Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Time to check in with Quincy Mayor Thomas Coke for our weekly City hall update. Mayor, how are you this morning?
[00:00:06] Speaker B: I'm well. Another glorious morning, Joe.
[00:00:07] Speaker A: Boy, it is just spectacular, isn't it?
[00:00:10] Speaker B: We talked about over the years, September and October, terrific month, I think I agree. My favorite.
[00:00:16] Speaker A: Yeah. Nice, sunny, warm days, clear, cool, comfortable nights.
Bring it on. And. And back to school.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: And back to school. I remember those days my father used to sing. School day school used to drive me nuts.
[00:00:33] Speaker A: That's a parent's prerogative, you know, to drive their children.
Of course, new this year is the electronic device policy. Have you heard how that's going so far?
[00:00:44] Speaker B: It's going very well. I've talked to the superintendent and the principals, and it seems to be going very well. There's been very few objections. And so I think it's going to be a good thing overall for these kids in their education. Too many distractions.
[00:00:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
It's, of course, mandated by the state, but Quincy's kind of ahead of the curve, it seems on this particular issue.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: We usually are, Joe.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: Mayor, since last we talked, there's been some discussion about plans to renovate Squaw Rock park out at Squantum, and I wonder if we could bring us up to date on that project.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. There's been discussions with the Massachusetts tribe for several years now, Joe. We've been dealing with Ferris Gray and some of the members of the council and again for many years now, and the Aspire Group, their lease was up.
We work with them on moving on and taking one of those buildings, and it's going to become the home of the Massachusetts tribe. And this area, the Hummock Meadows, was all sacred land to them long before the English arrived.
They were enjoying what would have been at that time, heavy agriculture, farmland, and, of course, the ocean. It was summer in Quincy and winter out in Walpole, Franklin, in that area to get away from the Northeast storms I would get.
But it was a thriving area. This. This area. The state was very, very fertile. So they had challenges with invading tribes from time to time to try to steal the food. It's been very fascinating learning the history of the Massachusetts tribes. So, you know, we committed to this some time ago under the Quincy 400 program that we started.
We were doing the Quincy 400 preparing for it, and this kind of came upon us, and we struck up conversations and built a nice friendship with this group, and I think it's only right and fair that we do this thing.
Square Rock is a beautiful, beautiful park. I mean, a lot of People probably have never been out there, Joe.
And if you're out and about, want to take a walk? It's magnificent, really. The ocean front there, the rock formations, the beautiful river birches along the trails. It's a great spot, needs some work and we've committed to doing that. The first piece, really the first phase is taking the middle building down and kind of redefining the entrance. Today, it's kind of undefined, actually.
It's all gravel. The road just kind of rolls off, goes off an embankment. People park on the embankment. To go visit the park, we obviously will have with the Massachusetts Tribe, the ANU Home and Museum, and they're going to have events up there. And we have, of course, the Nickerson Post has been there for decades and the parking was kind of all over the place, really not organized very well. People would park on the grass edges and it starts to look pretty, pretty lousy after some time. So, you know, the Moon Island Road piece, we're going to be putting curbing in sidewalks to meet the ADA requirements, redo that structure of the road, and then we're going to be repaving and striping with curb edging on the parking lot with drainage for the first time.
The drainage currently just goes off into the embankment in the ocean. This will have storm drains. It will have the catch basins with the cleaners in them so that nothing harms the ocean or the wetland area off of there. So overall, it's a really neat project and it's going to, I think, really beautify what is already a beautiful natural squad. But this will provide a real beautiful welcome and entrance to the park.
[00:04:35] Speaker A: As I understand the funding, $700,000 is coming from the Quarry Hills lease agreement.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: That was one of the plots we were looking at. The council seems to have concerns about that. So we may use chapter 90 or some of the other funding that we get for paving. So we'll figure that out, but it shouldn't be a big deal.
[00:04:56] Speaker A: And the timeline, Mayor, for this project?
[00:04:59] Speaker B: Oh, it's imminent. I mean, we're going to be moving on this in the next week or two.
[00:05:03] Speaker A: And will there be a kind of a. I guess a dedication or ribbon cutting once it's completed?
[00:05:09] Speaker B: Actually, we're looking at some dates in November where the tribe officially would cut ribbon for their place.
As part of this, we're providing the building, you know, the inside and the improvements and whatever they want to do that will be done on there on their dollar, on their schedule.
