Charity

Watertown Middle School Seeks Help in Effort to Win National Contest

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Watertown Middle School’s project to fix up an old home economics kitchen has been selected as a semifinalist in a national competition and now organizers need help from businesses and people in the community. The school entered the Ultimate Neighborhood Give Back Challenge, in which projects from around the country compete to be selected to win a $50,000 prize to help make the project a reality. The money would be used to buy new appliances, counters and more to fix up an unused home economics kitchen. The updated kitchen would be used in the Integrated Life Skills program, which teaches students with special needs to be self-sufficient by focusing on personal responsibility, independence and appropriate interactions. One part of the program is learning to cook.

Schools

School Committee to Discuss Raising Athletic Fees

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The Watertown High School athletics budget could be well in the negative next year, so the School Committee will discuss increasing the athletic fee on June 25. The athletics budget for the middle and high schools combined is over $890,000, but the shortfall could be in the $100,000s. The School Committee will discuss athletic fees at the meeting on Wednesday, June 25 at 7 p.m. in the Watertown High School Lecture Hall. The agenda also includes reviews of the Fiscal 2104 and 2015 budgets, and a discussion of having the school budget reviewed by an independent auditor. To see the whole agenda, click here.

Development

LETTER: Group Concerned About Future of Arsenal Street After Planning Board Vote

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TO: Michael J. Driscoll, Town Manager; Steven Magoon, Director of Community Development and Planning; Honorable Town Council; Planning Board, and Zoning Board of Appeals
FROM: Concerned Citizens Group, Inc.
DATE: 6/18/14
It is disheartening to hear the recommendation on 6/11 for current Cresset-Hanover-WS plans to move forward to Zoning Board of Appeals for consideration. After many public discussions about “learning from Pleasant St” and not wanting homogeneous, long corridors, canyonization, and projects disconnected from the surrounding contexts, etc , in addition to all the good work put into drafting a new Comprehensive Plan, we are in disbelief. Concerned Citizens Group “CCG” continues our appeal for a coordinated effort between developers/owners, Planning/Zoning, and the neighbors. As you are aware, as part of our ongoing appeal to Town, we completed a vision statement for our neighborhood four years ago (see attached). By following a similar process modeled by Athena-Boylston Properties efforts on the Arsenal Overlay Development District, an overlay for the Watertown Square end of Arsenal St corridor could also be accomplished in short order.

Development

Planning Board OKs Seven Story Parking Garage at Arsenal on the Charles

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The Planning Board gave the go ahead to the owners of the Arsenal on the Charles to build a parking garage that will be 90 feet tall. 

The parking structure will have seven stories, which will reach the maximum height of 79 feet, and then will have a “green” roof with grass or other things growing on it. This roof will increase the height to 90 feet. The roof is needed so the top floor does not have to be plowed when it snows. The garage will have about 1,800 spaces, and will allow owners athenahealth to remove the same number of spaces from ground level in the complex that stretches along Arsenal Street, said Larry Beals, architect with Beals Associates Inc. which is designing the garage and other changes in the Arsenal. When completed 94 percent of the parking will be in garages, compared to 58 percent now. Residents worried about the size of the structure.

Government

Grant Will Provide Watertown Firefighters With New Set of Protective Gear

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Watertown firefighters will have a new set protective clothing to fight fires thanks to a federal grant awarded recently. Last week, Watertown Fire Chief Mario Orangio received notification that the Watertown Fire Department will receive $186,750, or 90 percent of the cost of purchasing a new set of “turnout gear,” through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG). “I am pleased to report that our application to the AFG equipment program has been awarded,” Orangio said. “This award allows us to purchase 83 new sets of gear replacing some as old as 10 years.” The town will have to provide the remaining 10 percent of the cost, $20,750, Orangio said.

Police/Fire

See What Authorities Found in the Suspected Meth Lab House

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Police discovered a variety of items suspected to be used to purify methamphetamine into the crystal form when they search the suspects home on Winter Street on Friday. Kyle Tuschall, 31, of Watertown, who suspected of running a small meth lab in his apartment, was released of $5,000 bail after being arraigned on Monday at Waltham District Court. When police and Drug Enforcement agents searched Tuschall’s home, which he shares with his girlfriend, they found a variety of items which police believe are used for processing meth. (See the previous article by clicking here). Items included lab glassware, chemicals, butane lighters, marijuana pipes, coffee filters and a self-made water filtration system.

Letters

LETTER: Resident Asks for Moratorium on New Big Projects on Arsenal Street

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Dear Director of Planning, Town Council members, Chairman of the Planning Commission and Zoning Officer,

I would like to urge you as a group to give serious consideration to imposing a temporary moratorium on large new projects on the Arsenal corridor while a master plan is developed and zoning is re-written, in order that all development be thoughtfully evaluated in this critical area. The town needs to gain input from stakeholders and to proceed carefully; these decisions will affect residents for many years to come, including my children  and their children. I have lived in Watertown since 1975 and love this community. I want to see it continue to be a place that balances development with the needs of it residents so that it can continue to maintain its strong community orientation. The Community Development and Planning Department has worked hard to develop a Comprehensive Plan; it should be utilized.

Police/Fire

Police Log: Man Arrested for Beating on Car, Employee Caught Stealing Cash

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

June 2, 2:51 p.m.: A 39-year-old Watertown man was arrested on domestic assault and battery charges. June 2, 9:20 p.m.: Police went to Starbucks after receiving a report of a man attempting to break into a car in the parking lot. The man was banging on a Honda Civic. The owner of the car told police that he did not know the person banging on the car.