Government

Planned ‘Road Diet’ for Mt. Auburn Street Gets Mixed Reviews

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The town’s plans to renovate Mt. Auburn Street include a “Road Diet” where the roadway will be reduced to one lane each way for most of its length, and bike lanes will be added, along with some new traffic lights. Plans were presented at the Watertown Library on Thursday night at a meeting where the Department of Public Works sought input from the public. The residents at the meeting had a mixed reaction to the ideas for changing the stretch of Mt. Auburn Street between Watertown Square and School Street.

Real Estate

Watertown is Full of Open Houses This Weekend

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Check out the open houses around Watertown this week. $799,000 – 63-65 Burnham St., 2 unit, 13 total room, 6 total bedroom 2 family, Open House: Sunday 12-1:30

$250,000 – 8 Riverside St. Unit 1-2, 3 room, 1 bed, 1 bath garden, Open House: Sunday 12-1:30

$379,000 – 58 Grant Ave. Unit 58, 5 room, 2 bed, 1 bath townhouse, Open Houses: Saturday 12-2 Sunday 12-2

$695,000 – 168 Sycamore St. Unit 168, 7 room, 3 bed, 2.5 bath townhouse, Open House: Sunday 12:30-1:45

$519,000 – 151 Coolidge Ave.

Entertainment

Local School, Choral Groups Putting on Holiday Performances at Mall

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The Watertown Mall is proud present holiday performances by local elementary and high school bands, choral and spring groups as well as semi-professional music groups from the Greater Boston are throughout the month of December, mall officials announced. After taking your picture with Santa at Santa’s Village, stay for the music and shopping! The following is an entertainment list for December. Please visit our website at www.watertown-mall.com for a complete schedule of December events and entertainment. Holiday entertainment Calendar:

December 8th @ 12 p.m.: St.

Around Town

Watertown Senior Living Community Makes Senior Advisor’s Best of 2017 List

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LCB Senior Living, LLC is pleased to announce that the Residence at Watertown Square has been named in SeniorAdvisor.com’s Best of 2017 List for Top-Rated Senior Care Providers. Owned and operated by LCB, the Residence at Watertown Square is located at 20 Summer St. in Watertown, and offers Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Memory Care residences to seniors. SeniorAdvisor.com’s annual list of Top-Rated Senior Care Providers recognizes and awards senior care providers and living residences who consistently receive high ratings and praise from residents and their families. Winners of the award are chosen from all over the United States, representing the highest level of care and quality of life within the in-home care, assisted living, and senior living industries.

Elections

Town Council Looking for Ways to Make Early Voting Work More Smoothly

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Early voting was a hit in Watertown during the Presidential Election, but the influx of people sometimes overwhelmed the staff of the Clerk’s office. The Town Council began looking for ways for it to work better next time. There were 5,855 early votes cast, with another 796 and 86 e-voters – military service men and women and others who qualify, Town Clerk John Flynn told the Town Council’s State, Federal and Regional Government Committee Tuesday night. That made up 36 percent of the votes cast. That well exceeded the number Flynn expected to see.

Development

New Apartment Complex on Arsenal Street Opens its Doors, Retail Coming

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Gables Arsenal Street, one of the new apartment complexes in Watertown, has opened its first phase, and will eventually add more buildings, including a commercial area which could have a small market. 

The complex, located at 204 Arsenal Street, opened on Oct. 15, and several of the luxury apartments have already been occupied, said Makrina Ormond, Community Manager for Gables Arsenal Street. Gables Arsenal Street will eventually have 296 units, but the first phase has 84 units, Ormond said. There is a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments and one townhouse. The complex is pet friendly – cats and some dogs – and offers amenities such as a pool, a patio with a barbecue and a fire pit, a movie theater style media room, a fitness center and a yoga and spin room, Ormond said.

Schools

Parents, Community Members Sought for Superintendent Search Committee

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The School Committee will be forming a search committee to help find Watertown’s next superintendent, and parents and community members will be a part of the group. 

School Committee Chairman John Portz said the Search Committee will have three parents, three teachers, two administrators, a high school student, two community members and two to three School Committee members. The parents and community members will be selected from people who apply to participate in the process. The teachers will be appointed by the Watertown Educators Association. School Committee member Eileen Hsu-Balzer wondered if someone who is a teacher who also lives in town could count as a community member. She wanted to make sure no group is over represented on the committee.

Around Town

Watertown Woman is Massachusetts’ Pick for Nurse Practitioner Excellence

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Westwood Lodge announced that Komal Kenkare, PMHNP-BC, was selected by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) to receive the Nurse Practitioner Excellence Award for the state of Massachusetts. The Nurse Practitioner Award for Excellence is given annually to just one individual in each state who has demonstrated excellence in NP clinical practice. Kenkare is a Nurse Practitioner at the Westwood Lodge Partial Hospitalization Program, where she coordinates medication management for adult patients who have psychiatric and co-occurring addiction disorders. Kenkare collaborates with outpatient providers to set up community resources for her patients including sobriety meetings and visiting nurse appointments to help facilitate a positive transition back into the community. “I’m very thankful and honored to receive such a prestigious award so early in my career.” said Kenkare.