'Off the Table' Isn't the Same as Off the Plan, Magazine Beach

Good news first. Deputy City Manager Kathy Watkins told the council Monday that permanently fencing off part of Magazine Beach is "absolutely off the table," Cambridge Day reported.

Now the fine print. Both Cambridge Day and The Cambridge Independent reported the park hasn't been removed from the planning documents. The original idea was a 10-million-gallon tank under the soccer field, with 8.3 acres out of use for six to eight years during construction, the Independent reported.

Residents got loud at a community meeting and it worked, at least partway. That's how this is supposed to go.

My opinion: don't take a quote as a promise. Ask for it in writing, in the plan regulators actually see.

What we still don't know: when the MWRA's revised plan comes out, and whether Magazine Beach is still on it.