Notes from the 11/15/16 meeting of Medford Ad-Hoc subcommittee on the Malden Hospital development:

• Committee in attendance as well as a member of the Medford Police Department and Fulton Heights neighbors
• President of the Friends of Fellsmere Heights and others presented information on the groups progress thus far in gathering info on ways to fund purchase of the site
• 18 acre site for both Fellsmere Park and the Hospital site (36 total)
• Both sites were once unified – group is trying to re-unify the land
• Converse donated the land to Malden
• Existing traffic issues need to be mitigated – many from north cut through from the Fellsway in the morning, and reverse course in the evening
• Hallmark Health, current owner of the Malden Hospital, is joining Wellforce health system
• Malden building moratorium is up at the beginning of December 2016; it may be extended 6 months due to an ongoing analysis of open space, etc. in Malden
• High density housing Developer extended their P&S through December 2016; may extend again (with Wellforce)
• Will developer try and push this development in 2017, an election year?
• Developer may go for 40B if the percentage of affordable housing goes below 10% (is 10.2% right now)
• Need to aggressively move forward with community vision before 40B kicks in
• Draft numbers were presented to show how both cities could apply for LAND and PARC grants, and if CPA funding is applied for and approved in both cities, there is a path to $6 Million to buy the land and demo the building (Phase I)
• Malden has a grant writer on retainer; Medford does not have a grant writer
• Community member offered to inquire with Tufts University to see if they had a grant writer who would assist pro bono
• Action items:

• Inquire with Tufts for grant writing support
• Medford Police to review Fulton Heights area to make recommendations for traffic calming measures that could happen now
• Next Ad-Hoc meeting to be at St. Francis with a bigger group to hear community feedback…then, an open meeting will be planned similar to the Locust Street open meeting, at the city council chamber…will do a Reverse 911 call to Fulton Heights residents to get attendance up
• Committee member will ask City Solicitor to make an inquiry with AG’s office to see if a reconsideration of review if land is sold to a person or entity other than a public charity, the law requires that the Attorney General review the “sale of significant assets of a non-profit health maintenance organization to a for-profit entity” to ensure the sale is in the public interest.