News

By SCOTT JACKSON

Three members of the Quincy City Council on Monday will introduce a resolution asking Mayor Thomas Koch to appropriate $75,000 to the Department of Social Justice and Equity.

In a separate resolution, councillors will ask the Koch administration and developers for an update on revitalization efforts in Quincy Center.

Councillors will convene Monday at 6:30 p.m. for their first regular meeting of their new two-year term. The meeting will be conducted via Zoom and will air live on QATV. For those wishing to log into the meeting via the Zoom app, the meeting ID is 829 3518 7103 and the passcode is Gk2USd. The meeting can also be accessed by phone by calling 929-436-2866, entering the same meeting ID and the passcode 481351.

During the meeting, Councillors Brian Palmucci, William Harris and Anne Mahoney will introduce a resolution asking Koch to appropriate $75,000 to the Department of Social Justice and Equity.

Last January, councillors approved an ordinance creating the new department. As established by the ordinance, the department would consist of a single employee, a director, who would be tasked to, “create equity and inclusion among all populations in Quincy.”

Koch did not set aside funding for the new department in the budget he submitted for the current fiscal year that began in July 2021. The budget does include a position for a diversity and inclusion officer within the mayor’s office, but that position was not assigned a salary.

While he did not fund the new Department of Social Justice and Equity, Koch last summer established a nine-member commission on diversity, inclusion and equity.

In a separate resolution that will be introduced on Monday, Palmucci and Councillors Noel DiBona and Nina Liang will ask the Koch administration and the city’s development partners for an update on the revitalization efforts in Quincy Center. As part of the resolution, they are also seeking on the urban revitalization development plan for Quincy Center, the master planning document for the downtown district.

In addition to those two items, Mahoney will introduce a resolution asking the mayor to set aside $60,000 to allow city councillors to hire their own outside legal counsel as they see fit. Councillors unanimously approved a similar resolution – introduced by Mahoney and Palmucci – in November. Chris Walker, Koch’s chief of staff, told councillors at that time the mayor was unlikely to grant that request.

Three items submitted to councillors during their prior term, which were not approved before the end of that term in December, will be resubmitted Monday evening. They include Koch’s proposed urban redevelopment plan for Wollaston Center; an amendment to the zoning code concerning lot coverage, sponsored by the mayor and Ward 1 Councillor David McCarthy; and McCarthy’s proposal to rezone several areas within Houghs Neck from Business B to Residence A.

By SCOTT JACKSON

The chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the body likely made a mistake when it approved the construction of a natural gas compressor station in North Weymouth, but the certificate allowing it to operate cannot be revoked.

The compressor station, located on the Fore River in North Weymouth, is part of Enbridge’s Atlantic Bridge project, which allows the company to move natural gas from Pennsylvania to Canada. The project was opposed by local officials and residents in Weymouth, Quincy and Braintree from its inception several years.

The compressor station began operating in September 2020 and reported two unplanned releases of natural gas that month; a third unplanned release of natural gas occurred in April 2021.

Following a meeting on Thursday to review operations at the compressor station, FERC Chairman Richard Glick said the body likely erred when it permitted the facility to open at its current location.

“I believe that the Commission likely erred in siting the Weymouth Compressor Station where it did,” Glick said in a statement. “This facility is located in a heavily populated area that is home to two environmental justice communities.  Those communities have borne a disproportionate burden from a legacy of industrial activity, including elevated rates of asthma, certain cancers, and other serious illnesses.

“Particularly in light of that history, Petitioners’ concern about the impacts of the Weymouth Compressor station and the blowdowns it has experienced is legitimate, understandable, and, frankly, inadequately assessed in the underlying certificate orders.”

Despite his concerns about the compressor station, Glick said FERC does not have the ability to revoke its approval of the facility at this time.

“The certificate is final and, under the law as it stands, that leaves only one issue for us to decide: Whether the Commission erred in allowing the project to go into service?  The deficiencies in the now-final certificate do not provide a legal basis to prevent the Weymouth Compressor Station from entering service based on the record in this proceeding,” he said.

