Government

Winter Overnight Parking Ban Lifted Early

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Watertown’s overnight parking ban ends Thursday, Watertown Police Chief Michael Lawn announced. The Town sent out the following announcement:

Chief Lawn would like to inform you that Watertown has lifted its enforcement of the all night parking ban effective Thursday March 29, 2018. The Department of Public Works, Police Department and Fire Department would like to remind motorists that keeping the streets clear allows for road repairs, street cleaning and easy access for public safety vehicles. To that end, all Departments encourage residents to make full use of off-street parking when it is available

Government

Town Council Approves List of Complete Streets Projects Around Watertown

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The list of Complete Street Projects in Watertown which Town officials hope to get state funding to complete was adopted by the Town Council on Tuesday night. 

Complete Streets is a practice to make roadways accessible to as many users as possible, including drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians and public transportation. The list includes 24 projects, with four that will be put forward for funding this year. The projects were narrowed down from more than 150 suggestions collected from the public and the Town at meetings in December and reported back their findings at a meeting in March. A list of at least 15 projects had to be submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) by April 1, and the list for the Construction Application for this year is due by May 1, according to the town’s consultants from Alta Planning + Design. The list includes a variety of projects, including construction of sections of the Community Path (a pedestrian and bike path through Watertown), improving crosswalks, making safe routes to school, improving pedestrian safety, and traffic calming on some roads.

Government

Comprehensive Criminal Justice Reform Legislation Moves Forward in State House

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State Sen. Will Brownsberger, from Belmont who represents Watertown, announced that House and Senate have released legislation that would reform the criminal justice system in Massachusetts. Brownsberger included a detailed summary of the legislation on his website. Some of the changes would be:

Strengthen mandatory minimum penalties for opiate trafficking offenses
Reducing minimum mandatory penalties for non-opiate drug offenses
Creating alternatives to prosecution or incarceration for minor offenses
Decriminalizing some minor offenses
Strengthen protections for public safety, including penalties for some types of crime, including corporate manslaughter, homicide by motor vehicle, unlawful possession of a credit card scanner, and high number of repeat OUIs. Improving prisons, and reducing the use of solitary confinement

(Read the entire summary on Brownsberger’s website by clicking here)

Below is the press release from legislators who worked on the legislation:
House and Senate legislators filed their final criminal justice reform conference report with the Senate Clerk on Friday. The consensus legislation is a comprehensive review of the Commonwealth’s criminal justice system.

Development

Project on Long Vacant Spot on Mt. Auburn St. Gets Nod from Planning Board

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A proposal to build a condominium building on a vacant piece of land near Watertown Square got the recommendation of the Planning Board on Monday night. A similar project at 33 Mt. Auburn St. received approval from the Town in 2013 and building permits were issued, but the construction never started and the permits elapsed. The old project had 24 rental units and 1,979 sq.

Government

LETTER: Resident Responds to State Senator’s Op-ed on Automated Traffic Enforcement

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{The following is a response to an Op-ed written by State Sen. Will Brownsberger that was published on Watertown News on March 19, 2018. Read the Op-ed here.}
As someone who works with technology on a daily basis, I appreciate Brownsberger’s effort to convince us that cameras and computer programs can help us. But his message confuses me. He hints that municipalities would use this tool transparently and conservatively, yet also tells us that this method will be a lucrative way of securing revenue from citizenry; the machines will “easily pay for themselves”. He further perplexes us when in one line he says the barriers are “not technological” but then admits “no currently [sic] mechanism” that can ascertain the actual perpetrator.

385 Pleasant Street

Residential, Commercial Project on Pleasant Street Approved on Third Try

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Developers of a residential and commercial development of a long, thin strip of land on Pleasant Street brought their latest proposal to the Planning Board Monday night and got approval for the project. 

The project at 385 Pleasant Street includes an existing warehouse and three new buildings. It will have 53 rental units – 2 studios, 4 one bedrooms, 14 one-bedroom lofts, and 22 two bedrooms. It will also include more than 10,000 square feet of commercial space. There will be 92 parking spaces on the site. When the project first came to the Planning Board late last year, it had an additional commercial building, but Planning Board members said the development was too dense. When they returned in January, a smaller commercial building was removed and the commercial space was moved to the existing warehouse building and two stories of residential were added to that building.

Government

No Election to Fill Council Seat; Members Vote to Appoint Former Councilor

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Former Councilor Susan Falkoff, will fill out the term of Michael Dattoli.The surprise announcement two weeks ago by Councilor Michael Dattoli that he would be resigning left the Town Council scrambling to figure out how to fill the vacancy. Thursday night Councilors decided, rather than holding a special election, to reappoint a former longtime member of the board to fill out the 19 months remaining on the term. In the case of a vacancy in the first 12 months of a Council term, Watertown’s Town Charter calls for the Council to call a special election unless they decide, by a vote of at least 6 councilors, to appoint someone to fill the open seat, said Town Council President Mark Sideris. Many thought it would be hard to find someone they could agree upon, but they found someone very familiar to them and to the voters of Watertown – Susan Falkoff. Falkoff left the Council at the end of 2017 when she decided not to run, having served six terms over the past 14 years.

Letters

OP-ED: Are We Ready for Automated Traffic Enforcement?

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The following was submitted by State Sen. Will Brownsberger

Automated enforcement of speed limits and red lights could substantially reduce accidents. So far, we have not been willing to use the new technology in Massachusetts. To improve safety, I hope we can build support to experiment with automated enforcement in a thoughtful and transparent way. The technology to recognize license plates is now quite reliable. The barriers to using plate readers for enforcement of basic traffic laws are not technological.