it's also very symbolic that people, you know, like they come to like the pool because some a bunch of them don't swim with their with their watches, you know, it's like they and then they can see the clock, they see the time.

It's just it wasn't uh it was just a lot of folks have been asking, and then I just thought, okay, maybe I should just put in you know a request.

But this is something that traditionally I will probably just talk to the director or something and just say, like, hey, yeah, don't you think it would be nice?

And then, you know, uh I wasn't like a fan of bought others, honestly, but again, it feels like it was like the the way to go when we got on the council.

So it's like, oh, you know, you say something, and then maybe somebody has to like send a policy.

Yeah, no, it's just as direct as you really like that.

So unless they say, Oh, there's no money or there's nothing, you know.

But I think it's just a club because it's a public pool.

So in the building, if you go there, you will see the need.

So I don't know.

Through the chair, I think that would need to also go through DCR because they own that pool, don't they?

Oh, yeah, I think that is a DCR pool.

Somebody's making some comment behind.

Is that is that director?

You you do you have any comments?

I hear somebody's speaking behind a mic.

No, no comments.

I'm just taking notes on your comments so that I can share them once we have a new uh director at Parksimer.

Okay, sure.

And Dr.

Olivera, thank you for that intel.

I see I see Councillor Wilson is back.

Just uh I I know we operate the Dillboy pool.

I believe it's owned by DCR though.

So whatever, whatever that means uh for the clock, that's the situation.

I see.

Thank you.

Yeah, no, I mean, in in Radasi, no matter the outcome, we just want to see that if this if it's not possible, that's fine, you know.

You know, but again, this is just a need that community members have expressed, and then we're like, okay, let me just bring it and see how we can you know fix it.

Usually, again, like I said, if I had a good rapport with the director, I don't need to send you know it I think I probably call Director Olivera like a hundred times without sending like a board order because it's it because of the relationship.

So um, so we'll mark this as work complete, and then uh moving on.

I think we should be wrapping this thing up.

Oh, I love this one.

That the that I think director Olivera, unless you just uh do you have I think oh, you have one more stuff about it says urban space and urban forestry.

Okay, so we'll skip this, we'll skip seven and go to eight so that we can you know let the director go and rest.

It's been a long day, and then we can bring it home pretty quickly.

So it says that the director of infrastructure and asset management and the director of public space and urban forestry update this council on the status of art farm and the funding for the project.

Okay, I know Liaison Redas is sending memo.

Um true, I think Director Rich send that memo as well.

Uh I I don't know if members of the community had a chance to read it.

You know, it's it still had some, you know, maybe it would have been nice to I don't know, like I'll open it to here, like if there's any that Liazon Redas, do you have any comment for that memo?

First, the chair.

No, um, those are all the most up-to-date uh updates for art farm.

Um and I'll just mention it's it's in the memo as well, but it's tied to the CIP.

So Council Wilson, did you get a chance to read that memo?

I know you you asked about the art farm, you know.

So I guess my one question is I have been hearing about art farm for almost my entire time that I've been in summer.

So uh it's it's uh I guess um like I just yeah, what is like that current status of capital funding for art farm?

Like, you know, this is like still the the whole thing is still kind of like missing, including any gaps between planned costs and secure funding.

I know the director mentioned that, but I just want to you know understand like the revised timeline in of construction and programming because we've been hearing this.

Is it even gonna happen?

That's the first thing I want to even know because just so that we can just move on to something else, because I just believe I just don't know what is happening around the arts farm, honestly.

Can somebody like just you know share more light?

The chair, my understanding is that we're still moving forward this project.

Um, in the memo, Rich does say that the there needs to be a funding strategy, which they think will be figured out early next year.

Um, so there'll be more details then, and again, I just want to highlight again that it's tied to the capital investment plan, the CIP.

Um, so those kind of go hand in hand as well.

Hmm.

Yeah, I'm looking for Councillor Wilson because he jumped in with the ask farm questions now.

Allow me to kind of like I had like some yeah.

Well, I mean, I think the memo is it's yeah, like you said, it shows that the conversation is still ongoing.

Uh, but um also honestly, like I'm just tired of seeing this art farm stuff.

I'll mark this as work complete, and then we can have this conversation, you know, in the new year if there's something else that is yeah, uh that is missing.

