Elections

Big Interest in Running for Town Councilor At-Large & School Committee

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The latest list of people who have pulled papers to run for office in the 2017 Watertown Town Election includes many possible candidates for Town Councilor at Large and School Committee. 

If everyone who has pulled papers gets enough signatures to be on the ballot, all the open seats will have at least one person running for them, but two have attracted more interest than the rest. There will be an uncontested seat in the Councilor-At-Large race, with Susan Falkoff announcing she will not seek reelection. Six people have pulled papers, including the three remaining incumbents: Aaron Dushku, Michael Dattoli and Tony Palmoba. There are also three challengers, all of whom are running for Town Council for the first time: David Stokes, Caroline Bays and Michelle Cokonougher. For the other Council seats, so far, the only ones to pull papers are the incumbents: Town Council President Mark Sideris, District A Councilor Angeline Kounelis, District B Councilor Lisa Feltner, District C Councilor Vincent Piccirilli and District D Councilor Ken Woodland.

Development

Developers of Morse Street Project Go Back to Drawing Board Again

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The developers seeking to turn the commercial building that used to be home to a massage school into an apartment complex will go back to the drawing board for a second time in hopes of getting approval from the Watertown Zoning Board of Appeals. The 101-103 Morse Street project shown to the ZBA on June 28 changed from the initial proposal submitted to the ZBA in April. The number of units was reduced from 44 to 40. Three pairs of one-bedroom units were combined to make three two-bedroom units, while two more one-bedrooms were combined to make a three-bedroom unit, said owner and developer Kamran Shahbazi. 

Other changes include: adding four feet to the width driveway to make it 22 feet in total, moving the garbage dumpster from next to an abutting property to against the building, and moving air conditioner condensers from ground level to the roof of the building, said architect Gary Hendren. Board members said that they have concerns about the quality of the proposed apartments.

Government

Deadline for Comments on Arsenal Street Study Coming Up Soon

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State transportation officials will be taking input from people about the proposed changes to Arsenal Street and other streets in the area through July 10. 
Some changes proposed include redesigning Watertown Square and removing one road from the intersection, improving bus service and improving bicycle accommodations. Click here to see more information on the proposals in the Arsenal Corridor Study Final Draft. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation sent out the following announcement:

MassDOT is conducting the Arsenal Street Corridor Study in Watertown. This study has developed alternatives that are intended to improve transportation conditions on Arsenal Street between Galen Street and Birmingham Parkway. The study has proposed improvements to vehicular, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian uses of the corridor, with a targeted focus on enhancements to bus service along Arsenal Street and locations where the bus service ties into other crossing bus routes. The Draft Final Report was released in June and the project team recently hosted a public information meeting. Comments on the report will be accepted through Monday, July 10, 2017.

Arsenal Street

Council Backs $25 Million in Improvements, Some Question Openness of Process

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After a marathon session, the Town Council unanimously approved a partnership with Athenahealth and the DCR that will bring $25 million in public infrastructure projects to the area in East Watertown around the company’s campus. The funds to pay for 10 proposed projects come from the state via the I-Cubed program, which creates partnerships between public entities (the Town and the Department of Conservation and Recreation) and a private one (Athenahealth). The money comes from additional taxes created by Athena adding more jobs through its campus expansion, and will be used to pay for bonds issued by the state. The projects must be completed within 3 years of the issuance of the bonds. While many residents and some on the Council said the Town would be crazy to pass up $25 million in free projects (or at least that won’t use Watertown residents’s tax dollars) others complained that the list of projects came forward with little public discussion about what made the list.

Government

Price of Extra Recycling Toters Reduced in New Trash/Recycling Contract

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Advocates of recycling got good news Tuesday night when the Town Council approved the new trash and recycling removal contract – toters 50 percent off. Residents in Watertown get one green recycling toter, which is collected every two weeks. For some this is not enough and the bin overflows. When Republic Services came to present the new contract at the June 14 Town Council meeting a number of Councilors said they hoped the price of an additional toter could be reduced from the $180 charged in the contract that ends June 30, 2017. Tuesday night, Town Manager Michael Driscoll announced that in the time since the last meeting Town officials negotiated a new price for the additional recycling toters with Republic Services.

Arsenal Street

Major Changes to Watertown Square, Bus Lines Recommended by MassDOT

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Removing one of the roads leading into Watertown Square, splitting up the 70 and 70A into three routes and using technology to improve traffic flow are three of multiple recommendations for improving Arsenal Street in the study done for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). The final draft of the Arsenal Street Corridor Study was presented by transportation consultants from VHB at a public forum Thursday at the Watertown Library. Information was gathered for the study during six stakeholder meetings and three public meetings (including the one Thursday) dating back to September 2015. There were a total of nine recommendations, whittled down from the 18 presented at a meeting in October 2016. “We looked at driving, biking, walking and especially public transportation,” said Michael Clark, project coordinator for MassDOT.

Government

Committee Debates Victory Field’s Dual Role as Athletic Complex and Park

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Plans to rehabilitate and renovate the track area at Victory Field began to take shape Tuesday night, but members of the Committee making recommendations about the project had trouble agreeing on some aspects of the project. The Ad Hoc Committee on Victory Field Phase II is made up of town officials, neighbors of the site and representatives of groups who use the site – the Watertown Public Schools and Watertown youth sports. The disagreements rose from the balance of the how much the use of the track and court areas should be athletics vs. being a public park and recreation area. What arose as an area of contention was something not for track and field, but a net to protect people from balls thrown or kicked by teams using the grass area inside the track.

Bicycles

Protected Bike Lanes Included in Plans for Mt. Auburn Street Renovation

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The long-in-the-planning Mount Auburn Street renovation is taking shape, and Monday night plans for adding wider bike lanes to the major artery were shown to a packed meeting at Town Hall. The meeting brought together the Town Council’s Public Works subcommittee and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee. It came about after a meeting in December 2016 during which residents brought up concerns that the safety of bicyclists were not being included in the planning for Mt. Auburn Street. Talks about the renovation of the road, which goes from Watertown Square through East Watertown to Cambridge, began several years ago.