Southie Trees Meeting

This month's Southie Trees meeting will take place on Thursday, September 29 at the Seapoint Restaurant on E. 8th St. from 5:30-6pm.

Come discuss grants, past BHA meetings, and the tree rescue mission with good food and great people. Bring your friends!

Plug in Southie: Planet Southie's Update

The Fight to Save Old Colony's Trees:
Help Spread the Word! Southie Trees has teamed up with TechBoston to save many heritage trees in the Old Colony Housing Development that could possibly be cut down due to the ongoing construction. Click here to learn more about what you can do to help!

Don't forget! The South Boston Farmer's Market is Mondays from 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. The market features fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs and dairy all from local farmers.

Are you a Southie bicyclist? Join Southie Bikes to help advocate for bike paths and better biking conditions for South Bostonians. Please email paul.ryan@me.com for updates and information about meetings. All are welcome!

Next Planet Southie Meeting:
Monday, August 22 from 6:30-7:30 pm. Location: South Boston Public Library, 646 East Broadway. Everyone is welcome at Planet Southie!

Next Southie Trees Meeting: Monday, September 12 from 6:30-7:30 pm. Location: TBD. All our welcome so branch out and invite your friends!

Plug in Southie: Planet Southie's Update

Join South Boston Grows 7/28 at 7:30 p.m. for the 2011 summer party at The Seapoint (376 E. 8th Street) to learn how to help grow food in our neighborhood. Fresh, local dishes will be featured. Tickets are available at the door for $20, or $15 if you donate a used garden tool. All proceeds from the event help fund youth programming.

Walk/Ride Day is 7/29. The Green Streets Initiative celebrates and promotes the use of sustainable, active transportation. On these days, people everywhere are invited to first, Go Green (walk, bike, use public transit, skate, canoe, etc.) and also Wear Green! South Boston Running Emporium (343 W Broadway) offers 10% off purchases to people who wear green and mention that they are participating in Walk/Ride Day. Blue Tierra Chocolate Cafe (258 West Broadway) is giving away a free piece of handmade gourmet chocolate to walk/ride day participants.

Next Planet Southie Meeting:
Monday, July 25 from 6:30-7:30 pm. Location: South Boston Public Library, 646 East Broadway. Everyone is welcome at Planet Southie!

Next Southie Trees Meeting:
Monday, August 8 from 6:30-7:30 pm. Location: Seapoint Restaurant, 367 East 8th Street. All our welcome so branch out and invite your friends!

Opportunities to Help Southie Trees

Hello South Boston Green Advocates –

The City has notified us of three public hearings taking place regarding development in South Boston.  These hearings are great places to voice support for keeping any existing trees and requesting expanded green space.  If you or someone you know can make it to the hearings and would like to be a voice for our trees, please do so and forward this message along.  The details of the hearings are at the end of this message along with places to send letters or emails.

The locations of the developments are below:

·         395 W. Broadway
·         49/51 Melcher ST.
·         319 A ST.

After scouting on Google Maps/street view, this appears to be the situation:

·         395 W. Broadway has 4 street trees out front, a few more in back (these may be weed trees), and another across Silver St behind the building.
·         49/51 Melcher St looks like it has 2 small trees out front.
·         319 A St. has a few trees between it and the parking lot to the south (these look like weed trees grown next to the fence).

It goes without saying that the street trees should be preserved.  If the weed trees are grown into fences, they will likely be removed, but we can ask that they be replaced with more suitable species.  Hearing details are below.

Thank you everyone for speaking for our silent, leafy neighbors.

Mike Kissinger
Southie Trees co-coordinator

Hearing on 395 W. Broadway

Tuesday 1/4 6pm 
Lithuanian Club

368 W.Broadway

The developer wants 3 story addition-mixed use  parking for 20 vehicle under the building accessed from Silver St.

Contact
Jay Rourke
BRA
One City Hall Sq. 9th Fl.
Boston, MA 02201
617-918-4317

Jay.Rourke.bra@CityofBoston.gov
(Fax 617-742-7738)



Hearing on 49/51/Melcher St.

1/10 6pm
Bargmann Hendrie:
Archetype Inc.

300 A Street
(conference room 1st Fl.
Apts. and Artists lots 
Contact
: same address as above
617-918-4238

kristin.kara.BRA@cityofboston.gov

Fax 617-742-7783

Hearing on 319 A St.

1/19 9 am
 
Rm. 900 City Hall

petition and plans can be viewed at Office of Zoning Commisson
Rm. 953C
 M-F 9AM-5PM

December 6 Tree Action Team (Southie Trees) Meeting Agenda

Below is an outline for the Tree Action Team (Southie Trees) meeting tonight. It will be held at:

Seapoint Restaurant
367 East 8th Street
Monday, December 6th, at 6:30 PM


Everyone is welcome!

