Boston Redevelopment Authority Project Manager Geoff Lewis appeared before the Charlestown Neighborhood Council last week to explain the city’s stance in regard to a motion recently put forth by the CNC Development Committee calling for a temporary moratorium on all development in the areas of Rutherford Avenue and in Sullivan Square.
“A development moratorium would be unprecedented,” Lewis said. “I can’t tell you what to do, but the BRA is going to continue to evaluate projects as they come. We are legally obligated to review [each] project, but not to approve it.”
Lewis’ remarks came in response to a motion made at a Jan. 24 CNC Development Committee meeting regarding Bridgeview Lofts, a pair of high-rise residential buildings proposed for the area north of the Bunker Hill Community College athletic fields along Rutherford Avenue. At the meeting, Bill Galvin of the CNC made a motion that a moratorium should be put on all development in the vicinity of Rutherford Avenue and Sullivan Square for one year or until the completion of the city’s Rutherford Avenue Corridor Study. Six CNC members at the meeting voted in favor of the motion, while three abstained.
The Rutherford Avenue Corridor Study, which aims to facilitate traffic flow in the area by reconfiguring the roadway, was originally targeted for completion by last Christmas, but has been delayed, Lewis said.
“We’re still in the process of selecting consultants,” Lewis said. “We’re a couple of months behind.”
In addition, Lewis said planned development would ultimately dictate the width of Rutherford Avenue.
“It’s a moving target,” Lewis said. “That’s how city planning is done.”
Lewis said the only project on Rutherford Avenue that had come before the BRA was the 99-unit, seven-story residential development planned for the current Knights of Columbus Hall site at 75 West School St. The project, which Lewis said was reduced because of community and BRA input, met with the BRA’s approval last month.
Regarding an 18-story apartment building proposed for 66 Cambridge St. in Sullivan Square, Lewis said Stoughton-based Conroy Development Company wasn’t immediately moving forward with its plans. “The BRA asked them to slow down a little, and they have,” Lewis added.
As for Bridgeview Lofts, Lewis said while the City Square non-profit Life Focus Center was selected as the developer for the parcel where the project would be sited, the BRA has final say over the development’s approval.
“The important thing to remember is that it’s BRA land,” Lewis said. “No one has control over it.”
Still, Lewis said the BRA would consider a project in Sullivan Square or along Rutherford Avenue if it were in the city’s best interests – regardless of the Neighborhood Council’s position.
“We’re not going to stop looking at projects and weighing them on their merits…and if it’s good for the city, we will approve them,” Lewis said.
The original motion made by Galvin went before the CNC for ratification at its Feb. 5 meeting. Seven opposed the motion, while one voted in favor of it and three abstained.
Galvin made a second motion at the meeting that the CNC forego reviewing future development in the vicinity of Rutherford Avenue and Sullivan Square until the time that the Neighborhood Council could hold public meetings and vote on height restrictions in the area. Eight voted in favor of the new motion, while one opposed it and three abstained.

On Sunday, St. Catherine of Siena Church held its final Mass.

PHOTO 1 CAPTION: A statue of St. Catherine of Siena, the church’s patron saint.

PHOTO 2 CAPTION: Rev. James Ronan (fifth from rear) processing with the Blessed Sacrament to St. Mary Church after the closing Mass at St. Catherine of Siena Church.

PHOTO 3 CAPTION: The congregation is seen during the final Mass.

PHOTO 4 CAPTION: Parishioners gather outside of St. Catherine of Siena Church.

Nearly 40 percent of registered voters in Charlestown cast their ballots on Super Tuesday, with the majority showing their support for Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney.
Of the 11,686 registered voters in Ward 2’s seven precincts, 4,629 voted in the Feb. 5 presidential primary election, according to unofficial results released by the City of Boston. Turnout in Charlestown narrowly edged out the citywide voting rate of just under 39 percent.
Clinton won the Democratic primary in Charlestown with nearly 55 percent of votes, while Barack Obama trailed behind at just below 41 percent. This was a departure from the citywide results, which favored Obama, with nearly 53 percent over Clinton at approximately 44 percent.
Romney won the Republican primary in Charlestown with more than 48 percent of votes, besting John McCain’s nearly 46 percent. Throughout the city, McCain garnered a little more than 46 percent of votes to win the primary, compared with Romney at 44 percent.
In Charlestown, 3,663 Democrats, 965 Republicans and one Independent cast their ballots.

