Fifth Public Meeting

Date: February 11th, 2021, 6:30PM- 7:30PM 

Location: Virtual - Powerpoint Presentation

Attendees: 68

Goal: To share an update on the next phase of the project and introduce new members of our design/engineering team.

Summary of Initial Presentations: The fifth public meeting, also held virtually due to COVID restrictions, began with a reflection about Black History Month and the historic significance of Kamala Harris as the first Black, South Asian, and woman Vice President of the US. This was followed by a recap on recent project activities and achievements, including a new Malden River Works website, participation in the MVP webinar about environmental justice communities, and the award of the MVP and MAPC grants for $200,000 to continue the development of the project and hire additional consultants. 

There was a brief overview of the concept design, and then an overview of the next phase of the project to get to a 25% level of design completion, which is a benchmark in the process of completing the drawings and permits to construct the park. 

Then, the new engineering consultants were introduced, and they gave an overview of their work related to the engineering of nature-based solutions. After this presentation, attendees were invited to join one of five small group Breakout Room discussions of their choice: Design, Engineering, Community, Nature, or Youth. Summaries of those discussions are below. Lastly, the meeting closed on time after the small group discussions.

What We Heard

Small Group Discussion Themes

• Design: to learn more details about the concept design of the park.

• Engineering: to learn about nature-based solutions (such as green stormwater infrastructure) and engineering for climate change.

• Community: to join a conversation about connecting to your community through this project.

• Nature: to learn more about the plants, animals, and ecosystems of the Malden River, and how they will relate to the park.

• Youth: for youths and youth leaders who are interested in participating in a PhotoVoice project, which is a creative opportunity for young people in Malden to express their perspective about the Malden River through photography.

Results

Design

The Design breakout room began with an icebreaker, asking participants to introduce themselves and their favorite nearby green space. Riverwalk, Fellsmere Pond, Assembly Row on Mystic, Rivergreen, and Waitts Mount were mentioned. Participants were also asked how many Malden River Works meetings they have attended, with about half attending for the first time, and half having attended all four previous meetings. Then, the conversation was opened up to an open discussion about the park design. Questions covered access from Commercial Street, what kind of plants would be included in the lawn area, and there was an observation made that the gate on the dock would need to be removable for crew teams’ use during meets.

Engineering

Image from the engineering breakout session, led by Horsley Witten Engineering Group

Following introductions, the Engineering Breakout room session started with an overview of the anticipated climate change impacts in the Mystic River Watershed and how nature-based solutions can be used to help address these issues.  We discussed nature-based opportunities previously identified within the park portion of the site, including expanding tree canopy, green open space, green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) and shoreline restoration.  We also discussed in greater detail how GSI is designed, functions and can be more adaptable than most people think.  From there, our team showed various photographs and asked the question, “Is this Green Stormwater Infrastructure?”  Participants gave a thumbs up if they thought it was GSI, or thumbs down if not.  Many participants were surprised to find that nature-based solutions such as GSI are highly adaptable and can take on many different forms, depending on the site context and the goals of the project.

Community

The Community breakout room conversation was organized around 3 questions: 

Question 1: How can we improve our public meetings to encourage more folks to attend? How can we make our meetings more accessible to non-English speakers?

Responses included the observation that evening meetings could be problematic for students, and that we think about going to the students during school hours, perhaps having special learning sessions for them as part of classwork. There were suggestions on making the meetings and breakout rooms more interactive by using Jamboard on Google (whiteboard), Post-it app (post notes), Padlet (virtual bulletin board).

For better language access, live translation was suggested as well as providing meeting materials in different languages. It was stressed it had to be more than materials translations. Although this can work for the main room, we need more discussion on how to make it work for breakout rooms.

Question 2: How can we improve our outreach and communications? During COVID, we’ve relied primarily on social media and email. Are there any other creative ways to get the word out? Other informal networks that we should tap into?

Responses included suggestions that we connect with other organizations in greater Malden by going to their meetings and asking them to get involved with the project. Organizations such as Zonta, Chamber of Commerce, Lions, Disabled American Veterans, North Shore Black and Hispanic Associations, Historical Society, GMACC, CCC, Elks, Kiwanis, YWCA, YMCA etc were noted. Participants noted that we should continue to use social media, such as Facebook and Facebook messenger, and local online calendars or bulletins like Malden City Hall Calendar, UMA Community Bulletin and others, including newsletters for local organizations. 

The conversation also included brainstorming about interactive Apps about the Malden River, and smartphone interaction during meetings. 

There was discussion about involving youth, and that we could coordinate involvement on the Malden River Works projects with community service requirements for high school students. There was also a suggestion for paid opportunities for a summer teen program. 

Question 3: How can we sustain our community connections beyond the design of the park? What kinds of events would you be interested in outside of these public meetings?

Responses included ideas for socially distant clean-up events, nature walks and other outside activities at the River, such as canoeing or a scavenger hunt. 

Nature 

The Nature group began with individuals introducing themselves, and with Kate Kennen from Offshoots Inc.and Kathy Vandiver from Malden River Works acting as the facilitators. Kathy first reviewed a map to describe the effects of the dam on the Malden River ecosystem. Kate explained how thoughtfully selected native plants could not only beautify the park but could also create healthy wildlife habitats, bringing back a balance of insects, birds and other species. During this session, selected slides of two or three undesirable invasive plants were shown to help the group recognize them. Overall, the group was very interested to hear about  trees (cottonwood, black locust) already growing on the site that were valuable for removing contaminants from the soil, a process called phytoremediation. This session was lively and the use of photos helped the group enjoy learning a lot more about the park site as well as the river ecosystem.     

Youth

The Youth group was facilitated by Karen Buck and Khalil Kaba of Malden River Works.  The YWCA Teen Coordinator, Chris Murphy and her team of six YWCA youth leaders joined the conversation in addition to Suiyenah Chen, President of the Y-Leaders (YMCA), Avion Manong, an Urban Media Arts (UMA) intern and Amanda Hurley, UMA’s Media Arts Educational Coordinator.  Karen presented a short slide presentation introducing the Malden River, including its history and its present day successes and challenges.  The PhotoVoice project was discussed with the idea of meeting in March to create the Voice of the Malden River project.  Karen will provide on site assistance for youth on and about the Malden River.  UMA/MATV will technically assist the project and will provide Gallery Space for public viewing.  We will be reaching out to more Youth Groups, including Malden Teen Enrichment Center, Malden High School, and Malden Catholic.  Please contact Karen Buck at FriendsoftheMaldenRiver@gmail.com to help facilitate or recruit additional youth participants.  

This was made possible with funding from the State of Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Program Action Grant and a MAPC Accelerating Climate Resiliency Grant.