Formed in January 2024, the North End Waterfront Climate Alliance (NEWCA) kicked off its first set of stakeholders workshops last June.
District-wide flood protection plans being put to get by the non-profit community group with the goal of protecting the area from future extensive flood damage.
Attending the meeting were property owners from Commercial Wharf to Battery Wharf.
Engineering, planning and design firm, Arup provided an overview of the potential project to the property owners and reviewed existing condition data for each property, included in the study, according to NEWCA President Cheryl Delgreco.
Arup started data collection efforts for each of the property owners that included building and site plans, existing conditions, information and flood impacts, according to Delgreco.
While the data collection was underway, Arup collected all of the available data from the neighborhood, from the City of Boston Environment Department and Boston Planning and Development Agency to set flood elevations for each property, with a goal of aligning and advancing the work already done by the City in the North End and nearby areas, Delgreco added.
Arup also consulted with additional members of the design team, VHB and Haley and Aldrich to conduct a permitting assessment, a geotechnical review and complete site walks along the North End waterfront to verify existing condition information.
According to Delgreco, over the next few months, the Arup team will be developing initial flood protection concept designs for each of the properties and then circling back with owners for a second set of stakeholder workshops in September/October.
The Climate Alliance plans to share initial findings with the community by the end of the year, according to Delgreco.
In addition to the Alliance, the Wharf District Council has developed potential plans for their district.