[Rocco DiRico]: Okay, good evening and welcome to the Tufts University pre-application community meeting regarding our new tennis courts. Thank you for joining us tonight. We really appreciate being able to present this to you and hearing your feedback and answering your questions. Tonight's meeting is being recorded and will be uploaded to our website next week. My name is Rocco DiRico and I'm the Executive Director of Government and Community Relations at Tufts University. We are here tonight to discuss our proposal to add eight new tennis courts to Field A on College Avenue in Medford. Field A is adjacent to the parking lot across from Cousins Gym. The current tennis courts that we have are located on Professor's Row and have been used for student housing for the past two years. We placed modular housing units on the courts to isolate COVID positive students during the pandemic. And we discovered it was actually a good location for housing. So going forward, those courts will continue to be used for housing where it can currently constructing temporarily housing units for first year students on those courts. This will allow us to house more students on campus, which I know is a goal of both the university and the city. The site there is much more suitable for housing because it's closer to our academic buildings, our cafeterias and other dormitories. This location that we're proposing for the tennis courts tonight is more appropriate for tennis courts as it's adjacent to our existing athletics facilities for baseball, softball, lacrosse, and intramural sports. It's also directly across the street from the Gantra Center, the Tisch Fitness Center, Cousins Gym, and our locker rooms. At this meeting you'll hear from our athletic director john Morris. Next, the project manager Jen Whitney will walk you through the project. You'll also hear from john Hickok from CHA, who is our architect. And finally, we'll take your questions. Leah Boudreau from my office will read through the questions that have been pre-submitted. We'll answer those first, and then we'll go to questions that are submitted in the Q&A. To ask a question tonight, please use the Q&A button located at the bottom of your screen. If we don't get to your question tonight, please contact our office at any time. at 617-627-3780 or by emailing us at communityrelations at tufts.edu. I wanna thank Victor Schrader from the city of Medford. Victor is the city's director of economic development and is here tonight representing Mayor Lungo-Koehn. I also wanna thank Mark Maggiore and Andy Colbert for their technical support tonight behind the scenes. And with that, please welcome Tufts University Athletic Director, John Morris.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks Rocco. And thanks everyone for being with us this evening and for your interest in hearing more about this project that I'm really excited. First, let me say normally for an important meeting like this, I would have worn a sport coat. I just left it at home. It was sitting right by the back door and I left it. I ran down the hall a few minutes ago right before this started to try to see if I could find one. The only one I could find was our football coaches and it was about nine sizes too big. So I thought it would be better to go without. But anyway, I'm really excited about this project. I'll spare you the detail and just share a couple of things that, a couple of the reasons why I am excited. Like all our projects, we try to make them beneficial to as many groups as possible. And that's, That's why I'm excited about this one. Of course, it will benefit our varsity tennis teams to have a varsity course here. But I'm excited because it's also gonna benefit the whole Tufts community, faculty, staff, everyone. Just another opportunity to get outside and work on fitness, recreation, and health and wellbeing. But also, I think it's gonna benefit the Medford community. We're really excited about this course being available to Medford residents. Of course, when our varsity teams are practicing or competing or teaching a PE class of some kind on the course, they won't be. But generally speaking, the course that we had up on top of the hill, our community, local community members use them frequently. So we're excited that this will be another way for us to partner with Medford and allow the local residents to use the courts and and get that same type of physical fitness, another option for that. Another reason I'm really excited about it and Rocco alluded to it was just the. proximity to the rest of our athletics facilities. I think it's going to be a lot more meaningful for our tennis athletes to feel more a part of the rest of our athletics community. I think students and faculty and staff using the courts, the convenience of having the locker rooms nearby and access to the fitness center just makes sense that it's all there. So we're really excited about it from that standpoint, too. We think it's going to be a great addition to the whole athletics physical plan. Those are the reasons I'm really excited about it and look forward to helping answer any questions you may have about the project later in the program. For now, I will kick it over to Jen Whitney, who will show you some images and walk you through those specifics of the project.
[Unidentified]: Good evening, everyone.
