Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/author/cbreitro/page/252/)
Watertown home seekers have a long list of open houses to visit this week. 38 California St. #38, $869,000 3 bedroom 2 bathroom 2,672 sq. ft. Condo, Open House: Saturday, June 18 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
46-48 Keenan St., $949,000 6 bedroom 3 bathroom 3,495 sq.
Watertown officials will request special legislation to be approved that would allow the City to charge a fee to new commercial developments with the money going to a fund to create affordable housing. The City seeks what is known as a linkage fee, which is based on the impact of commercial development on the demand for affordable housing, acting Deputy City Manager Steve Magoon told the City Council on Tuesday. The special legislation will have to be approved by the State Legislature. “Non-residential projects are creating demand for affordable housing for people who work in Watertown,” Magoon said. “We have done a study to look at that impact and adjusted it by the nexus between that demand being created by projects and the cost that it represents to us as a municipality, and a fee that would be charged.”
The Watertown Recreation Department will say good bye to two employees who will be leaving the department. They will be honored at a celebration to be held on Friday, June 17 in City Hall. The event is free and open to the public. Recreation Director Peter Centola sent out the following announcement:
After close to 5 years as Recreation Supervisor, Jim Coutoumas will be moving on to greener pastures as Assistant Director of Recreation in Canton. We are grateful for Jim’s outstanding service to our department and our Watertown Community.
Watertown Cable Access TVCity Manager Finalist George Proakis. George Proakis, Watertown’s next City Manger, will start working in August, after an agreement on a contract was reached with the City Counil this week. The City Council unanimously voted to approve hiring George Proakis on Tuesday night. At the previous meeting, on May 24 the Council agreed to offer Proakis the job and enter contract negotiations. The Council met in executive session prior to the June 14 public session to discuss the contract and came to an agreement which includes a salary of $217,500, said Council President Mark Sideris.
The Watertown Business Coalition invites the local business community, non-profits, arts organizations and others to come together at the kick off to summer at Donohue’s Bar & Grill. The free event will be at Donohue’s back patio on Wednesday, June 22 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
“We would be absolutely thrilled to see everyone! It will be cash bar with delicious Donohue’s appetizers. Please bring your co-workers, employees, significant others, friends, neighbors … let’s pack the house!” the WBC announcement said.
Watertown School officials plan to use some of the money from the federal COVID school assistance grant to offer full-day PreK classes to more children in the City. The Watertown Public Schools will receive more than $2.86 million from the third round of the federal ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) grant, and Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee she wants to use $370,000 of the funds to start the effort to create universal PreK. Other uses for the funds include expanding extended day and summer programs, credit recovery summer classes to help prevent dropouts, salaries for two assistant principals, and to create a teachers-in-residence program. The ESSER funds would be used to move the district toward universal PreK, Galdston said. The money would be used to pay for half the salary of PreK teachers and instructional assistants in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget.
The Watertown Department of Public Works announced that the paper shredding event originally scheduled for June 6 has been rescheduled. The paper shredding was not available that day, as had originally been announced. The City of Watertown provided the following information:
The Department of Public Works is hosting a Shredding Truck on Saturday, July 9, 2022 from 10am-2pm at the Jewish Day School (57 Stanley Ave in Watertown) to help residents dispose of resources in a sustainable way. If you have any questions, please email recycle@watertown-ma.gov.
Since the closing of Russo’s market in September 2021, a group of people has been working to create a new option for grocery and food shoppers in the Watertown area. On June 15, the Charles River Food Co-op formally kicks off the sale of shares in the planned store. The co-op had a soft opening in early June, and has already sold more than 70 shares, said Nick Quaranto, interim board president of the Charles River Food Co-op. The money raised by the shares, which cost $200 each, will go toward planning and building a store in one of the communities on which the co-op is focusing: Watertown, Waltham, and Newton. Shareholders will also be able to participate in co-op elections and will receive discounts after the store opens.