Environment

Eversource Customers Automatically Enrolled in City’s Community Choice Electricity Program

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Boston's  Community Choice Electricity (CCE) program, which enables the city to leverage collective buying power of Boston to secure more stable and affordable electricity rates, and more clean power, will officially launch Feb. 1, 2021. CCE is an opt-out program that offers customers electricity choices without any change in delivery or any contractual commitments. The city will begin sending notices to residents on Eversource Basic Service on Dec. 4.  Those residents will be automatically enrolled in the program unless they actively choose opt out.

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Environment

Emerald Necklace Conservancy Honoring Mayor Walsh with 2020 Olmsted Award of Excellence

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The Emerald Necklace Conservancy will host its biennial fundraiser virtually and honor Mayor Marty Walsh with its 2020 Olmsted Award of Excellence. The award will be honoring the Walsh administration’s significant capital investments in the Emerald Necklace, representing historic funding for parks according to a press release. The fundraiser is being hosted tonight (October 14). “Mayor Walsh’s tenure has seen unprecedented capital commitments to Boston’s parks – $114 million has been spent by the Boston Parks Department on 170 construction projects and $60 million allocated to the 1,100 acre Emerald Necklace, the largest-ever capital funding for Boston Parks. These projects include Improvements to Jamaica Pond Pathways and Perimeter, Liff Park restoration, Olmsted Park enhancements, projects funded by the Community Preservation Act and many more.

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Development

Brewery’s Landlord Sues to Stop Pine Street Inn Supportive Housing, Brewery Owners Have ‘Concerns’

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The landlord of Turtle Swamp Brewery is suing to stop a supportive housing development that the city has allotted millions to help create. In November 2019, Mayor Marty Walsh celebrated the Boston Planning & Development Agency Board of Directors voting in support of the Pine Street Inn's and Community Builders project at 3368 Washington St. The new project will be the city's largest supportive housing development. In total there will be 202 income-restricted units in the five-story, mixed-use building. There will be 140 units designated as supportive housing for individuals served by Pine Street Inn, and another 62 units will be available for low- and moderate-income households.

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Government

Mayor Walsh Declares Racism a Public Health Crisis and Reallocates BPD Overtime $

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Saying that Boston needs to be a leader in battling racism, Mayor Marty Walsh declared racism a public health crisis. He also announced that 20% or $12 million of the Boston Police Department's overtime budget will be reallocated as investments in equity and inclusion in the city. "In Boston, we embrace the opportunity this moment and this movement offers us," said Walsh on Friday. "We stand with our Black community and communities of color to lead the change toward a more just and equitable society. With these actions, we will increase equity in public safety and public health, and launch a conversation that can produce lasting, systemic change to eliminate all the ways that racism and inequality harm our residents."

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Business

Boston Creates Small Business Relief Fund to Help ‘Non-Essential’ Bizs Making Less Than $1.5M Annually

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The city has created a Small Business Relief Fund to assist Boston's small businesses most directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund is specifically for for-profit entities with fewer than 35 employees, and that earns less than $1,500,000 in annual revenue. "We are committed to helping Boston's small businesses during this unprecedented time by providing strategic, accessible, and critical financial resources to help them stay afloat and pay employees," said Mayor Marty Walsh. "Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and the lifeblood of our neighborhoods. As the response to COVID-19 continues to evolve, we want to make this resource as straightforward as possible for business owners and work one-on-one to ensure they have the most up-to-date information on financial assistance available."

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Government

Governor Closes Schools, No Dining at Restaurants, Bans Gatherings Over 25, and More

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On Sunday in response to the spreading of the Coronavirus, Governor Charlie Baker announced sweeping restrictions across the state that effect restaurants, gatherings, restaurants, and schools. “The facts on the ground have changed,” said Baker. “Now that we have evidence based on the testing results that we have community transmission in seven counties in Massachusetts, I think at this point in time it’s particularly appropriate we not only move on the school closures, but also that we get a lot more aggressive around other places and spaces that people gather.”

Starting Tuesday through April 17 all restaurants and bars in the Commonwealth must shutdown on-premise consumption. Restaurants and bars can continue to offer food via takeout or delivery. Before Baker's conference, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced on Sunday that effective immediately all Boston restaurants, bars, nightclubs, bar rooms, are required to reduce capacity by 50 percent, remove tables and chairs to reflect that reduced capacity.

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Business

Boston Foreclosures Dropped 61% in 2019

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Boston's foreclosure rate reached a 17-year low in 2019, dropping 61 percent in 2019 compared to 2018. Across the city foreclosure executions went down from 103 in 2018 to 40 in 2019, according to city statistics. Comparatively, 1,215 foreclosures were executed in 2008 during the height of the housing crisis. "I'm proud that through our work with homeowners, we have been able to reduce the number of foreclosures in Boston, and keep more families in their homes," said Mayor Marty Walsh via press release. "These results show that our programs and policies to prevent foreclosures and evictions are working.

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From the Community

Community Servings Completes $25 Million Renovation and Expansion Project

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Community Servings, a nonprofit provider of medically tailored meals and nutrition services to individuals and families living with critical and chronic illnesses, celebrated the completion of a $25 million kitchen expansion and three-story addition project at its longtime home in Jamaica Plain.  

With the opening of a 31,000-square-foot food campus, Community Servings plans to double the number of people involved in its volunteer programs and triple production of its scratch-made meals. The nonprofit is now well-positioned to expand its service footprint statewide and will soon begin feeding even more critically and chronically ill individuals and their families across Massachusetts. Community Servings is now prepared to meet new demand from a state-led initiative that will provide health-related nutrition supports to certain patients beginning in January 2020. “For 30 years, we’ve been focused on bringing nutritious, scratch-made, medically tailored meals to our neighbors in need.

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City Services

Check Out The Improvements to Jamaica Pond Thanks to The Pathways Project

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The city is celebrating the $4.7 million in improvements to the pathways and perimeter to Jamaica Pond on Nov. 23 -- and if you haven't seen it yet -- check out the photos. Mayor Marty Walsh and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department will be celebrating the culmination of the Jamaica Pond Pathways Project at noontime. The improvements include increased accessibility, new benches, new trees, new exercise equipment, upgrades to pathways and entrances, as well as improved drainage to protect water quality. During the ceremony the Jamaica Pond Boathouse will be named in honor of Christine Cooper.

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