Re: [DSNC] Major Update on the Copper Mill Project

[Edward Woll]

Thank you Elaine.,  This is very timely.

And what a relief that Copper Mill is off the table now and that we can concentrate constructively on the Davis Square Neighborhood Planning process with the Planning Board. The demise of the Copper Mill project means that there is no project on the horizon that would call for a community benefits agreement to be negotiated by DSNC. 

I suggest that given the demise of the Copper Mill proposals that we defer voting tonight on the quorum bylaw amendments and the Community Benefits Agreement voting issues.  Yes, a lot of work went into those by the Bylaws Committee, of which I am a member, but the number and content of the proposals are confusing and disjointed.  We can do better.

I felt a lot of pressure to get something out the door. A major source of that pressure is gone.  I propose that it is best that we have the DSNC Bylaw Committee take back and take the time needed to revisit the proposals to reach a consensus among those who proposed the amendments and the Bylaws Committee on a simpler set of proposals.  

There is no reason not to proceed on the other proposals, i.e., those that do not deal with CBA voting and meeting quorum issues. 

And some of the time saved can be spent on an open discussion on how to proceed given the withdrawal of Copper Mill and the pending Davis Square Neighborhood Planning process snd otherwise to shorten the meeting.

Ed Woll 

508-330-4500

80 Winslow Avenue

Somerville, MA

On Aug 31, 2026, at 11:36 AM, Elaine Almquist <elaine....@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Neighbors,

The DSNC Board received this letter from Copper Mill this morning, which we are sharing with all of you, and because our website and Drive is public, the wider community.

The major takeaway is that Copper Mill, the developer who has been involved with the proposal for 231-249 Elm Street has stated "we will not be moving forward with our transit-oriented housing development in Davis Square."

We can address how this news affects the DSNC Community Benefits Committee process at tonight's meeting (hybrid on Zoom and at the Crystal Ballroom from 6pm to 8pm). 

My personal hope is that this means we can all turn our attention to engaging in the ongoing Davis Square Neighborhood Plan process, and expect that future proposed projects will be guided by our proactively-collected community desires and that we will not need to react to a 1-off project proposal in this way again.

Looking forward to seeing you all tonight,

Elaine

President, Davis Square Neighborhood Council

Elaine F. Almquist

(she/her/hers)

BlueSky @EAlmquist  Instagram: @EFAlmquist
Phone: 978.375.2448

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[Ashish Shrestha]

Per the bylaws, the board and the Bylaw Committee do not have the authority to delay votes on bylaw amendments.  This has been discussed within the Bylaw Committee emails multiple times already.

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[Christopher Beland]

The fact that there is a proposed bylaw amendment that would lower the threshold for approving CBAs has been cited in written comments to the City Council (see attachment "6 residents - DSNC" on this page) as a reason not to recognize us as a neighborhood council. We are expecting to have a hearing before a council committee in September, and I think it would be extremely helpful to have that resolved one way or another so we can respond to that complaint. (I would not be surprised if it is repeated verbally in the hearing.)

On Mon, 2026-08-31 at 15:10 -0400, Edward Woll wrote:

The demise of the Copper Mill project means that there is no project on the horizon that would call for a community benefits agreement to be negotiated by DSNC. 

I don't think that's true; Board members are supposed to be meeting with the developer of 882 Broadway soon, and they have already asked what the DSNC would like to see in that project. We need to have a large public meeting to gather information about that specifically for this project and for projects in general, but we could potentially negotiate a small CBA in the next few months, and have substantial input on the design of the building.

Chris

[Edward Woll]

Yes, referring back to the committee as phrased is a reasonable and constructive outcome. E to a date. Certain.

But the Meeting is also entitled to delay the vote to a specific date,

Ed

On Aug 31, 2026, at 3:20 PM, Zachary Yaro <zmy...@zmyaro.com> wrote:

As I understand it (and please correct me if I misunderstand), the Board can't delay the vote, but we could fairly swiftly vote to refer the proposed amendments back to the Bylaws Committee if the majority of the members attending agree with Ed?

Zachary Yaro

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dsnc-discussion/CAMQNHnyARexDq50RAUk2MS%2Bs9DpGyj4JhTSNzMJVnUmyaAoo7A%40mail.gmail.com.