[SPEAKER_06]: Thank you for allowing me to present this project. Here's a quick overview of the alumni field as a whole. Currently, we have the baseball field under renovation and the tennis will go in field A adjacent to the, yeah, there we go. Thank you, Rocco. The project location is proposed here on field A, which is currently used for you know, recreational and yeah, recreational sort of uses. Frisbee and flag football, things like that. Next slide, please. As Rocco mentioned, on the existing conditions, we currently are housing our COVID positive modular isolation unit on the current courts located on Professor's Row. And there is, as we've discovered, it's a much better location for residential facilities and have done quite a few studies to move this down to the athletics corridor to bring everything together. Next slide, please. So just some highlights about the tennis construction, proposing to relocate the tennis complex to the alumni field, as indicated in the previous slide. There's a total of eight new concrete courts with an acrylic surface planned. And this is a much more durable surface, requires a lot less often resurfacing. Some new scoreboards, some temporary spectator seating, new state-of-the-art LED sports lighting, and then landscape screening around the perimeter, very focused around the adjacent homes. Next. Thank you. These are just a couple of vantage points of the proposed tennis courts. The upper left hand is a view looking towards the baseball. And you can kind of see the layout there along the streets. I believe that's Fleming Street. And you can see also to the landscaping at its full growth, but are planning quite a bit of landscaping along that area. The second slide on the upper right is a view from sort of the baseball and the lacrosse field vantage. And then the third on the bottom is just a very tight close up of the three courts within two courts on the bottom, kind of just kind of creating a little L there. Next slide, please. All right, and so we've rendered, we've really taken a very good look about and taken care to, you know, look at landscaping and how we can shield this from the adjacent homeowner's view. And the first view is from Winter Street. Um, really kind of just want to note that the trees that were rendered here are much more mature than what we would put in, but we will, um, we're definitely taking a view as to, you know, how can we put in as large as our budget will allow and also. Making sure that it's kind of keeping within the locus of the, of the project and not over spilling. Um, but being able to create that shield. The second is from Fleming Street, as well as the third. So we're really kind of making sure that this area is very well protected. All right, next slide, please. And I'm gonna hand this over to John Hickok from CHA, our designer, to talk a little bit more about the lighting.
[MCM00000997_SPEAKER_02]: Yes, Jen, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about the lighting associated with the tennis courts here. We've taken a really close look at this. Rocco gave us kind of a design criteria when we started to make this better than what it currently is there. As you all are aware, Field A does have some current antiquated lighting on it that's utilized for recreational purposes. The light poles are very low. So the trajectory of the light allows for the spilling of the light onto the neighboring properties. So with that, we conducted a study of the existing lights so that we could determine how we make this better for the adjoining properties. And part of making that better is the current technology. Current technology is LED and not metal halide as what's there currently. And LED is a very directable light. We can put the light on the surface with minimal spillage. So with that being said, we created this graphic to try to show the spillage of the lights currently. And that's that green line you see on the graphic up to the backs of the houses based on our study shows that that's approximately where we get to zero light spillage or zero foot candles for a technical term. The other two lines that you see on there are based on our proposed lighting for the eight court. The teal line, the outermost line is where we get to zero foot candles or no light spillage with the proposed lighting. The yellow line is one foot candle. And just to put that in perspective, a parking lot at your Walmart or Target or something like that's going to be lit in the 0.25 to half a foot candle. So that's the kind of light that we're talking about. And zero is none. You're back to darkness. space there between the yellow and the teal line, it's very, very minimal light in that area. And furthermore, the lighting system with the technologies of LED and everybody needs control of everything on their mobile devices these days, these lights are highly controllable and highly scheduled. So these can be scheduled to turn on, turn off at certain times, They can also be turned on and turned off through your mobile device with the appropriate app that allows tons of flexibility for the athletic department, campus safety, and the such, so that these lights can be monitored and turned on and off as appropriate. We just wanted to show tonight the criteria that we were up against in putting this lighting design together, as well as how this has benefited benefit of the community and by removing the lights on on field day and putting in new lights on the tennis court to to minimize that that spillage to the community thanks john.
