Committee Report - OSEE - 5-2-16 — File 201431

Open Space, Environment and Energy Special Committee Page 1 of 5 Printed 5/13/2016 May 2, 2016 REPORT OF THE OPEN SPACE, ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY SPECIAL COMMITTEE Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Katjana Ballantyne Chair Present Robert J. McWatters Vice Chair Absent Mark Niedergang Ward Five Alderman Present Lance L. Davis Ward Six Alderman Present Dennis M. Sullivan Alderman At Large Present Others present: Alderman William White, Brad Rawson - OSPCD, Jill Lathan - Recreation, Oliver Sellers-Garcia - OSE, Vithal Deshpande - OSE, Tim Snyder - Mayor’s Office, Rositha Durham - Clerk of Committees The meeting took place in the Committee Room and was called to order at 7:00 PM by Alderman Ballantyne Document List: • Questions - Athletic Fields (with 200860) Approval of the February 29, 2016 Minutes RESULT: ACCEPTED 201170: Requesting the review and approval to proceed with the state's review of the draft Community Electric Aggregation Plan. Mr. Sellers-Garcia and Stefano Leretto, from Good Energy, addressed this issue. The first draft of the program has been completed and the city selected Good Energy through a purchasing process along with other municipalities. This process was transparent and has potential, allowing the city to take advantage of working with other municipalities and using their expertise. The goals of the program are to boost the amount of renewable certificates higher than state requirements and to be cost neutral while adding more renewable energy points. The Somerville plan presented suggest a 16% aggregation to ensure stable energy cost instead of the typical 11%. This is a 5% increase. Community Electricity Aggregation is a program in

Open Space, Environment and Energy Special Committee Page 2 of 5 Printed 5/13/2016 Massachusetts that empowers cities and towns to create large buying groups of residential & business electricity accounts in order to seek bids for cheaper supply rates, essentially bulk-purchasing. The city has done outreach in the community and held workshops at the Somerville Public library. The committee approved the plant to proceed the states review of the draft plan. RESULT: APPROVED 200860: Conveying a Presentation from SPCD, Recreation, and SomerStat on Fields. After presenting to the Board of Aldermen, the Adminstration held two community meetings in the east and west schools of Somerville to solicit feedback. The Administration is still compiling this information and will report back at our next OSEE meeting. Mr. Snyder, Ms. Lathan and Mr. Rawson addressed this item and reported that additional due diligence was performed, feedback from constituents was received and a new approach was utilized with the Purchasing Department, whereby the normal Request for Proposals (RFP) was replaced by a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for landscape designers. RFQ’s require less documentation from vendors and may expand the number of vendors choosing to participate in the process. Update to spring field usage - Ms. Lathan told the members that she has worked with youth soccer to use Bunker Hill field instead of Fletcher field. There may be matches on Fridays at Trum Field and rectangular field(s) may be used for soccer. There was some discussion about a plan to dramatically step up the maintenance of the fields. This will continued to be discussed in the next OSEE meeting. Noted were; high need field sizes are soccer U12 and U14; Conway will be for multipurpose use; the city wants to install lights at Dilboy Aux and make it a multipurpose field; and the city is developing a long term agreement with DCR for use of their fields in preparation for when Lincoln Park field is closed during renovation and construction. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 198203: That the Administration report its Action Plan in response to the recommendation of the Fields Task Force. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 199513: That the Commissioner of Public Works develop a maintenance plan for all grass athletic fields and submit a request for funding to this Board. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 199992: That the Commissioner of Public Works provide the Special Committee on Open Space, Environment and Energy with a list of fields that would benefit from the field maintenance plan this fall and those that would not. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE

Open Space, Environment and Energy Special Committee Page 3 of 5 Printed 5/13/2016 200644: That the Director of Recreation report to this Board why many athletic fields are locked and provide the rationale for each field that is not available for public use. Ms. Lathan stated that Conway is the only field that is locked. Walking and running time is available at Dilboy. The fence at the Capuano is open, even though there is damage and trash on the field. Lincoln Park has multiple issues. Hodgkins Park is an open field for youth activities only. Ms. Lathan noted that there are plenty of fields open for casual enjoyment by the community. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 200781: That the Administration report to this Board on its consideration of #197288, which recommended the creation of a Parks and Recreation Department to provide better care for Somerville’s athletic fields. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 199791: 671 Somerville petitioners communicating their support for keeping natural grass at Lincoln Park, not artificial turf. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 199792: Lynn Weissman submitting comments re: grass fields at Lincoln Park. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 200012: David Turin submitting comments re: grass fields at Lincoln Park. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 200103: Sara Rostampour submitting comments re: grass fields at Lincoln Park. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 200843: Shawn Szturma submitting comments re: #200539 and turf/grass at Lincoln Park. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 201309: That the Director of SPCD and the Healey-Mystic Plan consultant provide the Committee on Open Space, Environment and Energy with an update on the project. Mr. Rawson stated the vision of this plan “connectivity” of the Healey and Mystic which was interrupted by the construction of 93. The CPA application for this item and the plan is to improve the physical connections of the Healey, Somerville Housing Authority and the Mystic Boat House, making it easy, accessible and friendly for the community to use. This was a planning study not a design.

Open Space, Environment and Energy Special Committee Page 4 of 5 Printed 5/13/2016 RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 199983: That the City Arborist inspect the health of the trees at the locations named within. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 200044: That the City Arborist address the numerous dead and dying trees on Jasper Street and back to this Board on progress in remedying the situation. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 200143: That the Commissioner of Public Works and the Director of SPCD commission the arborist and tree warden to inspect the trees on Greenville Avenue, from Munroe Street to Boston Street, to determine their vitality and report back to the Ward 3 Alderman. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 200185: That the Arborist inspect the health of the trees at the locations described within. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 200638: That the Director of SPCD provide this Board with the 2016 tree planting/replacement plan for all Wards. Mr. Rawson said in May, there would be a cataloguing of the trees which includes health, potential tree planting options and what kind of money can fund various locations in the city. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 200705: That the Director of SPCD add 112 Belmont Street to the tree planting list. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 200879: That the Director of SPCD provide the Ward 5 Alderman with the tree planting list for Ward 5, in order of priority. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 200880: That the Director of SPCD discuss with this Board, the Administration’s plans for funding tree planting in areas that do not qualify for CDBG funding. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 200979: That the Commissioner of Public Works inspect the trees on Jasper Street and

Open Space, Environment and Energy Special Committee Page 5 of 5 Printed 5/13/2016 replace any that are dead. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 201019: That the Director of SPCD explain the process for selecting trees and plants for city parks, specifically when choosing non-native species over native species. Mr. Rawson said there are many different criteria used when selecting trees and OSPCD will provide the committee with a list of 7-10 criteria they use. The feeling of the committee is that native trees should be used throughout the city. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 200441: That the Director of Sustainability and the Environment report to this Board on the delay in the curbside composting pilot program. Mr. Sellers-Garcia and Mr. Deshpande discussed a model of a city wide testing program and said that the quotes received were substantially higher than expected. The bid came in 65% to 500% per ton more than was projected. He said the problem to solve is an economic equation. His department will keep further study the issue. Alderman Niedergang’s motion that the Director of the Office of Sustainability and Environment and the Commissioner of Public Works, explore alternates such as a "pay as you throw" program to limit the amount of trash picked up by the city, per business and/or household and to integrate a curbside composting program, was approved. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 200428: Submitted by Envirotrac for Speedway LLC, to advance 3 soil borings in the sidewalk at 24 and 26-28 Kensington Avenue, and install monitoring wells in 2 of those borings. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE