Two important meetings next week will address open space along the Mystic River and at Assembly Square. Please make other arrangements for your canine companions.

Monday, June 16 - Mystic River Reservation Master Plan Meeting
6 to 8 pm
Tufts Boat House, 300 River’s Edge Drive (177 Corporation Way), Medford, MA

Tuesday, June 17 - Assembly Square Land Swap Discussion
6:30 pm
Assembly Square Marketplace
Meet on the DCR pathway by the waterfront, across from the Christmas Tree Shops. Parking available at the Marketplace -- look for a white tent.

A great deal of open space in Somerville is part of the Mystic River Reservation and the property at Assembly Square. Somerville dog owners should be included among the many and diverse people who are able to enjoy this parkland! We need to attend these meetings to be included.

Mystic River Reservation

At a previous meeting about the Master Plan (November 2007), several people spoke of the needs of park users with dogs. Designated off-leash recreational areas will attract usage to lawn areas, an explicit goal of the Master Plan. Indeed, no other suggestion was proffered at the meeting to attract usage to underused lawn areas.

Senator Jehlen has secured $250,000 for the Mystic River Master Plan in the FY2007 budget: Come to the meeting and share with the Senator your ideas for improving recreational opportunities on the Mystic River parkland!

You may also contact the Senator directly:

Senator Patricia Jehlen
Room 513
State House
Boston 02133
617-722-1578
patricia.jehlen@state.ma.us

The official notice about the Mystic River Reservation Master Plan Meeting is available from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Assembly Square

For every one thousand Somerville residents, there is just about two-and-a-quarter acres of open space. The Assembly Square development will increases the residential capacity of our City. For every additional 1000 residents that Assembly Square will accommodate, the developers must create an additional 2.25 acres of open space. Otherwise we are losing ground!

For everyone who will live, work, and play at Assembly Square, and for the livability of our City, people must be welcome to enjoy the parkland at Assembly Square and the nearby DCR parkland with our pets. We need both

• designated areas where people can enjoy the benefits of socializing and exercising our dogs
• off-leash areas to accommodate uses that are incompatible or unsafe for unrestrained dogs where dogs must remain on leash.

East Somerville Main Streets distributed a flyer for the Assembly Square Landswap Discussion.