By Jessica Bartlett, Town correspondent

Quincy city councilors this week unanimously approved the $258 million budget for the fiscal year that begins Monday, a 4.4 percent increase from this year.

No cuts were made to the budget, which shows increases in nearly every department.

“To a large degree, it’s a restoration budget,” said Christopher Walker, spokesman for Mayor Thomas Koch. “In areas we had major cuts, we’re getting to where we were, especially in public safety and education. In many of the departments, the increases were confined to contractual increases for employees.”

The budget will enable the city to hire several teachers, policemen, and firefighters. The city will also hire a new energy manager and system technician charged with making buildings more energy efficient.

The budget will rise 49 percent for the Planning Department, which will will hire a research assistant and a planner for economic development. A commitment from the city to paint street lines also contributed to a nearly doubled Traffic Control budget.

The city has also increased the snow-removal budget to $1.5 million from $1.25 million this year.

“The mayor presented a fair, conservative, responsible budget to the council that provides for new investment in our core areas of education, public safety, and infrastructure, and we’re thrilled that it was reviewed and approved without alteration,” Walker said.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Nearly a year after the 42-year-old Quincy Center MBTA parking garage was shuttered due to safety concerns, city and state officials are taking the first steps toward reopening the facility.

A Request for Qualifications was released by the city on June 13, asking for design proposals for a Quincy Center station, parking garage, busway, and retail and transit- oriented development.

“This is a very preliminary,” said Christopher Walker, spokesman for Mayor Thomas Koch. “This has been an ongoing process internally with the city, the T, the state, and the federal government, brainstorming ideas about how to proceed. This is just the very first step.”

According to Walker, the city will use money from an unspent $980,000 Transportation Community Systems Preservation Grant. The funding, received from the federal government in 2011, will cover up to 25 percent of design specs from a selected developer.

Who will pay for the remaining design work and the construction has yet to be determined. What the project might include – such as retail space - is also up in the air.

“Everything is on the table in terms of potential, with the T station and parking facility [being] the two things that are non-negotiable,” Walker said.

The other non-negotiable is that the taxpayers will not be on the hook for the project, Walker said.

While the Request for Qualifications is preliminary, Walker said the bid request will answer several crucial questions, including an estimated cost.

The request also asks for a design/build/finance/operate/maintain plans.

“It will provide the engineering framework for what needs to be done,” Walker said. “The nuts and bolts of recreating a parking garage and a T-station, and what would need to be done to foster development above the train tracks.”

Walker said the city is also using this time to determine what approvals might be necessary. Unlike in other T-stations, Quincy owns the air rights above all its T tracks and therefore retains substantial control over what is built.

The bid deadline is July 11. Walker said the administration hopes to settle on a direction within the following few months.

“This planning process is going on and hopefully some point this year there will be something more formal that could be presented to the public. That’s obviously the goal,” Walker said.

The announcement comes quickly on the heels Monday's groundbreaking ceremony for the Quincy Center redevelopment.

One of the main reasons lead developer Street-Works LLC came to the city was the access to public transportation, Street-Works officials have said.

Walker said the hope is to bring up the T-station concurrently with the downtown construction.

“It’s the city’s hope and expectation that whatever plan is agreed upon happens in a way that coincides with the larger downtown project,” Walker said.

Walker said Street-Works has been kept in the loop of what is occurring at the T station, but the developer has not made a commitment to being a part of the MBTA development.

The five-level, 863-space parking garage was closed in July 2012 after weekly studies found the structure was unsafe.

MBTA officials said an average of 450 vehicles parked in the garage on a typical weekday, and parking traffic has been redirected to both the Quincy Adams and North Quincy stations since the structure was closed.

Quincy Police

Quincy police are seeking the public's help in finding a woman accused of robbing Quincy's Eastern Bank.

Police seek help in locating alleged bank robber

Quincy Police are looking for a woman accused of robbing an Eastern Bank.

According to police, the woman entered the Franklin Street bank at 2:10 p.m. on Wednesday, and handed the teller a note demanding money.

The teller put cash in an envelope while the woman allegedly told the teller “don’t try anything. There’s someone else.”

The woman went out the front door. According to the teller, the woman was no longer in sight once she got outside the bank; however, a grey SUV soon left the parking lot speeding west on Water Street.

Police said an undetermined amount of money was taken.

The woman was described as a white woman in her 40s, approximately 5’1”. She was heavy set and was wearing a gold-and-black Louis Vuitton head scarf, sunglasses, a long brown dress, and a pink and lime green shoulder bag.

