Brookline's year in reviewLesley Mahoney Tuesday, December 30, 2003 From resolutions on MCAS and St. Aidan's, to progress (finally) on the Muddy River and the long-awaited opening of the renovated library, 2003 was a busy year for Brookline. Here's a month-by-month look of the last year's headlines, newsmakers and milestones.
Longtime selectwoman Donna Kalikow announced she would not seek another term after more than a decade of serving on the board. Neighbors came out in force to oppose a Newton developer's plan for a retail, hotel and housing complex on a heavily developed section of Route 9 in Chestnut Hill. An armed robbery at Hollywood Video on Harvard Street marked the fifth late-night armed or attempted armed robbery in town in a month.
After several delays, the renovated Brookline Public Library opened to the public on Jan. 26. In response to residents' perseverance, the Archdiocese of Boston agreed to save a 150-year-old copper beech tree and preserve the forecourt at the site of St. Aidan's Church.
A 48-year-old woman was stabbed near the Longwood MBTA stop and mistook for dead in the Muddy River. She was able to save herself by walking to an emergency room at a nearby hospital. Brookline High School faculty took a stand against the MCAS graduation requirement, calling on the School Committee to grant diplomas to seniors who meet all graduation requirements yet fail MCAS. Police arrested Waldemar "Wally" Ulich, an ESL teacher at Brookline High, and charged him with 10 counts of indecent assault and battery. The charges came five years after the teacher faced a single count of indecent assault and battery was dropped because police withheld key evidence from Ulich's defense team. Following the recent allegations, Ulich resigned from his post in the Brookline schools. The town approved the Archdiocese of Boston's plan to build affordable and market rate housing at the historic St. Aidan's Church, where former President John F. Kennedy was baptized. The plans were amended as a result of residents' work, resulting in a scaled back project that preserves a historic beech tree and the site's forecourt. The Association of Ones, Twos and Threes and its president Linda Dean came under fire when AOTT insiders charged the homeowners group was in disarray and in danger of folding. Dean acknowledged the organization suffered a setback when its treasure and founder died, but maintained AOTT's strength.
Brookline residents Barr Jozwicki and Chris Crowley found dead fish wrapped in the Brookline TAB at their homes one day after criticizing the powerful homeowners group AOTT. Brookline High School music teacher Geoffrey Dana Hicks was arrested and charged with statutory rape. Following the arrest, Hicks was suspended without pay, but later his suspension was lifted and he was placed n administrative leave with pay. The Brookline Community Center for the Arts opened its doors in Coolidge Corner. State Rep. Brian Golden, D-Allston, was deployed to military duty in Washington D.C. to provide legal assistance to the Pentagon.
Boston-based Paragon Properties submitted a plan to build a 12-story 88-unit condominium complex at 45 Marion St. The project was proposed under the state's Chapter 40B and called for 22 of the units to be designated as affordable housing. Three Brookline businesses were held up, marking a continuation of a rash of robberies since the beginning of the year.
The 189-room Courtyard Mariott Hotel on Webster Street in Coolidge Corner opened its doors. The opening followed debates between neighbors and town officials, which resulted in compromises for parking and a community courtyard.
Six Brookline High students who returned from SARS-plagued China spent a few weeks in independent study away from BHS until they had been home symptom-free for 10 days. Infant Jesus Church, closed since 1999, goes on the market.
Incumbent Robert Allen and Michael Sher won seats on the Board of Selectmen. Candidate Nancy Erdmann, a School committee member, lost her bid for a post on the board. Shortly after the election, Erdmann resigned from the School Committee and from her selectmen-appointed seat on the town's Human Relations/Youth Resources Commission, citing no confidence in the school board or selectmen. Selectmen voted to recommend the restoration of the Carlton Street Footbridge after it became apparent that state funding for the Muddy River dredging project could be in jeopardy unless the town committed to saving the footbridge.
In a long-anticipated vote, the School Committee shot down a plan to buck state law and grant diplomas to Brookline High seniors who have not passed MCAS, and instead voted to grant all seniors a BHS graduation document. Seniors who pass MCAS would receive a diploma as well. Town Meeting approved nearly $9 million in funding for the capping of the Newton Street landfill and thecreation of Brookline's first full-size soccer field. Town Meeting backed the Board of Selectmen's recommendation to restore the Carlton Street Footbridge in hopes the move would secure state funding for the Muddy River dredging project. Town Meeting approved budget that included $2.8 million in cuts to its state aid. The town was able to absorb most of the cuts without having to lay off any full-time employees, but many services were scaled back.
Police were looking for the culprit in the theft of at least two pricey Japanese maple trees - one at Temple Beth Zion and one at Lancaster Terrace. Other plants and shrubs were also reported stolen in other areas of town. Fire Chief John Spillane was demoted to serve as one of the town's six deputy fire chiefs. While Spillane requested the move after the Fire Department's administration came under fire for its increasing amount of sick leave, Spillane cited health issues as the reason for his request. Selectmen appointed Peter Skerry, a deputy fire chief, to take the reigns as chief.
Lured by $1 million in tax revenue that could be added to the Brookline's coffers, the town initiated plans that would double the size of2 Brookline Place. Local conservative talk show host Chuck Morse announced his decision to take on U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat, for the District 4 House seat in 2004. The town filed a lawsuit against Comcast to allow Brookline Access Television equal time in an Armory Street studio. Brookline activist Yang Jainli was indicted by the Chinese government on charges of espionage and entering the country illegally. When he was charged, Jianli had been in jail for more than a year. Town officials fired E.J. Sciaba Contracting Company from the Lawrence School renovation project, following construction delays that pushed back the reopening of the school. The general contractor's financial situation led the town to a determination that the company did not have the resources to complete the project.
