On Tuesday June 3, 2014 the
Metropolitan Beaches Commission (MBC) released its’ report
“Waves of Change” on the
Boston Harbor region’s 15 public beaches in Nahant, Lynn, Revere,
Winthrop,
East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull owned by the
Commonwealth and managed by the Department of Conservation and
Recreation
(DCR). The MBC is Co-Chaired by Senator Tom McGee of Lynn and
Representative Carlo Basile of East Boston, and is led and managed by
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay.
Copies of the Commission’s report “Waves of Change” and the
hearing minutes, public comments, the budget analysis and other technical
reports and appendices on which the report is based are available online at www.savetheharbor.org/MBC2014
The Commission held ten hearings at the State House and in
each of the region’s waterfront neighborhoods and beachfront communities to
examine the progress made on these beaches since it released its first report
in 2007. “The investments we have made on these beaches strengthen our
communities and the economy, improve people’s lives and demonstrate that
government can work,” said Senator Tom McGee of Lynn, who Co-Chairs the
Commission.
The report identifies a number of continuing challenges and
opportunities that need to be addressed to move these beaches from good to
great. These include staffing levels at the beaches, which increased after
2007, but declined in recent years to the point where the Commission believes “that
the beaches will inevitably reenter a cycle of decline, undermining the
progress that has been made and failing to meet public expectations, as was the
case before 2007”.
“The Commonwealth’s investments in the Boston Harbor cleanup,
the Boston Harbor Islands and our region’s public beaches have already resulted
in dramatic improvements in the quality of life for residents in Boston and the
region’s coastal communities,” said MBC Commissioner Paul Grogan, President and
CEO of The Boston Foundation. “To protect those investments we must continue to
find ways to fund the incremental changes that are necessary to further improve
our beaches.”
Much of the Commission’s effort in 2007 and again in 2013 has focused on the
basic issues of beach management, maintenance and programming. To address these
challenges and take full advantage of new opportunities will take continued
independent oversight by the Commission. It will also take additional funds for
capital projects, new equipment and continued investment in improved water
quality to meet the growing need of the more than one million people who live
within a short drive or ride to the beach.
Other key challenges and opportunities identified in the
report include: water quality and beach flagging, coastal resiliency and sea
level rise, water transportation, improved information technology and
management systems, parking and public safety, dog management and piping plover
nesting areas. The Commission also called for DCR to invest additional funds to
support free events and programs that are so important enhancing the public’s
enjoyment of the beaches.
“Local friends groups and Save the Harbor have helped
jumpstart free events on these beaches, but government has a responsibility to
provide direct financial support of these volunteer efforts to make them
sustainable,” said David Spillane of the award winning planning firm Goody Clancy, who helped Save the Harbor
manage the hearings and produce the report.
The Commission recommends that DCR’s budget
for full-time operations
and seasonal staffing be increased by $3.5 million per year, and that the DCR
make at least $190,000 per year available in matching grants to beach friends
groups in waterfront neighborhoods and beachfront communities to support free
events and programs.
According to Bruce Berman of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay,
the non-profit who helped lead and manage the inquiry and author the report, “These
beaches contribute directly to the competitiveness of our region, making our
cities and beachfront communities better places to live and work. Moreover, the
combined economic impact of millions of residents enjoying these beaches also
makes them important economic engines for the region’s waterfront neighborhoods and
beachfront communities, creating new jobs and economic opportunity.”
“The region’s public beaches, like Constitution
Beach in East Boston, are much more than a great place to spend the day,” said
Representative Carlo Basile of East Boston, who Co-Chairs the Commission. “They
are portals to the environment, remarkable recreational resources with the
potential to improve the quality of life for all our residents.”
The Commission would like to thank the nearly 1,000 people
who took part in the hearings and helped to shape the findings and
recommendations contained in their report.
Copies of the Commission’s report “Waves of Change” and the
hearing minutes, public comments, the budget analysis and other technical
reports and appendices on which the report is based are available online at www.savetheharbor.org/MBC2014
About the
Metropolitan Beaches Commission
The Metropolitan
Beaches Commission was created in 2006 by the Massachusetts Legislature to take
an in-depth look at the metropolitan region’s public beaches in Nahant, Lynn,
Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull that
are managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. You can download
a copy of their 2014 report “Waves of Change” at www.savetheharbor.org/MBC2014.
Co-chaired by
Senator Tom McGee of Lynn and Representative Carlo Basile of East Boston the
Commission reconvened in 2013 to examine the impacts of the reforms and
recommendations made in its first report and issue additional findings and
recommendations to better leverage these resources for residents in the future.
The MBC is comprised of 22 elected officials and community, civic, nonprofit,
and business leaders from Boston and the metropolitan region's waterfront
neighborhoods and beachfront communities. It is led and managed by Save the
Harbor/Save the Bay.
For more information, visit www.savetheharbor.org