[SPEAKER_06]: All right, so we'll return to kind of wrap up and give a little bit more on. of a synopsis here. So purpose and benefits, the proposed location, you know, will provide for a better athlete support with the proximity of the Tisch Center in addition to any community members wanting to utilize the courts and being able to use Cousins Gym as a touchdown point as well. Existing court location can be used for housing and that keeps students up on the upper campus area located there to Rocco's Point near academic buildings and dining halls and the lake. This program will be continued community use when not used by athletics. As I mentioned before, when I talked about the construction, it's a concrete acrylic surface It has superior crack resistance to allow for consistent play and allow for, you know, less wear and tear over time. All improvements to the court in the spectator seating and the areas surrounding will all meet or exceed the handicap accessibility requirement. As John noted, the state-of-the-art LED sports lighting will allow for sharp cutoff, minimizing the light spill, and improving the conditions that we currently have, which the lights will also help increase the opportunity for play by both the Tufts athletic community and the outside Medford community. And in addition, it also meets academic needs and schedule of Tufts students, allowing for them to practice after dark, but also being able to keep their academic schedule intact. Next slide. So the next steps we have, just to kind of outline moving forward from our team, we have our community meeting presently, and we would move forward to apply for our building permit. The anticipated schedule is to begin construction in fall 2022 with earthwork, concrete installation, and fencing. And then in the spring or late spring, early summer, we would do final court construction with the court surfacing, spectator circulation, lighting, landscaping, and just final completion of the project for folks to enjoy. Next.
[Rocco DiRico]: Thank you, Jen. And just a reminder, if we don't get to your question tonight or if you ever have any other questions or anything that we can help you with, please contact our office at 617-627-3780. or email us at communityrelations at tufts.edu. This presentation will be uploaded onto our website next week, which is communityrelations.tufts.edu. And you can always follow us on social media at Tufts Community on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And for monthly updates about programs, free events, and other things that are open to the public, please sign up for our newsletter. Next, I would like to pass it off to Leah Boudreau, my office, who will go through the pre-submitted questions, and then I will go through any questions that have been submitted during this meeting. Again, a reminder to submit your question during this meeting, just press the Q&A button located at the bottom of your screen. Leah?
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks, Rocco. I'll go ahead and share with folks some of the questions that we received pre-submitted when neighbors registered for this meeting. We'll start with a few that kind of fall within the same theme. So we've got questions from Dave Katz, Carly Nesson, and Evan Creshtool all asking about whether or not the tennis course will be open to the public. So John Morris, you touched on that earlier. Could you speak a little bit more to those neighbors' questions about the tennis courts facilities being open to the public?
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure. Thanks, Leah. I won't belabor the point, but yeah, the answer is yes. We really would like to use this as another way to invite Medford in and continue the good partnerships that we have. The course will be used by varsity teams and they'll be used for you know PE classes and when that's happening they won't be available but at other times they will be. I know the the courts where the modular units are especially in the summer evening hours the communities really enjoyed playing in the evening up on those courts and I anticipate that will happen again with these courts. So yes they will be open we're excited about One of the things we really enjoy, the swimming lessons we do for the Medford-Somerville community in our pool. And so I'd like to think there's some opportunities for these courts to be open in that way too. Maybe some youth tennis clinics, things like that, other ways to let the local residents benefit from the courts.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks, John, very much. We've got another question or a series of questions from Judy Weinstock regarding lighting. I'll go ahead and read those. Judy says, I remain concerned about the larger plan that Tufts has related to light filtration and pollution. As project numbers such as the Tennis Courts project increase, so does light pollution on abutting properties that spills into the neighborhoods and homes. I would like to hear specifically about how Tufts will mitigate future light pollution as it relates to both this project and sport field improvement projects. How will new lighting be different from existing lighting? And when will fields be illuminated? And will there be auto shut off time periods? Will fields and courts be illuminated after dark on a routine basis? And will some form of lighting be on 24-7? John Hickok, if you could address some of Judy's questions about lighting, light pollution, and timing, that would be great.