Glick was hopeful the commission would avoid making the same mistake in the future.

“Although it is cold comfort for the residents near the compressor station, I hope that this proceeding will serve as a turning point for the Commission as we work to better consider, address, and act on issues of environmental justice.  Partly in response to the lessons learned from the Weymouth proceeding, the Commission has taken steps to ensure that individuals and communities have a full and fair opportunity to participate meaningfully in Commission proceedings,” Glick said.

“In the last year, the Commission established and filled a new senior role tasked with integrating environmental justice and equity into the Commission’s decision-making processes, formally sought input on how we consider environmental justice in various aspects of jurisdiction, and, last but by no means least, created an Office of Public Participation to facilitate public engagement in Commission proceedings.

“My great hope is that these changes will ensure that history does not repeat itself.”

Glick said the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration “has continuing jurisdiction over the public health and safety aspects of the compressor station’s operations,” and said that federal agency should keep a keen eye on the facility.

“I urge PHMSA to keep a watchful eye on the facility and use the full extent of its jurisdiction to protect the residents of Weymouth,” Glick said. “In addition, I also urge Enbridge to take its obligations as a corporate citizen seriously and take a hard look at any and all options to address the community’s concerns.”

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety, said he was disappointed by FERC’s decision and vowed to continue to fight against the compressor station.

“It is an understatement to say that I am deeply disappointed that FERC did not move to rescind the authorization for the Weymouth Compressor Station,” Markey said in a statement. “While Chairman Glick acknowledged that the compressor station’s location should never have been approved, FERC failed to act to protect the families in Weymouth and surrounding cities that already bear the negative health and environmental impacts of multiple industrial facilities in their community.

“Doing better going forward isn’t going to help the people of Weymouth living right now in the shadow of this dangerous fossil fuel facility. We’re going to fight with legislation, with the agencies, and shoulder-to-shoulder with local leaders and grassroots activists to get the compressor station shut down once and for all.”

The Baker-Polito administration on Wednesday announced that child care programs will be able to receive rapid antigen COVID-19 tests by the week of Jan. 31 as part of new testing programs to keep children in child care and early education programs open in the state.

Testing for Child Care is a first-in-the-nation statewide testing initiative that will allow staff and children 2 years and older, who are close contacts of a COVID positive individual, to test daily for five consecutive days with  rapid antigen tests and remain in the child care setting as long as the test is negative. Additionally, staff and children 2 years and older who develop symptoms while attending or providing care will be eligible to participate in a symptomatic program. Testing for Child Care will provide all child care programs affiliated with the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) access to sign up for free COVID-19 tests, resources, and training to implement these new protocols.

“This comprehensive testing program is designed to ensure children can safely continue learning and receiving quality care while parents are working,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Child care is a key piece of the infrastructure supporting the Commonwealth’s economy, and this testing program will help to eliminate one of the challenges parents and employers face every day.”

“Child care programs have continued to operate despite challenging circumstances throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and working parents of young children have oftentimes been struggling to get back to work consistently,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “Our goal is to provide child care programs with the resources they need to operate on a continuous basis and for our families to have access to tests and the information they need to remain in care.”

EEC’s new Testing for Child Care provides three options for COVID-19 testing to meet programs’ specific needs. Providers can opt into any or all three:

Rapid Cohort Testing:  Testing staff and children over 2 years old in a group (cohort) where there was direct exposure to an individual who is positive for COVID-19. This option tests cohorts of direct contacts (e.g., single classroom or stable family child care attendance), rather than requiring individuals to quarantine.

Symptomatic Rapid Antigen Testing:  Testing for staff and children over 2 years old who show symptoms related to COVID-19. This allows child care centers to quickly identify and isolate positive cases or confirm negative cases and keep children in care.

Weekly Pooled Testing:  Weekly PCR testing for all consenting staff and children over 3 years old.

To implement these testing options, EEC is working with Neighborhood Villages, a non-profit organization that began partnering with the Department last year to provide weekly pooled testing for child care EEC will deliver free rapid tests  directly to child care programs that sign up with Neighborhood Villages. In addition to enrolling programs, Neighborhood Villages will coordinate the distribution of rapid tests and training for test usage with child care providers. Signing up with Neighborhood Villages is free for programs.