Kim Evers of Edible by Evers shows off some of the Valentine ideas for those last minute shoppers at her store on Main Street.

The Charlestown Waterfront Coalition and The Flatley Company have struck an agreement, whereby the company would create a bicycle and pedestrian path on its land in exchange for the CWC endorsing the removal of a Flatley property from the Mystic River Designated Port Area.
The Mystic River DPA was established as a result of the Coastal Management Act, which was enacted by Congress in 1972 and mandates that coastal areas supporting maritime industries have limited development options. Among the properties included in the Mystic River DPA is the Flatley-owned property at 465 Medford St. (The Braintree-based Flatley Company also owns The Schrafft Center at 529 Medford St., a site that was excluded from the Mystic River DPA following a 2001 study by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management).
The 2001 study recommended the property at 465 Medford St., along with the Nancy Sales building at 261-287 Medford St., be excluded from the DPA if the landowners met certain conditions. In exchange for the removal of their properties from the DPA, the landowners agreed to relinquish land and pay for a feasibility study that would facilitate the construction of a truck haul road between the Autoport on Terminal Street and Sullivan Square. This agreement ultimately fell apart, however, and 465 Medford St. remained bound to DPA restrictions.
A CWC document obtained by the Patriot-Bridge states, “465 Medford St. has not been a water-based business in the last two decades, and there is no dock to support water-based businesses.”
In regard to the latest proposal, Flatley would agree to finance and “create a pathway from The Shrafft Center through the parking area adjacent water at 465 Medford St. and out to Medford Street along the green strip separating the parking areas of 465 and 495 Medford St.,” according to the CWC document.
Since the proposed path would run alongside the Mystic River, it would also further the CWC’s goal of revitalizing the river. The CWC also maintains that the bike path would connect Charlestown to the Esplanade via the HarborWalk, incorporate Charlestown into the Bike by Sea planning that would create a trail between Maine and Florida and ultimately bring more people into the Navy Yard.
The Charlestown Neighborhood Council voted unanimously to support the CWC and Flatley’s proposal at its Feb. 5 meeting.

CAPTION: Drug abuse expert Marilyn Grifoni Belmonte addresses the crown at the Jan. 30 CSAC community meeting.