The Coolidge Corner branch library project was scaled back after bids for the facade renovation came in significantly higher than expected. The thrust of the plan shifted gears to focus mainly on the replacement of the library's windows. The trial of a Brookline Chinese activist was held in Beijing. Court adjourned without issuing a verdict in the case of Yang Jianli, who was charged with spying and entering the country [China] illegally. Jianli was detained in April 2002 after visiting China to meet other activists and laid-off workers. Renovations to the Coolidge Corner Arcade neared completion. The $2.5 million facelift was designed to make the building more attractive, bring back its architectural roots. After the refurbishment, the building now conforms to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Two local spots were named in memory of residents. The playground at Emerson Gardens was named for Dan Ford, a member of the town's Park and Recreation Commission for 33 years who passed away in October 2002. Brookline's municipal pool was renamed after longtime Recreation Director Evelyn Kirrane, who died in July 1996. IN addition, a tree on the site was dedicated in the name of Megan Tremblay, a 12-year-old member of the Dolphin swim team who passed away unexpectedly five years ago.
The Archdiocese of Boston sold the Infant Jesus parish in South Brookline to local developer Robert Basile. A block of prime commercial real estate in Coolidge Corner where the Best Cellars wine store is located was purchased by local developer Harold Brown.
On the centennial anniversary of the death of Brookline's renowned landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, the national historic site on Warren Street honored its late namesake with a one-man show, "Frederick Law Olmsted: Passages in the Life of an Unpractical Man." Brookline Health Department inspectors ordered Natural Frontier market to shut its doors. The closure left the owners of the market feuding over who was to blame. The Metropolitan Planning Organization voted to award Brookline with $1 million in funding this year for the renovation of Beacon Street. The MPO also committed to appropriate another $7.5 million for the project over the next two years. A South Brookline resident challenges the Board of Selectmen's decision to extend the operating hours for the Grill on the Green, a restaurant at the Putterham Meadows Golf Course. Ken Schlossberg claimed that the board's vote violated the town's zoning bylaws and petitioned the Board of Appeals to overturn the decision. A vandal caused thousands of dollars in damage to Harvard Street windows, bashing in windows on both sides of the street.
A Superior Court judge upheld the sale of the Infant Jesus Church to a local developer, denying a complaint by the Chestnut Hill-based Chabad Center seeking a preliminary injunction to stop a real estate manager for the Archdiocese of Boston from selling the property to Robert Basile. In the complaint, the Chabad Center said the real estate manager backed out of a verbal agreement to sell the former church site to the congregation. Police sought a Dorchester woman, Eva McDonough, who they believed was responsible for dozens of break-ins to ritzy apartments all over town. Cambridge ultimately police nabbed the elusive cat burglar. McDonough also faced charges in Newton and Cambridge. Neighborhood opposition mounted against a plan to transform the split-level commercial/retail building at 2 Brookline Place into an eight-story medical or science lab. The redevelopment would be made possible by a Town Meeting warrant article which would create amendments to zoning bylaws and allow a laboratory to be developed and operated in Brookline. The Brookline Educators Association approved three-year contracts for the town's teachers, teacher's aides and administrators, following a prolonged negotiation process assisted by a state mediator.
Citing "personal and professional considerations," School Superintendent Richard Silverman resigned before the end of his three-year contract. His resignation is effective July 1, 2004.
Brookline's annual Russian-American Festival was called off for the first time in six years because of staffing and funding problems. Abutters sounded off on a condominium being built on the site of the former Longyear estate in the Fisher Hill neighborhood, claiming the building was much closer to the road than stipulated by a Board of Appeals decision. A lawyer for the developer, however, said the board never explicitly voted this requirement. The Park and Recreation commissioners approved a pilot program that will allow dogs to go unleashed in 13 of the 15 public parks throughout town during specified hours of the day. Special Town Meeting passed a warrant article that will allow Brookline to seek out-of-town candidates for fire chief. Meanwhile, Town Meeting members rejected a proposal to designate St. Aidan's Church as a Local Historic District. Town Meeting members passed a bylaw that makes "focused picketing" illegal in town; the bylaw will automatically expire on Jan. 1, 2005 and between now and then, the Board of Selectmen will appoint a study committee to look at it further. Town Meeting members also voted for the creation of a moderator-appointed committee to further study a resident's proposal for a series of articles that centered on local campaign finance reform. Brookline police and Health Department officials closed down Chinese Body Massage and Coolidge Body Works after each Harvard Street establishment was found to be using unlicensed massage therapists.
Antonio Fernandez, 17, of Roxbury, was sentenced to life in prison for the 2002 murder of 19-year-old Perry Hughes. Consigli Construction of Milford was hired to take over the Lawrence School renovation project. The town fired Readville-based E.J. Sciaba last summer amid allegations that the company had financial problems and was in danger of going bankrupt, as well as for falling behind schedule.
Early projections show the town is facing a $2.37 million budget deficit for the next fiscal year. The town will look to close the gap by Feb. 15. A home-rule petition filed by Rep. Frank Smizik, D-Brookline, to accept out-of-town students in exchange for tuition payments was rejected by the state's Joint Committee on Education, Arts and Humanities. But the bill will be referred for further study. Affordable housing advocates push to require the inclusion of affordable units as a condition of a special permit for developer Robert Basile's plan to build a condo complex at the site of the former Infant Jesus Church. The Board of Selectmen inked agreements that would provide for the addition and preservation of affordable rental units - six units will be added to the town's housing stock at 154-156 Boylston St. and 30 units will be preserved at 1371 Beacon St. through the next quarter-century.
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