Distribution of free rapid antigen tests to programs enrolled with Neighborhood Villages is expected to begin the week of Jan. 31.  EEC-licensed and approved programs can enroll on a rolling basis; however, programs must enroll with Neighborhood Villages prior to Jan. 24 to begin testing the following week.

The Baker-Polito administration previously announced it ordered 26 million at-home rapid antigen tests from iHealth that will be delivered over the next three months, and K-12 schools and child care centers will be prioritized for those tests. More than 7,700 EEC affiliated child care providers are eligible to participate in Testing for Child Care.

“It is critical that we provide child care programs with the necessary tests and supports to remain operational throughout this time,” said Education Secretary James Peyser. “We know even our earliest learners get enormous benefits from being in person with their peers and teachers. This testing strategy, layered on top of the other mitigation strategies that EEC has already put in place, will help to continue to make that possible for young children across the Commonwealth.”

“This program is part of EEC’s multi-faceted plan for addressing the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on child care providers and the parents that depend on safe, reliable care for their children so they can return to work,” said EEC Commissioner Samantha Aigner-Treworgy. “Expanding our testing options for the early education sector is one way we can keep experienced educators safe, healthy, and providing quality care for families.”

“We are excited about these enhancements to the testing program. They will offer child care providers across the state multi-pronged testing strategies and additional support,” said Neighborhood Villages Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer Sarah Siegel Muncey. “Testing in early childhood is one of the fastest, most effective investments we can make right now to keep child care centers open and our educators, children, and families safe – while also allowing our parents to continue to work. I want to thank Governor Baker and his administration for their ongoing partnership and commitment to this important issue.”

As part of the testing program, child care providers must adhere to EEC’s COVID-19 Mitigation Protocols & Guidelines. These protocols align with the best practices, guidance, and recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. EEC-licensed child care providers that choose to implement their own testing regimens without utilizing the Testing for Child Care program are expected to abide by EEC’s testing protocols.

School-age children served in EEC-affiliated Out-of-School-Time (OST) programs may already participate in one of DESE’s testing programs during the school day. For those school-age children who already participate in a DESE-approved testing program, no additional testing is recommended at the EEC -licensed program.

Additional COVID-19 Resources Available to Child Care Providers:

No-Cost, Drive-through COVID-19 Testing

EEC continues offering no-cost COVID-19 drive-through testing for the child care community at eight locations across Massachusetts. Information on EEC’s mobile testing sites can be accessed here.

Statewide Contract Support for Anitgen Test Kit Purchasing

Programs that want to purchase their own antigen tests now have access to the Statewide Contract set up by the Baker-Polito administration to provide antigen tests at state-negotiated rates for eligible entitles.

Supplemental Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for Child Care

Open and operating EEC-licensed providers continue to be able to order supplemental PPE supplies and have them delivered directly to the program at no cost to them.

Mobile Vaccination Clinics

The Baker-Polito administration offers mobile pop-up vaccination clinics that take place in a community-based setting, including schools and child care centers. The clinics are organized to bring vaccines to a community setting and are available to employers, schools and school districts, community organizations, and other groups.

By SCOTT JACKSON

A local group led by the former chief of surgery at the now-closed Quincy Medical Center hopes to open a new acute-care hospital within the city.

Steward Health Care, a for-profit company, closed most of the hospital on Whitwell Street in 2014. The company kept the emergency room on site open as a satellite facility of Carney Hospital through late 2020.  The closure made Quincy the largest city in Massachusetts without a hospital.

Dr. Tony Dragone, who recently turned 80, spent decades working at the hospital as surgeon, including as its chief of surgery from 1991 to 2000. In a recent interview, Dragone recalled being there Quincy Medical Center closed in 2014 and saying to himself, “this can’t be forever.”

In the interview, Dragone said he is now the head of a 14-person commission, dubbed the New Quincy Medical Center Commission, that has set out to construct a new hospital in Quincy. Dragone said he is undertaking the endeavor as a way to give back.