The teller said the woman had an “Eastern European” accent. The woman never said she had a weapon.

Anyone with information in encouraged to call Det. Bill Monteith at 617-745-5767.

Police caution against scam calls
Quincy police are urging the public to be cautious as several people in the South Shore have reported receiving scam phone calls.

Typically, the caller informs the victim that a relative was in a car accident in a foreign country, and money needs to be sent to repair the car.

Residents have also reported callers who say a family member has been taken hostage while in another country.

For businesses, the caller claims to be from National Grid, and demands money be sent or the business’s power will immediately be shut off.

Often money is requested to be sent via Western Union.

Police said the calls have been reported in Quincy, Braintree, Weymouth, Abington, Duxbury, and Plymouth, and urge residents to be cautious of such calls.

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

The MBTA will increase security and police patrols around the system on July 4. As in years past, the T will boost subway service and will not charge fares after a certain point at nighttime, officials announced this week.

“We encourage people coming into the city to celebrate to use the MBTA and ask passengers to expect large amounts of people, and as we do every day we ask people to be aware of their surroundings, and if they see something unusual, report it immediately,” said Joseph F. O'Connor, superintendent-in-chief of the Transit Police Department.

He said, that while security is normally heightened on the holiday and for other large public events around Boston, this year there will be even more patrols than on July 4 in years past, including a “significant amount” of both uniformed and plain-clothes officers throughout the public transit system due to the bombing attacks in the city at the Marathon in April.

“We want people to feel safe,” O’Connor said. “We want to reassure the public for people who may be concerned because of the events that happened at the Marathon and in the week after.”

There will be no special restrictions on what items passengers can carry while riding the T, but O’Connor reminded riders that some items will be prohibited within a secure perimeter that will be established around the Esplanade.

He said random bag inspections, which are performed daily at strategically-chosen parts of the T, will be performed on the holiday. O’Connor also encouraged riders to download the agency’s free smartphone application which allows users to report suspicious activity by sending text and photos directly to Transit Police.

He said that Transit Police will, as they do regularly, work closely with federal, state and city law enforcement throughout the holiday.

The T also plans to institute schedule-related changes similar to what the agency has done on Independence Day in years past.

On Thursday, July 4, fares will not be collected after 9:30 p.m., subway service will run at “rush hour levels” after 2 p.m. and the last outbound commuter rail trains scheduled to leave Boston will delay their departure to allow passengers more time to board after the fireworks display at the Esplanade.

“Customers are urged to take public transportation to and from Fourth of July events and advised to check T-Alerts and mbta.com for the most up-to-date service information during the holiday,” the agency said on its website.

Officials also reminded riders that bicycles are not allowed on any subway lines on July 4. Bikes are also not allowed on inbound commuter rail trains from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or on outbound trains after 4 p.m.

Buses will operate on a Sunday schedule. Before 2 p.m., the T’s four subway lines – the Red, Blue, Orange and Green – will operate on a Sunday schedule.

The commuter rail will operate on a Saturday schedule, until the day’s final outbound commuter rail trains, all but one of which will delay their departures from Boston until 11:45 p.m. – about 45 minutes after the city’s fireworks display usually ends. The #1173 to Newburyport is scheduled to depart at 11:15 p.m.

Quincy and Hull boats will run on a weekday schedule. Charlestown boats will operate on a Saturday schedule. Hingham boats will not run.

Passengers who use The RIDE service are asked to check directly with their contractors for specific schedule changes.

For more information, visit the T’s website, www.mbta.com.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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Spending on police per person, fiscal year 2012

By Matt Carroll, Boston Globe | June 27, 2013

Click here to see a larger, interactive version of this chart.
Additional town-by-town snapshots.

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

Buses will replace train service on a portion of the Red Line this weekend.

On Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30, buses will replace service between Broadway Station and JFK/UMass Station, the T’s website said. The shuttles, which are accessible for people with disabilities, will stop at both stations as well as the one between them, Andrew Station.

Work is planned to be done on the Columbia Junction Project, T officials said.

For more information, contact the MBTA customer communications department at (617)222-3200, TTY: 617-222-5146.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

C-Mart owner Maio Kun “Michael” Fang has asked a Land Court judge to again overturn a City Council decision barring an Asian grocery store from North Quincy, saying the mayor improperly used his political power to influence the process.

In a strongly worded appeal dated June 24, Fang’s ask the court to require the permitting process be peformed without the involvement of Mayor Thomas Koch and the City Council.

