Website information needed

Many thanks to Jane for noting the present state of the website. Ongoing and open communication remains a critical need that was recognized by the Board of Aldermen, in part, through this particular condition. Obviously, the website does not appear to contain the information that was requested and anticipated. This, we hope, will be shortly corrected. An update from the shul on this matter would be most appreciated.  

Stephen M. Linsky 1 27 2011

Reference from Jane

Attachment C, Section 2 (Communication and Coordination):

Congregation Shaarei Tefillah will develop a calendar of events to be made available to members of the neighborhood that lists congregation events and social celebrations. ... Congregation Shaarei Tefillah will also designate both weekday and weekend (subject to Sabbath restrictions) contact persons and post the names and telephone numbers of those persons on its website so that members of the neighborhood community will have a contact person if issues arise.

Parking in No Parking Zone Morseland/Channing

Mark Bernstein, January 24, 2011

Dear Mel,

I am assuming there was a gathering at the shul last night (Sunday, Jan 23) because Morseland Av was densley packed with parked cars in front of the shul. I was driving east on Channing Rd and made a right turn onto Morseland aroung 6:30 PM. There were three cars parked between the new "No Parking" sign and the corner of Morseland and Channing. The streets were particularly narrow because of the snow plow work.  My visibility down Morseland Av was completely compromised by the inconsideration of the drivers of those three illegally parked cars.

If the cars did not belong to members of the shul I apologize. However, this is not the first time cars have parked illegally since the sign has been in place. And I witnessed a gentleman leaving the shul, with others, and entering his illegally parked car.

At our meetings you and other shul representatives have promised to discuss the safety issues concerning parking on the neighborhood streets with the general membership. I am sure that you have. Apparently, what we are up against is a type of institutional behavior:  despite its best intentions, leadership can not control the actions of a large group of people who do not identify with the needs and concerns of the neighborhood.

Police may have more important priorities that preclude their rapid deployment to Morseland Av to ticket illegally parked cars. If this blatant disregard for neighborhood safety continues we need to discuss other deterrents at our next meeting. Eventually, there will be an accident where someone may be injured. Let us try to come up with an effective solution beforehand.

Secondly, there has been a change in the use of the outdoor lights during the last two weeks.  Previously, only some of the lights on the western side of the building stayed on at night. This partial output seemed more than adequate for safety, etc. Now all the lights on both the western and northern sides of the building are lit. This is much too much light and is unnecesssary. It is wasteful from an energy point of view and pollutes the neighboring homes with light into bedroom windows. Hopefully, the new lighting schedule is an oversight and the former lighting schedule will resume.

Sincerely,

Mark Bernstein
  

-- Ira Schor, 1/24/2011 Re: Safety concerns and light pollution

All,  I too observed and was very upset by cars (3) parked illegally between the sign and the corner. I too hesitate to waste taxpayer dollars to have the police called for such behavior but that may be the only way to have the rules obeyed and safety promoted. Such blatant disregard for the rules and for considerations of safety continue to amaze me.

-- Stephen M. Linsky, Alderman, Ward 2

While I appreciate the reluctance some may have in calling the police, to the extent we are trying to encourage certain behavior, we ought to avail ourselves of all available resources. The police remain one such appropriate resource whose employment, if necessary, should be considered without hesitation.

As for outdoor lighting, we would anticipate that any change from prior deployment will be discussed before implemented.

---Stephen, Thank you.  Last night, Tuesday, once again, there were 3 cars parked between the sign and the corner - the disregard for traffic and safety regulations is remarkable - I wonder if these same drivers do so on their own streets. Ira Schor  1/26/2011 --  Neighbors, I would like to point out that Shaarei has violated many of the terms of its agreement with the City, terms which it agreed to in order to receive approval for its new building and renovation of its old building. One such term is relevant to the current discussion and concern of good neighbors, and can be found in Attachment C, Section 2 (Communication and Coordination): Congregation Shaarei Tefillah will develop a calendar of events to be made available to members of the neighborhood that lists congregation events and social celebrations. ... Congregation Shaarei Tefillah will also designate both weekday and weekend (subject to Sabbath restrictions) contact persons and post the names and telephone numbers of those persons on its website so that members of the neighborhood community will have a contact person if issues arise. I would like to point out that Shaarei's website consists of one page only, which lists only a "welcome" note, its address and email address, and davaning times. This has been the case for one year now; it seems that its regular multi-page website was removed when construction/renovation began, and this one-page website took its place as soon as construction/renovation began. There are no public notices of events, and no names and telephone numbers or email addresses of anybody at all from the synagogue. This is only one among many persistent violations of its own agreements with the City, that Shaarei voluntarily agreed to in order to receive approval for the demolition of the old home and construction of the new shul building, violations of which are detriments to the community whose support it so vigorously sought in order to receive approval. Jane Hanser 1 26 2011 www.dogsdontlookbothways.com -- Hi Alderman Linsky,  Another DAILY traffic problem is the number of cars parked from the Com Ave carriage lane to Ward St. This small strip of road is NOT marked as illegal parking and DAILY cars are parked there for early morning services (7-8am) when there is very busy traffic for commuters and school kids and buses. LS  1 26 2011 --