“I’m not looking to have a legacy here. I’m just looking to give something back that the hospital gave to me,” he said. “They gave me a life of fullness, happiness, prosperity and I am very gifted to have that in my life, really.”

The former hospital was a like family for the employees who worked there, he explained.

“I love the hospital. Quincy Medical Center itself is a unique place – it was a unique place. It is the alter ego, the other family, for many, many people who worked there,” Dragone said.

“It was like living with your friends and your mother and your father…We would just all sit down and talk. We were all friends…A friendship developed over the years, and I liked that. I liked that a lot.”

The group has had discussions with various stakeholders about opening a new hospital, Dragone said, including the state’s Department of Public Health. Before completing a determination of need analysis, an initial step in the permitting process, Dragone said the DPH asked the group to find a potential site where the hospital would be built.

“We’ve spoken to the Department of Public Health and discussed a determination of need. They have said to us, ‘Doctors, get the land and then come back and we will work out everything together,” he said.

“The DPH has been very comfortable with us. They’ve been very polite. We’ve had Zoom meetings with them,” Dragone added. “They said listen, we can’t do anything with the DON right now. You need l-a-n-d – land – purchased. Where’s it going to go?”

The group also has been promised up to $150 million to finance the project, Dragone added.

“We’ve got financing promised to us. The biggest issue right now, I will repeat, is the l-a-n-d,” he said. “That’s what is holding us back right now.”

The commission sought assistance from the public last month, asking residents for help finding a five-acre site in Quincy where a hospital could be built.

Dragone said the commission has identified two potential sites – one near Crown Colony and the other near Marina Bay – that fit the criteria. The Fore River Shipyard has also been suggested as a possible location. The commission plans to meet in the near future to begin reviewing those possibilities, Dragone said.

While the location of the potential new hospital is yet to be determined, Dragone already can already picture what it would look like.

“I have the building already in mind. I know exactly what I want. It’s going to be an ER, pediatrics to geriatrics,” he said, adding that the hospital would also have a maternity ward, like Quincy Medical Center once did.

“I want full-fledged acute-care hospital. I want an outpatient department also that can do many outpatient surgeries as they are today. I want an acute-care hospital, five or six floors. I’m looking for a 125-bed buildout.”

Dragone added that he would like to dedicate the lobby of the new hospital to his late wife, Carla.

The construction of the new building could take approximately a year and a half, he said, based on conversation he has had with people familiar with such projects.

The new hospital, a non-profit, would be overseen by a board of managers comprised of members of the Quincy community and Dr. Roberto Feliz would serve as the hospital’s CEO, Dragone said.

“There would be a director of the hospital – a CEO. This young man wants to be the CEO. He’s had a lot of experience with it. He’s board-certified in anesthesia, pain control, et cetera, and he has a business degree also,” Dragone said of Feliz.

“I have said to him, Roberto, I want you to be CEO. I have told him I would be there, I want a little small office. I will not get paid anything. I do want to teach. That’s what I want to do.

“I’m not getting paid. I don’t need it – I’ve gotten enough money over the years.”

By SCOTT JACKSON

Quincy police on Tuesday said they had found the man accused of approaching women in area parking lots and trying to lure them from their vehicles.

The department said they received a call from a female around 9 a.m. on Tuesday who stated a male approached her vehicle and told her it was leaking oil. The female immediately contacted police, the department said, and provided a description of the man’s vehicle, a white Jeep Patriot.

Police said they were able to locate the vehicle in Quincy. Detectives then interviewed the driver who was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

The department said further information on the man was not available as no arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon.

“While we are confident this is the suspect from previously reported incidents, our detectives continue to investigate,” the department said on Facebook. “We encourage everyone to remain vigilant and report any suspicious behavior.”

On Sunday, state Rep. Alyson Sullivan of Abington said a man approached her that evening in the parking lot of a Target store in Stoughton. The man tried to coax her out of her vehicle by claiming it had an oil leak, Sullivan said; she later checked her car when it was safe to do so and it did not have an oil leak. That incident was reported to the Stoughton Police Department.

