City councillors seek answers from Encore during license renewal process

Council plans for full discussion later this month, as members raise concerns over casino commitments, entertainment offerings and proposed Docklands data center development

By Neil Zolot

City Councillors are looking for information from Encore Boston Harbor during the casino’s innholder’s license process. “It’s a good time for that as they renew the license,” Ward 2 Councillor Stephanie Martins said at the Council meeting Monday, May 11. “We haven’t had an update for a while.”

She suggested the matter be referred to the Government Operations Subcommittee. In discussion she recognized that all members might like to participate and later agreed with a suggestion from Ward 5 Councillor Anthony DiPierro that the matter be brought before the whole Council instead.

It will be on the agenda for the next meeting later in May.

“I don’t know if Encore not having met all the requirements affects renewal,” City Council President and Councillor-at-Large Stephanie Smith added.

She did not elaborate, but Councillor-at-Large Wayne Matewsky did about the lack of entertainment at the facility, as opposed to just having gambling. There has also been talk about Encore funding or partially funding a public safety facility in the area. “Maybe it’s a good thing they come here and get a reality check on how we feel,” he said.

“It’s the only way we’ll get answers from them,” Ward 6 Councillor Peter Pietrantonio agreed. “They treat us like they own the city. Let’s hold their feet to the fire.”

Data Center proposal discussed

Another long-standing issue that came up was The Davis Companies’ proposal to build a data center in the Docklands Innovation District in the Commercial Triangle bordered by Lower Broadway, Revere Beach Parkway and the Mystic River. A data center is a facility that enables the internet by processing data. Email, web searches and virtually everything on the internet is processed by them. The Science Feedback website reports there are 9,000 in the world, but more are needed and planned. “Without them, our tightly interconnected civilization would not exist,” it explains.

It also reports data centers need and use a lot of power, often drawn from local grids, including power needed for cooling. Up to one-third of the power needed may be for cooling. They can run on solar and wind power, but the inconsistency of those sources requires conventional sources of power as well.

In Public Participation, Davis Companies’ chief development officer Mike Cantalupo and vice-president for development Ben Masselink tried to allay fears about the impact of such a facility and rebut proposed changes in zoning for the area to ban or limit them. “We know there are concerns and are prepared to impose some significant restrictions,” Cantalupo said. “We understand the need for controls and hope we can find a way to reach an agreement with the city to get to a workable solution.”

Masselink added that a data center would be “essential in getting the kind of commercial uses everybody wants.”

More specifically, Cantalupo said there are no plans to use the entire 5 million square feet in the area for data centers.

Masselink suggested a 200,000 square foot cap, which he said is less than 5% of the area.

Councillors and citizens have expressed concern about water use in discussion among the Councillors and during Public Participation at meetings. Data centers use water for cooling, the volume of which could increase water use rates for the residents because the volume of use will increase. In effect, residents could be subsidizing the data center by having to cover the cost of more water being used citywide.

The idea of using non-potable or non-drinkable water would, theoretically, have less effect because most of the water used by residents is potable. Even water in toilets is technically potable, as is water used for watering lawns. Masselink countered that new technologies use less water than older technologies but still require potable water.

He also said the facility would be at the east end of the site near railroad tracks in the area to minimize noise pollution.

Feasibility Study for High School

In other items, the members referred to a proposal to borrow $2 million for a High School Feasibility Study Project for the state School Building Authority (MSBA) to the Subcommittee on Ways and Means. “The proposed borrowing will fund the feasibility phase required by the MSBA, allowing the City to hire an Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) and an architectural/design team,” reads a May 5 communication to the Council from Mayor Robert Van Campen. “This project is necessary to determine the most cost-effective, educationally appropriate, and sustainable long-term solution for addressing the City’s high school facility needs, including overcrowding, aging infrastructure, and programmatic deficiencies. Approval of this borrowing authorization will allow the City to proceed with the MSBA-mandated feasibility process, remain on schedule within the MSBA pipeline and secure the professional services required to advance the project to the next phase. These services will support the development and evaluation of multiple options for the future of Everett High School, including addition/renovation scenarios and a potential new-build option. This phase includes educational visioning, site and building assessments, cost modeling, and the preparation of all documentation required by MSBA.”

Other business

A proposal to borrow $1,326,928.00 for the Chelsea Street Park renovation project was referred to the Planning Board to discuss the design. In a January 26 letter to the Council, Van Campen wrote, “The original funding assumptions were based on construction being completed in 2024-25. This request is based on a revised budget included in construction documents prepared by the City’s landscape designer SLR, dated December 2, 2025.”