July 1, 2026

Meeting: Housing, Community Development and Equity Committee — July 1, 2026, via Zoom. Chair Kristen Strezo and Councilor Jonathan Link present; Councilor Naima Sait absent. The meeting ran from 6:02 to 7:10 pm.

Items Recommended for Full Council

No items were recommended for approval by the full council this meeting. The committee instead recommended that five items be marked "work completed" after receiving updates from city staff, and kept two items in committee for follow-up in the fall.

Founders Rink Reopening – Recommended work completed

DPW Commissioner Eric Weisman reported that Founders Rink, which has not had ice for several years, will get ice installed starting at the end of July, with a target of being fully operational by September 1. The roughly month-long process includes assessing and restarting the compressors, repairing condensate/refrigerant lines as needed, building up 2–3 inches of ice, painting and finishing the surface, and deep cleaning the facility. An extra week of maintenance time is built into the schedule as a contingency. The city has a working Zamboni.

Recreation Director Ohemeng Kyeremateng said the city is running an RFP for a vendor to manage the ice season (roughly September through late February/March), scheduling local nonprofits and community users. After the ice season, Recreation will take over the space for multipurpose programming — street hockey, girls' self-defense, staff training, and new additions like pickleball — with the goal of using the facility year-round.

Free Youth Skate Access at Veterans Memorial Rink – Recommended work completed

Chair Strezo sponsored this item after learning that double-digit numbers of kids were being turned away from public skate on early-dismissal Wednesdays because they couldn't afford admission. Director Kyeremateng said the intent is to include free skate services for kids in the rink vendor RFP. Councilor Link pressed on whether this would be a firm requirement rather than a "nice to have"; Kyeremateng said he couldn't guarantee the final outcome but that it would take "something catastrophic" to move away from it. Communications Director Denise Taylor committed to publicizing free skate times through Recreation channels, the schools, and broad city announcements.

Playground Communication Boards – Recommended work completed

An update on the boards installed at Somerville playgrounds that let nonverbal children — including autistic kids who may otherwise rely on iPads to communicate — point to pictures (yes/no, bathroom, running, etc.) during play. Staff reported the boards have now become a standard feature for all parks programs, and any board that is broken or dislodged will be replaced. Chair Strezo, who championed the original initiative, spoke emotionally about seeing families use them.

Kensington Connector Update – Recommended work completed

This item, originally sponsored by Council President McLaughlin, concerns the underpass beneath I-93 connecting East Somerville (near Stop & Shop) to Assembly. Luisa Oliveira (Public Space and Urban Forestry, which has taken over the project from Mobility) reported the city has applied for a $1.3 million infrastructure grant through the state's One Stop for Growth program to construct improvements — notably permanent lighting and something more durable than the temporary art that has been vandalized. A grant decision is expected by fall; if awarded, the city would restart community conversations and move to construction documents as soon as possible.

Other points: MassDOT signals have significantly improved what was once one of the worst intersections in the Commonwealth (though Councilor Link said he'd call it "safer," not "safe"). Oliveira said the space is physically too small for the skate park some residents have suggested, and the goal is a safer, better pass-through experience — not a place to linger.

Kennedy School Inclusive Playground – Recommended work completed

Ground was broken recently on the Kennedy inclusive playground project. Phase one this summer covers the parking lot rebuild and underground stormwater catchment (to slow runoff during increasingly frequent extreme flooding), plus new tree plantings; the playground itself will be built next summer. Work is being phased around the school year, and crews are pushing to finish before school starts.

The project removes roughly 12–16 parking spaces to expand the schoolyard by 30% — a tradeoff that drew a teacher petition during the 26 public and school meetings held on the project. Chair Strezo pushed for reserved on-street teacher parking (similar to the arrangement on Highland Ave near the high school) to offset the loss; Oliveira said the project manager is working with the traffic department on possible reserved spaces.

Website Accessibility (WCAG 2.1) Compliance – Recommended work completed

Communications and Public Engagement Director Denise Taylor delivered a detailed update on ADA Title II digital accessibility compliance. Although the Department of Justice pushed the compliance deadline for cities Somerville's size back a year (to April 2027) just days before the original April 2026 deadline, the city met the original target anyway. Highlights:

• The main city website and microsites (Arts Council, police, library, SomerVoice, etc.) reached the ~90%+ compliance zone considered the municipal benchmark; current scores are 92% (Level A) and 92.4% (Level AA), and work continues toward 100%

• Over 1.27 million accessibility issues were resolved — alt text, page titles, fonts, color contrast, keyboard focus indicators, and plain-language fixes

• A new "Doc Access" tool went live last week that converts any PDF on the site (even scanned handwritten documents) into accessible, screen-reader-friendly HTML with translation support

• The vendor (Evolving Web) continues dedicating 50% of its 60 monthly contract hours to accessibility

Councilor Link praised the city for not sitting on the work after the deadline slipped and asked about preventing new errors; Taylor said the city plans to phase out microsites, hire a new digital services director, train staff, and build compliance checks into workflows. On the school district's notably non-compliant website, Taylor said the schools are doing a full overhaul rather than patching the current site, and offered to follow up with details on their timeline.

Items Kept in Committee

ADA Coordinator Vacancy – Kept in committee

Amanda Nagim-Williams, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, reported that the vacant ADA Coordinator position was posted in mid-May, drew a robust applicant pool, and HR is now conducting first-round phone screens. In the interim, ADA complaints sent to ADA@somervillema.gov or the posted phone line are still being routed and handled — Nagim-Williams believed by the Chief Administrative Officer, with equity and belonging and engineering staff covering gaps, though she wasn't certain of the exact routing. Chair Strezo confirmed councilors can confidently direct constituents to the existing email and phone number. At Councilor Link's suggestion, the item was kept in committee for a hiring update in the fall.

City Volunteer Policy Consistency – Kept in committee

Chair Strezo's resolution flags inconsistent volunteer requirements across departments — e.g., Council on Aging requirements differ from Recreation's, where onboarding barriers contribute to a shortage of youth sports coaches. Nagim-Williams said standardization work is already underway, affecting several departments including Parks and Recreation, with a possible "sneak peek" of the standardized process over the summer. Councilor Link endorsed standardization as the default. The item stays in committee for a fall follow-up.

Other Business

The minutes of the April 15, 2026 committee meeting were approved without corrections on the adjournment roll call (2-0, Sait absent).

What's Next

• Founders Rink: ice work begins end of July; vendor RFP in progress; targeted opening September 1

• Kensington Connector: One Stop for Growth grant decision expected by fall; community process would restart if awarded

• ADA Coordinator: hiring update expected when the committee reconvenes in the fall

• Volunteer policy: administration to share the standardized policy, possibly with a preview before the fall

• School district website: Taylor to follow up with details on the district's website overhaul timeline

• Five items recommended as work completed head to the full council for final disposition