[MCM00000997_SPEAKER_02]: Sure. As I stated in the previous slide, that was one of our charges of the project was to make that corner of the property better for the adjoining neighbors. So we, as I had indicated, we employed state-of-the-art LED technology for lighting of these tennis courts to allow for nighttime play. The lights, as I indicated, are highly programmable. So the athletics and the university have control of when the lights come on, when the lights go off. And they have additional controls through authorized users for mobile devices and things of that nature to also turn lights on, turn lights off. I showed the graphic of the lighting of how we've minimized that spill to the neighborhood. And like I said, it was one of our charges to do that and make this so that it can be an asset to the community and not a detriment. And I feel that the design has really taken hold there and really made this better by removing that very old technology that allows for a lot of spillage to happen beyond the actual surface that's being played on. As it relates to the timing and when the lights will be on, I'll turn that over to John Morris and allow him to talk to that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure. Thanks, John. Yeah, they absolutely will not be on 24-7. We will make sure to follow all the Medford regulations about when lights can be on consistent with what we've done out at the other fields in that area. I believe Medford requires a 10 p.m. shutoff. We will monitor really closely. We will program it so that it turns off in a timely manner. And, you know, in the winter, I don't imagine that being on much at all. I don't see the tennis courts being in use in the winter. I think it'll be a spring, summer, and fall thing. And for most of the summer and early fall, it stays light, pretty light anyway. So hopefully it won't be too much of an impact during those times. And then I guess I'd also just say that we wanna work with Rocco's office and monitor it closely. If there really isn't any usage going on, but after nine, we'll just adjust and shut them off at nine. And Rocco can probably speak to this better than I can. But yeah, we will program them so they automatically turn off, but we'll also publish ways that if there is an isolated mistake or maybe it doesn't turn off one night if they're on later than the time, ways to call into TUPD or otherwise. Rocco, I don't want to screw this up. I'll let you handle that part. But there are ways that neighbors can report it and we can get them turned off immediately.
[Rocco DiRico]: Thank you john yeah for any issues during normal work hours obviously just contact our office 617-627-3780, or community relations at Tufts.edu if as john said there's a, the light is on and it's past 10 o'clock on a Wednesday night for some reason. TUPD, their phone number is on 24 seven, and you can always call them and then they can program the lights remotely. So we have a number of ways to get in touch with us should any issues arise when the courts are operational.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks Rocco. Just one more pre submitted question from Janice Rosansky Janice asks, will there be a backboard with the tennis courts. John could you john Morris, could you address Janice's question about about backboards.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure, um, we, the current design does not have a backboard in it at all. But full transparency, it's something that we're still talking about. Our coaches have a little bit of interest in it. And sometimes it is nice for a person to be able to go out and kind of warm up by herself or himself. But at this point, we don't have a hitting wall or backboard in the design. But I will say this, if we were to do it, again, because I'm trying to think about how to do it in a way that's as least impactful to the neighborhood as possible, We would not put one up made of wood. Those are really loud and they make a lot of noise. If we did it, we would do more of a block wall that is really sound absorbent and wouldn't create that kind of annoying repetitive noise. The wall would really absorb any noise if we were to do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, John. So that's it for pre-submitted questions. I'll go ahead and pass it back to Rocco, who's going to moderate some of the questions that have been coming in via the chat.
[Rocco DiRico]: Thank you, Leah. And the first question comes from Evan Kreshtul. John Morris, if you could answer this one. If the court is allowed to be used by the community as a whole, can we please allow for an additional entrance to the courts? Perhaps along Fleming Street or Buzzle Lane, there is an existing entrance there that is always locked.
[SPEAKER_01]: Rocko, I may have to answer that one with you and drag you back into that. But this comment has come up before. And I believe we've talked to TUPD, Rocko, correct me if I'm wrong. And we are open to opening those gates. I think that the current plan is to possibly wait for the T to open to get those going. But so maybe Rocco, you may have more information than I do about timing, but the answer to the question is yes. It's just a question of when we open those gates. Do you agree with that Rocco? I want to make sure I'm not giving inaccurate information. I think philosophically, we're very open to it. It's just when.
[Rocco DiRico]: Yeah john Thank you very much and yeah as john say that athletics has signed off on it. We've also spoken to facilities and the Tufts University Police Department, and they are okay with the idea, there has been a suggestion to wait, particularly while so much construction is going on this summer. And while we're waiting for the green line to open so. during construction that gate may be closed but post-construction and with the opening of the green line expected in late summer that's where we're going to time it to unlock it. I was actually out on the fields today and I know that there is a gate on Wellesley Street and that is open and accessible for neighbors but the gate at the end of this street we can certainly look at again Perhaps when construction is complete in that area and it's safe to walk through, and when the green lines open to give folks better access to the new Medford Tufts station. The next question is also from Evan, and I think I'm going to ask Jen to answer this one. How much of Field A or the alumni fields in general will be cut off and unusable during construction? Fall 22 through June 23 is a bulk of a full year and Field A is used year round by both Tufts and surrounding community members for tons of activities.