The agenda is jam-packed  - there is much to discuss and many decisions to be made.  We’d like to stick to an hour if possible, but recognize we may run over that.  Please be ready for a streamlined meeting with optional time afterwards for extended discussions.

Southie Trees Dec 6 Meeting Agenda

    * Greeting and Check-in (10 mins)
          o Welcome newcomers and check in
    * Strategic Planning
          o Tree Map - What we have and what we will need  (10 mins)
          o Neighborhood Associations – How can we best partner with them?  (10 mins)
    * Materials (10 mins)
          o Documents - GBG flyers, etc.  What other docs would be helpful?
          o Tree Sources
                + Arbor Day (Bare Root, Pine Trees in a tube, etc)
                + Others?
    * Boston Tree Party Presentation (10 mins)
    * Timeline for next year (10 mins)

o   Kickoff party

Planet Southie Tree Action Team Update

11/9/10 Planet Southie Tree Action Team meeting: Tree Team co-coordinators Julie Gehring and Mike Kissenger will be holding an open steering meeting for the Tree Team.

What: Planet Southie Tree Action Team Steering Meeting
Where: Farragut House, 149 P Street, South Boston, MA
When: November 9, 7:30 PM
Why: To start a discussion and make initial plans for the Tree Action Team

Mike will be taking notes and will be sending them out for anyone who can’t make it. We’ll try to answer the following questions:

• When is a good time to meet? (Monthly on Thursday evenings is currently the leading time slot)
• What are good initial goals for adding trees in South Boston?
• What obstacles will we need to overcome? 
• Who else can we reach out to in the community?

If you cannot make it, but would like to contribute to the discussion, please send an email to Mike (mike.kissinger@techboston.com) and we will be sure to raise your ideas at the meeting.


In this update (posted on 11/4/10):

1. Welcome

2. Strategic discussion and initial suggestions

3. Connecting and expanding the group

1. Welcome!

Welcome to our first update. First, I'd thank you for your interest. This team is the branch of Planet Southie rooted in helping Southie recover its tree cover. We definitely have our work cut out for us. South Boston is currently ranked 14th out of Boston's 16 neighborhoods in terms of tree canopy (if you were looking down from an airplane, you would see fewer leaves in Southie). The upside to this situation is that we also have more potential to increase our tree cover than any other neighborhood!

The tree gap impacts the community in a real way. Trees reduce air pollution and asthma rates. They keep streets and homes cool in the summer. Studies show big trees reduce crime and tree-lined streets discourage speeding. On top of all that, a mature tree can increase the value of a home by thousands of dollars!

I'd also like to thank Julie Gehring who has stepped up to co-coordinate. Julie and I will be meeting next Tuesday evening to discuss possibilities for the group. Once a time and location has been decided, we'll let everyone know.

2. Strategic Discussion

I'd like to invite you to join the discussion. To seed the conversation, here are a few questions:

• How can we best get trees in the earth and keep them there?
• What are some points of resistance we may run into?
• Who else would be interested in seeing our plan bear fruit?

Below are some suggestions based on prior conversations. Please feel welcome to add your thoughts and make suggestions!

Stakeholders to connect with:

• Landlords
• Developers
• Homeowners
• Community groups
• Organizations/businesses
• Local, State, Federal Government

Recognize and confront challenges:

• Leaf raking is a pain, especially for the elderly - maybe evergreens are a better option
• Trees can get too big for small yards - small ornamental or dwarf fruit trees might be ideal here
• Some people just don't want them

3. Connecting and expanding the group

If you or your friends or neighbors want to get involved, please have contact planetsouthie@gmail.com to be added to the Tree Action Team email list.

We are also looking for a monthly meeting time and location that will work for the group. If you would like to attend, please email mike.kissinger@techboston.com with times in the evening that would work for you.

Thank you, Southie Trees!

Mike Kissinger

Tree Action Team Co-Coordinator

Plug in Southie: this week's Friday Update

This week's update is up!

Find out what is happening with the new Tree Action Team and other opportunities to plug into a greener South Boston.

Next Planet Southie Meeting is Monday, November 22 from 6:30-7:30 pm. Location: South Boston Branch Library, 646 East Broadway. Everyone is welcome at Planet Southie!

First Planet Southie meeting a smash!

Wow! We are pleased as punch that 22 wonderful people showed up at our first Planet Southie meeting on Monday, August 23. Please see the Meeting Notes to learn who is involved how to plug into South Boston environmental projects including:

• Anti-litter campaigns
• Community gardens
• Farmers market
• Global warming event on 10-10-10
• Public transportation
• Recycling
• Environmental justice
• Saving the trees in Andrew Square
• Solar power event

There is also interest in asthma initiatives.

We decided to meet the 4th Monday of every month from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. Location to be determined (the library is booked).
 
Next meeting is September 27, 2010. See you there!

Stay tuned by following Planet Southie on Twitter and Facebook