DA Seeks Public’s Help In Solving Cold Case Murder – see page 3
Vol. 29, No. 5
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Friday, January 31, 2020
Conservation Commission reviews plans for Roosevelt Park By Barbara Taormina he debate over Roosevelt Park and the city’s plan to install an artificial turf field moved to the Conservation Commission this week. The city’s consultants for the project presented an overview of the plan and fielded questions from residents and the commission. The Friends of Roosevelt Park and the Salemwood Community once again raised concerns about health, safety, environmental justice and community engagement. Robert Prokop, a wetland scientist, outlined the drainage system required for the site, which is in a floodplain with a protected wetland, two resources overseen by the Conservation Commission. Engineer Meg Bucynski said that no heavy metals or PFA’s, chemicals that have been linked to organ damage and other health problems, would leach from the field into the city’s drainage network that empties out into the Malden River because there are no such hazards in the turf. But some of the roughly 40 residents who crowded into the mayor’s conference room for the meeting asked about chemicals in the paints, disinfectants and antibacterial treatments used on synthetic turf and whether that type of maintenance is a condition of the field’s warranty.
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GROWING CONCERNS: Residents bring their comments and concerns about the synthetic turf field slated for Roosevelt Park to the Conservation Commission this past week.
Bucynski said chemical treatments are not a condition of the 16-year warranty for the sand and wood particle infill proposed for the field. But BrockFILL, the organic wood particle fill, is a new product without much history to back up claims about performance. And according to the Brock USA website, the fill comes with a 10-year warranty. Residents who favor a natural grass field for Roosevelt Park pointed out that the synthetic turf industry is unregulated, and they characterized it as a “buyer beware business” with a lot of unknowns about the products. The problem with heat associated with synthetic turf fields came up several times during the meeting. Bucynski acknowl-
edged that on warm days temperatures on the proposed field can be 20 degrees higher than air temperatures. Salemwood teachers pointed out that on 90-degree days, the turf may be 110 degrees, which is significant for the elementary schoolchildren who use the field for recess. Several members of the Salemwood Community said the city did not do enough to enough to inform Salemwood School families, many of whom do not speak English, about the project. They also pointed to the fact that Roosevelt Field would be the fifth synthetic turf field in a small section of the city which threatens to create a heat island in those neighborhoods. Opponents of the artificial turf have said that violates the principles
of environmental justice which mandates environmental benefits and burdens be spread throughout a community. Proponents of the synthetic turf said field time for the city’s many sports teams would increase from roughly 400 hours on natural grass to more than 2,000 hours on synthetic turf. And Councillor-at-Large Stephen Winslow stressed that construction of more athletic fields was a goal set in the city’s Open Space Plan and Recreation Plan. In a letter to the Friends of Roosevelt Park and the Salemwood Community, Mayor Gary Christenson said expert advice from project managers and city department heads and the comments made in many public debates about the field convinced
him to support the plan. “I believe that I and members of the City Council who overwhelmingly voted in favor of the project have remained open minded and objective, and have strived to strike a balance among the competing interests and opinions to provide the best solution for Roosevelt Park and the city,” wrote Christenson. Members of the Conservation Commission requested more information about the project and will continue the discussion on Roosevelt Park at their next meeting. Residents can submit comments and questions on the project to the commission’s clerk, Gary Stead at gstead@ cityofmalden.org or to conservationcommission@cityofmalden.org.
Signs of the times, Soofa comes to Malden By Barbara Taormina ou can find them in Miami, Atlanta and Boston, and starting next week Soofa Signs will be moving into downtown Malden. Solar-powered Soofa Signs, which have been described as an outdoor digital bulletin board, promise to improve communication among residents, help visitors navigate the city and provide an opportunity for businesses to advertise to passersby. Malden has signed on for a six-month pilot program with Soofa Signs and expectations are high. “The City of Malden will now be able to communicate on the street level a mixture of things including upcoming public meetings and other
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Solar-powered Soofa signs will display official news from City Hall, ads from local businesses and relevant messages and ideas residents want to share with neighbors as well as transit schedules and community calendars.
relevant updates,” said Mayor Gary Christenson, who called the Soofa Sign pilot program an important tool to enhance
the city’s outdoor communication. Wirelessly connected with a cell network, the sleek, sev-
en-foot-tall sidewalk Soofa units have a 42-inch screen that continually rotates displays of community-generated content, updates and information from City Hall and ads from businesses building their brands or promoting deals and special offers. The bottom 25 percent of the screen provides real-time information on MBTA and bus arrivals and a community events calendar. Soofa was launched out of Harvard and MIT in 2014 by cofounders Sandra Y. Richtor and Jutta Friedrich, who envisioned a hyperlocal neighborhood newsfeed that would connect a community with screens that everyone could see and use. Residents can use Soofa signs to share messages,
news, ideas and information with their neighbors by signing up for a free account on a self-service platform called Soofa Talk. Posts are reviewed by Soofa staff before they go live on a sign. Businesses and organizations that want to advertise on Soofa signs can create commercial accounts with tiered pricing based on the number of signs, posts and the length of time posts are active. Small businesses can post three active ads on three signs for $99 a month. Larger businesses can post an unlimited number of ads on five signs for $499 a month. Custom pricing is available for businesses and
SOOFA SIGNS | SEE PAGE 12