Page 16 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2021 RE-ELECTION | FROM Page 9 Transportation Projects: We have continued to work in concert with the Mayor and his Community Development staff and with DOT, DCR and the MBTA to improve transportation facilities and services on North Shore Road, Revere Beach Boulevard and American Legion Highway in Ward 5 to address the persistent problem of regional commuting through Revere to/from Boston. This multi-jurisdictional process is always slower than we all want it to be; but recently there has been encouraging progress on three important regional rail initiatives for which I have been a primary advocate: Congresswoman Katherine Clark has recently approved $4M for planning of a new regional rail station at Wonderland, linked to the Blue Line; the current Transportation Bond Bill includes $25M for the construction of such a regional rail station, for which I testifi ed along with Governor Baker and Mayor Arrigo; and DOT has recently designated the regional rail line through Revere as the Environmental Justice Corridor, with a priority for its electrifi cation to allow for “transit frequency and transit fares” on our regional rail. In addition, of particular interest to Ward 5, I was instrumental in supporting the commencement of design work on the proposed new roundabout for the RiverFront District, in successfully opposing DCR traffi c meters on the residential side of Revere Beach Boulevard, and in renovating the newly landscaped traffi c island at Butler Circle. Job Development Initiatives: Since 2019, we have worked to create new Revere job opportunities with the rezoning and reactivation of the former NECCO property in Ward 5 by Amazon, the proposed new Amazon facility to replace the vacant Showcase Cinema in Ward 6, the ongoing redevelopment of the Revere portion of the former Suffolk Downs racetrack in Wards 1 and 2, and – now that it has fi nally been cleared for redevelopment at my insistence – the prospective commercial revitalization of the former Wonderland racetrack in Ward 5. These development initiatives will eventually increase the number of job opportunities in and for Revere by threeto-four-fold. These are just a few of the Public Hearing Notice City of Revere, MA Proposed Loan Order $175,000 – DPW Backhoe Bonds Notice is hereby given that the Revere City Council will conduct a public hearing on Monday evening, September 27, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Councillor Joseph A. DelGrosso City Council Chamber, Revere City Hall, 281 Broadway, Revere, MA 02151 relative to the following proposed loan order: That $175,000 is appropriated to pay costs of purchasing a backhoe for the Department of Public Works, including the payment of all costs incidental and related thereto; that to meet this appropriation, the Treasurer, with the approval of the Mayor, is authorized to borrow said amount under and pursuant to Chapter 44, Section 7(I) of the General Laws, or pursuant to any other enabling authority, and to issue bonds or notes of the City therefor. That any premium received by the City upon the sale of any bonds or notes approved by this order, less any such premium applied to the payment of the costs of issuance of such bonds or notes, may be applied to the payment of costs approved by this order in accordance with Chapter 44, Section 20 of the General Laws, thereby reducing the amount authorized to be borrowed to pay such costs by a like amount. “Commonwealth” ) to qualify under Chapter 44A of the General Laws any and all bonds of the City authorized to be borrowed pursuant to this loan order, and to provide such information and execute such connection therewith. City Hall, Revere, Massachusetts 02151, Monday through Thursday from 8:15 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. and Friday 8:15 A.M. to 12:15 P.M. Attest: Ashley E. Melnik City Clerk August 27, 2021 many issues and opportunities for which I have fought on behalf of the residents of Ward 5; and they will continue to require informed attention and leadership in the next two years and beyond. I believe that my performance to date as your City Councillor refl ects the experience and expertise, the vision and understanding, and the dedication and leadership that I will continue to bring to this exceptionally broad range of civic and community responsibilities and that make me ideally positioned to continue to serve you and the city. Revere is at an exciting time in its history. The direction we take and the choices that we make in the coming years will determine whether we reach our economic, commercial, and civic potential as a community. It is on that basis that I again humbly ask you, the Revere residents of Ward 5, for your vote in the primary on Tuesday, September 14. SITE | FROM Page 1 School Building Authority grant program. Bell said there are several overarching concepts that the designers are trying to carry through at any potential site, including creating a heart of the school that can also be used by the whole community, creating classroom clusters and connecting indoor and outdoor spaces for learning and activities. “There were six sites that were under consideration in the preliminary design program, and at the end of that, three sites were moved forward into the preferred schematic design,” said Dawn Guarriello, a designer at Perkins Eastman. The site with the largest number of alternative options is the current high school site, which could include building two new three-story classroom wings and then taking down the balance of the existing building to the west of the Field House to build a new auditorium, administrative offi ce and Freshman Academy. This plan would include the renovation of the existing high school Field House. Other variations at the high school site include building the ~ OP-ED ~ Fiore Opposes 291-Unit Riverside Building R ecently, I joined several of my friends and neighbors in opposing yet another massive residential building project here in Revere. This time, we attended a Conservation Commission meeting to voice our opposition to a 291-unit building being proposed. Our community is being inundated by construction projects just like this one. With each passing special permit approval, we are seeing our streets further clogged with traffi c and our quality of life diminished. Lifelong Revere residents are fi nding it harder and harder to stay here because of the skyrocketing rental rates due to these buildings. I have to ask, “What are we doing here and why are we allowing this?” We have always been a closeclassroom wings at four stories each and using a smaller footprint, or building an all-new three-story high school on the Erricola Park portion of the high school property and then recreating the fi elds once the old high school is torn down. “This would allow the existing building to function on site during the duration of construction,” said Guarriello. The options at Wonderland include building a new three- or four-story high school on the southern end of the site, which is the highest ground on the property. The downsides of the Wonderland site include more diffi - cult access for students and the fact that the City of Revere doesn’t currently own the property and would incur additional costs to purchase it. The third site is the Revere Housing Authority property, which would eliminate about 150 housing authority units. Those units would have to be replaced, either elsewhere in the city or incorporated into the high school property, depending on the plan. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dianne Kelly said there have been discussions with the Revere Housing Authority about the feasibility of using that site, and she noted that at this time no fi nal site knit community and our elected offi cials and their appointees are allowing out-of-town developers to dictate the terms of their entry into this city. We are getting little to no community benefi ts from these projects and are suff ering more and more with each passing day. Even worse is the impact they are having on pushing people out of our city. I am running for the Ward 5 City Council seat because I have had enough. I know many of the residents of our great city have as well. We need to put an end to these special permits and developers who don’t care about our community. We must develop a comprehensive plan for our community that puts Revere residents fi rst. I humbly ask for your support on Sept. 14th! has been selected. “The thing that makes this an attractive idea is that it’s in the middle of the city, so it would largely be accessible by most of Revere’s residents,” said Kelly. “It would enable a lot of kids to walk to school. The issue with the Wonderland site is that it’s blocked by the commuter rail and by highways, so when you think about kids walking to school, that would really be a worry.” She said that if a Wonderland option is chosen the schools would work with the state on potential overpasses and pedestrian walkways to make it safe for students. The hope is to build a new high school off -site, Kelly said, to set in motion a larger plan that could ease overcrowding throughout the district by converting the old high school into a central middle school. “That would allow us to convert at least some of the middle schools into elementary schools, and that would alleviate the overcrowding we currently have across the district,” said the superintendent. However, Kelly said she believes all the building options still on the table are viable. “When one is ultimately selected, we’ll make it work and it will be great for the kids and great for the community,” said Kelly.
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