“We believe that Michael Fang and C-Mart cannot get a fair hearing in the City Council because of the Mayor's ongoing interference in the Council's decision making process and the Council's inability to abide by the process laid out in the Remand Order,” said Steve Crawford, PR spokesman for Fang, in an e-mail. “We asked the Land Court to annul the Council's unreasonable decision and hear C-Mart's permit application itself, rather than returning the matter to the Council yet again.”

Mayoral spokesman Christopher Walker did not return a call for comment, and City Solicitor Jim Timmins said he had not yet read the allegations in the complaint.

Timmins was still confident that the city's process, though not flawless, was fair.

"I feel quite strongly that when you peel away all the political layers Mr. fang would plead were in play and imposed upon the process, the bottom line is the traffic is a difficult situation," Timmins said. "That’s what has to be looked at an analyzed."

The appeal falls in line with concerns expressed by some councilors throughout the permitting process.

"The prospect of having a Judge approve the permit, without mitigation, is concerning to me. The City is better off if local boards grant or deny permits, because local residents know the issues better than some Judge in Dedham," said Councilor Brian Palmucci in an email. Palmucci and two others voted in the minority to approve the project.

Palmucci has since filed legislation that would give the Planning Board the permitting power, rather than the city council.

"Having the council vote on these matters in which we have to be impartial arbiters is inconsistent with our role as community advocates. The law requires one thing while our council duties require another - its an impossible task," Palmucci said.

The appeal is only the most recent development in a four-year saga to bring a 25,000- square-foot store to the shuttered Boston Gear Works building in North Quincy.

In 2009, the Quincy City Council denied a slightly larger project. Fang soon appealed the decision in Land Court.

City officials and Fang agreed to redo the process, absent one member, to eliminate any bias. A remand order sent by the Land Court judge mandated more stringent rules for councilors to follow in the revised process.

Yet in the appeal, attorneys for Fang said, those rules weren’t followed.

“Unfortunately, the City violated both the letter and the spirit of the remand order,” the appeal states.

Among the problems, attorneys said the rules mandating traffic-related comments weren’t followed, and that critiques were not provided in writing and often weren’t based in concrete evidence.

Attorneys pointed to the testimony of Frank Tramontozzi, an appointee of the mayor, on May 20.

“C-Mart ... was not given any advance notice and was deprived of any reasonable opportunity to address Mr. Tramontozzi’s comments. To make matters worse, Mr. Tramontozzi addressed issues that had not been raised by any of the other traffic experts that the City had proffered,” the appeal states.

Testimony from Fire Chief Joseph Barron was also critiqued. Another appointee of the mayor, Barron submitted a letter asserting traffic concerns without providing any traffic analysis, attorneys said.

In early April, Koch also sent a letter to the City Council accusing individuals speaking at a public hearing process of being “representatives” of C-Mart.

In that instance, the mayor also cited traffic concerns without providing data to back up his assertions.

In all three instances, attorneys said, the mayor helped influence the process.

“The Mayor's use of his political muscle to thwart C-Mart's application violated the spirit of the remand order,” the appeal states. “The purpose of the Remand Order was to provide C-Mart with a fair chance to address traffic concerns and to ensure that the Council would maintain its focus on actual traffic data and analysis, and thereby avoid a situation where traffic would be used as mere cover for a decision that was based on raw politics or improper bias. That purpose was not fulfilled.”

The appeal goes on to suggest that the council is “incapable of providing C-Mart with a fair process,” and that the mayor “will pull out all of the political stops to ensure that the permit application is denied”.

The appeal asks the court to annul the council’s decision, and have the courts issue an appropriate permit.

Though the council’s denial mainly pointed to traffic as the reason for the rejection, and a number of neighbors against the project cited traffic concerns during a public hearing, proponents still say the project is feasible.

Mainly, when compared to other uses applicable within zoning regulations, a grocery store wouldn’t have a negative impact, the appeal said.

“[Traffic engineer] BSC’s presentation, and its report, demonstrate that the proposed project, with mitigation measures, would, in several respects, improve traffic conditions over what they would be if certain as-of-right uses were implemented without mitigation,” the appeal said.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Despite a poor smelt-spawning season in Quincy’s Town Brook, engineers say the relocation of the waterway has been successful for the regional fish.

“It’s tough to draw conclusions this early, but I’m encouraged,” said Brad Chase, with the Division of Marine Fisheries.