[Edward Woll]

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[Edward Woll]

[Alex Dehnert]

As Ashish says, we (bylaws working group or board) can't really delay
the vote to save time at this point -- the bylaws require the amendments
be on the agenda at the next meeting.

As Chris notes, people (including you) have gone to city council
basically saying that the city council shouldn't recognize the DSNC
until it "resolves the bylaw issues"[1] (and specifically calling out
quorum and CBA amendments, such as we're voting on tonight), which keeps
some urgency (the city council is expected to vote in September, before
our next general meeting).

I believe our historical attitude has been that an amendment proponent
may choose to withdraw (or probably postpone) their amendment -- it
looks like you're the proponent for 18C1 (turnout for CBAs) and Q2
(quorum of 20% of membership), so if you'd like to cede your time during
tonight's meeting and skip those amendments that's your prerogative.
Given the upcoming city council vote, I wouldn't generally advocate
dropping the quorum and CBA amendments.

> I propose that it is best that we have the DSNC Bylaw Committee take back
> and take the time needed to revisit the proposals to reach a consensus
> among those who proposed the amendments and the Bylaws Committee on a
> simpler set of proposals.

We've spent quite a bit of time in the bylaws working group discussing
these proposals. The current proposals are generally individually fairly
straightforward and I think mostly have strong proponents; I'm dubious
that more discussion in the bylaws working group will allow simplifying
the collection. At this point, I think we need a membership vote to find
out what actually has support.

(I am excited about the amendments the bylaws working group will be
referring tonight, which (assuming adoption in September) would allow us
to take amendment voting online, so it absorbs less general meeting
time. Unfortunately, that option won't be available until after city
council hopefully votes.)

~~Alex

[1]
https://somervillema.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=8191339&GUID=098B498E-7000-4F6F-BF25-664031C206C2
- "6 residents - DSNC", page 3

On 8/31/26 15:15, Ashish Shrestha wrote:
> Per the bylaws, the board and the Bylaw Committee do not have the
> authority to delay votes on bylaw amendments.  This has been discussed
> within the Bylaw Committee emails multiple times already.
>
> On Mon, Aug 31, 2026 at 3:10 PM Edward Woll <e...@woll.us
> <mailto:e...@woll.us>> wrote:
>
> Thank you Elaine.,  This is very timely.
>
> And what a relief that Copper Mill is off the table now and that we
> can concentrate constructively on the Davis Square Neighborhood
> Planning process with the Planning Board. The demise of the Copper
> Mill project means that there is no project on the horizon that
> would call for a community benefits agreement to be negotiated by DSNC.
>

> ____

>
> I suggest that given the demise of the Copper Mill proposals that we
> defer voting tonight on the quorum bylaw amendments and the
> Community Benefits Agreement voting issues.  Yes, a lot of work went
> into those by the Bylaws Committee, of which I am a member, but the
> number and content of the proposals are confusing and

> disjointed.  We can do better.____

>
> I felt a lot of pressure to get something out the door. A major
> source of that pressure is gone.  I propose that it is best that we
> have the DSNC Bylaw Committee take back and take the time needed to
> revisit the proposals to reach a consensus among those who proposed
> the amendments and the Bylaws Committee on a simpler set of

> proposals. ____

>
> There is no reason not to proceed on the other proposals, i.e.,

> those that do not deal with CBA voting and meeting quorum issues. ____

>
> And some of the time saved can be spent on an open discussion on how
> to proceed given the withdrawal of Copper Mill and the pending Davis
> Square Neighborhood Planning process snd otherwise to shorten the

> meeting.____
>
> Ed Woll
>
> 508-330-4500 <tel:(508)%20330-4500>
>
> 80 Winslow Avenue <https://www.google.com/maps/
> search/80+Winslow+Avenue+Somerville,+MA?entry=gmail&source=g>
>
> Somerville, MA <https://www.google.com/maps/
> search/80+Winslow+Avenue+Somerville,+MA?entry=gmail&source=g>

>
>
>
>> On Aug 31, 2026, at 11:36 AM, Elaine Almquist

>> <elaine....@gmail.com <mailto:elaine....@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Neighbors,
>>
>> The DSNC Board received this letter from Copper Mill this morning

