CREDIT: Courtesy of Mayor Menino’s office

On Saturday, more than 100 people were in attendance at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Charlestown in Hayes Square at the corner of Vine and Hunter streets. “This is a $10.5 million project that came in one time and under budge,” said Pat Brophy, assistant director of operations for the capital construction division of the city’s Public Facilities Department. The police’s Neighborhood Crime Watch, Crime Stoppers, Community Disorders, Recrruitment Investigation and Fugitive Apprehension units will all be housed at the station.
Peter Looney of the Charlestown Police Station Task Force served as the master of ceremonies, and Mayor Thomas M. Menino, City Councilor Sal LaMattina and Charlestown Neighborhood Council Chairman Tom Cunha were among the guest speakers.
Pictured in front, left to right, are City Councilor Sal LaMattina, Peter Looney, Mayor Thomas M. Menino; Judy Evers and Tom Cunha. Also seen are Joe Mulligan, director of operations for the capital construction division of the city’s Public Facilities Department (back left); Fr. Daniel Mahoney of St. Francis de Sales Church (back, second from left) Commissioner Ed Davis of the Boston Police Department (back, fourth from right); and Sen. Anthony Galluccio (back, second from right).

Autoport representatives met with the Charlestown Neighborhood Council Basic Services Committee and a small number of neighborhood residents last week to address ongoing concerns about the at least 200,000 tons of salt currently stored at the Terminal Street facility.
Since 2003, Diversified Automotive, which leases the Autoport from the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), has subleased space at the site to International Salt to store salt used by the Commonwealth to deice streets throughout the state during snowstorms. Diversified Automotive’s lease with the salt supplier expired in June of 2008 but is currently under negotiation for a duration of longer than 10 years, according to Autoport spokesman Lanny Johnson.
Johnson said the salt company currently leases approximately 3 acres at the Autoport at a rate of $2.50 per square foot and that the amount of salt at the site has fluctuated between 94,000 tons in 2003 and 286,000 tons last year.
While the state’s Department of Environmental Protection hasn’t imposed a weight restriction on the salt pile, Johnson said it cannot exceed 45 feet in height and that Diversified Automotive must notify the state any time its weight exceeds 75,000 tons.
Johnson added that the actual weight of the salt was difficult to determine because of shrinkage and since the salt often contains calcium chloride, a mixing agent.
Diversified Automotive President and General Manager Dennis Kraez said due to a shortage of ships, the salt was ordered in “burley to make sure [International Salt] could keep up with their contractual obligation to the state.” As a result, salt reserves from the previous year are commonly stored at the Autoport.
“The salt business is weather driven,” Kraez said. “If it doesn’t snow, [International Salt’s clients] don’t buy it.”
Basic Services Committee Chair Bill Galvin said the salt operation was originally proposed to the Neighborhood Council as a three-year obligation to store a small amount of salt at the site, but it had changed substantially since that time.
“Temporary has now become permanent, and small has become large,” he said.
Galvin identified the biggest ongoing issues as the impact of the salt operation on residents, especially those of the nearby CharlesNewtowne housing development, and the effect of truck deliveries on neighborhood traffic.
To address residents’ concerns, Galvin said the Neighborhood Council had helped facilitate meetings between Autoport representatives and the management of CharlesNewtowne earlier this year.
Johnson responded that truck deliveries — which he estimated at 19,000 last year — were confined to existing truck routes on Medford and Chelsea streets.
Johnson said a copy of copy of an air monitoring report detailing the impact of the salt operation on the neighborhood is available at the Charlestown Branch Library, 179 Main St.
The Basic Services Committee voted unanimously in favor of a motion made by CNC Chairman Tom Cunha recommending that the Neighborhood Council sponsor an exploratory meeting with representatives from Autoport and Massport to discuss the salt operation.

