The 2008 Government Affairs program is sponsored by Genzyme.

 

Tuesday April 15, 2009

Learn about the Urban Ring project and have your questions answered about this project which will provide additional transportation services to Cambridge.

8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Cambridge Marriott, 3^rd Floor, Kendall Square, Cambridge

If you plan to attend please contact Jeff Rosenblum with the City of Cambridge by email at jrosenblum@cambridgema.gov or by phone at (617) 349-4615. If you cannot attend but would like to be kept informed about the Urban Ring Project please e-mail Jeff with your contact information.

 

Tuesday April 29, 2008

Richard Scali, Cambridge License Commission

Commissioner Scali will discuss the work of the license Commission including changes to the alcohol licensing regulations and introduction of hybrid taxis to the cab fleet.

Noon, Chamber Board Room

If you plan to attend please RSVP to Terrence Smith, Director of Government Affairs at tsmith@cambridgechamber.org or by phone at 617-876-4213. 

(Note the date is the fifth Tuesday of April)

 

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

James Scafide, Chief of the Business Technology and Economic Development Division of the Office of Massachusetts Attorney General, will be our guest at the May GAC meeting and luncheon. He will discuss Attorney General Martha Coakley’s initiatives around job creation and economic development and is interested in learning what issues are of importance to the Cambridge business community.

Noon, Chamber Board Room

If you plan to attend please RSVP to Terrence Smith, Director of Government Affairs at tsmith@cambridgechamber.org or by phone at 617-876-4213. 

(Note change of date for the guest and that the meeting is scheduled for Wednesday)

 

June 24, 2008

Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas will address the June GAC Meeting and Luncheon

Noon, Chamber Board Room

If you plan to attend please RSVP to Terrence Smith, Director of Government Affairs at tsmith@cambridgechamber.org or by phone at 617-876-4213. 

April 7, 2008 City Council Meeting

The Council met on Monday and received reports from the City Manager regarding the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s (FEMA) new flood insurance study and the State Appellate Tax Board ruling on the tax status of telecommunication poles and wires. The Council passed an order regarding publicity of the up-coming Cambridge Science festival and several orders regarding zoning related to housing. 

FEMA has been developing new flood maps for Middlesex County and changes are expected in the Concord-Alewife area. The impact on property owners is that some may now be required by lenders to purchase flood insurance. City Manager Agenda Item 7 is a report on the FEMA flood insurance study.

 

City Manager Agenda Item 8 is a report on the decision of the State Appellate Tax Board that telecommunication companies are now taxable on poles and wires. According to the City Manager the ruling, along with proposed legislation, address the issue of assessing personal property taxes on some telecommunications equipment. Early in the last century, to encourage extension of telephone networks, the State made some telephone equipment exempt from local personal property taxes.

 

The ruling and passage of proposed legislation would allow the City to collect taxes on some equipment that is currently not taxed. The City Manager said that the Appellate Tax Board decision will likely be appealed and that the ruling related to wires would result in approximately $900,000 in revenue to the City. Passage of the pending legislation along with this decision would result in approximately $3 to 4 million in tax revenue. The report was referred to the Council’s Cable TV, Telecommunications and Public Utilities Committee.

 

Policy Order 4 asks the City Manager to work with staff to publicize the 2008 Cambridge Science Festival which will be held from April 26 to May 4.

 

The Council passed four policy orders related to the zoning ordinance and housing. Policy Order 6 asks for information on zoning and land use policies related to supporting aging-in-place programs. One idea mentioned in discussion was making it easier for residents to add ancillary apartment units, so-called granny units, to homes.

 

Policy Order 7 asks that the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance be amended to allow for using square footage, typically referred to Floor Area Ratio (FAR) in the Zoning Ordinance, instead of housing units when calculating the required donation of affordable housing units. The intent would be to allow for the development of more three bedroom or larger apartment units as part of the affordable housing stock.

 

Policy Order 8 asks for an update on the nexus study and development of background information necessary to determine whether linkage payments for the Incentive Zoning Ordinance should be adjusted.