Again, we'll provide the building at some point. The park and recreation board will enter into a license agreement with them for use of the building for now, and then we'll look at some kind of a long term agreement with them.
You know, they're going to be investing a lot into the building, so they want to have an agreement in place, continuity, you know.
[00:05:48] Speaker A: I see. And would there. Would this be open to the public for the. For the public to visit the tribe?
[00:05:54] Speaker B: Yeah, that's what they're talking about. You know, I don't know. I don't think it'd be every day, but certainly these people work.
This would be a place for them to meet the council, to meet, come together, to have programming, to have days where the public can come in and they can teach a little bit of the history, show them the tools that we use.
They even try some demonstrating on how they used to build the canoes. They have a different name for it, but escapes me right now.
So I think there'll be a lot of good, positive community connection with them and learn a little bit more about our history through their history.
So I think it's going to be real positive for the city.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: I understand there's going to be a statue as well, outside of their new headquarters.
[00:06:42] Speaker B: Yes, we committed to that early on and the statue's finished.
Everything the process really went through would normally be the procurement process of the city, but the people that made the decisions was the tribe, you know, who they picked for an Addis. Obviously, we had several Addis that responded to the rfp.
They picked the Addis and they picked the design, if you will, of the statue. So it is of Chicka Talbot, whose home was at Squaw Rock.
And not home in the traditional sense like we know, but certainly his home at the time in those days. And he was revered in the tribe. So.
Yeah, that'll be part of the dedication ceremony.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: Very good.
Also, Mayor, since last we talked, some discussion has come up regarding the use of these Flock license plate reader cameras. And I was wondering if you could share your thoughts about that.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I have.
I have great confidence in police Chief Mark Kennedy and he's very sharp. He's got a great team and the cameras are. I think this whole issue has been way overblown, as traditionally things get overblown in reality, you know, it's been a great tool for them to solve crime, you know, and I think that, you know, we complicate things, but at the end of the day, that's what it's about. And we're living in a day where, you know, you go up and down the street, you're being taped by ring cameras. I mean, everybody carries an electronic device.
I mean, it's a different world.
But it has given our offices and our department a great tool in helping to solve crime. I know that a couple years ago, when that assault happened to that Asian woman, Wallace and train station area, it was the cameras that helped solve that crime. So there has been no evidence of any kind of abuse of any type in the city of Quincy.
So I know that the chief is very bullish on them. He believes in them, and I certainly trust his judgment. I have no reason to doubt it. I think it would be foolhardy if we didn't use these. And, you know, again, it's about keeping our city is one of the safest in the commonwealth, and we want to keep it that way.
[00:09:02] Speaker A: Do you feel there are appropriate safeguards in place to protect people's privacy?
[00:09:08] Speaker B: I do. I do.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: Speaking of police, Mayor, any dedication date for the new public safety complex yet?
[00:09:17] Speaker B: We're looking at sometime next month, but I just want to be sure it's finished. So I get updates from the superintendent, the clerk of the work, and it is coming along because, sure, if you've driven by it, the site, you know, there's a lot of. A lot of work. There's some walls to be built. And then, of course, a lot of fill went in to kind of level that off that corner. And then the exterior wall that was started on both ends now will be connected. So I just want to make sure it's. It's finished. So hopefully sometime late October.
[00:09:49] Speaker A: Okay, look forward to that. And hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate.
[00:09:53] Speaker B: So far, so good.
[00:09:56] Speaker A: Believe it or not, the Christmas parade theme contest is already underway.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: So.
Yeah, that came up recently. I was speaking to the.
It was the Lions group that somebody raised that issue, and my goodness, September, we're talking about the Christmas parade. But that's the way it is. Things have keep moving, the calendar keeps. We keep turning the page, and time doesn't stop for anybody. So. Yes. Good.
As you know, we have great Christmas and holiday events.
People come from.
Funny, I met a lot of people that moved out of Quincy years ago. For whatever reason, they come back for those events with their kids, their grandkids.
It's a great day, great weekend for the city of Quincy. So. Yep, the planning is underway. Including the theme contest. That's right.
[00:10:41] Speaker A: Always appreciate the time, Mayor.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: Same here, Joe. Enjoy the day. Thank you.
[00:10:45] Speaker A: You too.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: Bye now. Bye. Bye.
[00:10:47] Speaker A: Mayor Thomas Coker. Weekly city hall update here on Am Quincy.