Stoughton police on Monday confirmed Sullivan’s report and said it was the second such incident to take place in the town within a two-week span. The department said similar incidents, all involving a white Jeep Patriot, had been reported in other nearby communities as well.

Stoughton police on Tuesday confirmed the man found by Quincy police was the same person involved in the incident at the town’s Target.

The state’s healthcare system is facing a critical staffing shortage which has contributed to the loss of approximately 500 medical/surgical and ICU hospital beds since the beginning of the year, state officials said. Hospitals are also seeing a high level of patients, many due to non-COVID related reasons.

• Non-emergency transport between facilities: driving ambulances used to transfer patients between two healthcare locations such as when patients are discharged from a hospital and transferred to a long term care facility.
• Patient observers: providing continuous or frequent observation of a patient who is at risk for harm to themselves.
• Security support: helping to maintain a safe workplace.
• In-hospital transport: bringing patients via wheelchair or, if needed, stretcher, from their patient room to tests such as x-ray or CT scan, or from the emergency department to their inpatient floor.
• Food service/tray delivery support: delivering patient meals to their rooms

By SCOTT JACKSON

A 33-year-old man sustained non-life-threatening injuries Tuesday after being shot during a suspected road rage incident in Quincy, police said.

Officers responded to the area of Adams Street and Mt. Ararat at approximately 6:13 p.m. on Tuesday, the Quincy Police Department said in a statement. On arrival,  officers found the 33-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound to the arm.

The victim was taken to Boston Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries where he was treated and released, Sgt. Karyn Barkas said on Wednesday morning.

Police said the assault is alleged to have been a road-rage incident.

No arrests had been made as of early Wednesday and no further information was available at that time.

Anyone with information that may assist the investigation is asked to contact the Quincy Police Department at 617-479-1212.

By SCOTT JACKSON

FoxRock Properties no longer plans to include any residential units in its proposed development on the former Ross Lot in Quincy Center. The company will also no longer seek permission to construct a 20-story building on site.

In September, FoxRock went before the Planning Board with a proposal to construct a 150,000-square-foot office building, a 490-car garage, and the 20-story building containing 125 hotel rooms and 200 apartments.

At Wednesday’s Planning Board meeting, David Mahoney, the attorney representing FoxRock during the permitting process, withdrew the company’s request for a special permit to construct the 20-story building. Mahoney told the board the company would be removing the residential units from the project.

“There won’t be a residential component of the project any longer,” he said.

The company is still seeking a certificate of consistency for the overall project. Mahoney had sought a continuance of the public hearing on the certificate of consistency to December or January, allowing the developer time to revise its proposal for the site.

Board members, however, continued the public hearing on the certificate of consistency to Feb. 9. Gregory Galvin, the board’s vice chairman, said moving the hearing to February would give board members enough time to vet the latest proposal.

“It’s a significant project and if we get it right the first time, we won’t to keep continuing it,” he said.

Mahoney objected to the continuance to February.

“It’s not going to get approved in January, but it is very important to my client that it is heard in January for a variety of reasons,” he said.

FoxRock’s development would be located at 37R and 86 Parkingway, which is within the former Ross Lot in Quincy Center. The roughly triangular parcel – which is bounded by General Dunford Drive to the south, Granite Street to the north, General McConville Way to the east and the MBTA tracks to the west – contains 117,366 square feet of land and is located within the Quincy Center Zoning District-15, where buildings can be constructed 15 stories tall by-right and 20 stories high with a special permit.

FoxRock and Mayor Thomas Koch had negotiated a land disposition agreement, which the City Council approved in June 2019, allowing the company to acquire that portion of the Ross Lot from the city and to redevelop it. That LDA also allowed the company to buy out the city’s right of reverter at 114 Whitwell St., formerly home to Quincy Medical Center, freeing it up for a residential redevelopment. The developer agreed to pay the city $4.25 million as part of the pact.

FoxRock’s initial plans for the Ross Lot, as presented to the City Council in 2019, had called for the construction of 110 units of affordable or workforce housing on site.