Medford’s long-awaited Clippership Connector multi-use path has entered its design stage, but the state agency overseeing the project has not updated the Medford City Council on its progress in more than a year.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) cancelled a rare update to the City Council with only a few hours’ notice yesterday, drawing frustration from councilors and disappointment from dozens of residents who hoped to hear about the project.

“It doesn’t look hopeful that a DCR rep will be allowed to present for the Council, which is extremely unfortunate,” Councilor Breanna Lungo-Koehn said.

Alicia Hunt, the city’s director of Energy and Environment, told the Transcript that the DCR called the city late Tuesday afternoon to cancel its Tuesday evening appearance. The agency’s reason to cancel was unclear, she said, but the DCR Commissioner appeared to make the decision.

“They said that they were 100 percent committed to the Clippership Connector and want the project to move forward,” Hunt told the Transcript, but “the Commissioner would not allow staff to attend.”

The DCR suggested that it does not have the bandwidth to attend large numbers of local meetings, Hunt added, even though agency staff had already prepared a presentation. Instead, DCR staff invited the City Council to send a letter with their questions.

Despite this hesitation, Hunt believes the most effective way for the DCR to reach residents is by coming to Medford and giving a presentation.

“In general, the best way to communicate with people is when they’re asking questions,” Hunt said. “People hear the information when they want to hear it.”

A DCR official told the Transcript that the agency plans to hold another public meeting once the project’s design phase reaches 75 percent completion. The official did not cite a reason for this week’s cancellation, but said the design phase should be complete later this year.

Answers still sought

Residents filled the City Council chamber at the beginning of Tuesday night’s meeting, but after it became clear that no presentation on the Clippership Connector would take place, the vast majority of the attendees poured out of the room.

Many residents are eager for updates because they are excited about the pathway, which would run for a half-mile from Medford Square to Riverbend Park, connecting a network of Mystic River trails. Some abutters, meanwhile, have questions and concerns that the DCR ought to address, Lungo-Koehn added.

Lungo-Koehn hopes to see a DCR representative at a future Council meeting, and potentially a public forum to answer a year’s worth of unanswered questions. In particular, she noted, abutters need clarity on whether the DCR is still pursuing a route in between the river and the Ship Ave. condominiums, which would place the path several feet away from neighboring backyards.

The DCR is likely not considering an alternate route in front of the condos and away from the river, which would run even closer to homes and require an easement on non-DCR land, but the last meeting between the DCR and abutters took place in June, Hunt added. She says the DCR also cancelled meetings with abutters recently, evidently after the agency received a letter from some abutters’ legal counsel.

Abutters have already seen most information in the DCR’s presentation, though the general public might not be aware, according to Hunt.

Even though the DCR cancelled, Lungo-Koehn and Council President John Falco suggested that Hunt could give the state’s presentation instead. The other five councilors rejected this idea, though.

“Because we don’t have a definitive representative voice from the agency that is in charge of this project,” Councilor Frederick Dello Russo said, “it would be unfruitful for us to continue in this vein. I think we should get better representation from the DCR.”

Councilor George Scarpelli, like his colleagues, was disappointed by the DCR’s absence. He noted that lack of notification about the project has been a major complaint from residents.

“To not be here tonight is a major disservice,” Scarpelli said. “It’s not fair for the people who are supporting the connector, it’s not fair for the abutters that needed to voice their concerns and their issues, and it’s not fair to this council.”

Falco plans to contact Medford’s state legislators and enlist their help in securing a meeting with DCR. For Scarpelli, this strategy will make communication between the city and the DCR more likely, both for the Clippership Connector and for other DCR projects.

Pat Bibbins, chair of the Medford Bicycle Advisory Commission, is eager to see the Clippership Connector project move forward, and wishes the DCR had updated residents this week. He was among the residents who had expected a presentation Tuesday night.

“It’s been awhile since we’ve gotten a definitive update,” Bibbins told the Transcript.

The Connector is a longstanding priority for bicycle and pedestrian advocates in Medford. Bibbins believes the project should advance at a faster pace, especially since private entities like the Cummings Foundation have donated money to the effort alongside DCR funding. Brendan O’Brine, a new Medford resident, agreed that the connector is an important priority for the community.

“Two years is a long time to see something like this happen,” O’Brine told the Transcript, “but I hope it’s moving as quickly as possible.”