>> <https://drive.google.com/file/
>> d/1Z78OTC96AgDKANi774REdamwRlfHCQNp/view?usp=sharing>, which we

>> are sharing with all of you, and because our website and Drive is
>> public, the wider community.
>>
>> The major takeaway is that Copper Mill, the developer who has been

>> involved with the proposal for 231-249 Elm Street has stated *"we

>> will not be moving forward with our transit-oriented housing

>> development in Davis Square."*
>> *
>> *

>> We can address how this news affects the DSNC Community Benefits
>> Committee process at tonight's meeting (hybrid on Zoom and at the
>> Crystal Ballroom from 6pm to 8pm).
>>
>> My personal hope is that this means we can all turn our attention
>> to engaging in the ongoing Davis Square Neighborhood Plan

>> <https://voice.somervillema.gov/davis-square-plan> process, and

>> expect that future proposed projects will be guided by our
>> proactively-collected community desires and that we will not need
>> to react to a 1-off project proposal in this way again.
>>
>> Looking forward to seeing you all tonight,
>>
>> Elaine
>> President, Davis Square Neighborhood Council

>> *
>> *
>> *Elaine F. Almquist*
>> /(she/her/hers)/
>>
>> BlueSky @EAlmquist <https://bsky.app/profile/
>> ealmquist.bsky.social> Instagram: @EFAlmquist <https://
>> www.instagram.com/efalmquist/>
>> Phone: 978.375.2448 <tel:(978)%20375-2448>

>>
>> --
>> Davis Square Neighborhood Council · https://DavisSquareNC.org

>> <https://davissquarenc.org/> · https://linktr.ee/DavisSquareNC

>> <https://linktr.ee/DavisSquareNC>
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[Edward Woll]

That does not mean they cannot be deferred to another meeting or back to the Committee as two options among several others. There is no mandate as to how they must be treated, only that they may be passed and to do so requires a 2/3 vote. 

Ed

[lov...@outlook.com]

Should there not be some pressure to get something done? We can continue to search for a perfect solution while years go by and we have more empty store fronts and more people that cannot afford to live in this area.

[Alan Ball]

I am confused: is this group an advocacy group or a representative group of the Davis square community?

AL

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Alan Ball

A.B.I.D.

Alan Ball Industrial Design Inc.

50 Francesca Ave

Somerville, Ma 02144

(617) 718-9342 office

(617) 733-2663 mobile

alb...@abidstudio.com

[Alex Dehnert]

Are you suggesting that we're doing too much or too little of one of those?

I'd say we're principally a ~representative group, enabling neighbors to
come together and discuss issues of concern, but also (under the city
ordinance[1]) have some role to gather feedback and pass it along or
advocate based on it to developers, the city, and others.

From our bylaws[2]:
> Section 2.1: Objective
> To support Davis Square as an increasingly inclusive, vibrant, and accessible neighborhood and commercial center representing the creativity, diversity, interests, perspectives, and values of the people who live and work here. The DSNC shall achieve that as:
> A Community Benefits Neighborhood Council;
> A bridge to voice issues and concerns from community members to other bodies; and
> A forum to connect and empower members of the community to advocate for and work toward our common goals.


~~Alex

[1]
https://online.encodeplus.com/regs/somerville-ma-coo/doc-viewer.aspx?secid=2008#secid-2009
[2]
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15NsQqsf1bap_gz6UFQvLIb8YYpChMM0rvizbuThpYDY/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.m3ehmj4ibhs7

On 9/1/26 13:30, Alan Ball wrote:
> I am confused: is this group an advocacy group or a representative group
> of the Davis square community?
>
> AL
>
> On Tue, Sep 1, 2026 at 10:33 AM lov...@outlook.com

> <mailto:lov...@outlook.com> <lov...@outlook.com

> <mailto:lov...@outlook.com>> wrote:
>
> Should there not be some pressure to get something done? We can
> continue to search for a perfect solution while years go by and we
> have more empty store fronts and more people that cannot afford to
> live in this area.
>
> On Monday, August 31, 2026 at 3:10:16 PM UTC-4 e...@woll.us

