'To protect the neighborhood': Quincy councilor pushes to turn bus depot into open space

QUINCY – The MBTA bus depot on Hancock Street could become open space if a city councilor succeeds in his effort to prevent redevelopment at the site. .

Ward 5 Councilor Chuck Phelan on Monday asked the council to consider a zoning change for the 3.7-acre lot owned by the state. The MBTA is working to build a new bus depot near the Quincy Adams T station and will close the current facility once its replacement is built.

The current depot property, at 854 Hancock St., is zoned as Residence D, Phelan said, a zone that was phased out decades ago and does not encompass any other properties in the city.

"You could build a 20-story building there if we left the zoning the way it is," Phelan said. "We have Black's Creek right there, you have a stadium right there that is in active use all the time. ... I'm doing this to protect the neighborhood right across the street, and also for environmental protection. It makes sense."

The property, last valued at $2.4 million, has always been owned by the state and never brought in tax revenue for the city. Phelan's proposal was moved into the council's ordinance committee and will trigger public hearings by the city council and the planning board.

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Ward 4 City Councilor Brian Palmucci asked the mayor's office to conduct a "compensation review" of all city employees and report its findings back to the council.

"The need for this has been germinating for some time," Palmucci said, adding that it came up in recent conversations with his fellow councilors. "I think it's an appropriate time given the national climate: the cost of living is going up, there's inflation, the private sector is clearly more generous with salaries than the public sector. We can't match that, but I think it's important that we do the best we can."

Palmucci said he heard more from residents about the recent resignation of Quincy Tree Warden Chris Hayward than he has about turnover in any other position in city hall. Hayward recently left his job for one in the private sector.

"By all accounts, he was a tremendous city employee," Palmucci said. "(He went to the) private sector, so I'm not saying we could have enticed him to say, but there is a drain in talent and we want to make sure that we can retain talent in the city. ... It's something worth looking at."

Palmucci said the entry-level salaries for new  public works employees or starting Quincy teachers is so low that new employees qualify for affordable housing in the city.

"We aren't talking about people getting rich off the public dole here, we're just talking about people making a living wage," he said.

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City Councilor at-large Anne Mahoney said a recent discussion with School Superintendent Kevin Mulvey also brought employee benefits to light. She said retirements led the school department to lose 10% of its workforce last year, and employees like bus drivers are in particularly short supply.

"We want to make sure we're able to keep our talent here in Quincy," she said.

Community group celebrates 10 years

About a dozen members of the Quincy Climate Action Network were recognized at Monday's meeting as the group, which advocates for green policies within the city, marks its 10-year anniversary.

"They've accomplished so much and yet they have so much more to do," Mahoney said. "They're a group of Quincy residents and others taking action to fight climate change, acting locally to meet the global challenges."

Mahoney credited Quincy Climate Action Network with lobbying the city to hire an energy manager, fighting for the installation of solar panels, initiating the current plastic bag ban, standing up for environmental justice neighborhoods and working with the city to soon bring a compost pilot program to Quincy public schools.

Gina Favata, a Quincy Climate Action Network board member, thanked the council for the recognition and encouraged anyone interested in environmental justice to visit quincycan.org. The group meets at 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month.

"QCAN was started 10 years ago by concerned citizens who recognized that we could not wait for others to fight back on bad climate polices and practices in Quincy, and today we continue with this important mission," she said. "With the dire effects of climate change, the stakes have only gotten higher."

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In other news

At the end of Monday's meeting, Mahoney asked how Palmucci's potential confirmation as a District Court judge next month will affect the city council.

If confirmed at a meeting by the Governor's Council in October, Palmucci would be sworn in as judge before the end of the year and a special election to fill his seat would likely need to be held. City Clerk Nicole Crispo said she'd need to check with the city solicitor to be sure of the process laid out in Quincy's charter.

"Obviously, it's a great honor and I'm very privileged ... but I'm not jumping the gun," Palmucci said of his nomination. "I'm here, I'm focused on this job."

TQuincy City Council will meet again Monday, Oct. 3.

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Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com. 

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Quincy councilor pushes to turn downtown bus depot into open space