Welcome to the first installment of Nina's News. I've been sending out regular email updates to constituents, and I'm going to continue those emails while also including updates here on ninaliang.org as "Nina's News" in addition to sharing information and events relevant to Quincy's residents.
Good Afternoon!
I hope that you've had a great summer so far. I wanted to communicate with you regarding several important issues, including the City's budget and development projects across our community:
Fox Rock Update (Former Quincy Medical Center site & Downtown)
This past Tuesday evening, FoxRock presented their plans for the former Quincy Medical Center site. Currently, Steward Health Care operates the emergency room under a lease with FoxRock that is anticipated to end in 2021. The presentation from Tuesday evening can be found here. Some additional information taken from the meeting are as follows:
- All updates and information can be found on www.114whitwell.com.
- There is currently no date set yet for FoxRock to present their plans to the Planning Board, which they will have to do for approvals before moving forward.
- Existing buildings are "past their useful life", and are too cost prohibitive to rehab.
- Current administration building will undergo a renovation as an effort to keep this building. They will provide retail on the first floor that will be an amenity to the residents (coffee shop, dry cleaner, etc.)
- 598 residential units being proposed, all rentals. The target audience ranges all ages.
- Majority of the parking will be below grade, with some additional surface parking spaces.
- Euclid Avenue gate will be removed and replaced with demountable bollards to allow only for emergency vehicles to get through. Public traffic will not be allowed through this gate. Pedestrian and bicycle access will be allowed.
- Landscaping on site will include keeping the current park. Maintenance and management of the park in the future can go three ways:
- Becomes a city owned park
- FoxRock manages it
- An association forms to manage it
- There will be a 14% - 15% reduction of runoff with the improvements to the current drainage, pavement, and roofs. The new drainage system will also be able to collect and treat the runoff before infiltrating it into the ground. They will be videoing the area this weekend to see where they can do potential tie-ins.
- Traffic studies were done by Rob Woodland, a traffic engineer at Tetra Tech. Counts were done between the hours of 7am - 9am and 4pm - 6pm at 24 different intersections in the surrounding neighborhood. They noticed that the intersection of Whitwell & Adams was the biggest "problem area" that needs to be considered.
- Their final, and anticipated more detailed plans, will be presented before going to the Planning Board.
FoxRock is also connected to the Ross Lot in the Downtown, which is currently a city owned property. FoxRock has expressed interest in developing the space into a medical campus, equipped with facilities and commercial office/retail space. They have been in negotiations with the Mayor's office for well over a year now, and hope to present an LDA (Land Disposition Agreement) with details to the City Council this fall.
Fiscal Year 2019 Budget
The fiscal year 2019 budget operates from July 2018 - June 2019:
- $310,814,649 proposed by the Mayor's office and city departments
- Nearly $200,000 of cuts were made, bringing the FY 2019 budget to $3.6M (we cannot add to the budget, only cut from and approve it)
- The tax rate will be presented to the City Council when we reconvene in the fall, and will be based off of the approved budget. The Assessor's office has released tax exemption information, which can be found here.
Hancock Adams Green Dedication Ceremony
The park in front of City Hall will be revealed at a dedication ceremony on Saturday September 8th at 11:00AM. Please come down and check out the new space! Click here for more information.
Although the Council does not meet regularly in the summer, I continue to work hard to ensure your voice is heard on these important citywide issues. I would love to hear your thoughts and insights.
I want to focus on the challenges we face as a city, but cannot continue to do so without your support and input. Please feel free to email me or call me on my cell (857.939.8531) anytime.
Have a great day!