> <mailto:e...@woll.us> wrote:
>
> Thank you Elaine.,  This is very timely.
>
> And what a relief that Copper Mill is off the table now and that
> we can concentrate constructively on the Davis Square
> Neighborhood Planning process with the Planning Board. The
> demise of the Copper Mill project means that there is no project
> on the horizon that would call for a community benefits
> agreement to be negotiated by DSNC.
>

> ____

>
> I suggest that given the demise of the Copper Mill proposals
> that we defer voting tonight on the quorum bylaw amendments and
> the Community Benefits Agreement voting issues.  Yes, a lot of
> work went into those by the Bylaws Committee, of which I am a
> member, but the number and content of the proposals are

> confusing and disjointed.  We can do better.____

>
> I felt a lot of pressure to get something out the door. A major
> source of that pressure is gone.  I propose that it is best that
> we have the DSNC Bylaw Committee take back and take the time
> needed to revisit the proposals to reach a consensus among those
> who proposed the amendments and the Bylaws Committee on a

> simpler set of proposals. ____

>
> There is no reason not to proceed on the other proposals, i.e.,
> those that do not deal with CBA voting and meeting quorum

> issues. ____

>
> And some of the time saved can be spent on an open discussion on
> how to proceed given the withdrawal of Copper Mill and the
> pending Davis Square Neighborhood Planning process snd otherwise

> to shorten the meeting.____

>
> Ed Woll
>
> 508-330-4500 <tel:(508)%20330-4500>
>
> 80 Winslow Avenue <https://www.google.com/maps/
> search/80+Winslow+Avenue+Somerville,+MA?entry=gmail&source=g>
>
> Somerville, MA <https://www.google.com/maps/
> search/80+Winslow+Avenue+Somerville,+MA?entry=gmail&source=g>
>
>
>

>> On Aug 31, 2026, at 11:36 AM, Elaine Almquist
>> <elaine....@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Neighbors,
>>
>> The DSNC Board received this letter from Copper Mill this

>> morning <https://drive.google.com/file/
>> d/1Z78OTC96AgDKANi774REdamwRlfHCQNp/view?usp=sharing>, which

>> we are sharing with all of you, and because our website and
>> Drive is public, the wider community.
>>
>> The major takeaway is that Copper Mill, the developer who has
>> been involved with the proposal for 231-249 Elm Street has

>> stated *"we will not be moving forward with our transit-
>> oriented housing development in Davis Square."*
>> *
>> *

>> We can address how this news affects the DSNC Community
>> Benefits Committee process at tonight's meeting (hybrid on
>> Zoom and at the Crystal Ballroom from 6pm to 8pm).
>>
>> My personal hope is that this means we can all turn our
>> attention to engaging in the ongoing Davis Square Neighborhood

>> Plan <https://voice.somervillema.gov/davis-square-
>> plan> process, and expect that future proposed projects will

>> be guided by our proactively-collected community desires and
>> that we will not need to react to a 1-off project proposal in
>> this way again.
>>
>> Looking forward to seeing you all tonight,
>>
>> Elaine
>> President, Davis Square Neighborhood Council

>> *
>> *
>> *Elaine F. Almquist*
>> /(she/her/hers)/
>>
>> BlueSky @EAlmquist <https://bsky.app/profile/
>> ealmquist.bsky.social> Instagram: @EFAlmquist <https://
>> www.instagram.com/efalmquist/>
>> Phone: 978.375.2448 <tel:(978)%20375-2448>
>>

>> --
>> Davis Square Neighborhood Council · https://DavisSquareNC.org

>> <https://davissquarenc.org/> · https://linktr.ee/DavisSquareNC

>> <https://linktr.ee/DavisSquareNC>
>> ---
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>
>
>
> --
> Alan Ball
> A.B.I.D.
>
> Alan Ball Industrial Design Inc.
> 50 Francesca Ave
> Somerville, Ma 02144
>
> (617) 718-9342 office
> (617) 733-2663 mobile

> alb...@abidstudio.com <mailto:alb...@abidstudio.com>

>
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[Alan Ball]

What are the “common goals” you are advocating and working for? I’d like to understand what they are.

My understanding is that the group is seeking formal recognition with the Somerville government as a representative group, which seems incompatible with advocacy on issues which are not supported by the whole Somerville community. Is that a concern?

