By Seth Daniel
City Councilor Sal LaMattina said he is reaching out to Mayor Martin Walsh’s administration to schedule a meeting regarding the Wynn Boston Harbor mitigation fund, and the upcoming dispersal of funds that are now sitting in the account.
Currently, there is just more than $1 million in the account, and that money is designated for Charlestown non-profits only. The next payment into the account isn’t likely to be made until the day the casino opens in June 2019 – a date that triggers the first of what will likely be many annual mitigation payments to the fund and reserved strictly for use in the Town.
“When we start the process, I would be glad to sit down with the non-profits, but I haven’t gotten to that point yet,” LaMattina said this week. “I want to make sure the fund is set up right and then I will appoint someone from the non-profits to represent me on the committee. Right now, I’m waiting to sit down with the administration on how to move forward. When I sit down with them, I’ll be happy to report back.”
That goes contrary to some in the Town who had begun to set up a meeting about the fund hosted by the Charlestown Neighborhood Council (CNC) in late January. That announcement, however, seems to have jumped the gun a bit.
LaMattina said he’s not yet ready to have that meeting, and he has already briefed the CNC on the progress of the fund to date.
Unlike other mitigation funds, the Wynn money is based in City Hall and has representatives from City departments and representatives appointed by State Sen. Sal DiDomenico, State Rep. Dan Ryan and Councilor LaMattina.
Other members of the Trust Fund committee are the City’s Collector-Treasurer; the City’s Commissioner of Public Works; the City Commissioner of Transportation; and the City’s Chief of Civic Engagement.
Meetings on the frameworks of the Fund were expected to happen in late fall, but that was delayed. Now that the new year has come, LaMattina said it is a priority of his to sit down with the administration and hammer out the frameworks so that the first meetings can take place – and eventually – the money can be allocated.