Temple Beth El's plan to start construction

From: Allan Heff <aheff@theworld.com>
Date: Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 10:07 AM
Subject: New Construction at Temple Beth El on Ward S

Temple Beth El is starting a major overhaul of their building.  This is believed to be mostly interior construction, but some changes will be made to the exterior of the building.  The Morseland Area Neighborhood Association liaison committee is looking for comments and questions about the construction from the neighbors to present to the temple and to the city.  If you have questions or comments about the construction, please either email me or phone Naomi Myrvaagnes at 617 332-2954.  Also, if anyone is interested in getting more involved, please let us know.

A letter from the temple to the city about the construction is attached.

Sincerely,

Allan Heff

Snow Removal issues

Naomi Myrvaagnes to Alderman Stephen Linsky
December 3, 2010

Dear Stephen,

A need that the Morseland Avenue neighborhood has brought up before is now more pressing in light of the proposed snow removal ordinance.

After heavy or icy snowfall, our crowded streets and intersections become dangerous and even impassible.  There is simply no room to put snow removed from driveways and sidewalks, the plows leave heavy loads in front of driveways and huge piles at intersections.  Even a small pile in this crowded area makes foot traffic impossible.  My husband is unable physically to remove what  the street plows dump in front of our driveway.

Because there is so much foot traffic in the immediate vicinity, I strongly urge that the City do sidewalk plowing the length of Morseland on both sides, plus at least one block in all directions on Ward, Elmore, Channing, Mill.

What is removed from the sidewalks and streets then needs to be collected, for the sake of walking and parking!!!  Beyond pedestrian concerns, there is always a winter parking crisis in the area.   Cars parked many feet from the sidewalk because of snow spillover  make the streets impassible.

 I repeat the request that snow piles be removed as they are in the commercial districts.  Even though we are labeled Residential, our immediate neighborhood functions like a commercial district and needs to be cleaned accordingly.  We need the city to accomplish this.

I am copying this request to other members of the neighborhood association and to the Mel Hoffman of the Shaarei Tefillah Liaison Committee.

Please let us know how we can best bring this matter to the decision-makers and have the problem solved.  Thank you.

Naomi

Good Neighbor Hazard Control

Proposed Good Neighbor Guidelines for hazard control during Demolition/Construction in residential areas.  March 13, 2007 

To: Alderman Marcia Johnson mjohnson@ci.newton.ma.us

Fr: Ellie Goldberg, 79 Elmore Street, Newton, MA 02459  ellie.goldberg@gmail.com   617 965-9637

Dear Marcia, 

This note is a response to your request for suggestions for the Aldermen to consider regarding the prevention of demolition hazards (the creation of large quantities of dust and wide distribution of pollutants) that the Morseland area neighborhood experienced last summer during Congregation Shaarei Tefilah's demolition of the historic 1770's house on Morseland Avenue.   

As I reported to you at the time, the demolition of 29-31 Morseland Ave. was done, with no notice to the neighborhood, and with no containment or wetting to control the clouds of dust that spread all over the neighborhood onto passersby, into open windows of homes throughout the neighborhood, contaminating yards and gardens, children's play equipment, etc.  It is not unusual for old building materials and soil to be contaminated with a variety of pollutants including lead, arsenic, chlordane and other pesticides, Fiberglas, asbestos, and other contaminants.

This is a copy of the proposed Good Neighbor Guidelines I shared with Michael Kaufman at a meeting at Beth El last night where we discussed the upcoming Beth El demolition/construction plans.  I would be interested to know if city departments already have responsibility for health and safety, traffic, noise and pollution control of other hazards and nuisances and what updates of training, clarification of expectations, coordination, or additional resources could prevent and protect neighbors of future demolition and construction projects in our neighborhood as well as in other residential areas facing similar projects.