Smelt eggs were found where they were supposed to be, ripple pools designed to attract fish were working, and water velocity was adequate, Chase said

The state will monitor the brook for two more seasons before drawing final conclusions, but so far the relocation seems to have benefited the local ecology.

“It’s a marked improvement over what was there,” Chase said “… If it brings back lots of fish, it will be hard to say, but it’s a net improvement that will build over time.”

Locals had been concerned about the smelt spawning after seeing dwindled numbers this year.

However according to Chase, poor spawning happened region-wide. Though spawning typically begins the first week of March, it also didn’t start until the third week this year.

The season still finished around May 20.

Even with low numbers and shortened timeframe, eggs were found 200 feet in to the underground portion of the brook, and fish seemed to be spawning further up.

“Fish went to a place they couldn’t go before, which is further upstream. There are little things that are encouraging,” Chase said.

The new brook, relocated to the outskirts of Quincy Center, has been open since March, after engineers completed the $10.1-million brook relocation.

Pocket parks around day-lit portions of the brook are still being constructed and won’t be finished until September.

While the primary reason for relocating the brook was to bring the habitat outside the area of the downtown redevelopment, Chase said upgrading the smelt spawning grounds is key for the ecological success of an area.

“They provide food for so many predators - fish, birds, mammals, everything feeds on them. They are a prey species important for the ecology in the area,” Chase said.

Seasonal recreational fishers from Marina Bay down to Hingham also rely on the fish, Chase said.

As smelt mature at age 1 or 2, the smelt hatched this year will take some time before returning.

Even now, the progress is exciting, Chase said, as there have been few attempts to create rainbow smelt spawning habitats.

“This is a unique opportunity…and they were able to match the conditions we were targeting,” he said.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Quincy beaches will be active again this year with the help of two grants given out by the Save the Harbor/Save the Bay organization.

Friends of Wollaston Beach received $1,000 to support the Kids Fest summer program, happening late July. Meanwhile, the Quincy Beaches and the Quincy Beaches and Coastal Commission will use $1,000 from a grant to support Pumpkin Fest in October.

“Save the Harbor/Save the Bay does a lot of tremendous work, and we’re fortunate enough to have a number of groups that have benefited from their grants,” said Christopher Walker, spokesman for Mayor Thomas Koch and a member of the Beaches and Coastal Commission.

Quincy received two of the 15 grants given out by the organization, which raises money through its Better Beaches program.

Though the end-game is cleaner beaches, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay spokesman Bruce Berman said it's the events that keep people interested in local waterfronts.

“Beaches are the touch point for people when it comes to Boston Harbor cleanup," Berman said. "We’ve found great programs make great beaches.”

In recent years, money has come from the “Harpoon Helps Cupid Splash” fund-raiser. This year, nearly 500 locals waded into the water to raise more than $30,000.

“It’s not a lot of money, but the groups leverage it and they invest it pretty well,” Berman said.

Funding will help put on the Pumpkin Fest, only in its second year. The date for the event has not yet been scheduled.

According to Berman, the event received funding as it extends the beach season. Pumpkin Fest includes pumpkin carving, face painting, and games, he said.

The Friends of Wollaston Beach also has a track record of running great events, Berman said, and Kids Fest was the perfect use for grant funding.

Consisting of a DJ, moon bounce, and a number of beach games, the event typically draws hundreds of people to Wollaston beach.

“Without the grants, none of these programs are possible,” said Neil McCole, president of Friends of the Wollaston Beach. “They’ve stepped up to help not only Wollaston but beaches all along the harbor, which was critical after all the work completed to bring people back to the beach and enjoy it in a new way.”

McCole said the group was waiting on funding to schedule the event, but that it would most probably happen in late July.

The Friends group has received funding from the grant for the past several years, racking up a total of $15,000 total to put on the annual Kids Fest.

In addition to the grants, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay also gave each group 22 marbles to scatter on their respective beaches. Anyone who finds one of these marbles between July 4 and the end of the summer will be entered into a drawing to win round-trip airline tickets from JetBlue Airways.

For more information on these grants, click here.

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

Buses will replace train service on a portion of the Red Line this weekend.

On Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23, buses will replace service between JFK/UMass Station and North Quincy Station, the T’s website said. The shuttles are accessible for people with disabilities.

Work is planned to be done on the Columbia Junction Project, T officials said.

For more information, contact the MBTA customer communications department at (617)222-3200, TTY: 617-222-5146.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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For more news and stories about the MBTA, follow @LifeontheMBTA on Twitter, here.
For the latest updates about your community, follow some of our local neighborhood, city and town Twitter accounts, here.