 

Policy Order 10 asks whether land-use planning and zoning could be modified and/or added to address the transition of former church properties and other similar re-uses. The issue is related to the re-use of former church properties for residential uses.

Governor Deval Patrick chose MIT’s Sloan School of Management as the site for a major economic policy address on Wednesday, April 9. His addressed touched on four measures: Restraining Discretionary Spending; Investment in Infrastructure and People; Positioning Massachusetts for Long-Term Growth; and Maintaining a Strong Safety Net. The Governor announced a $3.8 billion capital plan to repair structurally deficient bridges throughout Massachusetts.

 

The Governor was introduced by MIT President Susan Hockfield and the event attracted legislative leaders, including Senate President Therese Murray and Speaker Sal DiMasi, members of the Governor’s cabinet, other statewide elected officials including Attorney General Martha Coakley and State Auditor Joseph DeNucci, Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons, and members of the State Senate, State House of Representatives and Cambridge City Council.

 

A video of the address, transcript of the speech, and press release are available at http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3homepage&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Agov3.

 

REMINDER April 15 Meeting on the Urban Ring

Chamber members and others in the business community are invited to a special business breakfast briefing for the business community on the Urban Ring Transit Project on Tuesday, April 15 from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. at the Marriot Hotel, 3rd floor, Kendall Square, Cambridge. This meeting is sponsored jointly by the Chamber, the City of Cambridge, the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, MIT and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Construction.

Topics covered in the briefing will include:

What is the Urban Ring?
The Urban Ring project is a phased set of transit improvements in a corridor around the downtown core (see map). The corridor encompasses some of the our area’s fastest growing districts, including Kendall Square and East Cambridge areas, Longwood Medical and Academic Area (LMA), and the South Boston Waterfront.

Why get involved now?
While the Urban Ring project has been in planning for many years, renewed planning efforts over the past year have advanced this project significantly. A proposal will be submitted for state and federal review in spring 2008, to be followed by an application for federal funding.

Why is transit investment critical for business?

Economic development in our region is being constrained by traffic congestion and inadequate transit access. The existing rapid transit subway system is over capacity.

Auto emissions contribute significantly to climate change.

Across the US, properties within a short walk to a transit stop are selling for 20-25% more than comparable properties further away.

$100 million invested in public transit creates and supports roughly 4,000 jobs. Businesses often realize a gain in sales three times the public sector investment in transit capital.

 

Urban Ring components

The Urban Ring project will provide new transit services connecting to existing radial transit lines (subway, commuter rail, and bus), creating shorter transit trips and fewer transfers. The current planning effort includes frequent bus rapid transit service that will operate partly in exclusive bus lanes and tunnels and partly in mixed-use traffic.

 

Is there a demand?

An estimated 13,000 daily riders are expected to board the Urban Ring system at the Kendall Square station! The Sullivan – Kendall – LMA route has the largest potential ridership for a new transit system in the region. The EZ-Ride shuttle service (North Station to Cambridgeport via Kendall Square) demonstrates that there is growing demand. EZ-ride surpassed 1000 daily ridership in January 2008, up from about 500 when the service first started in 2002.

 

The agenda for the program is:

8:00    Light breakfast

8:15    Welcoming remarks

Robert W. Healy, Cambridge City Manager

Kelly Thompson Clark, Cambridge Chamber of Commerce

8:30    Importance for Cambridge

Susanne Rasmussen, City of Cambridge Community Development Department

8:45    Project details

Ned Codd, Project Manager for the Urban Ring, Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation

9:15    Q & A

 

If you plan to attend please contact Jeff Rosenblum with the City of Cambridge by email at jrosenblum@cambridgema.gov or by phone at (617) 349-4615. If you cannot attend but would like to be kept informed about the Urban Ring Project please e-mail Jeff with your contact information.

 

More information on the Urban Ring is available at http://theurbanring.com

(Look under Reference Materials – Citizen Advisory Committee Documents – 3/25/08 Presentation)