[SPEAKER_06]: I'm happy to take that one. So initially during the construction period that we start here in the fall, we would probably utilize a good portion of Field A to sort of lay down access and prep that area. So Field A would probably be out of commission for the good portion of the fall construction and we would be tightening up as we would complete the construction here in the fall with the concrete and the fencing and whatnot and tighten up the site and restore the remainder that won't have the tennis on it to restore that for the fall after we tighten up the site. And then come spring, that you know, that could be utilized next to it. But it will grow and then it will contract as the construction needs, because we'll need to utilize that area for lay down and access to construct the tennis courts.
[Rocco DiRico]: Thank you, Jen. And the next question is for John Morris. This is from Dave Katz. Can community members access the Tisch Fitness Center?
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to be moderator next time, so I can just kick them to everybody. Sorry, Rocco. I mean, the candid answer to that one is yes and no. Currently, because of COVID, and it's been this way, unfortunately, for a couple of years, the Tisch Fitness Center has not been open to anyone other than the Tufts community, faculty, staff, and students prior to COVID. The Tisch Fitness Center was open to abutters, the list of neighbors who abut the property and there's, Rocco can explain where that list is. And also we made it open to the Medford first responders. The good news I do have for you though, is that the, we have been all summer, we wanna get it open again. for the Medford abutters who live in the neighborhood and are on the list of folks who can use it. And we've been kind of nudging our medical staff in that direction. And I wish I had a firm date for you, but we did get the approval, which is great news to reopen the Tisch Center for the abutters. And it'll be this fall. Will that be September 1, August 15, September 15? I'm not exactly sure. We're working on that now. But it will be this fall. So I'm excited about that. That's good news.
[Rocco DiRico]: Yeah, thank you very much john and once that once we are able to open it back up to a butters we will share that information with our neighbors on our website, and by other means and as john said, there's a list of budding streets that will go along with that that show who's eligible for it. And as john mentioned, there was a previous agreement as well that Medford police officers and firefighters. can use the facility as well. You do have to pay for the pass. I do want to be clear for that. You do have to pay for an abutter's pass to utilize it. But I know it was a popular program pre-pandemic and as John said, now that we're entering a new phase of the pandemic, or hopefully coming out of it. We look forward to offering that program again. The next question is also from Dave Katz. And this question is probably for John Moore. Sorry, John, we're going to you again. But will there be a bubble or any winter use of the courts?
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm in athletics, so I like to win. So I'm getting most of the questions. So I feel like I'm winning. No, there will not be a bubble. There's no plan for a bubble. I know Harvard and BC have done those. Those are really expensive to buy, really expensive to maintain, not great to look at, and expensive to store. So no bubble, no bubble out there. I mean, it would be, in a way, it would be nice. I suspect some people would like it because then it could be used in the winter. But no plans to do a bubble.
[Rocco DiRico]: Thank you, John. And Jen, this next question is for you. And I do think you touched on this earlier in the meeting. But if you could just reiterate, this question comes from Sharon Wong. I may have missed this in the beginning of the meeting, but when will the courts be completed?
[SPEAKER_06]: So the plan is to have the courts open for use right about this time next year. We'll start in the fall getting construction going once we're permitted with the city and procure all of our materials to begin construction. There's a waiting period for the concrete and we have to wait until until spring to then coat. So the timing around this pushed our project into the spring when we have warmer temperatures to put the acrylic surface on. But the long story short is next June, end of June, we're going to be playing tennis on those courts.