[PJ Santos]

Hi Alan, 

Others may have a different view, but I think all members of the DSNC share a common goal of making Davis Square to be a pleasant place to live and work. 

Obviously, that can mean a lot of different (and conflicting) things to different people. Through elections, voting, surveying the membership + community, etc. neighborhood councils will ideally find areas of consensus and compromise.

To cite a specific and pertinent example, there's a lot of disagreement as to how much development should happen in the square. A key motivation of the city of Somerville for making the neighborhood council ordinance was to get these groups to negotiate with developers and sign community benefits agreements.

Ideally, this is a vehicle for compromise: developer gets to build their building, advocates for development get more housing or businesses, concerned neighbors get benefits to offset the harms of construction, opponents of development can negotiate compromises on size or design so that they are less opposed (or stop it all together if there are more opponents than supporters).

There are of course totally non-controversial projects as well, the programming committee is putting together a Yard Sale and organizing volunteering initiatives, obvious common goals! 

Does that answer your question? 

PJ Kim-Santos 

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[PJ Santos]

Hi Al, 

Lots of great questions, I'll try to quickly get to some of them here, please let me know if i miss anything important! 

Historically, Somerville neighborhood councils started in Union Square in response to a bunch of the development happening there. From what I've heard, many residents felt the city didn't consult with them sufficiently and they formed an organization. The city liked that there was a group that could collect input, and wrote the ordinance Alex mentioned to enshrine it as a psuedo official body. 

The union Square council was most recently involved in the Somernova process, and I know Gilman Square now has a council that has focused on trying to get some development on the big empty lot next to their T station. Also historically (way before my time), there was a "Davis Square Task Force" that played a similar but different role as the Neighborhood councils 

The neighborhood councils are private organizations that the city has said "we'll pay attention to what they say". ( I've also heard neighborhood councils have fewer restrictions on what they can negotiate with developers over versus the city, though this may be a legal gray) Because we're not an official city body, we had no elections on yesterday's ballot, though we do have our board elections every year in April. I think we had over 550 members vote in our last election, which is pretty good, though obviously doesn't have the turnout of an official city run election. Personally, I have some reservations on how the city set up neighborhood councils / worry a lot about proper representation, but until someone crowns me as the divine king of Somerville, this is the process we have to work with! 

The city council has been very supportive of neighborhood councils, and my understanding is they think of us as a super charged focus group. Councilors David and Hardt (wards 6 and 7, covering most of our territory) along with many of the at-large councilors have been very involved in our meetings, offering advice, and generally done a lot of working with us. The mayor, and members of the city staff have also come to meetings, and we've lobbied them for various issues (e.g. asked them to start the Neighborhood plan process, asked them to study changing traffic/road design on Elm Street, etc). 

With all that background, neighborhood councils are more of a forum / clearinghouse of different perspectives in the neighborhood, not a group with a set of objectives they are trying to accomplish. I'd say two biggest things on our docket have been this proposed Copper Mill project, and the city's Davis Square Neighborhood Plan. We've done a bunch of programming like bringing in various city officials / police officers to discuss safety in the square, and other developers have come and talked about smaller projects they've wanted to persue. 

As a forum, we have a very wide set of perspectives, and I think that's really healthy. I hear all sorts of views for the first time at the DSNC, and I'm sure somewhere I've got some opinions that you totally disagree with. We'll be a successful organization if we can get folks with disparate views together, and find a way for each of them to get a little of what they want. 

Some of the stuff you mentioned is probably out of our purview. Rent control and tax stuff is a state issue, we mostly lobby the city. 

Davis Square Village is a totally different organization, but they have a bunch of members who overlap with us, Frank is on our board. 

For recent changes, those were initiated by the mayor. I can't know his thinking, but a common opinion among the DSNC was that we could use a glow up in the square, and I know that many of us have talked with the mayor and city staff about that. 

OK, I hope that sorta gets to most of your questions, if you come to our next meeting I'd be happy to chat with you afterwards at our social 😊 

On Wed, Sep 2, 2026, 9:44 AM Alan Ball <alb...@abidstudio.com> wrote:

Hi PJ et al,

Thanks for your thoughtful response! 

