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To Whom it May Concern:

With the election behind us, I’m not sure whom, if anyone, would prefer their name to be removed from this circulation. Please let me know and I will be sure to do so. That said, it is my sincere hope everyone on this list will support Cobble Hill Apartment’s desire to have the City cancel their plans to place a new fire and police station at 90 Washington Street, and find a more appropriate location instead.

I have made our residents aware the City’s first Community Meeting by teleconference has been reschedule a third time for December 13. As previously stated, only one Cobble Hill resident claims to have participated in a teleconference of any kind. To accommodate our residents, I signed up for remote access and will televise the presentation at a Cobble Hill Community Room so that all interested residents can watch the presentation.

Noted below in this email string, on October 29 I attached 19 resident letters in opposition to the City’s plans. These letters were written in the residents’ own voice. This time I am attaching an additional 14 letters from Cobble Hill residents also in opposition. Please know a larger majority of Cobble Hill residents have asked me to circulate a petition they can sign in opposition to the City’s plans as well. This will likely happen after those who have expressed a desire to write a letter are able to do so. Every workday I listen to residents express their disappointment with the City’s plans. For me, I believe the letters do a far better job of expressing Cobble Hill’s sentiments of fear, disruption and disappointment than any petition could.

It is my hope those residents who have written a letter will receive a thoughtful response in return from every elected official. We ask this question at every community meeting. To date, I am almost in disbelief at the collective silence in the response for something so important to our 300 person elderly community. Is it possible these personal letters are simply ignored? Frankly, I am confident I would not be employed as the Cobble Hill Property Administrator if I acted similarly to an important community concern. I hope you agree that the residents of Cobble Hill deserve an answer as to how this happened and why the City thinks this is a good idea.

Still unanswered are the resident questions as to why the City Plans are proposing the following:

To situate a back-turning four-story parking garage behind 84 Washington Street

To eliminate green space and the access road to the trash dumpster and shed behind 84 Washington Street

To eliminate the parking lot next to 84 & 74 Washington Street

To situate a fire and police headquarters with expectations of 24/7 alarms next to the largest elderly development in Somerville.

Other questions most Cobble Hill residents want the City to answer include:

1) What are the number of projected annual emergency vehicle trips – fire and police – that will require siren producing noise pollution, and was this considered in site selection?

2) What are the projected decibel levels of both fire and police emergency vehicles and was this considered in site selection?

3) Will emergency fire vehicles be required to back themselves into the station after every trip?

4) What is the decibel level on the safety alarm when a fire truck returns from a trip and parks the vehicle in reverse, and was this considered in site selection?

5) Who is ultimately responsible for the City’s decision to replace housing development at 90 Washington St to build a municipal building for fire and police? This seems antithetical to every elected city official’s promise to advantage Housing and Commercial development next to the GLX “green line” MBTA stop.

6) Why did the City’s site selection scoring criteria give 90 Washington Street 4 out of 5 points for not being near a residential community?

7) Can you identify any examples of where community opposition has resulted in the City of Somerville reversing their plans? Your response will speak volumes to the Cobble Hill residents about the City’s regards for the Community Process.

Respectfully,

Evelyn Ortiz
Somerville