Government

Watertown School Officials Detail Use of $1 Million Boost

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The Watertown Public Schools will receive a $1 million budget boost in the current school year, and they will spend most of it on special education, but will also use some on technology, materials and preparations for the new PARCC standardized test. Tuesday night, the Town Council approved taking  the money out of the Free Cash Fund and use it for the school’s Fiscal 2014 budget (which ends in June 30). The majority, $790,000, will be spend to create a Special Education Stabilization Fund. Unexpected special education costs when students move into town with severe needs can cost nearly $250,000 per student in some cases. The Watertown Public Schools cover the cost even when students go to out of town programs.

The stabilization fund was created to prevent the general education budget from being eaten away by the unexpected, un-budgeted costs, said Councilor Vincent Piccirilli.

Around Town

Dedicated Watertown Resident Retires After 35 Years

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For 35 years E. Joyce Munger has served on the Watertown Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners, and this week she said farewell at the apartment complex bearing her name. While Munger dedicated her time to the Housing Authority, she could be seen at many events through the years, said Town Manager Michael Driscoll at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting. He first met her when she got him to be a judge at the 1978 Fourth of July Miss Watertown Pageant. She has also been a volunteer election poll worker, she served on the town’s 350th and 375th Anniversary Committees, ran the Wedding Faire and Fashion Shows at the Commander’s Mansion and helped organize Watertown’s 9/11 Remembrance ceremonies. At the ceremony, held at the E. Joyce Munger Apartments on Warren Street, Munger said her goodbyes.

Government

Legislators will Discuss Services for the Disabled and their Families

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Watertown will be the location for a Legislative breakfast focusing on services for people with special needs and their families. On Friday, May 16, the 11th annual Metro Suburban Advocacy Initiative Legislative Breakfast will be held at the Hellenic Cultural Center, 25 Bigelow Ave. in Watertown from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Local legislators, including Watertown’s State Reps. John Lawn and Jonathan Hecht, and State Sen. Will Brownsberger, will talk about their legislative priorities.

Around Town

Year of Activities, Work of Outgoing President Celebrated by Boy’s & Girl’s Club

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Last week, the Watertown Boy’s & Girl’s Club celebrated a year of fun and good times at the clubhouse and the work of the outgoing board president. The event at the Oakley Country Club raised just short of $50,000 in the club’s second biggest fundraiser of the year, said Executive Director Renee Gaudette. “The money makes it possible to serve every child walking through the doors,” Gaudette said. Along with running activities such as basketball, swim lessons and video games, the Boy’s & Girl’s Club also provides time and space for homework, tutors to help students and more. For students not into traditional sports, the club has activities such as Zumba and wall climbing at Central Rock Gym.

Development

Changes Pleasant Street Area Zoning Moving Along

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Efforts to prevent more large housing project coming into the Pleasant Street areas moved a step closer Monday night. The Economic Development and Planning subcommittee voted to have the proposed changes go to the Town Council during the May 27 meeting, which would essentially put the new zoning into effect at that point. The Town Council seeks to draw development that includes retail, office and some light industrial in the West End of town. Three types of zoning will be created in the Pleasant Street Corridor – one where at least 25 percent of projects is commercial; a second where no retail is allowed – only retail, commercial and light industrial; and one where anything fitting the Pleasant Street Corridor rules can be built.

Councilors also want to prevent “canyon-ization” when multi-story building are built close to the street. To prevent this, buildings will have to be “stepped back” –  so floors above the second must be pushed 15 feet back from the front facade, and floors above the sixth must be pushed back 25 feet from the front facade.

Government

See if Your Road be Repaired This Summer

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(NOTE: The list of roads to be repaired in the summer of 2014 has been changed. See the new list by clicking here.)

The Town Council has plans to repair a number of roads over the summer, see if your street made the list. The Fiscal 2015 budget, which will be approved on June 10, includes a capital improvement plan that calls for the repair of 12 streets, and money for smaller repairs around town. The streets due to be repaired are:

Fifield Street from Irving Street to Perkins School
Avon Road from the Belmont line to the dead end
Alden Road from the Belmont line to the dead end
Salisbury Road from Maplewood Street to Edgecliffe Road
Priest Road from Charles River Road to Riverside Street
Loomis Avenue from Orchard Street to Downey Street
Duff Street from Madison Avenue to Belmont Street
Barnard Avenue from Columbia Street to Bellevue Road
Lincoln Street from Mount Auburn Street to Spruce Street and the section extending to Walnut Street
Dexter Avenue from Willow Park to Mount Auburn Street
Katherine Road from Common Street to Church Street
Cushman Street from Oak Place to Fayette Street

Work on Salisbury, Loomis, Duff and Barnard from Columbia Street to Orchard Street will be repaired using the mill and overlay method, which scrapes down the top layer or layers of asphalt and then lays down a new layer. The other work will involve full reclamation of the road – in which the roadway is totally replaced.

Business

Watertown Handyman Tackles Jobs Big and Small

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For more than two decades, Watertown’s Mike Vick has been working on home improvement projects, from small repairs and upgrades to remodeling a bathroom or installing a deck. Vick runs MNM Handyman Services, and has been working in Watertown for a dozen years. He works with a licensed electrician and a licensed plumber, so Vick is confident about getting the job done. “If I can’t do it personally, I can have someone come by to do it,” Vick said. Recently MNM Handyman Services did some work at Alainn hair salon on Louise Street.

Police/Fire

Police Warn of Driveway Repaving Scam

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Area police warn residents to be wary of a scam involving people going door to door offering to repave their driveway at a discount rate. The Waltham Police Department put out the warning this week on their Twitter account (see the post here). In the scam, the paver uses high pressure tactics and when the homeowner agrees a work crew shows up quickly to begin work. In the middle of the work, however, they inform the homeowner that a mistake has been made and the person owes the pavers thousands of dollars and ask for a check, which is cashed before the homeowner realizes he or she has been scammed. “Paving scams like these occur regularly in Massachusetts and increase over the spring and summer.