Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Quincy City Council President and Ward 3 Councilor Ian Kane joining us for an update of the June 2 council meeting. Hi, Ian.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: Hi. Good morning.
[00:00:09] Speaker A: Welcome to June.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
[00:00:14] Speaker A: Always a pleasure to get updates on the council.
It was actually was busier than I thought it was going to be. Ordinance was rather busy last night, right?
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Yeah, there was an ordinance community meeting. I did not attend.
I'm conflicted out of this issue. It's a. They're trying to discuss some rezoning. Transit oriented districts for the north and the southern parts of the city that, you know, where you've got State Street Complex and Crown Colony, which, you know, you're seeing high levels of vacancy rates in office properties across the region, across the country, all over the place, office work has changed. People aren't leasing like they used to, older stock, et cetera, et cetera. And so, you know, the planning department has been working to come up with some solutions that could potentially stimulate some redevelopment activity in those spaces.
So I know that that was the first part of me. I just wasn't there. I worked with an organization that could participate in some of this development and so I'm out on this one.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: Gotcha. Okay. Are you able to talk just more broadly about what transit oriented districts are, what that would do?
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Yeah, so we, I mean, the first, the concept of transit oriented districts, I think first came up in 16 or 17, you know, back when I first came in the council. So the idea was that you wanted to provide zoning relief and a quicker path to development on certain parcels of land in and around public transit areas. Right. So we had started by looking at North Quincy T station, Wallace and T station. Of course, the Quincy Center T station is governed by the urban renewal district in the downtown area in Quincy Adams.
So we had first looked at the three. We split those out instead of looking at them as the same kind of area. They're very different.
And then Wollaston got its own urban renewal district plan. North Quincy got a TOD or transit oriented district plan. So did the Quincy Adams area. And then Quincy Adams also got further designated with or that area up in South Quincy for the MBTA Communities act in order to satisfy more, I guess, requirements in development and absorbing some of the supply constraints in the Greater Boston area. So, yeah, I mean, it's again, it's. It's a. It's a change to zoning code. It sort of changes the process by which a typical, you know, project would be presented, whether it's in a particular zone, district like residence, a residence, B Or, you know, industrial or commercial zone or in the regional districts themselves.
[00:02:54] Speaker A: Yeah, I know the counselors for those areas. Councillor Harris up in North Quincy, Councillor Devine, Crown Colony, or in support. They spoke in support of that last night.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: Yeah, from what I heard. I mean, you know, I think there's some. Some clever thinking there. You know, it could really activate those spaces in ways that they haven't been in some time, considering office work has changed a lot. So, you know, look forward to seeing how that evolves.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: Sure. Are you able to speak about the other order, the Housing Development Incentive Program for Granite Street?
[00:03:24] Speaker B: No, I'm not. Yeah.
[00:03:28] Speaker A: On to the main council meeting, then. We have the Girl Scouts in.
[00:03:31] Speaker B: Had the Girl Scouts in. Yeah, they usually come in every year.
You know, there are, I guess, ultimate sort of capstone projects that they. That they do every year.
And so the. The Girl Scouts came in, there were seven of them. Two different. Two or three different projects that were presented in. Councilor Dubona honored them with some commendations. And, you know, we took pictures in the. Well, you know, it's always so impressive to see these young ladies come in, and I know how hard they work, and I know, you know, some of their parents who've talked about a lot of the work that they've done over the years, so it's cool to see. And I know one of them, one of the Girl Scouts in particular, I think, had represented the city or, you know, the troop from the city at a national competition and was recognized there. So that's really cool, too. So, you know, Quincy's. Quincy's really bringing out some special people.
[00:04:24] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm sure it always adds a little lightness to the council meeting when you have youngsters in.
