On Monday, March 23, the West Fairmount Hill (WFH) Community Group, led by Marcia Kimm-Jackson, held its regular community meeting through Zoom to discuss recent crime reports, community announcements, and updates from city officials and the mayor’s office.

Eversource representatives came by, outlining a new initiative involving the addition of a new substation in southern Dorchester, two new transmission lines in the Hyde Park and Baker Street substations, as well as general distribution line upgrades throughout the area.

“This work is needed to address capacity concerts for our customers throughout Dorchester, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park and West Roxbury,” said Diehl.

“The goal is simple: keep the electric system reliable and resilient for customers in these communities. That means meeting the electric demand of our customers and strengthening the grid to minimize the impacts of extreme weather.”

Although representatives Cody Diehl, Vincenza Dimaio, and Sue Scarcella clarified that construction is not projected to begin until 2028 – with full operation anticipated around 2032 – the community input is highly valued throughout the process for the project’s success.

Further updates will be shared by Eversource at the next community meeting on Monday April 27, but in the meantime, residents can reach out to vincenza.dimaio@eversource.com and cody.diehl@eversource.com with any questions, or view the project website at www.eversource.com/yourvoice.

The Boston Police Department District E-18 also stopped by to discuss recent police reports.

Captain Joseph Boyle reviewed the latest events, including an incident of vandalism on March 3, a shots-fired incident on the same day, as well as a domestic assault on March 18. However, Captain Boyle indicated his overall satisfaction with the overall low crime rate in the area.

“The numbers are very small, but overall, we’re off to a great start,” he said. “Part 1 crime is down to 34 percent for District 18, Hyde Park in general, so things are going well.”

Advertisement

Following the police update, the meeting shifted to updates by Eddie Conley from the District 5 City Councilor Enrique Pepén’s office, who reminded attendees about the city budget project which is planned to start in April, emphasizing that meetings will be held to gather community feedback on the budget.

“We’re nearing the beginning of April which means the city budget process will begin, so there’s going to be a few opportunities for public testimony,” Conley said.

“One thing councilor Pepén is looking forward to this budget season is ensuring that the land safety and infrastructure improvements continue to remain on course,” he added. “He’s really going to be looking at the public works and transportation department budgets to be making sure that they are in a fashion that is still serving the needs of the community.”

Conley also mentioned that Pepén’s office is working with District 6 City Councilor Benjamin Weber to hear from the neighborhood to see what they are looking for in the budget, adding that Weber is meeting with District 5 through Zoom on Tuesday, April 7th at 6:30 p.m.

Additionally, as school safety has become an especially major priority for the district in light of the tragic accident involving 5-year-old Lens Arthur Joseph who was killed by a school bus operator, the city is seeking to make transportation safety reforms.

As the case progresses, both Conley and Hyde Park Liaison Zoe Petty highly urged residents to attend safe school zones hearings hosted by the city and share any input they might have.

With that, Zoe Petty also reminded attendees of ongoing community events and volunteer opportunities, stressing that community members can keep up with current cleanups – and even create their own cleanups – through Keep Hyde Park Beautiful and Love your Block Cleanups by visiting https://www.keephpbeautiful.org/.