Does that make sense?

Councilor Wilson, do you agree?

Yes, okay.

So Director Olivera, I think you can literally space out honestly.

I don't see anything that requires you here.

Except you want to sit for the second to the last item is number seven.

That says the director of health and human services create a summer job in the mayor's jobs program by which youth can travel by bike to water public trees, all around the city.

Through the chair, this one is also an item that I will respond to if that's okay.

Yeah, absolutely.

Um so the administration has started to have some internal conversations about this proposal.

Um when I raised it with DPW, they had some initial concerns um about uh existing crews and contractors that are in charge of watering right now.

Um so there are some collective bargaining and contract considerations that would need to be taken into account.

Um, but this is something that IJA is planning to flag for the new administration to see if there's any way to implement this.

Excellent.

Well complete.

Thank you.

That is that is very succinct.

It makes sense to me, unless you know, any member of the committee, you know, feels differently.

And I think we should we should we probably have the last item now, you know, on the because I just went like in reverse order.

I'm checking.

I don't see.

I think the only one that we have is item number two.

The director of sustainability, you know, and environment conveying an overview of commonwealth, clean energy goals, electric sector modernization plan, demand growth in summer view, and capital projects underway or plan.

Yeah, I think this is a big one.

We had a such uh, you know, like a preliminary but also like detailed conversation on this in the past, and I guess one of the things that I I was curious just for this, it's just to know where things are, especially given the projected demand, you know, uh growth in Somerville, like what are the most significant risks, you know, to grid reliability over the next decade.

Like this are all this and what capital projects are already you know funded or pending to address like all this vulnerability, if there are any of this stuff, because it was such a detailed conversation, but I know because of the timing, like you said in your memo, you know, we couldn't um have Eversource here, which you know, understandable, but I'm happy to hear you know your thinking and and the direction that you want us to go.

Thank you.

Uh Mr.

Chair, yes.

So this is an item that was an office communication from 2024.

Um, so it was discussed in December of 2024 and earlier this year, and at both of those meetings, Ever Source and uh Director Blaze presented to the committee on the item, and I know that part of the discussion, at least for earlier this year.

Um, I'm not sure because I wasn't here in December 2024, but uh part of the conversation for earlier this year was talking about some of the uh long-term strategies over the next decade.

Um, so in terms of there's no further updates to provide on this item.

Um and yeah, if there's any specific questions, but I think most of them were addressed at the last committee meeting um earlier this year.

Did I just mute myself or did somebody mute me?

So no, I think it's I think this is uh again, yeah.

This is not I don't think we have yeah, I mean, I mean, we can we can this this one is a little tricky, but I'm happy to I'm inclined to leave it just so that you know, like the the following year, if because this is like a whole long-term stuff that is gonna be happening, you know, in case people ever saw has like an updated, you know, like plan.

We we are happy to through the chair.

Um, since it's an officer's communication, if there was an update to the plan, it would be submitted again as an officer's communication.

Yep, that makes sense.

Okay, so we'll mark this again, we'll complete.

Thank you, Lia Zara.

That's you see, we we we're we're a team here, like sometimes we're not sure how to dispose of an item.

So I guess you know, we'll probably come to the end of our agenda.

Uh let's clerk for yes, and happy birthday.

Thank you for making it to the end of this agenda item.

You know, I I was saying I was saying, wow, when when they say you when you say you were the clerk, I was excited because it was your birthday week.

So happy happy birthday to thank you.

Our great clerk for always being there for us.

I think we'll take every item, you know.

We probably have just maybe completed every item on except one that we kept.

I don't remember which, but yes, I have item five as kept in committee, everything else was work completed.

Perfect.

Perfect.

Sounds good.

And so uh with that, we can you know uh make the motion to adjoin and then work complete for those items, and then we don't want to keep in committee.

On adjournment, councillor Klingon.

Yes, councillor Wilson.

I want to vote no, but I'll vote yes, please.

Councillor Burnley, Councillor Saeed, and Councillor Barr.

Yes, and thank you so much, everybody.

Mr.

Chair, three members have voted to adjourn, two are absent.

We are adjourned.

Happy birthday, Peter.

Thank you.

Happy birthday, Peter.

Thank you.