Please contact me if you have questions. Please forward to anyone you think would have an interest.

Ellie Goldberg, 617 965-9637

Proposed Good Neighbor Plan

Temple Beth El needs to plan to minimize adverse impacts during the Beth El expansion and during maintenance and landscaping.   

 

Special Note: Children walk to and from school, and to the bus pick up area on Morseland and Commonwealth Avenue, and congregate on the corner. Beth El project managers and contractors need to be considerate of children and other walkers and traffic in the area. The project coordinator should also be aware when children are on vacation, have an early release day from school, and other times when extra care and consideration is necessary to prevent accidents. Planned coordination should include the Newton Safety Officers and Traffic Officers as well as neighborhood residents to manage high risk activities.

Also, many residents have young children, work at home, are elderly, medically fragile, and have other reasons to need information and cooperation from Beth El and the contractors to avoid hazards, to avoid disrupted access to residences and personal or work activity, to avoid disruption of phone service and necessary electrical services (computers, refrigerators, cable, hot water, heat, air-conditioning), to avoid gas leaks from street digging or sewer and drain breakdowns, to ensure access at all times for emergency vehicles, to maintain neighborhood safety and security, etc.

All problems are foreseeable and avoidable with good planning and communication.  

The plan should include:

a.    Project Schedule and Construction Management Plan, committee members, etc.

b.   A notification and communication system so that Beth El provides all neighbors, especially direct abutters, with a reliable advance calendar of the demolition, construction, repair and maintenance activities, and, prompt notice of any changes. 

c.    The home, business and cell phone numbers of Beth El's operations manager, project coordinator, and all contractors so that abutters know in advance who the contractors are (security concerns) and so abutters and other residents can get an immediate response to any question and complaint regarding noise, debris, hazards, etc. during the day or night.

DEMOLITION GUIDELINES
A building demolition creates large quantities of dust and wide distribution of pollutants so that anticipatory guidance and oversight is required for pollution control to protect the neighborhood. 

Beth El contractor's need to prevent emissions from the work site by shrouding, wetting, covering and otherwise managing area to prevent emissions of particulate matter.  

Potential air pollution hazards include dust, asbestos, chlordane, lead, arsenic, etc. as well as noise. 

Instead of testing for hazards, assume dust is contaminated and completely enclose and shroud the area and wet down dirt and building for maximum dust control. Do not exhaust fumes and particulate facing any residences. 

Be considerate of children and other walkers and traffic in the area. Children walk to the bus pick up area on Morseland and Commonwealth Avenue, and congregate on the corner, and walk to and from school. 

Safety: Need designated truck access and exit routes. Timing of truck traffic needs to be considerate of neighborhood needs. 

Noise: This is a residential area.

-Do not start demolition or construction activity that creates noise before 8 a.m.  

-We assume that no work will be done on Shabbat. If work is done on Sundays, it should start after 9 a.m.

-Neighbors should be notified of times when activities will produce extremely loud noise so that they can plan accordingly.  Contractors should do everything they can to mitigate noise. 

Crew: No smoking on the job. No littering of neighborhood property, sidewalk or street. Have designated parking area and parking guidelines.

Trash Control: Provide for worksite trash and debris disposal and crew's personal trash, garbage and other debris.  Dumpster and dumpster pick up guidelines should minimize hazards to children during bus pick up and drop off times, and noise and disruption to neighborhood.

Plan for adequate police and inspectional services and oversight when large vehicles such as concrete trucks are pouring cement or bulldozers and/or backhoes are digging and dump trucks are coming and going?  

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES

Good Neighbor guidelines for trucks and service vehicles

-No idling

-Designated crew parking area

-Designated truck access and exit routes

-Designated truck waiting/idling locations so as not to block streets or add to pollution and noise

-Designated truck and service vehicle parking areas

-No overnight parking on residential streets

-Plan for safe truck turning

Share guidelines for site security: plan for security fencing and lighting, day and night.

Guidelines for maintaining sidewalks during construction and after? Who will shovel snow? Where will snow go?

Plan for adequate police and inspectional services and oversight when concrete trucks are pouring cement or bulldozers and/or backhoes are digging and dump trucks are coming and going. 

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