Despite CSWA, our electeds, and several BMT Development Corporation directors expressing strong reservations with holding critically important meetings in the high summer, EDC (Economic Development Corporation) went ahead with its scheduled BMT Advisory Task Force (BMTATF) Meeting on Friday, July 31, and Public Info Session on Wednesday, August 5.
For the BMTATF meeting, EDC did not enable the chat for members of the public. EDC had enabled the chat at the previous meeting. This allowed community members to pose questions on the chat. Their ATF representatives addressed these to EDC and their consultants. CSWA made it clear to EDC their displeasure with this retreat from broader engagement. We wrote: “If EDC is serious that their ‘goal is to support a process that is transparent, accessible, and responsive to community input’, this is not the way to do that.”
At the meeting, EDC, WXY Consulting, and other consultants reviewed the presentation we included a link to last issue. The Transit Priority section (starting on slide 23) faced considerable skepticism from former DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman, Red Hook Business Alliance Executive Director Carly Baker-Rice, and others. CSWA is preparing a response to the proposal detailing where we see it failing to meet the needs and concerns of our community.
As for Wednesday’s Public Information session, far fewer community members were able to attend than for the July 14 meeting. This was right in line with what Randy Gordon, CSWA President, wrote EDC on July 20. “Our community members are even more likely to be away on vacation in August than July. And the presentation will be the same as for the July 14 meeting, so those who attended that meeting are unlikely to attend the August 5 session. You will have few community members at this August meeting.”
As for the meeting’s content, here’s a post from CSWA Vice President John Leyva’s Columbia Waterfront District Instagram page.