Government

Council Subcommittee to Discuss Affordable Housing This Week

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The following announcement was sent out by the Human Resources Committee:
The Town Council’s Committee on Human Resources continues its discussion of affordable housing in Watertown with a meeting on Thursday, Aug. 2 at 7:15 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers.  The theme of the meeting is Zoning and Affordable Housing.  The Committee will hear from Steve Magoon, Assistant Town Manager and Director of Community Development and Planning and special guest, Larry Fields from the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance. 
The Committee will be holding additional meetings on the topic of affordable housing in September, October, and November.  The schedule is listed here. Sept. 6         Statewide and Regional Organizations and Resources

Sue Connelly, Massachusetts Housing Partnership

Karina Milchman, Massachusetts Area Planning Council

State Legislator, Massachusetts Housing Bond Bill (TBD)

 

Oct. 4           Affordable Housing Development       

Jennifer Van Campen, MetroWest Collaborative Development

Representative Michael Connolly, Real Estate Transfer Fee

Steve Magoon, Assistant Town Manager and Director DCDP

 

Nov.

Government

New Director of Public Health Has More Than 40 Years of Experience in the Field

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The new director of the Watertown Department of Public Health has been appointed, Town Manager Michael Driscoll announced Friday. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of Larry A. Ramdin to the position of Director of Public Health, effective Aug. 27, 2018,” Driscoll said in the announcement (see the letter below). Ramdin has over 40 years experience working in the field of public health, and has been head of local health departments in Salem and Reading for the past 11 years. He also worked for six years for the City of Newton as an environmental health specialist.

Government

Watertown Watertown Teen Joins Attorney General for Announcement of Vaping Investigation

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Watertown High School student Shariel Joseph spoke during Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s announcement of the investigation into vaping and e-cigarette companies on Tuesday. Joseph, who will be senior in the fall, has been involved in anti-tobacco efforts as a Watertown Youth Coalition Peer Leader. At the announcement she represented The 84 Movement, a group of youth from Massachusetts fighting against tobacco. During her address, Joseph talked about how “JUULing” (named after the leading vaping equipment company JUUL) became a big thing at Watertown High School, and she saw students using them in school bathrooms, the hallways and even classrooms.

“From the beginning of my junior year to the end there was a huge increase of people JUUL-ing,” Joseph said. “Before there were a few people who JUUL-ed but now it seems like everyone is JUUL-ing, especially since it is summer, now.

Government

Parts of Common Street Closing for Construction Starting This Week

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The Watertown Department of Public Works announced that the construction project on Common Street will soon begin, and the street will be closed much of the day. 

The project includes creating a roundabout at the intersection of Common Street, Orchard Street and Church Street. Also, the intersection with Spring Street will be redesigned. The DPW sent out the following announcement:
Beginning Monday, July 23, Common Street will be closed between Mt. Auburn Street and Orchard Street between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., with local access provided to abutters and Middlesex Road residents only. The closure will also include the intersection of Spring Street — there will be no access to Common Street from Spring Street.

Bicycles

Designers Add More Options for Redesigning Watertown Square After Traffic Counts

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After taking traffic counts in the area around Watertown Square and along Charles River Road an North Beacon Street, the designers of the Watertown Square Improvement project added more options for how the intersection could be changed. On July 9, the Town of Watertown held an open house to present the latest options for reconfiguring Watertown Square. The last time the project was presented to the public, in November 2017, many residents — particularly those living between Charles River Road and North Beacon Street — opposed the idea of removing Charles River Road from the Watertown Square intersection. Representatives from the Town’s consultant on the project, VHB, said traffic counts would be done before coming back with recommendations for the project. “Based on the traffic counts, rather than reduce the options, we added more,” said Dennis Sheehan, the DPW’s Director of Administration and Finance. “If one solution would have clearly worked best we would have presented less options.”

Elections

Group of Mass Residents to Review Patient Safety Ballot Question Before Election

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Rep. Jonathan Hecht’s office provided for following announcement:

The Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) Advisory Board announced today that Question 1, An Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Patient Safety and Hospital Transparency, is the subject of this year’s review in a meeting at the Massachusetts State House. Along with the selection of the ballot question, 20 citizen panelists were chosen to participate in a four-day deliberation process on the initiative. The panel will produce a Citizens’ Statement outlining its key findings and the strongest arguments for supporting and opposing Question 1 to aid voters filling out their November ballot. The bipartisan Advisory Board unanimously chose Question 1, one of the three ballot questions considered for citizen evaluation, for the CIR after a public discussion. The Advisory Board members who cast their vote for Question 1 included Rachael Cobb, MassVOTE Board Member and Professor of Government at Suffolk University; Patrick Field, Managing Director of the Consensus Building
Institute; Representative Brad Hill, Assistant Minority Leader; Meryl Kessler, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters; Phil Johnston, former Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party and former Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services; Senator Patrick O’Connor, Minority Whip; George Pillsbury, MassVOTE Board Chair; and Alan Solomont, Dean of Tufts
University’s Tisch College of Civic Life and former US Ambassador to Spain and Andorra.

Elections

LETTER: Watertown Republicans Announce Endorsement for Congressional Race

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The Watertown Republican Town Committee is thrilled to announce that it has unanimously endorsed Republican John Hugo of Woburn to be the Republican Nominee for United States’ Congress in the 5th Congressional District.We believe that Hugo’s strong embrace of the Republican platform, makes him the best choice for voters in the Sept. 4 Primary. Further his energy and commitment make him the best candidate to take the fight the Katherine Clark, whom Hugo describes as “out of touch with needs of the district” adding: “She missing in action and I doubt if she’s ever read the Constitution … if she has, she’s developed a habit of ignoring it!”

“In world full of scripted career politicians like Katherine Clark, John Hugo is a breath of fresh air. He’s a regular working class person that happens to be civic minded and a true patriot” said John DiMascio, the Watertown Republican Committee Chair. “It’s an honor for us to endorse him and a bigger privilege to call him a friend.”

John Hugo has sacrificed much and worked tirelessly to get himself on the ballot.

Development

LETTER: Planning Board, Town Council Should Reject Amendment to Allow Taller Buildings

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Editor:
I can understand that a Planning Board or Town Council member might be tempted to say, there’s no harm in approving Boylston Properties’ (BP) proposed zoning amendment which would allow BP and other developers to ask for one or more 197-foot buildings. The officials might say, approving the height amendment doesn’t approve any specific building, we can decide about a specific building at a later time, when we see plans, etc. I disagree there is no good reason to amend the zoning, on the contrary there are good reasons to reject their proposal, and there is harm in changing the ordinance. At BP’s request, the Town changed its zoning two years ago to meet almost all of BP’s needs at Arsenal Yards except BP’s proposal that there be no limit how tall a building the Planning Board could approve. After lengthy and at times heated debate a compromise was reached to allow 130 feet, taller than is allowed in any other part of town.