I agree that we all want "Davis Square to be a pleasant place to live and work," but isn't that sentiment too broad to be actionable? For some, a reduction or elimination of real estate tax would be quite pleasant, for others stringent rent control would be pleasant; but they seem mutually exclusive. The same applies to public safety vs leniency toward substance abuse in public. Is there a list, or perhaps a ticket system to track issues and rank them in importance, or in controversy within the community? I'd love to see a top ten list of important issues/values of the DSNC.

I guess my struggle is understanding how to align representing what the DS community wants with advocating for policies and providing input to the city. I see a lot of discussion in this group assuming opinions which I do not believe are widely shared by the community. I am also puzzled why, if the DSNC is truly a representative organization, why weren't any DSNC governance positions on the ballot yesterday?  I know there was a vote a while ago, but why don't we vote the way we normally elect our representatives?

I am aware of another group, Davis Square Village. Is this part of DSNC? If not, how would you characterize the relationship between the groups? Can they both be recognized as neighborhood councils?

Also what is the role of our City Councilor vis-a-vis DSNC? He seems quite disinterested in serving/communicating his constituency in Davis Square so is it the intent of DSNC to pick up the slack in being responsive to DS constituents?

One last question...I have been quite happy with the recent "glow up" of the square. The signage, the slip way alterations and the Friday activities have been great! Were these intiated by DSNC? My perception is that they were initiated by the Mayor. I would love to know who to thank because it has made the Square a  more "pleasant place to live and work"!

I know thats a lot, sorry!  I am just trying to understand the basics so I can better appreciate the thoughtful exchanges I see in this group.

AL

[Alan Ball]

Thanks for your comprehensive response, PJ; I found it very informative.

What does "psuedo official body" mean? Does this mean the group won't be official until formally recognized by the city?

I attended  meetings of the Davis Square Task Force back in the day. I believe the folks that were involved are greatly responsible for a lot of what made Davis Square great in the past! I have been working/living in DS since 1992, and have seen many changes, both good and bad.

I voted in the DSNC election at the West Branch Library in April, and I share your concern about the eligibility requirements to vote. Is it true that some governance members do not live or work in the DS area? If so, is there concern this will compromise formal recognition of the group by the City?

In your previous email you mentioned "surveying the membership + community, etc". Can you tell me about the survey process? I must have missed any past DSNC surveys, but I would like to participate in the future. When was the last survey, and what insights did it reveal? Can you point me to any findings?

Finally, how are new  issues of concern brought to the group? Is there a 'new business' process to bring an issue to the group's attention? 

Thanks again for the info.

AL

[Jeff Byrnes]

To answer one question, it’s a pseudo-official body in that it is not a governmental body, but a private nonprofit that is recognized in a specific fashion by City ordinance.

-- 
Jeff Byrnes
he/him
 

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To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dsnc-discussion/CALDkL1dJ0r%2B-ytCemsVYjBaKGpRHD3Y6%3DAWP_xy9-GE0aVtqVg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Paul Beran]

Thanks for this information Elaine. Really helpful and appreciated. I can't make the meeting this evening but do get your emails. If I can be of assistance to the work of the committee in some volunteer way please let me know.

Paul

31 Irving Street

On Mon, Aug 31, 2026 at 11:38 AM Elaine Almquist <elaine....@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Neighbors,

The DSNC Board received this letter from Copper Mill this morning, which we are sharing with all of you, and because our website and Drive is public, the wider community.

The major takeaway is that Copper Mill, the developer who has been involved with the proposal for 231-249 Elm Street has stated "we will not be moving forward with our transit-oriented housing development in Davis Square."

We can address how this news affects the DSNC Community Benefits Committee process at tonight's meeting (hybrid on Zoom and at the Crystal Ballroom from 6pm to 8pm). 

My personal hope is that this means we can all turn our attention to engaging in the ongoing Davis Square Neighborhood Plan process, and expect that future proposed projects will be guided by our proactively-collected community desires and that we will not need to react to a 1-off project proposal in this way again.

Looking forward to seeing you all tonight,

Elaine

President, Davis Square Neighborhood Council

Elaine F. Almquist

(she/her/hers)

BlueSky @EAlmquist  Instagram: @EFAlmquist
Phone: 978.375.2448

--
Davis Square Neighborhood Council · https://DavisSquareNC.org · https://linktr.ee/DavisSquareNC

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