The Boston Transportation Department unveiled preliminary design proposals for the reconfiguration of Rutherford Avenue and Sullivan Square at the Knights of Columbus Hall last week.
According to BTD Director of Planning Vineet Gupta, the city has allocated $600,000 for design and planning and an additional $13 million in federal funding has been earmarked for construction of the project. The reconfiguration project intends to facilitate traffic flow and improve the urban design in the areas of Sullivan Square and Rutherford Avenue by extending the Charlestown street pattern into underutilized areas.
The first design proposes separating Maffa Way and Main Street to improve intersections, while two variations on the second design would combine the roadways. A third design recommends a Rutherford Avenue surface option that would separate Maffa Way and Main Street without the creation of an underpass. Gupta said BTD would work with the community to find a way to phase in the selected design.
The meeting, which followed an introductory presentation by the BTD on July 24, was attended by approximately 75 people. Gupta encouraged those in attendance to submit feedback on the design proposals and said a follow-up meeting would likely take place in late February or early March of 2009.

Tavern on the Water has been temporarily shut down after it failed to meet state sprinkler codes.
According to published reports, the restaurant at 1 Eighth St. the Navy Yard was one of five Boston establishments cited last week for not installing their sprinkler systems by a deadline imposed under state law. The law, which was passed after a fire at The Station in West Warwick, R.I., claimed 100 lives four years ago, mandated that all entertainment venues with capacities of more than 100 people install fire sprinklers by the close of business on Nov. 15, 2007. All five Boston establishments cited were given extensions to get their sprinklers up to code earlier this year, but only Tavern on the Water missed the Friday deadline.
Brad Dalbeck, co-owner of Tavern on the Water and Max & Dylans, which will soon open in the City Square location previously occupied by Meze and Copia restaurants, said Tavern on the water would likely reopen following a visit from city inspectors tomorrow morning.
“We’re just a few days behind schedule on getting the sprinklers hooked up to [a dedicated water supply on] the street,” Dalback said. “The inside of the building has been finished for over a month. We expect to be open again by the weekend.”

CAPTION: Charlestown native Ed Grace displays his marathon medals.

Following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Charlestown native Ed Grace knew that running in the 106th Boston Marathon in April of 2002 had taken on an added significance.
As he prepared to enter the last stretch of the race on Boylston Street, Grace removed an American flag from his backpack and proudly held it before him. The crowd responded wildly, cheering and chanting “U.S.A.”
“It was an emotional moment,” Grace recalled. “It was overwhelming, and this country needed to get back to that kind of patriotism.”
Born on Sept. 11, 1963, Grace attended the now-defunct Bunker Hill School on Baldwin Street before graduating from Pope John XXIII High School in Everett in 1982. He later earned an associate’s degree from Bunker Hill Community College and a bachelor’s degree in business with a concentration in marketing from Salem State College. Grace went to work in the mutual fund industry after college, followed by a stint in sales for Norwood-based Sexton Foods. Since 1991, he has worked in the sales department of Anheuser-Busch.
A father of three, Grace has been active in several local sports programs. He coached and served as a board member for Pop Warner football and has volunteered for Little League and Charlestown Lacrosse. “The reason I did these things was to make Charlestown a better place for kids growing up,” he said.
Since the late 1990s, Grace has also served a member of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council — a decision that he also attributes to his desire to make the community a better place for everyone.
Grace began running to get into shape about a decade before he joined the Neighborhood Council, although he admits even then he dreamed of competing in the Boston Marathon. He completed his first road race in Cape Cod in the early ‘90s, which turned out to be more strenuous than he anticipated. “It was tough because I didn’t train properly,” he said.
Soon afterwards, Grace joined the L Street Running Club in South Boston and began training for his first Boston Marathon the following spring. Grace recalls being nervous before the race, particularly at the prospect of having to face the notorious Heartbreak Hill (which he said are in fact four hills). The crowd’s enthusiasm soon helped overcome this apprehension, however.
“It’s a big party atmosphere, and the crowd keeps you going,” he said.
Grace has completed 20 Boston Marathons to date, and he finished his third Chicago Marathon last month. Next up, he’ll run the Miami Marathon in January.
In April, Grace plans to run the Boston Marathon again, which will be his 30th foot race. “You want a milestone like that to happen on your home turf,” he said.
But even after this achievement is behind him, Grace said he has no plans to hang up his running shoes.
“As long as my knees and body hold up, I’ll keep doing them,” he said.