[Rocco DiRico]: Thank you very much, Jen, and I will take this question, because I think it's it's touched on something we've talked about earlier. This one. There's no name attached to it just comes from 446215, but it's will you be opening up the end of Wellesley Street that intersects with Colby Street during this project. So Wellesley Street actually does as it exists right now connect to Colby Street. And you can go down to the end of Colby Street, and there is a walkway that takes you eventually to College Avenue, so that that area is open actually right now, and will remain open. To answer if this is similar to the question that was before about the fencing, there is an existing gate on Wellesley Street. I was actually on the fields this afternoon and neighbors were going in and out of there. So that gate is right now open and unlocked. So I don't anticipate that that will be closed because there's no construction happening in that immediate area. And as John alluded to earlier, we're going to try to figure out ways to make the fields more accessible in anticipation of the green line coming in late summer. So those are all the questions that have been pre-submitted. I'm happy to pass it off to Victor from the city, just in case he has any questions. So I'll give Victor an opportunity to speak here, and then we'll go from there.
[Victor Schrader]: Thanks Rocco. Good evening, everyone. Thanks for attending and submitting your questions. Thank you to Tufts for holding this pre-application community meeting. We're asking Tufts community partners developers to host these meetings before they apply so that we can hear from residents gather questions and concerns and make sure they're addressed as these projects go through permitting, so thank you for submitting your questions and concerns and I'm taking note and we'll pass them along to the relevant departments. Rock, I just wanted to add that this meeting will also be posted on Medford Community Media. Tufts will share the recording with us so folks can go back and watch it, watch that recording after the fact or tell your neighbors and they can watch it on Medford Community Media as well as the Tufts provided links. That's all I have. I'm here to answer questions if the community has any. And again, thank you.
[Rocco DiRico]: Thank you, Victor, appreciate you sharing that on the city's channels. We do have one more question that came in while you were speaking. I'm going to ask John H. to answer this one. This comes from Charles McCabe. The water table in this area is high. I'm concerned that the fields are four feet higher than Fleming Street and Windsor Road, which could cause problems with water runoff. What are the guarantees that this won't happen?
[MCM00000997_SPEAKER_02]: Thanks Marco. Yes, so we we've been working on the design of the drainage associated with the tennis courts, the tennis courts will drain to a closed drainage system. So it will not just shut off all four sides of the of the court and make its way make its way to wherever it would go. We do have a closed drainage system where it will capture all the water that actually falls onto the core into a closed drainage system and then into an underground retention system that will hold back a specified volume of water to control all volume and flow from this site. And per our discussions with Medford, in regards to this project and other projects on this site, we will be storing the water to accommodate volume and flow. So per DEP, you know, we have to control flow, but in addition, you know, Medford has requested that we control volume as well, which puts a very sizable underground storage retention tank at the south end of the tennis courts, which is currently in the design and to accommodate those drainage concerns and the predetermined storms. Thanks, Rocco.
[Rocco DiRico]: Thank you, John. And I think this next one is for you as well, if you don't mind helping us out on this one. How long will it take for the trees you plant to look like the photos that you've showed us?
[MCM00000997_SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so we're still working through that with the university on how large the trees and the plantings will be. As Janet indicated or alluded to in the discussion of those images, that it's somewhat budget-driven, but the goal, again, out of Rocco's office was to make this corner better. And we want to put as large a trees that we can actually get here economically, as well as shrubs to shield this corner of the facility, but still allow the access to the quarters. So I think the desire to know exactly right now how big they will be that has not been designed as to the maturity or the size of the trees to date, we're still working through that with budgetary concerns. But the goal and the design criteria is to shield it to the best of the ability of the project budget, while also thinking five to 10 years ahead of how big these trees and shrubs are going to get that would shield the facility, but also not affect the playability of the facility. So all of that is in play.
[Rocco DiRico]: Thanks, Rocco. Thank you, John. And thank you to all of our presenters tonight. And again, thank you to Mark and Andy for their work behind the scenes to make this happen. And for Victor from the city of Medford for joining us tonight. We really do appreciate the feedback that you've given us, but please don't hesitate to call or email us at our office at any time. If you have other thoughts or if there are other neighbors that couldn't make it tonight, Questions or discussions, again, our phone number is 617-627-3780. And we can be reached at communityrelations at tufts.edu via email. Thank you all for joining us tonight, taking the time out of your day to hear more about our project. And we look forward to working with you. And we look forward to seeing our neighbors out there on the tennis courts on nights like this. So thank you all very much and have a good evening. Thanks, everybody.