[00:04:29] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. They're kind of the deflection sometimes.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, it's. It's. I know it's meaningful for them. They have told me I've had Scouts on my programs here, and it's meaningful for them to be recognized by their community. It really is.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. Hey, absolutely. I mean, there are. I mean, there are so many reasons to honor them as well. I mean, that's just some of the best stuff that that comes out is what the young people are doing. And I think sometimes it goes understated, you know.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: For sure. Yeah. Did you have business at the council meeting, actually?
[00:05:04] Speaker B: Just decide something that just popped in, because I'm gonna. I'll be putting something out soon, but it's been five years since we did. You and I, we did that Covid.
Writing competition. Remember?
[00:05:16] Speaker A: Yes, I do remember that.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: Yeah. And we did the readings for, for all the students. That was incredibly special, you know, capturing all those memories. I mean, I still, I was just going through the doc, the final document the other day, which I'm going to put out, but you know, capturing some of young people's sentiments and perspectives on what was going on at such a tense time, you know, was so important, I thought. And I can't, you know, it's hard to believe it's been five years.
[00:05:42] Speaker A: I cannot believe that either. But I remember it well. And I was, you know, happy to be part of that for sure. And those folks, they're five years older now, so they're a lot more mature. They look back on that and see.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: You know, I mean, if they were high school seniors going to college, they're probably graduated.
[00:05:56] Speaker A: Exactly. Right. Yeah.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: That's why there's. That transition is huge.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. But you and I don't get any older, Ian.
[00:06:03] Speaker B: We, we don't. We don't, Joe. We just get younger and younger and.
[00:06:09] Speaker A: That's right. We are Evergreen. Yeah.
What else?
[00:06:16] Speaker B: All right, so we had a, a couple things, went to finance committee. We had a land disposition agreement for the property at 1620 Hancock Street. Which is, it was the former health food store area and. Yes, Coleman's. Coleman Sporting Goods way back in the day.
[00:06:35] Speaker A: Yes, yes.
Pizza, I think.
[00:06:38] Speaker B: Yeah. So that whole parcel, it's a land disposition agreement for approximately, a project that would be approximately 160 residential units with retail at the, at the bottom level.
That went. We didn't discuss it and went straight into finance committee.
There was an appropriation for $8.25 million for equipment and capital improvements that went into committee. And I don't think I've seen an outline of what that's covering exactly. But it, it says that it's for public building, department improvements, Department of Natural resources improvements and equipment, fire department vehicles and equipment, police department vehicles and equipment, education department vehicles and associated costs there unto.
So we'll hear that at a finance committee meeting on January. January, June 11th at 6:30, I believe.
[00:07:35] Speaker A: Okay, very good.
[00:07:37] Speaker B: Yeah. June 11th, 6:30. And then we had some money contributed by assembly to the DARE program, which was approved.
And that was it. And then we, you know, in the report of committees, the finance committee approved, and then the council approved the fiscal year 26 general budget, the sewer enterprise budget and the water enterprise budget.
[00:08:04] Speaker A: Okay. So formalities, basically. They've already been approved. Yeah. Okay.
[00:08:08] Speaker B: Correct.
[00:08:09] Speaker A: All righty. And the last council full council meeting of the year the 16th.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: Yeah. 6:30. So actually not 6:30, it'll be 6:40. But we've got an ordinance committee meeting on the Transit Oriented Districts and the H DIP, or the Housing Development Zone and Plan.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:08:30] Speaker B: Followed by a council meeting.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: Are you speaking at the high school graduations, Ian?
[00:08:37] Speaker B: I don't think so. I've never, Nobody asked me to. Should, Should I.
Can I. Is it like open mic? Can I just get up and.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: I'd love to hear what you have to say.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: I've got, I've got something to say here.
[00:08:51] Speaker A: Well, actually, here's your opportunity. If you want to give a message to the class of 2025, go right ahead.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: Oh, wow. Well, do you have, is that demographic a big watcher of your program?
[00:09:02] Speaker A: Oh, the grandparents probably are.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: Grandparents. Okay. So it's, it's. There's an intermediary, I don't know, direct to the student.
[00:09:09] Speaker A: That's right. Yes, exactly.
