Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/author/cbreitro/page/301/)
See this week’s Watertown open houses. $899,999 – 498-500 Belmont St., Multi-family Home – 2 Family, 3,242 Living Area Sq. Ft., 2 Units, 13 Total Rooms, 7 Total Bedrooms, Open House: Sunday 12-1:30
$879,000 – 20 Gilbert St., Multi-family Home – 2 Family – 2 Units Up/Down, 2,354 Living Area Sq. Ft. 2 Units, 11 Total Rooms, 5 Total Bedrooms, Open Houses: Saturday 11-1 Sunday 11-1
$724,000 – 57 Union St.
Watertown Town Hall
For the first time in more than a quarter century, the Town Council will be looking for a new Town Manager, and they will get some help in finding the Town’s next chief executive from a consultant. Town Council President Mark Sideris gave the first details about the Town Manager search at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting. “The manager’s search is going to be a multi-step process,” Sideris said. “This is something that no body on this council has ever dealt with. We have been fortunate to have our manager for more than 29 years, here.
The University of Connecticut announced its 2021 graduates, and two Watertown residents were on the list. The following Watertown students were part of the Class of 2021 at UConn. Madeleine Grace BugbeeKourtney Rose Kennedy
Know of a recent college graduate, send the announcement to WatertownMANews@gmail.com.
Water and sewer rates will increase in Fiscal Year 2022, but not as sharply as this year’s rate hike. Tuesday night, the Town Council approved the Water and Sewer rates, which include a 3.2 percent increase for both water rates and sewer rates. During the last water and sewer rate adjustment, rates went up by more than 8 percent. Town Auditor Tom Tracy said last year’s large increase was part of a plan to rebuild depleted reserve accounts for the Water and Sewer operations. Both of the accounts operate as enterprise funds, which are independent of the Town’s Operating budget and are self-sustaining using payments from water and sewer customers.
Vero Health CareVero Watertown thanked members of the Watertown Police and Fire departments for a cookout, recently. Pictured, from left, Fire Lt. Glen McManus, State Rep. Steve Owens, Vero Health Care President/COO Uma Rajagopal, Police Officer Ryan Vaughan, and Vero Watertown Administrator Tim Churchill. The operators of a Watertown skilled nursing facility that has struggled recently wanted to show that the place is under new management, and invited over the first responders, who visit on a regular basis, to thank them. At the end of June, Vero Health & Rehab of Watertown held a cookout for the members of the Watertown Fire and Police departments, and also invited State Rep. Steve Owens to come by and tour the facility. The facility on Coolidge Hill Road came under scrutiny after reports of possible elder abuse and hundreds of 911 calls coming from there, including sometimes from patients.
Charlie BreitroseFaire on the Square visitors check out some of the many booths at the 2018 celebration at Saltonstall Park. The Faire on the Square is back in 2021, and attendees can look forward to some new acts during the celebration. Watertown’s Faire was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, but it will be held on Sept. 25, 2021, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Saltonstall Park (next to Town Hall). The 2021 Faire will feature some new acts, including magician Darren Yong, juggler/comedian Robert Clarke, a Frank Sinatra tribute band featuring Rich DiMare, and ’80s rock band Fast Times.
Typically, Watertown is referred to as a town, but it has a city-form of government. The group proposing changes to the Town Charter looked at officially changing the name to the City of Watertown. The Charter Review Committee also looked at a range of areas in the document that defines how the town’s government works, including how the Town Auditor should be supervised and disciplined, what information should be included on the Town’s website and how many councilors it takes to call employees to appear before the Town Council. City or Town
Watertown was founded in 1630, and for most of that time was known as a Town. In 1980, the Town voted to change from a town form of government, with a Town Meeting, to a city form with a council and manager.
Mount Auburn Cemetery. Bree Harvey, Mount Auburn Cemetery’s vice president of cemetery and visitor services, recently showed WCVB Channel 5 the cemetery’s African-American Heritage Trail. The Chronicle City Savvy Quiz segment aired on July 1. Among the more than 100,000 people for whom the cemetery is their final resting place, there are freed slaves who made a life in the Boston area, the founder of the NAACP and authors. The trail was created about 10 years ago.