Arsenal Yards

Council Roundup: Councilor Opposes Planning Board Appointee, Tower at Mall, Trees & Green Schools

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The Town Council approved a new member of the Planning Board at Tuesday’s Council meeting, but the candidate did not receive unanimous support. 

Jason Cohen, who has been an alternate member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, was appointed to the Planning Board to replace John Hawes, who recently stepped down after more than two decades on the board. Cohen, is an architect, has served on the ZBA since 2015, has lived in town since 2001 and has two children attending Hosmer Elementary School. Professionally, he works primarily on large multi-unit housing projects, but during his interview with the Economic Development & Planning subcommittee he said he is interested in larger urban planning issues that come before the Planning Board, including approving projects on Arsenal Street and Pleasant Street. Town Councilor Angeline Kounelis said she could not support Cohen because she believed he did not consider all input from residents when considering a case. She pointed to the proposal for the medical marijuana facility at 23 Elm St., and the ZBA meeting in May 2017.

Police/Fire

UPDATED: Main Street Reopens After Downed Utilities Poles, Live Wires, Close Roadway

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{Updated at 12:37 p.m. on May 8, 2018}

Watertown Police have reopened Main Street after two downed utility poles closed the roadway at about 10 a.m. Wednesday. The wires were taken down by an 18-wheel truck heading westbound on Main Street which snapped wires and pulled the poles down at French Street, according to Watertown Police. They poles had electrical wires, which remained live when the poles came down.  Crews from Eversource and Verizon responded to the scened, and repaired the poles and wires. Police announced that Main Street has been reopened at about 12:20 p.m., but French Street remains closed. The downed poles also caused the MBTA to detour the 70 and 70A buses.

Schools

School Committee Approves School Bus Contract, Working With College on Routes

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Monday night, the School Committee approved a five year school bus contract, which will only rise three percent over the term of the contract. Most times, the District signs a three year contract, but the winning bidder (and current contract holder), Local Motion, offered incentives for two additional years, said Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations. State law requires the contract to also get the approval of the Town Council, because it more than three years. The current contract ends on June 30, 2018. Local Motion and Eastern Bus Co.

Schools

Watertown Middle School Principal Leaving After 13 Years

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Watertown Middle School Principal Kimo Carter will be headed to Weston in July to take the position of Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning. The Weston Public Schools announced the appointment on its website on Monday. Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee that Carter would be leaving during Monday’s School Committee meeting. “We wish him the best for his future, and thank him for 13 years in the district,” Galdston said. School Committee Chairman John Portz congratulated Carter.

Around Town

New York Investment Fund Makes Cash Offer to Purchase Watertown’s Athenahealth

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A New York-based investment fund seeks to buy athenahealth with a cash offer of $6.4 billion. Elliott Management, an activist investment firm, wrote a letter to shareholders on Monday stating it wants to acquire the Watertown-based company on an “expedited basis.” “We believe that our proposal represents the best path forward for athenahealth, its shareholders, its employees and its broader mission,” Elliott said in the letter, according to a report by the Boston Business Journal. The letter also said athenahealth’s management has “revealed an unwillingness” to pursue alternative strategies for realizing value,” according to a CNBC story. The letter pointed specifically to the areas of: sales execution, service delivery, product focus, forecasting, executive turnover, capital allocation management discipline, and corporate governance, the Boston Business Journal reported.

Real Estate

Eight Properties Sold Around Watertown This Week

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Watertown had several home sales this week. $925,000 – 144 Bellevue Road, 8 room, 4 bedroom, 1 full & 1 half bathroom, Colonial single-family home

$571,000 – 24 Morrison, 6 room, 2 bedroom, 2 full bathroom, Ranch single-family home

$735,000 – 164 Maplewood Unit 2, 8 room, 4 bedroom, 2 full & 1 half bathroom, 2/3 Family condo/townhouse

$827,000 – 199 Coolidge Ave. Unit 505, 5 room, 2 bedroom, 2 full & 1 half bathroom, High-Rise condo/townhouse

Sponsored by:

$430,000 – 280 Belmont St. Unit 280, 4 room, 2 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, 2/3 Family condo/townhouse

$465,000 – 278 Belmont St. Unit 278, 5 room, 2 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, 2/3 Family condo/townhouse

$300,000 – 73 Highland Ave., 5 room, 1 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, Ranch single-family home

$805,000 – 59 Bradford Road Unit 1, 8 room, 4 bedroom, 3 full bathroom, 2/3 Family condo/townhouse

Arrests

Police Log: Car Catches Fire in Parking Garage, Strange Capsules Found in Boots from Target

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests
April 23, 7:52 p.m.: Police responded to a call from the Arsenal Mall, and when officers arrived they found Marshall’s security guards holding a suspect. Security spotted the man take a pair of blue Nike sneakers off the shelf and put them on. Then he put his old sneakers in the box and placed it back on the shelf. The man left the store, and security stopped him.

Schools

Hosmer Students Help Plant a Tree on Campus for Arbor Day

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Rarely does a tree get so much attention, but this week a group of 80 fourth graders from Hosmer Elementary School crowded around a young tree, freshly planted outside the school in honor of Arbor Day. 

Watertown resident and landscape architect David Jay organized the event, and made sure each of the students left with a sapling to plant in their own yard. In past years, Watertown’s Tree Warden organized tree plantings at the town’s elementary schools, but there is no warden at the moment. Jay stepped in this year on behalf of Trees for Watertown, a citizens group which advocates for trees. The dwarf apple tree was in place by the time many students arrived, but a group of children helped Jay remove the grass around the tree, making sure to shake the dirt from the sod back onto the ground around the tree. Then the students shoveled mulch around it.