But it is that season, certainly. For sure.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: Yeah. No, it's crazy how fast that comes. We were just talking before. Just. It's. It's June, school's done, people are graduating, people moving on. That's great.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: Absolutely.
On a separate note, I wonder if we might talk a little bit about the Dragon Boat Museum, the first one ever in the country here in Quincy.
[00:09:37] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I know. Believe it or not.
So, yeah. Know, this is a.
I guess a brainchild and a baby of a good friend of my father's who. My father had talked about this guy for so many years, and I had never met him.
And interestingly enough, he started getting involved in Quinn. He lived in Randolph. His name's Peter Ang.
And Peter's got a very interesting personal background. He was.
After high school, he joined the US Air Force during Vietnam and, and, and after that, he came back to the United States and was the first Asian American to pursue a career as an air traffic controller.
Yeah. And so, and then over time, he, he rose to become the first director of communications for the FAA. And so he worked for the FAA for 41 years.
[00:10:31] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:10:32] Speaker B: And I think, you know, even he's seeing some. He'd be an interesting person to talk to right now about, you know, what he's seeing in the faa. I know he's pretty close to that action, but, you know, this was, this was a dream of his to open. You know, he loved taking part in, in these races. And, you know, I think it contributed a lot to his life. And so this is just such a unique component to add to the cultural fabric of, of Quincy you know, there was a ribbon cutting and sort of a grand opening dedication on this past Saturday and there was great group of people there. Fuji contributed food, but the museum's such a wonderful space. There was a, you know, demonstration of, of a, of a dragon boat then and there. And there were, there's art all around. But I, I certainly encourage people to, to pop in and check this out because, I mean, I, I know nothing about dragon boat racing. I probably first heard about dragon boat racing through Councilor Liang, who I think had participated in, in some races and told me about it. But, you know, it's, it's a really interesting component because I don't, you know, I think it's, it's much more of a, of a place for people to gather as a community. You know, it's kind of a community center rather than just sort of an exhibition. But. And that was demonstrated over the weekend by, by all the people that showed up.
[00:11:54] Speaker A: Where is this museum, Ian?
[00:11:56] Speaker B: It's right next to the Quincy Art Association.
[00:11:59] Speaker A: Oh, right off the, on the common in town.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: Right? Yeah.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:04] Speaker A: You know, what is a dragon boat?
Why do they race? I mean, I don't, I'm pleading complete.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: Yeah, no, that's, that's okay. I know, I know just as much or as little as you. I mean, I'm, I'm sure, you know, just to compare it to something that you might recognize, it's probably akin to crew or rowing, you know, you know, just a different cultural aspect.
But yeah, I mean, I look forward to learning more, you know, and you can tell that Peter's passion is purely in this project. And it's, and it's really cool to have. I mean, it's another historical marker for Quincy and it's really cool to see, you know, in the evolution and sort of continuity of Quincy's 400 years, that this just adds another sort of vibrant component to the mix.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: Yeah, that, that's really what caught my eye was, was the fact that, hey, here, here's a, a significant population of the, of the city getting their own museum now. So. That's great.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, and you know, it's, it's not just their museum, it's our museum.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: Right.
[00:13:11] Speaker B: And I think that's the cool in it. It's like, it's a seamless, it's a seamless integration too, which is the cool part, I think that, you know, I, I love seeing in Quincy how, you know, from the north side of the city, how vibrant it has become with all the restaurants and small businesses. Just all along the. The Hancock street corridor up to Quincy Center. And then, you know, you continue down on Quincy Avenue. You've got supermarkets and everything. And I just think that it has added such a positive, you know, cultural vibrancy to Quincy. It's just so unique.
[00:13:50] Speaker A: Yep, absolutely. So folks can go to the museum and learn more about it.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: All right, great. Catch you after the 16th meeting, if that's okay.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: See you then.
[00:14:00] Speaker A: Thanks, Ian.
[00:14:00] Speaker B: Thanks, Joe.