Drug abuse expert Marilyn Grifoni Belmonte had a clear message for parents in attendance at the Charlestown Substance Abuse Coalition community meeting at the Warren-Prescott School on Jan. 30: Educating themselves is the best defense when it comes to keeping their kids off drugs.
During her presentation entitled “Teen Drug Abuse: Can You Read the Signs?,” Belmonte outlined current trends of drug use among adolescents in Massachusetts and how to recognize the telltale signs of abuse, including paraphernalia, physical symptoms and behavioral indicators. Belmonte, the mother of a 22-year-old and twin 12-year-old daughters, is co-chair of the Burlington Drug and Alcohol Task Force and an instructor for the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office.
“Kids get addicted much quicker than adults, so you have to catch it quickly,” Belmonte said, adding that their still-developing brains are more susceptible to addiction than adults.
And the problem is much more prevalent than some parents would like to believe: According to a 2007 study from the National Center on Addiction and Drug Abuse, 80 percent of high school students and 44 percent of middle school students said they have witnessed drug dealing, use or possession.
But parents can also play the biggest role in deterring substance abuse since 70 percent of kids said upsetting their parents was what they perceived as the greatest risk involving drug use, according to a 2005 study from the Boston Public Health Commission. “Parents have more power than they think they do,” Belmonte said.
In regard to latest trends of drug use in Massachusetts, the BPHC reported that heroin use had decreased slightly in Boston teens, while methamphetamine use was on the rise for 18- to 25-year-olds. Cocaine use, meanwhile, was increasing in adolescents, particularly among teenage girls who use it as a “diet drug.”
“If one [drug] starts to drop off, another comes to take its place,” Belmonte said.
Prescription drugs are currently abused by an estimated one in five teens and now tops marijuana as the drug of choice among this age group. Belmonte attributed the increase to a number of popular misconceptions held by teens, such as prescription drugs are safe, non-addictive and legal. “They don’t understand what prescription drug means,” she added.
In fact, the problem is so rampant that teens commonly pilfer these drugs from their parents’ medicine cabinets and distribute them to their peers at so-called “pharm parties,” Belmont said.
Belmonte said narcotic prescription drugs, including OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet, affect the brain in the same way as heroin, morphine and other naturally based opiates.
Use of OxyContin, which Belmonte describes as “the most powerful narcotic in a pill,” has doubled for eighth-graders and is up 26 percent for 10th graders, according to the University of Michigan’s 2006 Monitoring the Future study.
Belmonte pointed out that some teens using OxyContin actually believe the drug increases their concentration and helps them study. “They’re not bad kids, they just don’t know what’s going on,” Belmonte said.
On the topic of stimulants, Belmonte said Ecstasy (MDMA) is a “kissing cousin of meth” in regard to the their similar chemical properties. Ecstasy, which causes a massive serotonin release in the brain and produces feelings of peace and understanding in users, remains popular among Massachusetts youth, although its popularity is on the wane nationwide.
Drug paraphernalia, Belmonte said, sometimes comes in seemingly innocuous forms. She discussed and showed examples of how household items and trinkets sold at convenience stores can be used as drug paraphernalia, such as using vials for smoking crack cocaine.
Even kids’ clothing can sometimes provide clues of drug use: Butterfly designs on teen fashion commonly symbolize Ecstasy. “Nobody wears a sign telling people what their personal business is, but kids do it,” Belmonte said.
While Belmonte’s program was ultimately cut short due to time restraints, she achieved the goal of educating parents about what they should look for when it comes to drug abuse. She will be returning in March to complete the presentation.

Charlestown has experienced more than a 60-percent decease in violent and property crimes in 2008, compared with the same time period last year.
According to statistics released by the Boston Police Department, 38 Part One crimes were reported between Jan. 1 and Feb. 7, 2008, compared with 96 during the same timeframe last year.
The most notable improvement was in vehicle theft and attempted vehicle theft, which dropped to one reported incident in 2008 from 39 last year. Captain Bernie O’Rourke of Boston Police Area A-1 said that this problem was successfully quelled with help from the Governor’s Auto Task Force last year.
O’Rourke also said thieves are now targeting older model cars, since new ones can’t be “jumpstarted” without the keys. “Technology has really helped us in that regard,” he said.
Larcenies and attempted larcenies, meanwhile, are down approximately 54 percent, with 18 incidents in 2008 compared to 39 last year. O’Rourke attributed the decrease to additional anti-crime (plainclothes) units and more directed patrols in the area of the Bunker Hill Mall, where many simple larcenies take place.
Still, O’Rourke said police often had trouble making arrests for larcenies, adding that these crimes were more difficult that to have an impact on than street robberies. (The number of robberies held steady, however, with three incidents reported during the same timeframe in 2008 and 2007).
Aggravated assaults are also down more than 50 percent: Four incidents were reported in 2008, compared to nine last year.
“Street crime saw a significant reduction during all of last year, and the strategy is still working this year,” O’Rourke said, adding that the anti-drug unit and Boston Housing Authority police are working together to make trespassing arrests in the Bunker Hill housing development.
O’Rourke also credited the reduction in crime to community organizations, including the Charlestown Substance Abuse Coalition, Charlestown Against Drugs, the Boys & Girls Club and Charlestown MissionSAFE, that work to keep youth out of trouble.
On the other hand, the rate of burglaries and attempted burglaries has doubled in 2008, with 12 incidents reported so far this year.
O’Rourke pointed out that in half of this year’s eight residential breaks force wasn’t used. “This leads me that a worker or someone else had access to keys,” he said.
Crime in Charlestown and throughout the city is also cyclical, O’Rourke said.
“We’re going to see spikes,” O’Rourke said. “A couple of these categories will have to go up at some point in time.”
Perhaps most encouraging is the reduction in violent crime, which is down 35 percent in 2008.
“We want to see reduction in property crime, too, but we are particularly encouraged by the significant reduction in violent crime,” O’Rourke said.