Friends of the Community Path -- Meeting Minutes 12-10-01

Attendees: Turil, Joel, Lynn, Ron, Bob K. Jessie, John, Bryce, Bob S. Kindra, Bill

Low-overhead Volunteer Activities:

-Poster and/or pamphlet distribution (contact Joel, friendspath@yahoo.com)

-Get a letter of support from a local business (contact Bob, bob@rti.com)

Action Items:

John: call Michael Brennon at MBTA.

Arrange meeting with Senator Shannon. Invite along Joel, Lynn, Ron

Get contact info for Bruce Desmond

Turil: get in touch with Michelle Phelan (graphic Logo person).

make press kit. Give to Kindra.

Send Kindra new link to your website.

Make more pamphlets.

Make a list of places where we can put posters (20-30)

Joel: Write letter to support bridge design at Lowell St. (Michael Amorello)

Go to Mystic View Task Force Meeting

Get Lee Mandell? link to Kindra

Give lumber for sign to Kindra

Lynn: Get letter of support from Lucy

Kindra: Add "contact us with concerns about the path" section

Add map to the page

Make a sign for the end of the current path

Bryce: Get Kindra a map (with a snicker)

Tim: Print some posters.

Bob: Get out minutes early!

Send out instructions/details for getting signatures from businesses

Tabled items:

-Get in touch with Senator Kerry to see if we can get T-21 money before we have the right of way.

-Introduce group to Aldermen at Aldermen's meeting and/or send letters of introduction. Solicit

letters of support from them.

-Talk to Tim Toomey

-Discuss reimbursement for network expenses

-Get Poster/pamphlet distribution volunteers

Next Meeting: Monday January 14, at 7pm

Minutes:

Lynn and John: meeting with Birmingham's aid, Lucy Rivera

-She was supportive of the path

-Thrilled about the postcards "This is really good"

-Two things she can help us with:

-Get Money

-Get MBTA support

-Says the Senator will advocate for us

Lynn also went to make an appointment with the mayor, but ran into her instead. From the mayor: "My whole heart is in the path"

Lucy called back both John and Lynn. Two issues: access and funding.

The MBTA contact of note is Michael Brennon, Director of real estate 617 222-3255

-He is the one who would transfer land for the Community path to Somerville.

-Indemnity might be the big issue. MBTA gives access license, probably extend the current leased area.

-He will ask for an assessors map of the property that is to be turned over.

-Probably need to get the city to send the letter

-AI to contact Michael.

3 things we need from MBTA:

-Cedar -> Lowell. Straight rail->trail conversion, add to existing path

-Lowell->Walnut. Rail next to trail

-After walnut, trail will be in the cut with the rail (probably hardest)

Lynn: Block Grant meeting

-Somerville gets about $3-4 M in April

-Lynn stood up and advocated for us!

-Groundworks, Somerville Community Development Corp. and a Homeless group all gave us plugs

-There will be another meeting in January

-Lynn shook Steve Post's hand. "You're on our list" he said. Asked for us to write him a letter within 2 weeks telling who we are and what we are trying for. Lynn wrote and asked for the money, $150k.

-Thanks to Jennifer Hill (of Groundworks) for getting us in there!!

Bike Night 2001:

-Bike committee was given "influence peddler award"

-Mass Highway Guy said "My goal is to have a bike path w/in 15 minutes of every resident"

-Bike to sea got T-21 money ($1.5M) earmarked by Senator Kerry though they didn't have Right of Way or land yet

-We got an offer to design a graphic logo for the Friends of the Path by Michele Phelan (see Action Items)

Joel and Bhupesh: Met with Cambridge Health Alliance (health people not upper management)

-have health studies and physical fitness brochures for Somerville

-They want to help and will talk to their management for us

-Joel is meeting with the health task force

Lowell St. Bridge Meeting Results:

-They are ignoring us completely

-Start date on the bridge is 2003

-Not much of a problem here, the bridge is being design so that the path should be OK. Probably should show Mass highway our support (see Action Items)

What's Next:

-John is going to try to get us in to see Shannon. Will invite along Joel, Lynn, Ron. (see Action Items)

-We should talk to Senator Tim Toomey (Somerville, East Cambridge). Tabled.

-We should send letters of introduction to all the Aldermen. At least should go to Aldermen meeting and talk for 10 minutes about who we are. Tabled.

-Get info for new Alderman (see Action Items)

Mystic View Task Force:

They are looking for a volunteer to go to present what we do to their group at one of their meetings. Joel volunteers (see Action Items)

The intern:

Joel meets tomorrow morning with Groundworks and potential intern. Would get 150 hours of her time.

-Not sure what she wants to/is willing to do. Needs to be art?

-Concern that Joel would spend too much time supervising her

-Could be put to work doing a photo essay, grading, postering, collecting signatures

Kindra: Website Update

-Website group had the target audience discussion.

-Is there anything else that needs to go up there?

-Link to Press kit. PDF/text file of flier, Rizzo study, any publicity

-Lots of Action Items. see above

Lynn: wants partial reimbursement for cable modem/web hosting expenses.

-Tabled for future discussion

Joel: Ace really wants Posters and Pamphlets (Action Item)

Poster idea: add advertisements for bike stores or such to the Poster in exchange for getting some of the cost paid for.

-Also need volunteers to distribute posters.

-need to find 20-30 prime places to poster.

Other great idea:

Put a sign at the end of the current path saying something like "Do you want more path?" or "No U

turn - keep the path going"

Jessie: On getting tax free status

-Has been lame.

-Marlena's email bounces

-Correspondence with pet attorney has slowed

-Mass Bike makes it very easy (and free) for us to deposit money at the moment. They just don't want to deal with small checks.

Bob: Letters of Support campaign

-Had a brainstorming session to get a list of businesses to target for letters of support.

-Got volunteers to go after 2 or 3.

-If we can do 2-3/month we will quickly have a lot of these

-See Action Items

-Need more volunteers to help out.

“To Lechmere...... and beyond !! “