The City Council had a full agenda on Jan. 27, with votes to approve equipment purchases by the Department of Public Works, approval of contracts for multiple City unions, and a Watertown City Councilor was elected head of a statewide board. Also, the date for the Skip the Stuff Ordinance to be considered was announced.
At the meeting, City Manager George Proakis announced that the City will be cancelling its contract with Flock Safety for license plate reading cameras. Read the details here.
Watertown Councilor Elected Head of Statewide Councilor
During the recent Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) Connect 351 conference, Watertown’s Lisa Feltner was elected president of the Massachusetts Municipal Councillor’s Association (MMCA). City Council President Mark Siders congratulated Feltner, who serves as District B Councilor.
“Several of us went to different portions of the Mass. Municipal Association conference, and I want to just congratulate my colleague, Councilor Feltner, who was elected president of the MMCA,” Sideris said.
The MMCA President works with MMA staff and membership “to provide city and town councilors with professional support, networking to encourage best practices and serve as a collective voice for state leaders as a member group of the MMA,” Feltner said.
In January, Feltner started her sixth term in office. She got involved with the MMA when she was in her first year as a City Councilor, then served as an officer of the MMCA and as a member of the Local Government Advisory Commission, which meets with the Lt. Governor’s office.
“The MMA and member groups are a wonderful resource for understanding your position and offer a wealth of training to learn how to get things done and stay inspired,” Feltner said.
Funding Contracts
The Council approved a transfer of $421,500 from the Council Reserve to fund new contracts, including $343,000 for Watertown Firefighters, $69,000 for Watertown Library employees, and $9,500 for the City Manager.
Funds to Cover Cost of EV Chargers, Signal Upgrades & More
The Council approved $283,500 to be spent on multiple capital projects and equipment purchases, including improvements to traffic signals.
Proakis said that the DPW hired a Supervisor of Traffic Control, Kevin Woodward, and he discovered that the signals on Galen Street and Watertown Street, at California Street, and school flashers that are in need of repair.
Approved Expenditures
$95,000 for the Department of Public Buildings to close the gap in the expansion of Level 2 electric vehicle chargers at the Police Station
$84,000 to address the remaining shortfall for the Fire Headquarters kitchen renovation
$135,000 for traffic signal and safety improvements
$55,000 for an EV Transit Van for the Department of Human Services to support mobile food access
Department of Public Works Equipment
The City Council approved a pair of loan orders for nearly $2 million in equipment for the Department of Public Works.
The list includes a small urban forestry bucket truck, which will be useful for taking care of Watertown’s growing number of street trees, said DPW Superintendent Tom Brady.
“We are recommending to transition to a bucket truck, because you’ve heard about the 1,000 trees that we planted in the past three years under Mike Micieli’s efforts that will allow us to put a secondary crew out and work on the smaller trees, to give them structural pruning, to get them in good shape for future years, and we’ll still have capacity to chip into it,” Brady said.
See the details of the loan orders below:
Description / Amount
Highway Skid Steer $65,000
Snow and Ice Loader 3/4 yard $107,000
Two (2) Cemetery Off-Road Utility Vehicles $30,000
Cemetery Backhoe $140,000
Park Division Skid Steer $75,000
Traffic Supervisor Vehicle #C10 $80,000
Highway Hot Box #49 $300,000
Snow and Ice 4×4 Sander #37 $320,000
Cemetery Dump Truck #202 $100,000
Small Urban Forestry Bucket Truck $200,000
Total – $1.417 million
Description / Amount
35 GVW Service Truck $170,000
Sewer Pump/Trailer $150,000
Service Response Truck #60 $190,000
Total – $510,000
Skip the Stuff Ordinance
The hearing for the Skip the Stuff Ordinance, which would limit the amount of single-use items that restaurants give out, such as plastic utensils, was delayed. Sideris said the Ordinance will be considered at the Feb. 24 meeting, pending review by a City Council Committee. The Committee on Rules & Ordinances will discuss the proposed Skip the Stuff Ordinance at a meeting on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. at City Hall in the Lower Hearing Room. See the draft of the ordinance here.
The next City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. in City Hall. The agenda will be posted here.