Boston City Council passes park grants, renews Guard tax break at penultimate 2021 session

BOSTON — December 8, 2021 — Boston City Council approves nearly $787,000 in park grants and clears $6 million in COVID reimbursements at its second-to-last 2021 meeting. Council President Pro Tempore Matt O'Malley presided December 8 in the absence of Council President Kim Janey, overseeing unanimous passage of a $400,000 PARK program grant for Winthrop Playground renovations in Dorchester — including a splash pad, multi-sport court, and ADA upgrades due by June 2023 — and a $387,164 grant toward acquiring two parcels at Sprague Pond in Hyde Park as permanently protected open space tied to the historic encampment of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The council also cleared up to $6 million in FEMA COVID-19 reimbursements and a $691,110 election administration grant, with Kenzie Bock noting the Boston Public Health Commission's separate $28.5 million FEMA authorization brings the combined city total to roughly $44 million to $45 million. A 12-0 roll-call vote renewed the biennial local property-tax exemption of up to 100 percent for National Guard and Reserve members serving abroad, a benefit Bock said no Boston resident claimed in the prior fiscal year. The council also adopted resolutions urging passage of the Massachusetts Parentage Act and calling for federal nuclear disarmament, while retaining a home rule petition for an elected Boston School Committee in committee for the incoming council.