WHNA General Meeting notes from 1/9/2019

[ian_winterhill]

WHNA Meeting Notes from 1/9/2019

We reviewed a list of possible meeting topics and events for 2019 from our December meeting. We added more to the list and then prioritized and discussed several. We then scheduled (or at least assigned some to calendar months) and one or more person volunteered to bottom line each. There were also some events or topics that were discussed but not actually scheduled. More details below.

 

Meetings/events that we discussed and scheduled:

February 6, regular monthly meeting focused on exploring a Soap Box Derby down Winter Hill. We talked about the possibility of coordinating with City to host a Summer Streets (the Arts Council’s summer events that have been hosted in most neighborhoods except Winter Hill where a main street is shutdown). Folks recognized the large amount of time and effort that an event of this scale would require. We also talked about possible ways to scale it down (side streets as opposed to Broadway, doing it on our own without the Arts Council, etc.). Folks mentioned some other possible partnerships with the schools, Parts and Crafts, Tufts and more. September was the suggested goal. All agreed that our February meeting should be used to further explore. In the meantime, Alderman Clingan has reached out to the Arts Council to see about the possibility of Winter Hill hosting a Box Car themed Summer Streets in Winter Hill. See Tim’s email with a lot more thoughts on this.

March: Screening and discussion of The Staircase.

Date not yet determined but in the place of our regular meeting we would like to host a screening of The Staircase movie followed by a discussion. The Staircase is a 1986 documentary about Mystic View Housing residents organizing to get a staircase built between the Mytstics and the Healey https://nemmc.org/2015/10/11/104/. Ian will bottom line this but if anyone is interested in helping, please contact him! 

April: Two things: 1) regular monthly meeting 2) participation in the City’s Spring Cleanup (usually the Saturday before or after Earth Day). The City provides supplies and a BBQ at Blessing of the Bay. We can try to choose a section of our neighborhood to clean up. Mary will bottomline this, but if anyone is interested in helping, please contact her.

May: Historical Walking Tour of Winter Hill. A walk to some known and lesser known historical sights, buildings, and locations in the neighborhood (for example, did you know that top of Winter Hill used to be home to a massive revolutionary fort?). Candice said she will bottom line this, but if anyone is interested in helping, please contact her.

June: City-wide neighborhood groups summit (I think we paired this to December? Might have been November?). In coordination/partnership with the many other neighborhood groups across the city, we imagine a City-wide summit where groups could share best practices, tools, goals, stories, victories, challenges, etc. 

July: Basketball tournament at the Mystics in July. Ian and Steph will continue to discuss and come up with a more formal proposal. Maybe kids vs adults? Maybe challenge other neighborhood groups? To be determined, ideas most welcome!

August: Regular meeting? No meeting? We didn’t pair an event or activity to August.

September: Soap Box Derby! Actual feasibility to be determined. But can keep open for the box cars or another hill themed outdoor event.

October: Tenant Education Workshop (goal of making this an annual event). Ellen Schactner from the City’s Office of Housing Stability was not able to come to our last one but said she’d come if we held another one. Steph said he will coordinate this and we’ll try to partner with the Mystic Tenant Association to co-host it.

November: Regular meeting? No meeting? We didn’t pair an event or activity to November

December: Regular meeting? No meeting? We didn’t pair an event or activity to December. Or end of the year celebration?

There were several other ideas that we discussed but not paired with a month or met with a commitment to pursue this year. There are open months and always next year so we will continue to develop these ideas and see where it goes.

Conversation with an urban economist. Or an urban development academic or someone from the development world that does not have a vested interest in Winter Hill but would be will to speak frankly about how developers see our neighborhood. We don’t want to limit what happens in Winter Hill to what a developer sees as feasible, but we would like to have a better understanding of how they assess the potential. Why are luxury condos or apartments the only things proposed? What are their profit margins? What are their timelines? What are the make or break factors?

Chili cook off (might be possible to roll into another event)

Some kind of event or activity that would support the businesses in the neighborhood (again, might be a part of another event).

Helping implement some aspects of the Somerville Climate Action plan. Some parts of the plan included neighbor to neighbor outreach, local resiliency and preparedness plans. 

Another meeting with City staff from the Economic Development office to talk about implementation of the Neighborhood Plan.