Around Town

Free Curbside Compost Bins Available for Watertown Residents

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Watertown DPWCurbside composting toters, like the one on the left, will be part of the Watertown trash and recycling program starting in August. The Watertown Department of Public Works announced that the City received compost bins which can be used with Watertown’s free curbside compost program. The City of Watertown sent out the following information:

“1000 new FREE residential compost bins have been delivered, paid for by a grant from MassDEP! Enrollment in Watertown’s FREE curbside compost program is open for an April 2023 start. Sign up today and your new bin and liners will be delivered the first week of April. www.blackearthcompost.com/watertown,” the announcement reads.

Around Town

Watertown Purchasing Dog to Chase Geese From Parks and Fields

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City of WatertownVee, a border collie, will soon be arriving in Watertown where she will chase geese away from City-owned fields and parks. Watertown’s newest employee will get plenty of exercise, time outdoors, and her reward for doing a good job will be treats — doggie treats. Vee, Watertown’s goose control dog, will soon be patrolling the parks and fields around the City to make sure the flocks of birds don’t get too comfortable or leave their marks. She will live with and accompany Department of Public Works Parks and Cemetery Supervisor Bob DiRico to work, said Watertown City Manager George Proakis. “In a few days Mr. DiRico will go to Leesburg, Virginia, to pick up Vee,” Proakis told the City Council on Tuesday.

Around Town

OP-ED: MBTA Communities Law Part 3 – Our Current Watertown Square Housing Situation

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Watertown Square

By Linda ScottWatertown Resident

First, Let’s Nerd Out a Bit:

A study was commissioned by Watertown to set a dollar amount to charge non-residential projects in the City. This was to off-set some of the costs of these projects to Watertown, and the aim was to put this money towards affordable housing in the City. This money is called a “linkage fee.” Part of this 2022 study was to project housing needs for Watertown. Here’s what that report (called the “Watertown Commercial Development and Housing Nexus Study”) says:

“Since new employees will live in a variety of communities, it is necessary to determine the share that will demand housing in Watertown. To estimate the percent of new employees who will demand housing within the city, the results from a survey of employees in office, laboratory, hotel and retail buildings conducted in February and March 2022 were used.

Entertainment

Budding Artist: 87-Year Old Painter’s First Exhibition Hosted by Watertown Library

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Seda MavetosianMargarita Avetian stands in front of some of the paintings in her exhibition at the Watertown Library. During the month of March, the paintings of an emerging Watertown artist have been displayed in the Library’s art gallery. Margarita Avetian has only been painting for two years, but her work has received rave reviews from other artists. Not bad for someone who never had any artistic training during any of her 87 years. Avetian’s daughter, Seda Matevosian said her mother got started by chance when she was putting on a fun artistic activity for some of her family and friends.

Around Town

UPDATED: Committee Will Consider Which Community Preservation Projects to Support in 2023

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The Community Preservation Committee will deliberate over the proposed projects for 2023, and vote on which ones to recommend to the City Council for final approval. The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) makes recommendations on how to spend the funds raised after Watertown passed the Community Preservation Act (CPA) in 2016. The money can fund projects in multiple areas: historic preservation, affordable housing, and open space and recreation. In February, the CPC heard six proposal for projects to be funded. On Thursday, March 30, at 7 p.m. the Committee will discuss the proposals and vote on recommendations.

Police/Fire

Police Log: Man Busted in Drug Investigation, Crypto Currency Stolen

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests

March 16, 3:52 p.m.: Security at Best Buy reported a man who had taken several video games and left the store without paying. Police located a man fitting the description near Nike at Arsenal Yards and he was unwrapping a Nintendo DS game. Officers spoke to the man who said he was at Best Buy and when he was leaving he realized he had not paid for the games, but he continued to exit the store. Police looked inside the man’s backpack and found 10 Nintendo games, plus a Nintendo DS game that had been reported stolen from a vehicle parked in the parking lot near Best Buy.