By Gazette Staff
The Board of Directors of the Jamaica Pond Association (JPA) held its regular monthly meeting on Monday, November 3. On hand for the session were chair Kay Mathews, Treasurer Michal Reiskind, Kevin Moloney, Gerry Wright, Michael Frank, Peter Elmuts, Peter Steiger, Barry Schwartz, Tony Dreyfus, Annie McHugh, and Mark Freudenberger.
Also in attendance were Caroline Peters, the liaison to JP from Mayor Wu’s office; Michael Munchbach, the Chief of Staff from Senator Mike Rush’s office; and Legislative Aide Michael Giordano from State Rep. Bill MacGregor’s office.
Reiskind reported that there is a balance in the JPA’s account of $3534.12. He said that the most recent expenditures were for the annual meeting in June and for the annual website Domain Name renewal of $204.
Sgt. Bill Walker, who introduced himself as the new Community Service Sergeant in District E-13 to replace the recently-promoted Lieutenant Ryan Cunningham, and officers Omar Cepeda and Patricia Darosa presented the Community Safety Report. They said there was nothing new to report, though they were unable to discuss the recent murder in a nearby neighborhood other than to say that the matter, which is still under investigation, is not of concern to the general community. They noted that the incident reportedly was targeted toward a specific victim, as opposed to a random shooting.
Dreyfus and Freudenberger presented an update on the progress of the Campaign for Jamaica Pond and Olmsted Park, which is a collaborative effort among the JPA, the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC), the Friends of Jamaica Pond, and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy.
Dreyfuss said the campaign recently held a six-month review of its progress and then conducted a walk around the park with Rep. MacGregor and Senator Rush on November 3.
“The campaign has shifted into a higher gear,” said Dreyfus, noting that the Boston Parks Dept. is moving forward with capital improvement projects and that Senator Rush indicated his support to gather state and city officials in December to discuss a program for improvements.
Dreyfus said the goals of the campaign at Jamaica Pond Include the removal of invasive plant species such as Japanese Knotweed; provide care for the trees (pruning, planting, and regeneration); address soil erosion along the pathways; improve plantings of the gardens and along the pathways; improve bike and pedestrian safety at Perkins and Chestnut Sts. to direct bicyclists away from the pond; and replace the rotted wood, and repaint, the entire bandstand.
As for Olmsted Park, Dreyfus said some of the goals are similar, with the additional challenges of stopping the daisy field soil erosion and removal of large runoff deposits from the south end of Leverett Pound; narrowing the widened footpaths in the woods; planting of trees to help regenerate the forest; and addressing Beech Leaf Disease.
Dreyfos presented a detailed discussion of the bicycle-pedestrian issues, especially at Chestnut and Perkins Sts. He noted that Nate Hinchcliffe from the Boston Parks Dept. will be coming on November 16 to observe the problems of the bicycle-pedestrian safety situation.
In response to a question from McHugh about water quality, Dreyfus said that water quality is a big concern and that many of the goals of the campaign will serve to improve the water quality in the pond.
Dreyfus also raised the issue of obtaining private funding for these projects in light of the looming budget problems that the city and state are likely to face given the present administration in Washington.
Reiskind presented the report of the JP Business and Professional Association. He said that officials from the Health Division of the Inspectional Services Dept. (ISD) made a presentation about the scope of ISD’s many responsibilities at a recent meeting. He also noted the annual K-9 Halloween Costume Parade once again was a big success with 93 dogs taking part and that the Footlight Club will be observing its 150th anniversary with an upcoming production.
Reiskind, in response to a question from Dreyfis, also touched on the problem of vacant storefronts in the main district area.
Giordano reported on the challenging budget issues that likely will be looming both for the state and municipalities because of the cutbacks on the federal level.
Peters reported about plans for upcoming office hours and turkey distributions by Mayor Wu’s office. She also noted that planning is underway for the mayor’s annual city-wide Holiday Trolley Tour that will make stops locally at Hyde Square and the Monument.
The next meeting of the JPA is set for Monday, December 1.